An Illustration: Priceline vs. Travelzoo

Aqua Palms & Spa pool, Waikiki.

I was fascinated to see that Travelzoo’s top three hotel deals in Hawaii feature two hotels that my husband and I stayed in on our recent trip. The third is a direct competitor, very close to another hotel we stayed in.

This is not so surprising as it might seem. We reserved all three hotels through Priceline’s blind bidding, and the hotels offering the best deals through Priceline are likely to be offering discounts elsewhere.

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Wise Words On Travel, Security And Terrorism

My renewed focus on this blog is on bargains for leisure travelers, but I’m going to reach out of that territory a little and recommend two recent columns by business travel writer Joe Brancatelli. His refreshing common-sense conclusion is that we can’t achieve total safety in the air or in hotels. The world can be dangerous, and we need to deal with that.

New Photo Gallery: Honolulu

Just posted my new photo gallery of Waikiki and Honolulu. Have a look.

Repositioning Cruises From Less Than $50 Per Day

Twice a year I indulge a fantasy: that I will take a transatlantic repositioning cruise. This happens in the spring, when the cruise lines move their ships from the Caribbean to Europe, and in the fall, when they bring them back.

It doesn’t hurt that these one-way cruises can be tremendous bargains, sometimes available for less than $50 a day per person, half of my $100 threshold for what constitutes a reasonable bargain in cruises. That’s  inclusive of food and much of the entertainment, pretty much everything you truly have to pay except tips and airfare.

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Spirit Airlines Sale Ends Tomorrow

Spirit Airlines has launched a sale with tickets prices as low as $29 each way — just $9 for members of its low fare club — on limited routes and very limited dates in February and March.

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Questionable Values For Airline Miles

A way to calculate the relative value of spending airline miles on merchandise instead of travel is explained quite clearly in a recent post on The Dallas Morning News’ Airline Biz blog.

Customers who hold frequent flier miles may feel compelled to use them to buy things this way, even when it’s clearly a bad deal, because the airlines have shortened expiration periods. But if you think  you’re forced into a “use them or lose them” situation, you should consider other ways to create activity in your account and thus keep your miles valid for another 18 months or so.

The Rewards Network dining program is any easy way to do this with Alaska, American, Delta, Midwest, United and US Airways. One meal out, perhaps at a restaurant you would have visited anyway, and you can reset the time clock on your miles. (You can earn credit on Southwest, too, though its program works differently.)

Donating money to the Haiti relief effort is a particularly commendable way to earn miles on some airlines. Donating miles is another way to keep your account active. The Los Angeles Times’ Daily Travel & Deal blog has details.

Dirtiest Hotel List Released

When is a hotel bargain not such a bargain? When your room is filthy, for sure.

TripAdvisor has released its list of the dirtiest hotels in the United States and the rest of the world per its visitors’ reports. The reviews make entertaining reading, for example: “Do not stay in this decrepit facility unless you’re homeless! Even then, I would try to find a refrigerator box first.”

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Disney World Hotels From $70

Walt Disney World in Orlando is offering rates as low as $62 a night (which rises to $69.75 with the rather hefty 12.5 percent room tax) on its least expensive hotels.

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Bad Tourist, Hawaii Edition

Here’s another installment in my study of how thoughtless people can be when they travel, this one collected on a long trip to and from Hawaii:

5. A young man at the gate in O’Hare carried on a long, mushy cell phone conversation while simultaneously listening to a music video on his laptop — without headphones.

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Bradley To Denver, Nonstop: $219

Southwest Airlines will inaugurate its new nonstop flight from Bradley International Airport to Denver with $99 fares each way, which comes out to $219 round-trip with all taxes and fees.

The once-daily nonstop flights begin March 14 but you can buy tickets now.

If you prefer to change planes and pay for your checked bags, you can  fly on any of several major carriers that are matching Southwest’s price, or nearly so, between April 7 and May 25.