In the spirit of our previous post, The Ultimate List of Twitter Travel Accounts, we’ve created this twitter list of profiles that would be helpful to follow for people traveling to the Washington, DC area. If you have plans to go to DC for the Cherry Blossom festival or just for all the great things to do in DC these tweeple can provide insight into DC that you won’t find in the guidebooks. As with that post, we’re welcoming recommendations to these lists! Let us know by following us on Twitter (@BesTravelDeals) and contacting us there, or by leaving a note in the comments below.

DC Restaurants, Bars, & Venues

• Allmenus DC — @AllmenusDC
• 18th Street Lounge — @18thSTLounge
• 9:30 Club — @930ClubDC
• Adour Restaurant — @adourdc
• Asylum Bar & Lounge — @AsylumDC
• Bar Louie DC — @BarLouieDC
• Busboys and Poets — @busboysandpoets
• Circle Bistro — @CircleBistro
• Clyde’s — @Clydes
• CommonWealth Pub — @CommonWealthPub
• DC Clubbing — @DCNightlife
• DC Improv — @DCimprov
• Dino Restaurant — @dinodc
• EAT Washington, DC — @EatDC
• Eatonville Restaurant — @Eatonville
• Gin and Tonic Tavern — @GandT_Tavern
• Kennedy Center — @KenCen
• Kramerbooks/Afterwords Cafe & Grill — @KramersCafe
• L’Enfant Cafe-Bar — @LEnfantCafeBar
• La Tasca — @latascadc
• Mandu — @ManduDC
• MetroMix DC — @MetroMixDC
• MetroWeekly Nightlife — @MWNightlife
• Paolos Georgetown — @paolos_gtown
• Perry’s Restaurant — @PERRYSdc
• Pete’s New Haven DC — @petes_newhaven
• Pitango Gelato — @PitangoGelato
• Science Club — @ScienceClub
• Sticky Rice DC — @StickyRiceDC
• Theater J — @TheaterJ
• Verizon Center — @VerizonCenterPR
• Vinoteca — @VinotecaDC
• Wildfire Restaurant — @WildfireRest

Things to Do in DC

• Bands in DC — @BandsInDC
• DC Area Trail Status — @DCTrails
• DC Live — @LiveDC
• DC Jazz Festival — @DCjazzfest
• DC Theatre & Performing Arts — @DCtheatre
• DC Central Kitchen — @dcck
• Eastern Market DC — @EasternMarketDC
• Free in DC — @FREEinDC & @FreeinDCBlog
• Film DC — @DCFilmOffice
• The Spy Museum — @IntlSpyMuseum
• Honfleur Gallery — @HonfleurGallery
• Library of Congress — @LibraryCongress
• National Zoo — @NationalZoo
• US Holocaust Museum — @HolocaustMuseum
• Newseum: Museum of News — @Newseum
• The Smithsonian — @Smithsonian
• Air & Space Museum — @AirAndSpace
• American History Museum — @amhistorymuseum
• National Museum of Natural History — @NMNH
• American Art Museum — @AmericanArt
• Sinergy — @SinergyDC
• Sweets and Tweets — @SweetsandTweets
• Things To Do DC © — @thingstododc
• What’s the Deal DC — @whatsthedealdc

Places to Stay in DC

• St. Regis Hotel DC — @StRegisDC
• Clarion Hotel — @ShannaCockrell
• Doubletree DCA — @DoubletreeCC
• Embassy STE DC Metro — @EmbassyDCMetro
• Embassy Suites D.C. — @ESWashingtonDC
• Four Seasons DC — @FSWashington
• Georgetown Suites — @Gtownsuites
• Hamilton Crowne — @Hamiltoncrowne
• Hilton Washington — @HiltonWash
• Hyatt Washington — @Hyattwashington
• Mandarin Oriental DC — @MO_WashingtonDC
• The Liaison — @AffiniaDC
• Sofitel Washington DC — @SofitelDC
• Willard Hotel — @WillardHotel

Local & Regional News

• A.V. Club DC — @AVClubDC
• City Paper DC — @WCP
• DCist — @DCist_Updates
• DC Local News — @dcwire
• DC Twestival — @dctwestival
• District Dept of Transportation — @DDOTDC
• District Insider — @DistrictInsider
• Fishbowl DC — @FishbowlDC
• Greg’s List DC — @GregsListDC
• Going Out Guide — @goingoutguide
• Groupon DC — @groupondc
• Happn.in dc — @happn_in_dc
• LivingSocial: DC — @LivingSocialDC
• Metro Weekly — @metroweekly
• NBC Washington — @dcscene, @nbclocaldc
• The Scene — @TheSceneBisnow
• Washington DC News — @washdcnews
• Washington DC Weather Alerts — @d_c_alerts
• Washington DC Weather — @WshDCweather
• Washington Flyer — @WashingtonFlyer
• Washingtonian — @washingtonian
• Washington Life — @washingtonlife
• Washington Post — @washingtonpost

DC Tweeples & Bloggers

• Brightest Young Things — @BrightestYoung
• Capital Spice — @CapitalSpice
• Catherine Andrews — @CAndrews
• DC Social Lifestyle — @DCSocialLifeSty
• Debbie Weil — @DebbieWeil
• Erin Hartigan — @emerock
• FrenchTwist DC — @FrenchTwistDC
• Karen Hart — @washingtondcist
• Lisa Byrne — @Dceventjunkie
• Living in the District — @livingindc
• Mark Indre — @MarkIndre
• Mellie — @CarpeDC
• Music DC — @MusicDC
• Nathan Smoyer — @Secret_DC
• Peter Corbett — @Corbett3000
• ReadysetDC — @ReadySetDC
• Sacha Cohen — @goinggreendc
• Shana Glickfield — @DCconcierge
• The District Dish — @thedistrictdish
• TrendyDC — @TrendyDC
• We Love DC — @WeLoveDC
• Yelp DC — @YelpDC
• Zena Polin — @zenap

We’ve put together a comprehensive list of travel accounts on Twitter. Whether you’re looking for a specific airline’s Twitter account or want to browse through some travel blog accounts, here you’ll find a wealth of Twitter profiles related to the travel industry.

• Air Asia (Malaysa-based airline) – @AirAsiaDotcom
• airBaltic (Latvia-based airline) — @air_baltic
• Air France (France-based airline) — @AirFranceUS
• Air New Zealand (New Zealand-based airline) — @FlyAirNZ
• Alaska Airlines (U.S.-based airline) — @AlaskaAir
• Allegiant Air (U.S.-based low-cost airline) –@AllegiantAir
• American Airlines (U.S.-based airline) — @AAirwaves
• British Airways (UK-based airline) — @BritishAirways
• Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong-based airline) — @CathayPacific
• Cebu Pacific Air (Philippine-based airline) — @ CebuPacific5J
• Continental Airlines (U.S.-based airline) — @Continental
• Delta Airlines (U.S.-based airline) — @DeltaAirlines
• easyJet (European low-cost airline) — @easyJetCare, @easyJet, @easyJet_insider
• Emirates (Middle Eastern airline) — @FlyingEmirates
• Garuda Indonesia (Indonesia-based airline) — @GarudaIndonesia
• Gulf Air (Bahrain-based airline) — @OfficialGulfAir
• Hawaiian Airlines (U.S.-based airline operated out of Hawaii) — @FlyHawaiian
• Iberia Airlines (Spain-based airline) — @IberiAirlines
• Jet Blue (U.S.-based low-cost airline) — @JetBlue
• Jetstar Airways (Australia-based low-cost airline) — @JetstarAirways
• Kenya Airways (Kenya-based airline) — @KenyaAirways
• KLM (Netherlands-based airline) — @KLM
• Lufthansa (Germany-based airline) — @Lufthansa_de
• Malaysia Airlines (Malaysia-based airline) — @MAS
• Mexican Air (Mexico-based airline) — @MexicanaAir
• Philippine Airlines (Philippine-based airline) — @flyPAL
• Qantas (Australia-based airline) — @QantasUSA
• Scandinavian Airline (Sweden-based airline) — @FlySAS_com
• Singapore Airlines (Singapore-based airline) — @SQairlines
• Southwest Airlines (U.S.-based airline) — @SouthwestAir
• Spirit Airlines (U.S.-based low-cost airline) — @SpiritAirlines
• Sun Country Airlines (U.S.-based low-cost airline) — @SunCountryAir
• Swiss Airlines (Switzerland-based airline) — @SwissAirlines
• TAM Airlines (Brazil-based airline) — @TAMairlines
• United Airlines (U.S.-based airline) — @UnitedAirlines
• Virgin America (U.S.-based low-cost airline) — @VirginAmerica
• Virgin Atlantic (UK-based airline) — @VirginAtlantic
• Virgin Blue/V Australia (Australia-based low-cost airline; trades as V Australia) — @VirginBlue, @VAustralia
• Viva Aerobus (Mexico-based low-cost airline) — @VivaAerobus
• Volaris (Mexico-based low-cost airline) — @viajaVolaris
• West Coast Air (Canada-based charter airline) — @WestCoastAir
• WestJet (Canada-based low-cost airline) — @WestJet

United States:

• Ackron-Canton Airport (Ackron, OH) — @CAKairport
• Atlanta International Airport (Atlanta, GA) — @atlanta_airport
• Bangor International Airport (Bangor, Maine) — @FlyBGR
• Boston Logan Airport (Boston, MA) — @BostonLogan
• Buffalo International Airport (Buffalo, NY) — @Buffalo_Niagara
• BWI Marshall Airport (Baltimore, MD) — @BWI_Airport
• Chicago Rockford International Airport (Rockford, IL) — @FlyRFD
• Cincinnati Airport (Cincinnati, OH) — @CVGAirport
• Cville Airport (Charlottesville, VA) — @CHOAirport
• Eastern Iowa Airport (Cedar Rapids, IA) — @crairport
• Eugene Airport (Eugene, OR) — @flyEUG
• Gateway Airport (Mesa, AZ) — @phxmesagateway
• Harrisburg International Airport (Middletown, PA) — @HIAairport
• Houston International Airport (Houston, TX) — @HOU
• Indianapolis Airport (Indianapolis, IN) — @INDairport
• Iowa City Airport (Iowa City, IA) — @ICAirport
• John Wayne Airport (Orange County, CA) — @JohnWayneAir
• Kansas City Airport (Kansas City, MO) — @KCIAirport
• LAX/Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles, CA) — @LAX_Official
• MidContinent Airport (Wichita, KS) — @FlyICT
• Midway Airport (Chicago, IL) — @MidwayAirport
• Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (Minneapolis, MN) — @mspairport
• Mitchell Airport (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) — @MitchellAirport
• Orlando International Airport (Orlando, FL) — @MCO
• Orlando-Melbourne International Airport (Melbourne, FL) — @MelbourneAirprt
• Pensacola Airport (Pensacola, FL) — @flypensacola1
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (Phoenix, AZ) — @PHXSkyHarbor
• Pittsburgh International Airport (Pittsburgh, PA) — @PITairport
• Raleigh-Durham International Airport (Raleigh, NC) — @RDUAirport
• Richmond International Airport (Richmond, VA) — @Flack4RIC
• Sacramento International Airport (Sacramento, CA) — @SacIntlAirport
• San Diego Airport (San Diego, CA) — @SanDiegoAirport
• San Francisco International Airport (San Francisco, CA) — @SFOgal
• Tri Cities Airport (Blountville, TN) — @triflight
• Tulsa International Airport (Tulsa, OK) — @tulsaairports
• Tuscon Airport (Tuscon, AZ) — @TucsonAirport
• Yeager Airport (Charleston, WV) — @YeagerAirport

Canada:

• Kelowna Airport (Kelowna, BC) — @ylwkelowna
• Ottawa International Airport (Ottawa, Ontario) — @FlyYOW
• Toronto Airport (Toronto, Ontario) — @YYZ
• Vancouver Airport (Vancouver, BC) — @YVR, @yvrairport

Latin America:

• Cancun Airport (Cancun, Mexico) — @cancun_airport

UK:

• Birmingham Airport (Birmingham, UK) — @bhx_official
• Farnborough Airport (Farnborough, UK) — @FarnboroughApt
• Gatwick Airport (West Sussex, UK) — @Gatwick_Airport
• Glasgow Airport (Glasgow, Scotland, UK) — @GLA_Airport
• Heathrow Airport (London, UK) — @HeathrowAirport, @LHR
• Liverpool Airport (Liverpool, UK) — @LPL_Airport
• London City Airport (London, UK) — @LondonCityAir
• Manchester Airport (Manchester, UK) — @manairport
• Newcastle Airport (Newcastle, UK) — @NCLAirport
• Southampton Airport (Southampton, UK) — @SOU_Airport

Europe:

• Arlanda Airport (Stockholm, Sweden) — @Arlanda
• Brussels Airlines -– @FlyingBrussels
• Charles de Gaulle Airport (Paris, France) — @CDG
• Dortmund Airport (Dortmund, Germany) — @DortmundAirport
• Hamburg Airport (Hamburg, Germany) — @HamburgAirport
• Munich Airport (Munich, Germany) — @MUC_Airport
• Nurnberg Airport (Nurnberg, Germany) — @airportnue
• Oslo Airport (Gardermoen, Norway) — @OsloAirport
• Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam, Netherlands) — @schipholairport

Asia:

• Bahrain Airport (Bahrain) — @bahrainairport
• Bankok Airport (Bankok, Thailand) — @bangkokairport
• Beijing International Airport (Beijing, China) — @PEK

• ACW Railway — @ACW_railway
• Amtrak — @Amtrak_ca
• Angels Flight Railway — @AngelsFlight
• BNSF — @BNSFcorp
• Canadian Pacific — @CPcareers
• CSX — @CSX
• Grand Canyon Rail — @GrandCanyonRail
• M&H Railroad — @MHrailroad
• NYC Trains — @NYCtrains
• Omaha Street Railway Company — @OmahaStRyCo
• Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) — @SFBART
• Snowdon Railway — @SnowdonRailway
• Union Pacific — @UnionPacific

• MARTA Atlanta, GA Transit — @MartaMarketing
• MBTA Boston Transit — @MBTANow
• Los Angeles Metro — @metrolosangeles
• New York City Transit Subway Service — @nyctsubwayscoop
• SEPTA, Philadelphia’s subway — @septa

• Advantage Rent a Car — @AdvantageRAC
• America VIP Car Rental — @AmericaVIP
• Budget Rent a Car — @BudgetRAC
• Dollar Car Rental — @DollarCars
• E-Z Rent a Car — @EZRentACar
• Fox Rent a Car — @foxrentcar
• Hertz — @ConnectByHertz
• National Car Rental — @nationalcares
• Payless Car Rental — @PaylessCar
• Thrifty — @ThriftyRentaCar

• Accor Hotels — AccorHotelsAPAC, @Accorhotels
• Affinia Hotels — @affiniahotels
• AmercInn Hotels — @AmericInn
• Best Western Hotels — @TheBestWestern
• Coast Hotels — @coasthotels
• Choice Hotels — @ChoiceHotels
• Courtyard Hotels — @CourtyardHotels
• Days Inn Hotels — @DaysInns
• Dolce Hotels — @Dolce_Hotels
• Doubletree Hotels — @doubletreehtls
• Embassy Suites — @Embassy_Suites
• Eurobookings.com — @Eurobookings
• Fairmont Hotels — @fairmonthotels
• Four Seasons Hotels — @FourSeasons
• Gala Hotels — @galahotels
• Hampton Hotels — @HamptonFYI
• Hard Rock Hotels — @HardRockHotels
• Hilton Garden Inns — @HGI_INNsider
• Hilton Hotels — @HiltonOnline
• Holiday Inns — @HardRockHotels
• Hyatt Concierge — @HyattConcierge
• Hyatt PR — @HyattPR
• Hyatt Resorts — @HyattResort
• InterContinental Hotel Group — @IHGPLC, @WorldConcierge
• Kimpton Hotels — @Kimpton
• LaQuinta Inns — @LQ
• Loews Hotels — @Loews_Hotels
• Luxor Hotel Casino — @LuxorLV
• Marriott Hotels — @Marriottintl
• Millennium Hotels — @MillenniumPR
• Morgans Hotel Group — @morganshotels
• Omni Hotels — @OmniHotels, @OmniHotelsPR
• Park Plaza Hotels — @ParkPlazaHotels
• Renaissance Hotels — @RenHotels
• Ritz Carlton — @Ritz_Carlton
• Sandals Resorts — @sandalsresorts
• Shilo Inns — @ShiloInnsHotels
• Starwood Hotels — @StarwoodBuzz
• Starwood Preferred Guest Account — @SPGInsider
• Trump Hotel — @TrumpCollection
• Tune Hotels — @tunehotels
• Wingate Hotels — @Wingatehotels

• Carnival Cruise Line — @CarnivalCruise
• Crystal Cruises — @crystalcruises
• Cunard Line — @cunardline
• Disney Cruises — @DCLnews
• Holland America Cruiseline — @HALcruises
• Norwegian Cruises — @NCLFreestyle
• Oasis and Allure — @OasisandAllure
• Princess Cruises — @PrincessCruises
• Royal Caribbean International — @royalcaribbean
• Silversea Cruises — @Silversea
• Viking River Cruises — @VikingRiver

• Dog Jaunt (how to travel with small dogs) — @dogjaunt
• Go Pet Friendly (pet travel tips) — @GoPetFriendly
• Pet Airways (official account of the popular cruise line) — @petairways
• Puppy Travel, a pet travel agent’s account –  @puppytravel
• World Pet Travel, U.S.-based pet transportation company –@WorldPetTravel

• 10best — @10best
• Cruise Critic — @CruiseCritic
• Conde Nast Traveller — @CNTraveler
• Fodor’s Travel — @fodorstravel
• Frommer’s Travel — @FrommersTravel
• Funnel Scope — @FunnelScopeNews
• Globetrooper — @globetrooper
• Go Planit — @goplanit
• GoWaza — @gowaza
• HotelChatter — @HotelChatter
• IgoUgo — @igougo_com
• London Times Travel -– @timestravel
• Make Travel Fair — @maketravelfair
• Oyster Hotel Reviews — @OysterHotels
• Rough Guides –- @RoughGuides
• ROW Adventures — @ROWadventures
• Travelbeen — @travelbeen
• Travelers Defense — @Travelersdefnse
• Trazzler — @trazzler
• Trip Advisor — @TripAdvisor
• Tripbod — @Tripbod
• UpTake — @UpTake
• Where I’ve Been — @WhereIveBeen

• 1-800-HOTELS — @1800HOTELS
• Airbnb — @airbnb
• AOL Travel — @aoltravel
• Bing Travel — @fareologist
• Booking Buddy — @BookingBuddy
• CheapFlights.com — @Cheapflightscom
• Euro Cheapo — @eurocheapo
• Expedia — @Expedia
• FareAir — @Fareair
• HostelWorld.com — @hostelworld
• Hotwire — @hotwire
• i-escape.com — @iescape
• Kayak — @Kayak
• LastMinute.com — @lastminute_com
• LowFares.com — @LowFaresDeals
• MoreHotels4Less — @morehotels4less
• Neckurlaub — @Neckurlaub
• Neckermann — @NeckermannDE
• OneTime — @onetimetravel
• OneTravel — @onetravel
• Orbitz — @Orbitz
• Pure Travel — @visitpuretravel
• Seasite — @Seasite
• Smith Boutique Hotel Directory — @smithhotels
• Tour About — @Tourabout
• TravelMuse — @TravelMuse
• Travelocity — @travelocity
• Urlaub.de — @urlaub_de
• Urban Adventures — @UrbanAdventures_
• VoyageTV — @VoyageTV
• Wego — @wego
• WHL Travel — @WHLTravel
• Wotif — @Wotif
• Yucatan Holidays — @YucatanHolidays

• Associated Content Travel — @AC_Travel
• Africa travel tips — @africatrip
• Travel tips from the Vacation Barefoot blog — @BarefootTips
• Best Travel Deals — @BesTravelDeals
• Brilliant Tips — @BrilliantTips
• Green travel tips — @cangreentravel
• Travel tips from Cheap Flights — @CheapflightsFAM
• Europe travel tips — @europetraveltip
• Travel tips from the Fun Times Guide — @FunTravelTips
• Go Go Trip tips — @gogotrip
• Go Local Travel — @golocaltravel
• Eco-conscious travel tips — @GoGreenTraveler
• Travel tips from I Stop Over — @istopover
• Local travel tips — @LocalTravelTips
• My Travel Tools — @MyTravelTools
• New York Guest — @NewYorkGuest
• NewYorkology (New York travel tips) — @newyorkology
• NY Times travel Q&A — @nytimestravelqa
• Travel tips from Park Ride Fly USA — @parkrideflyusa
• Travel tips from a pilot’s wife — @pilotswifetips
• Travel tips from a flight attendant — @Heather_Poole
• San Diego travel tips — @sdtips
• Short Travel Tips — @ShortTravelTips
• Tripwolf — @TripWolf
Europe travel tips — @tourtoeurope
• Travel tips from Travel_Easy — @Travel_easy
• Travel tips from riadkniza.com — @Travel_Tip
• Travel tips and deals — @traveltips4u
• Thai travel tips — @TravelTipsThai
• Travel tips from Travel Top 10 — @TravelTop10
• Travel tips from Wicked Good Travel Tips — @WGTravelTips
• Travel tips from Your Travel Tips — @yourtraveltips
• Wall Street Journal Travel Tips — @MiddleSeat

• 29travels — @29travels
• Almost Fearlerss — @almostfearless
• Amateur Traveller — @AmateurTraveler
• Away Blog — @awayblog
• Blog on Travel — @Blogontravel
• Bo Traveller — @botraveller
• CheapOair — @CheapOair
• Christoper Elliott — @elliottdotorg
• Co Travel Girl — @CoTravelGirl
• Cranky Flier — @crankyflier
• DeliciousBaby — @DeliciousBaby
• Dream of Italy — @dreamofitaly
• Frugal Travel Guy –- @FrugalTravelGuy
• Go Green Traveler — @gogreentraveler
• Green Travel Hub — @GreenTravelHub
• Grid Skipper — @gridskipper
• Hip Compass — @HipCompass
• Hole In The Donut — @HoleintheDonut
• Italy Art Travel — @ItalyArtTravel
• Italylogue — @Italylogue
• Jaunted — @jaunted
• Jet with Kids — @JetWithKids
• Kim Mance — KimMance
• LA Times Travel — @latimestravel
• Life Cruiser — @lifecruiser
• Matador Network — @MatadorNetwork
• Met Blogs — @metblogs
• Mother of all Trips — @motherofalltrip
• Nerd’s Eye View — @NerdsEyeView
• Open Travel — @Open_Travel
• Parks Traveler — @parkstraveler
• Rick Seaney — @rickseaney
• The Vacation Gals — @thevacationgals
• Tourist 2 Townie — @tourist2townie
• Trans-Americas — @TransAmericas
• Travel Freak — @travel_freak
• Travel Channel — @travelchannel
• Traveling Mamas — @travelingmamas
• Travel Muse — @TravelMuse
• TravelPod — @TravelPod
• Travel Post — @TravelPost
• Travel Rants — @travelrants
• Travel Savvy Mom — @travelsavvymom
• Vagablogging — @vagablogging
• Vagabondish — @vagabondish
• Wandermom — @wandermom
• Wanderlust and Lipstick — @wanderluster
• We Just Got Back — @WeJustGotBack
• WHL Travel Blog — @WHLtravelblog
• WritingTravel — @WritingTravel
• Worldhum — @worldhum
• Worldhum — @worldnomads

The Austrian Tourist Office is holding a contest called “Its Got to Be Austria Facebook Sweepstakes” where the winner chosen (and their guest) will receive a 7-day themed vacation package of their choice valued at $4500.

To enter the sweepstakes readers need only to become a fan of “Austria Official Travel Info” on Facebook.

The winner and a guest will receive a seven day themed vacation package of their choice valued at $4,500. The sweepstakes invites fans to explore all that Austria has to offer by choosing from vacations oriented toward “Food and Wine,” “Art, Architecture and Design,” “Nature, Outdoors and the Alps,” or “Classical Music and History.”

Facebook fans can receive an additional sweepstakes entry by tweeting about Austria on Twitter using the hashtag: #itsgottobeaustria. The contest runs now through January 15.

More information and official rules can be found at ItsgottobeAustria.com or via Facebook. Contest is open to residents of the U.S., 18 and over.

Twitter recently launched a Beta version of it’s new feature Twitter Lists.  This new feature allows tweeters to organize lists of people that others can easily follow.  Best Travel Deals is using this exciting new Twitter application and created a list of travel deal tweeters that we’d like to share with the travel community. We’ve named the list “Travel Deals” and it’s available here: @bestraveldeals/travel-deals.

With so many individuals and companies on Twitter it’s becoming increasingly difficult for travelers to distinguish sources for legitimate deals.  Our list includes some of the best sources for travel deals on Twitter. Many of the deals announced on Twitter are last minute and short term so being able to easily keep tabs on the latest travel tweets will help you score more last minute travel deals. From millions of Twitter users, we’ve hand-picked some of the most valuable travel deal tweeters and we will continue to update as we find more sources. We’re also open to suggestions – if you have a Twitter account that is primarily (at least 50%) focused on sharing legitimate travel deals, direct message @bestraveldeals and we’ll review and add you to our list or just leave us a comment with your Twitter ID.

This new feature is especially useful for Twitter newbies who can quickly become overwhelmed by the amount of “noise” fellow tweeters can make. The list feature allows users to keep tabs on topics without including those users in their Twitter feed. These lists are easy to find or create and they provide users with the option of tuning into the conversation (and tuning out!) at their leisure.  If you’d like to occasionally receive updates on a certain topic such as travel deals follow a list like @bestraveldeals/travel-deals or surf on over to listorious and search for lists on topics that interest you.

For so-called Twitter addicts, the sheer amount of information generated by the users they follow can be equally as overwhelming, especially if they tweet about many different topics. Savvy users have organized the users they follow into several different, topical lists. They’re also using lists created by other user to find “Tweeple” with similar interests. Not only are lists organizational, they’re informational as well. It’s another great way to connect with like-minded and interesting tweeters.

Whether users are novice or experienced, lists create an easy way to organize interests and tweeters and with the travel-deals list, even occasional travelers will have access to Twitter travel deals without cluttering their Twitter feed.

If you aren’t already on twitter and you love to travel what are you waiting for? Not only is twitter a great way to find some of the best last minute travel deals, it’s also a great way to snag some free some stuff!

This week we saw some sweet tweets from travel providers who were offering great contests on twitter.  On Tuesday Orbitz  (@Orbitz) gave away 10 vouchers for round trip coach airline tickets for those who followed and retweeted Orbitz contest message that day. 

Today Continental (@continental) announced on twitter they will be giving away two round trip business first class tickets and one of two $1000 Continental Vacations Gift Cards.  To enter you need to follow continental on twitter between today and November 3rd and help them spread the word that they have joined the Star Alliance using the hashtag #StarAlliance.

Air New Zealand is getting in on the twitter contest action too.  Follow Air New Zealand (@kiweets) and tweet back the answer to their daily trivia contest for a chance to win a trip to New Zealand.  The contest runs through November 20th.

Good luck tweeting and don’t forget to follow @bestraveldeals to keep tabs on the latest twitter travel contests!

When traveling, I often like to speak with people who’ve been to where I’m going – or who currently live there. They give the best advice on the best places to eat, sights to see and, of course, the best places to get deals. With the advent of social media – Twitter, Facebook and blogging specifically – asking for advice has become increasingly easier. My personal favorite is Twitter. Not only is Twitter great for interacting with natives, it’s also a helpful platform from which to glean the best travel deals.

 Have a plan but be flexible. When using social media to plan travel, it’s important that you know where you want to go and when but are flexible on the exact activities. Traveling on a budget can be easy but not if you’re rigid in the sites you want to see. Also, depending on who you’re following, you may hear of some events that are not very well advertised such as street fairs, art exhibits, etc.

1. Follow tweeters who tweet legitimate deals. This may seem like overly simplified advice, but with the mass amount of spammers and wannabe deal pushers. One of the best ways to distinguish (although this is not fool proof) is to look at how many “followers” they have in comparison to how many people they’re “following.” Also, check out their Twitter feed and see if any of the deals they’ve offered have been helpful.
2. Follow major travel resources. These “resources” are major brands such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines. They all have an online presence and frequently announce deals via Twitter that are not announced anywhere else.
3. Follow independent travelers. There are many people who tweet about their travelers and unlike major travel resources, they have more time to interact with you and give an insider’s view of the best vacation spots and travel deals. Travel tweeters such as @Travelblggr and @rubatravel offer off-beat, interesting travel advice.
4. Interact with Travelers online. There is a solid community of travelers who Tweet on a regular basis. What a better way to learn about where you’re going then by speaking with someone who’s already been there? Ask questions, ask for advice and travel stories. People love to share their experiences