Southwest is revving up tourist-luring discounts for Orlando, FL vacations. The new “Super Deal” program shaves $150 off a seven-night Southwest Vacations package that includes airfare and starts at $35 to $57 per person nightly, based on availability and city of origin, with four people sharing a room at the Sheraton Safari or the DoubleTree near Universal Orlando Resort. Plus, each passenger can check two bags for free.

In time for Valentine’s Day, a handful of upscale hotel brands including Fairmont and RockResorts are offering Twitter-only discounted rooms and packages at resorts in the Caribbean, California, Colorado, and Florida.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants has a San Francisco hotel sale going, with eight hotels are participating. The Harbor Court Hotel and Hotel Triton start at $85 per night, and the Prescott, Cypress and Sir Francis Drake hotels start at $89 per night. The Serrano Hotel starts at $95.

USA Today reported today on loyalty bonuses from Marriott, Hilton and Loews, including Marriott’s “MegaBonus” promo beginning in Feb. 1st that lets members who register for the promo earn 2,500 bonus points with each paid stay, up to 25,000 bonus points.

Pauline Frommer suggests four great low-cost getaways on Good Day New York today to help you plan an affordable vacation. Her suggestions include finding the cheapest rates on Carnival cruises, Outdoor camping, and vacation packages to Cancun.

Paul Wade and Kathy Arnold in today’s Telegraph offer ten money-saving tips for travel in the USA, such as an 11-night package with Premier Holidays with visits to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Hawaii from £1,269 per person, including all flights and accommodation.

The Tamarijn Aruba Resort’s All-Inclusive deal offers fun, food, drinks, and a stunning location for a perfect island getaway from $899 for five nights, including airfare. Swim laps in the pool, borrow a resort bike to explore, or visit underwater worlds with a snorkel and fins. Floats and equipment for non-motorized watersports such as Sunfish sailing, canoeing, and snorkeling are part of the all-inclusive package.

And if you’d like to stay up-to-date with the latest breaking travel deals, you can follow us at @BesTravelDeals and subscribe to the blog’s RSS Feed.

Las Vegas-Grand Canyon helicopter tour now 41% off. The four-and-a-half-hour tour includes a helicopter ride (45 minutes each way) with views of the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Las Vegas Strip en route between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Guests will also get a ride on a horse-drawn wagon to the Grand Canyon West Ranch where they’ll be served a western meal and be entertained by cowboys.

USA Today is reporting that, effective today through Jan. 4 2010, travelers can buy tickets for the 48 contiguous states and Canada at the last minute without necessarily paying more. The airlines that waived their advance purchase requirements are American Airlines, United, Delta, Northwest, US Airways, Frontier, AirTran and Midwest.

$99 a night for this Atlanta 4-Star Boutique Hotel. The property features a state-of-the-art fitness center and the re-concept-ed Terrace restaurant, offering farm fresh American cuisine. The hotel also offers complimentary evening wine receptions and coffee each morning.

$384 for a 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise from Costa Cruise Lines. Offer is good through January 15th for travel from January 24th through January 31st, and visits the islands of Saint Thomas, San Juan Port, and Grand Turks before returning to Port Everglades, FL.

$149 a night for an AAA 4-Diamond Top-Rated Dallas Hotel. The Palomar is listed on the Conde Nast “Hot List” (2007) and the “Best Dallas Boutique Hotel” by Citysearch. It’s located in downtown Dallas and rooms include FREE wireless Internet access, goldfish, and a plasma TV.

$119 per person each night at this Florida Gold List Resort. The offer includes a free round of golf for one person per night at the resort, a $95 value. Both golf courses at the Marriott Bay Point Golf Resort & Spa were voted by readers of Corporate and Incentive Travel Magazine as a “Greens of Distinction Winners”.

Adults-Only Mexico Resort from $359 a night in Riviera Maya, Mexico this winter. For a limited time only, this opulent all-inclusive beachfront resort is slashing its nightly prices to $120 off standard rates! Plus, El Dorado Royale is giving its guests $500 worth of resort credit. Just be sure to book soon. Although travel is valid from January 4 through February 28, this offer expires December 22.

Stay for three or four nights Dec. 18-31, including Christmas and New Years Eve, for $79 per night at the Element Lexington hotel, just outside of Boston, MA. Element is a new concept hotel by Westin offering open-layout public spaces and eco-friendly design, and this offer includes a full hot breakfast daily (and there are additional last-minute Christmas travel deals here on BestTravelDeals.net).

Save Up to 20% on a Ski Vacation at Steamboat, Colorado with the Champagne Powder Family Package Sale offering up to 20% off lodging, lift tickets, and ski rentals, plus a $100 resort credit, and a $25 American Express Gift card. The discount applies to all Steamboat lodgings, including premium accommodations such as the Steamboat Grand and the ski-in/ski-out Sheraton Steamboat Resort.

NY Times Ski Guide for 2010 has been published highlighting the best deals for skiers across the US and Canada. New York’s Big Tupper, Utah’s St. Regis Deer Crest Resort, and Breckenridge, Colorado’s Grand Lodge on Peak 7 are only a few of the many locations.

Dallas-Area Hotel with breakfast & Internet starting at $99 a night. The hotel also offers a full-service spa, 24-hour fitness center, pool and whirlpool, and a sauna. It’s located near golf courses, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Forth Worth Cultural District.

$195 a night for the luxurious San Diego-Area Resort L’Auberge Del Mar, one of Conde Nast Traveler’s Top 100 Hotels in the World. The resort is mere steps from the beaches at Del Mar, about 20 minutes north of San Diego.

$166 a night Holiday Sale at the Upscale Lenox Hotel in Boston, where each accommodation features a dedicated work area with full writing desks, ergonomic chairs, complimentary wireless internet, clock radios with CD players and flat screen televisions.

Orlando Unlimited Golf Package: between now and December 26, guests can book an unlimited golf package (valued at $225/day) at the deluxe resort for a mere $139 per person, per night.

$233 & up to Fly each way to Europe from across the US. Only one day left in this great airfare deal from Air Canada. Rates do vary, and the clock is ticking. Those headed to Europe for the New Years holiday will want to check out today’s Guardian Travel Section where there’s a comprehensive European New Years Eve Party Guide for ‘Romantics and Ravers’ highlighting great three-night vacations to Moscow, Berlin, Paris, Lisbon, and many other cities.

Rooms start at $99 per night for the Joie de Vivre hotel in San Francisco. This is a package which offers MOMA & cable car passes plus include: Ghirardelli Chocolate welcome gift, and 10% discount offer, plus $25 dinner certificate for Shanghai 1930 and 50% discount on two tickets to the San Francisco Symphony.

Up to 40% Off Weekends at the Grand Hyatt New York. This is a new weekend promotion January 3-March 31, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt New York that lets you enjoy full hotel amenities, plus providing an excellent place from which to explore all that NYC has to offer.

Check out Hawaii! Oahu New Year’s Eve Fireworks & Events 2009/2010 lists lots of things to do to bid a fond aloha to 2009 and welcome in 2010 this New Years Eve on Oahu. Leading up to New Years, find lodging for $89 & up in 4-Star Hotels in Waikiki.

Be sure to add any deals you may find to BestTravelDeals.net!

$183-$215 a night at the Millennium Broadway New York. Here calm mellows cosmopolitan. Ease balances edge. And the glow of Broadway beckons after a day of hard work or leisurely sightseeing. Millennium Broadway sets the stage for your most successful meetings and social events, not to mention the simple pleasures of a romantic getaway weekend, and with this deal you get %20 OFF the regular rates.

Norwegian Epic maiden voyage “Seven Night Inaugural Transatlantic Cruise” package includes two nights at the Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel in Paris, plus daily breakfast buffet and a half-day sightseeing tour, tickets for the Eurostar train to London, two nights at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge (to open in early 2010) in London, plus daily breakfast and a half-day sightseeing tour and seven nights of cruising, including most meals, most entertainment and some beverages.

Radisson LA Westside deal lets you save 30% on 3 Night stay. The hotel features 368 spacious and contemporary guestrooms including 3 suites, spa like amenities and all the comforts you would expect in our full service hotel. The hotel also offers accessible room types and is a pet friendly hotel.

Sherman’s Travel is reporting that the Le Grand Courlan Spa Resort is promoting a 5-night beach getaway with Travel by Spa Week from just $700 – a great price considering nightly rates alone can be as high as $170. Another great package deal they’re highlighting is the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater Beach. From now through January 5, this green resort is offering guests an outstanding Silver Bells, White Sands package with rates starting at $269/night.

Three great Chicago hotel deals, including the upscale Blake Hotel at 30% off, with rooms from $88 to $112 per night, and $76 per night with Chicago’s The Avenue Hotel Holiday Sale, and the Avenue is just steps away from Michigan Avenue’s “Magnificent Mile” offering the ultimate in world-class shopping, dining, arts and entertainment. The third hotel deal is a last-minute Christmas travel deal thru 12/14-12/28 for $90-$104 per night at the Dana Hotel and Spa in Chicago. Features personalized service with modern technology and luxurious furnishings to create luxury boutique hotel services unlike other Chicago boutique hotels.

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel is within walking distance to the National Mall and just one block from the Farragut North Metro Station. This hotel, which opened in 1925, has hosted every Presidential Inaugural Ball from Coolidge through Reagan, and is now offering $139 per night weekend stays at this historic, Washington DC 4-Diamond hotel.

Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado is featuring a $134 ski package with 2 Night stay, including weekends, through Dec. 17. Copper Mountain Resort is steps away from 2,450 acres of prime ski and snowboard terrain featuring 125 ski trails, but this deal expires very soon!

Another last minute deal is the $85 per night rate at an Orange County 4-Diamond Hotel. This offer is valid any day of the week from Dec. 18 through Jan. 7. Once this special ends, rates are expected to double.

Today’s best hotel deals for skiers is easily the $59 Rooms at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada during Peak Ski Season. It’s only two blocks from the gondola base at Heavenly Ski Resort, whose 4,800 acres of terrain receive an average snowfall of 360 inches per year. The recent blizzard dumped three feet of powder on Heavenly in the past week. For weeknights at the 532-room resort—which has seven restaurants, a heated, indoor pool, and a full-service spa—rates start at just $59 per night. These special prices are good for travel from January 3, 2010, through April 30, 2010.

We’re seeing lots of incredible deals being voted on for this year’s holiday season, and here’s three deals that deserve special attention.

The Grandest Christmas Package in Crested Butte, Colorado. For under a grand enjoy the “Last Great Colorado Ski Town” this holiday season and create memorable moments with friends and family while saving a bundle. This holiday season a family of four can enjoy 4 nights of lodging at the Grand Lodge and 3 days of skiing or riding. The limited time package is perfect for families and makes a holiday ski vacation affordable on any budget.

We’ve posted about Myrtle Beach before, but these deals were too good to pass up. Christmas travel deals for 2009 include Myrtle Beach hotels for the holidays starting at just $26 a night. Myrtle Beach is home to many tourist attractions, notably Family Kingdom Amusement Park, a sea-side amusement park, Freestyle Music Park (formerly Hard Rock Park), and the diverse Broadway at the Beach, which features many shopping, tourism, and dining options.

And speaking of shopping, last-minute tax-free shopping trips to New Hampshire! Franconia Notch Vacations invites you to NH for some Tax-Free Christmas Shopping and early season skiing by offering one free nights lodging with every 2 night stay at any participating professionally managed Vacation Rental Homes. (Offer good on til December 21st.) Located in the heart of NH’s White Mountains and surrounded by 3 major ski areas plus lots of tax free shopping, there is no better place to get that holiday shopping out of the way.

The Aspen I’ve always thought of is the snow-covered stage for celebrities to show of their skiing skills (or newest couture outfit). In the fall, however, when the leaves change, Aspen is quite a different stage set. I’m a fall baby (September 14th) so I always have a soft spot for the change of seasons. This year, I’m considering treating myself to an adventure in the Colorado Rockies to explore the beautiful leaves and scenery. The Gant in Aspen is offering a fall deal of 25% off  roomsbooked between September 1 and 30th. The Gant is located close enough to downtown that

you’ll be able to experience all the sites and attractions that Aspen has to offer – such as worldclass resturants and shopping – but is also secluded enough to provide for some peace and quiet.

Photo Credit: PhotoReb/Flickr

For fall enthusists who prefer to stay active, there are plenty of events around Aspen to keep you on your toes. From September 18 – 20 there is the Snowmass Balloon Festival - you can also take balloon rides year round to get a birdseye view of the Rockies.  That same weekend, there’s the Aspen RuggerFest where Rugby champions from all

over the state gather to test their rugby skills. There’s also the Golden Leaf Half-Marathon where you can sign up to take in 13.1 miles of foliage at a marathon pace!

Photo Credit: PhotoReb/Flickr

Of course, many leaf-peepers prefer to meander through the woods, taking in the beautiful fall colors, smells and sounds. Aspen trees are known for their sunshine-like golden leaf colors. For an excellent drive, check out the Fall Foliage Guide.  This guide gives you routes all over the state of Colorado. For drives around Aspen, check out this Fall Foliage guide. And don’t forget your camera!

Mesa Verde means “green table” in Spanish. This Colorado oasis is known for the lush vegetation found around the park and the surrounding plateaus. Equipped with four restaurants, Mesa Verde National Park is known for celebrating organic and sustainable regional cuisine.

One of the parks restaurants, the Far View Lodge, recently announced the addition of Executive Chef Brian Puett, whose specialty is creating contemporary heritage foods from the original inhabitants of the Mesa Verde area, has created a to-die-for signature dessert “Napoleon Looking West.” This tasty treat consists of locally-grown seasonal fruit that is grilled, layered with sweet mascarpone cream, crispy wontons and given just a hint of java-caramel sauce. Sound good? Well now is the time to go and experience for yourself. 

Dinner with a View at Mesa Verde

 To celebrate the new flavor’s of Chef Puett, Far View will be hosting a series of workshops called “Taste of the Mesa.” These workshops will feature a chef’s demonstration and wine tasting along with a four-course Chef’s Table dinner with paired wines and a souvenir engraved wine glass. There will also be a guided, half-day tour of Mesa Verde’s ancient sites, cliff dwelling and farming terraces. The three-day package also includes two nights accommodations inside Mesa Verde National Park. Packages are available Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2009, and Oct.11-13, 2009.

Sunset in Mesa Verde

If you’re more of an explorer then a foodie, Mesa Verde can still be an excellent vacation destination. As a designated “top high-elevation hotel,” Far View Lodge is offering the “Soaring Savings” package. This package includes a one-night stay at the lodge, a half-day guided tour of Cliff palace and a continental breakfast for two at a 20% savings.

Ancient Ruins at Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde has a rich history that thousands of years old. In the 1760s and 1770s, European explorers founded the plateaus while finding a route from Santa Fe to California. Of course, the ancient Native American villages that surrounded the land masses weren’t discovered until nearly 100 years later. With wonderful rock formations and this rich history, the area is a photographers dream. Located in the southwestern corner of Colorado, the region has a Native American feel while maintaining the famous Colorado lushness. While you’re there, taking a walk through the Mesa Verde State Park can yield beautiful surprises – make sure you take a camera!