Forget Socks and Sweaters: How to Give the Gift of Travel

Accommodations

Whether you're whisking someone away on a romantic vacation or just giving someone you love some much needed alone time, everyone loves a free night in a hotel. But keep it flexible so that the recipient isn't locked into a date or location. Choose a gift card from Airbnb, BedandBreakfast.com, Hyatt (available via e-mail delivery for last-minute shoppers), and many other hotel chains.

Airlines

Plane tickets are definitely hard to gift—they're non-refundable, for one thing, and inflexible when it comes to travel dates (plus you have to sneakily get all of your loved one's personal information in order to book a flight). Play it safe with a gift card from an airline instead: Southwest Airlines, Delta, American, and Hawaiian all make it easy to give flights.

Make sure that you take your giftee's home airport into consideration, and pick an airline that offers lots of routes from the recipient's home town. Also, be aware that some major airlines, like JetBlue and United, don't have gift certificates available.

Uber

Uber is a great way to get around a city while traveling, but it can get costly. An Uber gift card will let your favorite traveler splurge on a shared ride to the airport or home after a night out without feeling guilty.

Museums

Help someone explore their own hometown with admission to a usually pricey museum near them. Or, look up museums that cater to your gift recipient's taste in a city that you know they're visiting soon and buy them a gift card there. You can find lots of museum gift cards on Amazon, like the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, or just check the museum's website directly to purchase.

Food Tours

Your favorite foodie would love being given a free food tour, either in their hometown or for a vacation you know they've booked. You can find tours for every type of taste in almost any destination—from DC to Las Vegas. Or, for someone who likes their cuisine a little more liquid, get something like a Champagne brunch sailing tour or a Brooklyn Beer/History/Pizza tour instead!

City Passes

Know someone who won't stop talking about their next vacation? Help them make the most of it with a city pass. You can get them tons of free admissions or discounts with something like the The New York Pass Gift Card or Las Vegas Power Pass.

Restaurants

Eating out is one of the biggest expenses for travelers, so help someone on their next vacation by giving them a gift card to a well-rated restaurant in the area. Not sure what kind of food they like? Play it safe with a Starbucks gift card, which will let them stock up on water, snacks, or coffee at almost any airport in the world.

Bucket List Experiences

You probably won't always remember that time you unwrapped a mall gift certificate, but you'd definitely look back fondly if someone gave you the chance to live out your NASCAR driver dreams, a helicopter tour of Manhattan, a Rocky Mountain Zipline adventure, or other bucket list experiences.

Classes

Classes are a great way to explore local culture when traveling. Generally taught by locals, they offer an inside view of what a destination is really like while providing you with a new skill or two. You can find gift cards for everything from cooking classes to a smartphone photography class online.