Scouting the best airfares, hotels, cruises and vacation packages

JetBlue 2-day sale: $29 and $39 OW fares out of Long Beach (LGB)

March 23, 2010 11:25am

Here’s the sale you’ve been waiting for,  Southern Californians. JetBlue Airways’ “2-Day Sample Sale” started Tuesday morning and runs through Wednesday, March 24,  for spring travel. Grab fares as low as $29 each way to San Francisco or Oakland out of Long Beach. One-way fares to Las Vegas are only $39 each way. There are eight destinations with fares under $100 each way. But hurry, these fares are going to disappear quickly.

When: Book by March 24 for travel between April 13 and June 16.

Sample one-way sale fares from Long Beach (LGB)

$29 San Francisco (SFO), Oakland (OAK)

$39 Las Vegas (LAS)

$49  Sacramento (SAC)

$89 Salt Lake City (SLC), Portland, Ore. (PDX), Seattle (SEA)

$99 Austin, Texas (AUS)

$109 Chicago (ORD)

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Senior deal: It pays to be 80 or older at this Manhattan hotel

March 23, 2010 5:57am

This deal makes Manhattan a magnet for gray panthers and may inspire youngsters to ask grandparents to help them take a bite out of the Big Apple.

Deal: The New Yorker Hotel is celebrating its 80th birthday with an “$80 Over 80 Program” in which seniors age 80 or older pay $80 per night,  pretax. The rate is for one queen bed, based on single or double occupancy; two doubles cost $30 more per night.

The room reservation must be in the name of the 80-plus senior, who must show valid identification, with birth date, upon check-in. If guests can’t prove they’re octogenarians, their rate will be changed to the best available rate. The rate is valid for new bookings only, subject to availability.

A recent makeover costing more than $65 million has increased modern comforts at the New Yorker Hotel and restored its Art Deco features. Guests can now enjoy plush bedding, along with complimentary Wi-Fi, flat-panel HD TVs, free HBO and more

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San Diego Wild Animal Park expands ‘Journey Into Africa’ tour

March 22, 2010 3:50pm

Construction is winding down and animals are beginning to populate four new habitats along the “Journey Into Africa” tram tour at San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park.

The new African animal exhibits have been added to the first third of the 30-minute tour as part of a $4-million expansion.

Among the additions:

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Flights to Costa Rica only $249 RT in April and May

March 22, 2010 10:36am

When I got online Monday morning, I began to surf my favorite travel-deal websites. I didn’t get far, because the Airfare Watchblog stopped me in my tracks. First, the site’s George Hobica was on video talking about how to land an airfare deal. Panic set in when I saw that I had missed an Airfare Watchdog deal last Thursday. Flights to Costa Rica were only $249 round trip, including tax, between Los Angeles (LAX) and San Jose (SJO) on Mexicana Airlines. Would that deal still be good?

I clicked through to Orbitz’s flexible-search feature for April and May, and sure enough, it was.

Sample dates for $249 RT flights between LAX-SJO

April 13-20; April 14-23; April 15-23; April 18-26; April 20-27

May 6-13; May 9-18; May 10-17; May 16-23; May 19-26;

Note that other round-trip fares for this route varied between $370 and $1,080 in April on Orbitz.

More info: Airfare Watchdog Los Angeles to San Jose, Costa Rica

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

Photo: Red-eyed tree frog in a Costa Rican rain forest . Credit: Bruce / Your Scene ,  Los Angeles Times

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London: Flights + hotel package leaves money in your pocket for fun

March 22, 2010 5:57am

Whether you want to ride the London Eye, above, or see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, this deal gets you to London for less, with lodging too. Can you hear Big Ben chiming for you?

Deal: I was able to find prices on Virgin Vacations’ six-night “4-Star London” air-hotel package starting at less than $1,200,  taxes included, for departures from Los Angeles in spring and fall. Packages are based on double occupancy and include round-trip airfare on Virgin Atlantic or other available carriers, lodging at the Thistle City Barbican hotel and free breakfast.

Dates: March through May and September through November,  depending on availability. Summer and holiday rates are higher.

Tested: I found good availability. By clicking on various dates on the Virgin Vacations website, I found a price of $1,147 per person (or $2,294 total for two) for departures on April 28, May 12, Sept. 15 and Oct. 12. On these dates, flights were nonstop on Virgin Atlantic. Some other departures required connecting flights and cost more.

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Oregon: Get paid $50 to stay at Portland hotels

March 21, 2010 6:57am

As if travelers need a bribe to go to Portland, Ore. (well, maybe in the winter), promoters are  wooing would-be tourists with a “Portland Perks” incentive package. For the second year in a row, travelers get spoiled with goodies such as free breakfast, parking, museum tickets and dining coupons. To take the royal treatment one step further, Travel Portland, the nonprofit organization that markets the city, is offering an extra $50 — in cold, hard cash — when you stay at one of 18 participating hotels.

Deal: Book your hotel stay through the Travel Portland website before April 25 and travel before May 9 to get the “Portland Perks” discount coupon book upon check-in.  A total of 39 hotels are participating in this offer (although only 18 of them are giving away $50). Besides free continental breakfast for two and free parking (valued at $20 or more per night), you get, among other extras:

> $20 dinner certificate at Heathman Restaurant & Bar
> Two-for-one admission at the Lan Su Chinese Garden, Pittock Mansion, Oregon History Museum, Portland Art Museum and NW Film Center
> 20% off the “Best of Portland” walking tour
> Two free admissions to the Museum of Contemporary Craft
> $25 off any purchase of $100 or more at Mercantile Portland
> $5 off a purchase of $25 or more at the vast Powell’s City of Books

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Why don’t cruise lines notify passengers of itinerary changes?

March 20, 2010 7:02am

On The Spot by L.A. Times Travel editor Catharine Hamm

Question: I was booked on a Carnival Cruise to Catalina and Ensenada, Mexico, during the week of a big storm. When I got to the port, I learned the itinerary had been changed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, because of weather. I was seasick for two days because of the high seas. If I had known, I might have skipped the cruise. Why don’t cruise lines notify passengers of itinerary changes as airlines do?

— Julie Bixby, Huntington Beach

Answer: Because there’s no real reason to do so, at least, not until customers or business considerations demand it.

Airlines constantly deal with all sorts of issues — weather, equipment, personnel — that can result in gate changes, delays or cancellations. Not so the cruise lines.

But, you may argue, wouldn’t a port change alter your trip? Its character, perhaps, but probably not its logistics. And remember, under its ticket contract, the cruise line can change its port of call at will. Translation: No refunds.

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Skype adds access to Wi-Fi hotspots around the world — free for launch March 20-21

March 19, 2010 6:07pm

There’s nothing more frustrating for wired travelers than having no Wi-Fi access or expensive Wi-Fi  on the road. You’ve been there. You’re rushing to make your flight when you realize that you still have one last e-mail to send. You turn on your laptop and discover you’re in an airport that charges for Internet access — if it’s available at all. And the trouble is, you needed to be online for only about five minutes. You don’t want to buy into an ongoing membership plan, but you succumb to the high daily rate just for those few minutes. Starting Saturday, you’ll be able to wipe away that Wi-Fi rage.

That’s when Skype, the Internet software best known for enabling free video and phone calls around the world, will launch a groundbreaking pay-per-minute Wi-Fi feature called Skype Access. Skype users can check their e-mail, surf the Web or make Skype video and phone calls at more than 100,000 paid Wi-Fi hotspots around the globe by using their Skype Credit with Skype Access.

Free Wi-Fi: To celebrate the launch, Skype Access will be free March 20 and 21. After the promotional weekend, pay-per-minute Wi-Fi  will cost 19 cents a minute via Skype Access, debited from your Skype Credit account.  (To help fliers affected by this weekend’s labor strike at British Airways, Skype is extending the free access in Britain through March 22.)

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San Francisco: A gem of a show gets extended run

March 19, 2010 9:01am

San Francisco visitors are getting a golden opportunity to view fine pieces of jewelry, clocks and works of art during a Legion of Honor Museum exhibition titled “Cartier and America.” The show, originally scheduled to end April 18, has just been extended through May 9.

The Legion of Honor, one of San Francisco’s Fine Arts Museums, is an unusual Beaux Arts building in the city’s Lincoln Park that overlooks the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate Bridge and the city.  The current exhibit includes more than 200 pieces on loan from the Cartier Collection and private lenders.

To accommodate the expanded Cartier schedule, the museum’s next show, “Impressionist Paris: City of Light,” will now open on June 5 and close Sept. 26.  The Impressionist show includes more than 180 prints, drawings, photographs, paintings and illustrated book dating from the 1850s to the early 1900s.

Info: Fine Arts Museums, (415) 750-3600 .

— Rosemary McClure, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Photo: Cartier, Paris, Twin Chimera-head Bangle, 1961, platinum, white gold, yellow gold, pear-shaped and brilliant-cut diamonds, emerald cabochons, faceted emeralds, and carved and engraved coral. Credit: Nick Welsh / Cartier Collection

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Orbitz cruise sale: 13-night Alaska trip for $61 per day

March 19, 2010 5:58am

Spring is in the air and so are cruise sales. Orbitz is hosting a Spring Cruise Clearance with prices as low as $44 per night. The deals come from 19 cruise lines and cover destinations from the Caribbean to Europe and beyond. Many include extras such as cabin upgrades, on-board credit and deeper discounts for previous guests.

If you are looking for departures from California, the usual roundup of Mexican cruises are there (see below). I was looking for something a little different  while still offering value, and found this worthwhile Alaskan itinerary.

Deal: 13-Night Ultimate Alaska from $799 on Royal Caribbean will depart May 8 from San Diego, with inside staterooms starting at $799 per person, pretax, based on double occupancy. The ship, Radiance of the Seas, will visit San Francisco; Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Sitka, Alaska (and cruise Hubbard Glacier); and Nanaimo, Victoria and Vancouver (Canada Place) in Canada.

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