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Tags: Travel Deals / 2010 Olympics / Vancouver Travel / Hawaii Travel / Mexico Travel / New York Times / Winter Travel / Budget Travel / → All Tags

Smart Travelers Don't Hibernate During Winter, Says NYT

There are deals to be found even in Vancouver right now

If you're smart, and not a hibernating mammal, then you're probably actively looking into travel deals for the month of January. While most people are recovering from holiday shopping trauma, others are taking advantage of less-crowded flights and predictably lower prices.

As The New York Times recently reported, "January may be the best time of year to take a vacation, as passenger traffic drops and resorts, airlines and cruise companies all roll out deals." Single travelers and childless couples, especially, may want to consider a trip in the dead of winter. As "families return to school schedules," there likely aren't too many teens, tweens, and toddlers with whom you'll be sharing airline time.

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Tags: Lonely Planet / Hot Destinations / Budget Travel / 2010 Olympics / London / Vancouver 2010 Olympics / Space Travel / Virgin Galactic / → All Tags

Lonely Planet Predicts El Salvador, Morocco, London Will Be Hot in 2010

London: A value destination?

We all know how much list-making fanatics love the end of the year. It's prime time for looking back and rounding up "Best Of" lists, and for some, like the folks over at Lonely Planet, making predictions for the year to come.

So, what destinations are sure to be hot in 2010? Per USA Today, LP's picks for the Top 10 countries for travel include El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Portugal, Malaysia, and Suriname.

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Tags: Travel Websites / Last-Minute Travel / Holiday Travel / Priceline / Budget Travel / Travel Deals / → All Tags

Wherein We Warily Test The Priceline Negotiator's Last-Minute Deals

Seriously, Shatner?

There've been Priceline gripes a-plenty, but we've also begrudgingly admitted to using "The Negotiator" to wrangle ourselves travel savings when it suits us. In our very, very, very last-minute search for holiday travel deals, what should we stumble upon than a menu of Flights Under $150, expiring tomorrow. *Flash-Act Now!-Flash*

Is The Shatner for real, though? Prices averaging at about $150 round-trip, with some departures the day before Christmas? We had to dig a little deeper to see if Captain Kirk was fooling us with that karate stance and winning grin.

What we found, after the jump.

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Tags: Water Parks / Indoor Water Parks / Theme Parks / Budget Travel / Recessionary Travel / Active Travel / Pools / → All Tags

Has Anybody Been to an Indoor Water Park? Are They Fun?

It's winter vacation season, and those of us who didn't get any TARP funds have limited travel budgets to work with this year. But while we might not be able to spring for a trip to some luxe Caribbean beach resort, there are plenty of options closer to home where we could get our fix of sun and fun without breaking the bank. USA Today writes about some of the crazy deals available at indoor water parks around the country, where you can bask in constant 86-degree temperatures, splash around in some pretty creative pools, and get your share of ultraviolet rays through huge skylights. It's definitely not something I've ever done before, but after reading about some of the more unique features, I have to admit that I'm intrigued. They look like fun.

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Tags: Ryanair / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Budget Travel / Brussels Travel / Edinburgh Travel / → All Tags

It Can Be Done! We Booked A Ryanair Flight For Under $25

If there's any single airline we'd rather not fly (other than Aeroflot, that is), it's got to be the Irish low cost carrier Ryanair. Boy oh boy, have we called them some names in the past, all the while unearthing their nickel-and-diming schemes to possibly charge passengers to use the bathroom and allow smoking on flights. But, with a European trip on our horizon, we're willing to let bygones be bygones and fly the fee-riddled skies of Ryanair.

In fact, we have a somewhat fond memory of our last Ryanair flight— a roundtrip from Rome-Ciampino to Barcelona-Girona that cost us a total of $45, not counting bus fare. But those were the days before Ryanair removed check-in desks and expanded their routes to irresistible locations. So, this past weekend while needing some time away from the Thanksgiving table, we visited the Ryanair website and yes—we bought tickets on a flight. The grand total for two passengers on a one-way flight from Brussels-Charleroi to Edinburgh? 14 Euro.

The shockingly low fare explained, after the jump.

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Tags: Travel Magazines / Budget Travel / Arthur Frommer / Travel Media / → All Tags

What Is Going On At Budget Travel Magazine?

After the recent chopping of magazines like Gourmet, it's safe to say that print media is beyond shaking in their boots; they're already cleaning out desks. The latest magazine closure scare came at Budget Travel, formerly under Arthur Frommer's wing but now controlled by the Washington Post Co.

On Friday, rumors began that the magazine would announce its closure on Monday (today). NY Mag reached Editor-In-Chief Nina Willdorf for comments only to receive a cryptic "heading out town"-type response.

Instead of closing today, it was only reported that "it's business as usual," but execs did hold a meeting to discuss the future of the magazine. Although it looks like no one lost their jobs today, employees in ad sales were told to hold on the February issues. Will the scythe of death fall on Budget Travel in January 2010, or—even worse—around the holidays? Rest assured that we'll continue to follow this story.

Related Stories:
· Magazine Deathwatch: Budget Travel [Mediabistro]
· Budget Travel Shuttering? [NYMag]
· Travel Magazines [Jaunted]

[Photo: Kenn Wilson]

Tags: Rental Cars / Cars / Budget Travel / Cheap Travel / Bargains / → All Tags

While Every Other Travel Thing is Cheaper, Rental Cars are Still Super Expensive

Airfares and hotel room prices have fallen markedly in response to the global economic meltdown, but rental car rates are as high as ever, prompting the penny-pinchers over at Budget Travel to offer up a few tips on keeping the costs down on your next trip. In an AP item, the magazine's editor-in-chief said that car rental companies are unique in that they can trim their supply of cars very easily, maintaining a tight market for rentals. Thus, your best bet for a bargain is to book in advance, look for a discount code on a site like best-car-rental-tips.com, or use a bidding site like Priceline.

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Tags: iPhone Travel Apps / Priceline / Budget Travel / iPhone / → All Tags

William Shatner's On Your iPhone; Just Touch Him For Hotel Deals

We'll come right out and admit it: we have used Priceline's Negotiator before and like what it did for us. Even the omnipotent appreciate discounts and the thrill of chasing a deal. Still, we're not sure how we feel about sitting down to make serious travel reservations on our iPhone. Sure it's the internet just like we get on our laptop, but it just doesn't feel as official. But like Priceline could give a crap how we feel, since they've just released their own iPhone travel app.

The app of course focuses on good old William Shatner, aka The Negotiator, and his special Priceline ability to let you list your own nightly hotel rate blindly for a hotel (after choosing star rating and neighborhood), and possibly be accepted for over 50% off published rates. Our two most recent experiences at the hands of Captain Kirk got us 5-star hotel rooms in both Berlin and Chicago for $80 a night, so maybe if we don't even use a computer to make the reservation we'll be even more cavalier? So long as the app is free, which it is, we'll be fiddling with it. Who can resist a free travel app anyways?

Related Stories:
· Priceline Launches iPhone App For Hotel Bidding [USAToday]
· iPhone: Priceline's new app is best for last-minute hotel bids [BudgetTravel]
· iPhone Travel Apps coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Budget Airlines / Feel Air / Cheap Flights / Budget Travel / → All Tags

The Future of Airlines: Cheaper Tickets, Fewer Frills?

While low-budget airlines have long since come to dominate most popular short-haul routes, legacy carriers have managed to stay afloat thanks to long-distance flights, which magnify the importance of their enhanced services and amenities. According to The New York Times, however, that's starting to change as the economic downturn creates new opportunities for no-frills upstarts.

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Tags: Airplane News / Airline News / Air Asia / Air Asia X / LCCs / Budget Travel / Travel With Children / → All Tags

Baby Born On Air Asia Plane Gets Free Flights For Life

In our next life, we'd like to return as a baby born aboard an Air Asia flight. Talk about lucky—a pregnant woman on a flight between Penang and Kuching on Borneo went into surprise labor while in the air, prompting the plane to try for an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur, but the baby popped out before they could get on the ground.

After the successful delivery, the mother and child were transported to a KL hospital, where they were visited by the higher-ups at Air Asia, who presented them with the rights to free flights for life. Assuming that Air Asia will be around until the kid hits retirement in something like sixty years, he could really make a name for himself traveling around Asia—or beyond, since Air Asia now also flies to both London and is busily signing paperwork to come to both Paris and Los Angeles. Boy oh boy are we jealous of this little boy. The question now is...did he kinda join the mile high club just being born up there?

Related Stories:
· Lifetime free flights for baby born on plane [AFP]
· Talking With Air Asia's CEO Tony Fernandes About US Plans [Jaunted]
· Air Asia coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jetalone]

Tags: Airfare Sales / Air Asia / LCCs / Budget Travel / Asia Travel / Travel Deals / → All Tags

Air Asia's Big Sale Makes Us Want To Book Some $17 Flights

One of our favorite low cost carriers, Air Asia, is not just cool because it keeps adding more routes—like Kuala Lumpur to Paris on the cheap and the Indian destinations like Thiruvananthapuram just to name a couple of last week's highlights—but it's also giving us ideas for our 2010 travel plans by holding a big airfare sale at the moment.

For bookings made between now and Sunday, you can get bargain tickets for travel between January 11 and April 30, 2010 for a bunch of Asian routes. The cheapest flights get as low as 19 Ringgit ($5.50) but they're mostly internal Malaysian flights; to get from Kuala Lumpur to further afield, there are deals like KL to pretty much anywhere in Indonesia or Thailand for 59 Ringgit ($17) and KL to Australian destinations for 199 Ringgit ($58). Get booking fast or we might snap up all the seats first.

Related Stories:
· Air Asia [Official Site]
· Let's Go Thiruvananthapuram! [Jaunted]
· Sarkozy Approves Air Asia X's Low-Cost Flights to Paris [Jaunted]

[Photo: Auswandern Malaysia]

Tags: Air Asia / Air Asia X / LCCs / Budget Travel / Nicolas Sarkozy / New Routes / → All Tags

Sarkozy Approves Air Asia X's Low-Cost Flights To Paris

Go get 'em low-cost carrier Air Asia X is taking another step towards world domination—well, their words were "global expansion"—with the big announcement that they have now received approval to start up cheap long-haul flights from Kuala Lumpur to Paris.

None other than French president Nicolas Sarkozy himself informed Malaysian Prime Minister Razak this week that Air Asia X would be allowed to land at the Orly Airport in Paris. Air Asia X hasn't yet made more details public; we're in the dark on how soon this service will start, and what it will cost, but they launched their Kuala Lumpur to London service earlier this year, and you can grab those flights for around $250 one way.

We figure it's only reasonable to guess that the Paris version won't be too different. These low-cost long-hauls are certainly giving us ideas for some amazing budget around-the-world trips—we might go start loading up our backpacks while Air Asia decides on Paris airfares.

Related Stories:
· Air Asia To Start Paris Flights [AFP]
· Air Asia X Wants to Long-Haul You From New York and California [Jaunted]
· Air Asia X Launches Low-Cost, Long-Haul Service [Jaunted]

[Photo: Deanster1983]