Between now and January 29, 2009, British Airways is offering their ‘London for Free’ promotion. Book a flight for travel between now and the end of June and your trip will include a free stay of up to two nights at selected hotels. Interested? See below for more details!

Thinking of taking a vacation abroad but afraid you don’t have the dough? London might be a perfect choice, as it offers attractions and culture-rich activities for visitors that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

Start the trip off right by flying to London on British Airways for as little as $312 roundtrip if you book between now and January 29 and receive a free stay for up to two nights at selected three and four star hotels (based on double occupancy; single occupants receive one free night). For additional savings, travelers can register and book online at www.ba.com for $20 off each roundtrip ticket.

But once you’re there, what to do? After you’ve booked your ticket online, head over to www.metrotwin.com and get the inside scoop from local Londoners in-the-know on where to eat, play and shop. For example:

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We have a tradition in our family – despite living thousands of miles apart.  About 25 of our extended family gets together every year for Thanksgiving. The destination changes depending on the year - this year’s destination is 3,000 miles away, so I’ll be flying.

Thanksgiving is the busiest travel holiday of the year, so air travel can be a bit of a challenge.  To make your trip go more smoothly, here are a few travel tips:

Avoid traveling on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving
Because this is the peak travel day of the year, airfares tend to be at their highest. You’ll save money on airfare and avoid the largest crowds by traveling a day or two before this or on Thanksgiving morning. (more…)

For those well-heeled travelers out there who normally fly first class – good news - there’s a new, even more luxurious option for you.  Singapore, Emirates and Qantas Airlines are offering passengers private suites on some select international flights.  With the availability of the superjumbo Airbus A380 – the largest passenger airline to date - first class passengers have more space then ever before. 

If you opt for a private suite, you can sleep in a real bed and relax in a leather reclining chair with a 23” flat screen TV.  For entertainment, you can choose from hundreds of TV shows, movies or browse the internet while you enjoy some fine cuisine. 

From a green perspective, the superjumbo also claims to be more fuel efficient, quieter and produces less carbon emissions than a comparable plane of its size. 

How much does it cost to fly in a suite? The ticket price for the round-trip flight I started to book from San Francisco to Tokyo on Singapore Airlines was almost $17,000.

The superjumbo boasts two large bathrooms (at least by airplane standards), so you can take a shower and change into fresh clothes before you reach your destination, where undoubtedly some paparazzi will be photographing your  arrival! 

Swarovski chandeliers, a champagne bar, spa treatments and private cabanas aren’t normally what come to mind when I think of an airport terminal.  However that’s what premium passengers of British Airways’ (BA) will be able to enjoy at Terminal 5 in London beginning next month.

The $8.8 billion state of the art terminal opens on March 27, 2008 and British Airways’ lounge complex, known as ‘Galleries’ is the largest and most luxurious in the world. It is for the exclusive use of up to 2,500 British Airways premium passengers and top tier frequent flyer members.

British Airways’ premium passengers will be able to enjoy 15 minutes of ‘heaven on earth’ in Terminal 5 before they fly.  The airline’s new spa partner Elemis has developed an exclusive range of treatments to revive or relax which include facials, foot, head, shoulder and back massages.

The Elemis Travel Spa will offer “Flying Facials” - four types of customized flying facials to combat the dehydrating effects of flying:  the Flight Rehydrator, the S.O.S. Skin Saver, the Skin Thirst Quencher and the Anti-Age Wrinkle Control. 

British Airways’ frequent flyers can also cool down with a glass of bubbly at the Gold bar featuring intricate gold leafing or shop in any one of 100 boutiques and restaurants including Harrods, Prada, Tiffany & Co. and Mulberry.  

April 7th update:  So far Terminal 5 is off to a rocky start. Since its opening on March 27, hundreds of flights have been cancelled and thousands of bags lost. Once it can handle the basics smoothly and efficiently, maybe passengers will begin to notice their luxurious surroundings. 

Links: Terminal 5

Of all the things I need to spend money on when I travel, a rental car is at the bottom of my list.  I just want something that I can rely on to get me to the places I want to visit.  I’ve found that I can usually do a quick search with Expedia and find a car rental in most cities for about $20 a day.  At those rates, I don’t give a car rental a second thought.

I wish I could say the same for renting a car in Florida.  For some reason, Florida car rates are in a league of their own – Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando all run between $50-70 a day.  With these rates you might find yourself staring at the screen saying, this can’t be right!

Fortunately, these prices are merely a wish list for the rental agencies and there are ways to avoid paying the astronomical prices with a few extra minutes of searching. This is what I’ve learned from my travels to Florida — don’t rent without first combing the web for car rental discount codes.  When I rented a car in Ft. Meyers, FL a few months ago, Googling “car rental discount codes” instantly saved me $60 off a 3 day car rental.  (more…)

I’ve always been a carry-on person when it comes to flying.  The less luggage the better.  I guess it’s due to one too many trips with lost or delayed luggage, but in any case, I’d sooner skip the wait at baggage claim and be on my way to the fun stuff. 

So the recent changes to carry-on rules have just made my traveling a little more complicated. Because the recent terrorist plot in England was planned with liquid explosives, we can no longer carry-on some of the things we take for granted.   

I checked the rules at the TSA and here’s the current list of items not allowed in a carry-on bag when flying within the United States:

No liquids or gels of any kind are allowed.
That means no: 

• water bottles or other carry-on drinks
• moisturizers, suntan lotion or facial toner
• shampoo, conditioner or hair gel
• tooth paste, perfume or contact lens solution

No items that could be used as a weapon.  list

It doesn’t mean you can’t pack these things in a checked suitcase, but I’ll have to decide which is less inconvenient – checking luggage or buying new toiletries on every trip. 

[ Via  U.S. Transportation Security Administration]

Here are some highlights from July:

• The Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
• Summer Travel Specials
• Local Getaway - have fun in your own home town
• Summer Entertainment Sampler
• Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, Oregon)
• Win a trip to France!
• Top Ten Bakeries
• Organizing a Girls Trip? Check out TripHub.
• San Juan Islands, Washington
• When the Girl is away…
• San Juan Island Lavender Festival
• Who’s the queen of chick flicks?

Summer may be half over, but it’s not too late to take advantage of summer specials. Expedia is offering some summer package deals that include airfare and 3 nights of hotel accommodations. 

Here are some of the deals for air + 3 nights stay (prices per person):

Orlando	$238
Orange County	$510
Honolulu	$444
San Francisco	$368
Miami	$333
Las Vegas	$495
Chicago	$495
New York City	$456
San Diego	$508
Boston	$485

For more details on summer packages, see Expedia’s web site.