One-Day Sale At JetBlue

JetBlue is having a one-day sale on fares for Tuesdays and Wednesdays between Aug. 31 and Oct. 27.

The discounts are substantial, but availability is limited. For example, flights from Boston to Washington-Dulles are $39 each way, which comes out to $99 round-trip with taxes and fees. Fares from JFK to Aruba are $129 each way, which comes out to $347 with taxes and fees.

One day means buy those tickets today, Aug. 24, 2010, or forget about it.

JetBlue will start flying out of Bradley on Nov. 17, after this sale has expired.

Icelandair Launches Fare Sale

Icelandair has some falls sale fares from Boston, New York and Seattle kicking in to various European destinations. A round trip between Boston and London, for example, costs $626 with taxes and fees included. 

The fares are available from Boston for flights between Nov. 1 and  Dec. 10; New York , Nov. 15 to Dec 16 ; and Seattle,  Oct. 25 to Dec 16 .  Technically this is indeed a fall sale, but it seems more of a pre-winter sale to me.  Brrr.

The tickets must be booked by Aug. 26.  More details are available from airfarewatchdog.com and icelandair.com.

Las Vegas Rates In Orlando

The SpringHill Suites Convention Center in Orlando is offering accommodation via Travelzoo at $39 a night through Sept. 30, excluding Sept. 2 and 3, and otherwise subject to availability.

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Six Day Celebrity Cruise: $514

A friend is looking for a low-stress vacation this fall, so I went poking around and found a nice bargain on a cruise.

The Celebrity Summit is repositioning from the Northeast, where it has been doing Canada and Bermuda cruises, to the Caribbean on Oct. 24. The ship will sail from  Bayonne, New Jersey,  proceed to Bermuda for an overnight stay and then sail to St. Thomas and  Puerto Rico.

Inside cabins are listed at $399 a person, which comes out to $514 with taxes and fees. That’s a terrific itinerary at $85 a day for a cruise line that’s on the upscale side of the mass-market lines.

Of course, you’d have to buy transportation back from Puerto Rico.  JetBlue has one-way fares in the $200 range to JFK and LaGuardia. Unfortunately, fares to Bradley are substantially higher right now.

Southwest Sale For Fall Travel

Traveling domestically this fall? Southwest Airlines is having one of its better sales for flights between Sept. 8 and Nov. 17.

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Careful Priceline Bidding Yields Bonus

Two things to know about bidding for hotel rooms on Priceline:
1) There’s no substitute for doing the homework;
2) Sometimes when you do the homework, you get a little bonus!
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Companion Tickets: Not Always Worth The Trouble

I just flew to San Diego and back on a $99 companion ticket that my husband gets each year with his Delta American Express card. On our return, I found an offer of a “free airline companion ticket” from American Express Publishing that had arrived in the mail. 

In the first case, we saved some money — but the deal wasn’t as good as it first appeared. And in the second case, after doing some research online, I figured the ticket wasn’t worth the trouble of signing up for it.

As it turns out, these offers don’t always offer value. And when they do, it can take some work and flexibility to squeeze the value out of them.

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Consumer Reports Dishes On Hotels

The June issue of Consumer Reports magazine has the results of an extensive reader survey on hotels.

The full results are available only to subscribers, but the Consumer Reports website has an interesting summary that’s available to non-subscribers.

Among the findings:

• Upscale chains continue to offer big promotional discounts
• Readers who reported bargaining with hotel staff for a lower rate said they were often successful at getting a discount
• Most budget hotel chains were rated a poor value, with the clear exception of the Microtel chain

Weekend Car Rentals: $15 Per Day (Plus Taxes And Fees)

Budget car rental is offering compact cars for $15 a day, Thursday through Monday. You must reserve by Sunday, May 9, for a rental before June 30, and the rental period must include a Saturday night.

Taxes and fees are, of course, extra. For example, a compact car rented from Thursday to Sunday at Bradley International Airport will cost $45 for three days, plus 26.37 in taxes and fees for a total of $71.37.

Travelzoo, which is promoting the deal, has a nice summary of the details. Budget has all the fine print. Use code R222505.

New England Wilderness Adventure Deals

The Appalachian Mountain Club is offering some discounts on visits to its rustic lodging in New Hampshire and Maine this summer.

Some of the deals involve lodges that visitors can drive up to and others are for “huts” that require a hike in. Backpackers may travel between huts and lodges and combine their stays for a discount.

One package provides a fifth night of lodging free and another offers a discount of 10 percent for three nights or more. Saturdays are excluded. Rates and taxes vary a bit from place to place, but the bottom line is about $350 per adult for a five-night stay, which includes breakfast and dinner daily. There is a significant discount for children under 12.