Ohio State Fair just got cheaper

by Jamie Rhein on

If you’re looking for travel deals, try a state fair. If any state fair is like Ohio’s, it’s looking for ways to entice people to come by offering discounts and deals, particularly on food.

According to this Toledo Blade article, the “staycation” folks are the ones the Ohio State Fair is courting. As a result, this particular fair is a coupon clipper’s dream. Many coupons found on the fair’s Website offer free drinks with some sort of sandwich purchase; some are money-off deals.

At first glance, the best deal is at the Donahey Agriculture and Hort Building. The coupon touts that kids under 12 get a free Bob Evans kid’s meal for climbing the Corn Wall.

There’s a catch, though: after calling the state fair to verify what I suspected, I found out that you have to go to a Bob Evans restaurant to get your child that meal. Regardless, climbing the Corn Wall would be fun even without the extra reward.

Don’t miss out on the coupons for the Taste of Ohio Café. I can personally vouch for the food. That’s where we ate last year. The point of this building is to highlight Ohio’s food abundance. Each stand is run by a different Ohio food producing association. The Ohio Poultry Association, for example, sells the Thanksgiving dinner that has a has a coupon for $1 off. There’s no catch here.

The coupon sheet serves another purpose, as well: Use it as a fair guide. As you eat and drink your way through the day, you’ll learn a bit more about Ohio. As a note, some coupons are for food items you can eat later. Jose Madrid salsa is one such item. This salsa brand is made in Ohio, and it’s terrific. I’m partial to the hotter versions.

For the coupon sheet, click here.

Deep fried pickles, unfortunately, aren’t included. I love deep fried dill pickles, a food I never heard of or ate before moving to Ohio. I don’t know about the deep friend pickles at the fair, but the ones at Old Bag of Nails Pub in Worthington are yummy.

The fair started in Columbus on Wednesday and will go through Tuesday, August 9.

Take your family to the Millennium Broadway Hotel

by Annie Scott on

The Millennium Broadway Hotel is located right in Times Square, in the midst of the hustle and bustle, the giant cartoonish structures, and the center of the Broadway theater scene. If you want to take your kids to New York City and stay right in the heart of the entertainment, Millennium Broadway has a darn good deal for you.

The “MB Loves Times Square” package starts at just $199 (pre taxes/fees) per night for your whole fam of four. They give you a map of Times Square, and then all this:

  • 20% off Savings on tickets to Mary Poppins on Broadway
  • Discounted Tickets to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, up to $40 off, for 4 people (2 adult, 2 children or 1 adult, 3 children)
  • A fun-filled afternoon at Dave & Busters fully equipped with great food, drinks and games with buy $10, get $10 towards games
  • $10 Game Cards to the famed ESPN Zone
  • VIP Skip the Line and Complimentary Appetizer with Purchase at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant & Market
  • Coupon to Hershey’s Times Square
  • A gift card to Toys ‘R Us

Who needs concierge when your perks already have your vacation planned? This package is available through September 30, 2009. Dress lightly. It’s gonna be hot.

To make reservations, visit www.millenniumhotelnyc.com or call 1-800-622-5569. The code is MBLOVESTS.

Can’t afford a nice hotel in New York? Stay in New Jersey.

by Annie Scott on

You often hear New Yorkers joke that the best thing about New Jersey is that you can see New York really well from there — well, why not take advantage of that?

Luxury hotels in NYC are super expensive (really, all hotels are super expensive), so do what so many young families and artists in New York do when they get tired of paying prohibitively high rent: Head across the Hudson.

In particular, The Westin Jersey City Newport (the view from a bathtub there is pictured) is a good bet — it’s luxurious, it has two restaurants and a bar, and best of all? It’s just ten minutes from midtown Manhattan. It’s one of those things few people think about when they’re booking a trip to New York: You don’t have to stay in New York to visit.

The Westin Jersey City Newport currently has three promotions going on:

  • Room Rates Equal to Your Birth Year Package – Don’t worry, they don’t mean you’ll have to pay $1,970; with this deal, you pay full-price the first night (starting at $229) and then you get your second or third night for the price of the second two digits in your birthday. The older you are, the cheaper your room! Finally, a reason to age. Code: BIRTHYR
  • Better Tomorrows Package – With this offer you pay half price every other night, so if you’re staying an even number of nights, that’s gonna come out really well for you. Code: ZBT
  • Best Rate Guaranteed Offer – If you book a room and then find a lower published rate within 24 hours, Starwood will match that rate and raise you a ten percent discount or give you 2,000 Starpoints. This actually applies at all Starwood hotels: Westins, Sheratons, W Hotels, etc. Click here for the instructions.

Know what else is in Newport? A waterfront and tax-free shopping centers. It’s kind of like what I assume heaven must be like. Kidding aside, the hotel really is gorgeous and just opened up in February — check it out! Staying at a luxury hotel in New Jersey for the same price as a junky hotel in New York is totally worth it. Call 1-866-924-8746 to book.

(Visit the website for terms and conditions of the above packages.)

The Osprey Hotel – Luxury and fun in Beaver Creek

by Annie Scott on

Beaver Creek’s newest hotel is The Osprey — and it’s a RockResort, which we like very much. Why? Because RockResorts are all environmentally friendly, and also extremely luxurious.

Nestled gently in the Rocky Mountains, The Osprey has fun amenities for luxury thrill seekers like helmet cams for skiing or biking, apres ski mixology lessons at The Osprey Bar, a bath concierge (!), lobster nachos and deep-fried Snickers bars, and a big classy lobby where you can mingle with the other guests, play Wii, or even showcase that video from your helmet camera on the giant flat screen TV.

Also, I mean, look at it. It looks like a house in a store window display at Christmas. Look at the lighting. You’d look good in that lighting. Look at this swimming pool. It’s by the fire pit. Want.

The Hotel used to be known as “The Inn at Beaver Creek,” but has just had a $7 million renovation to become a RockResort. Not only does that mean energy-efficient plumbing and lighting, but The Osprey also features “surfaces (including leather, birch, iron, and onyx) made from locally sourced stone, indigenous metals and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified wood.”

It also happens to be the closest ski-in/ski-out hotel to a chairlift in North America.

So, go tell it on the mountain.

Airline cancellation fees worse than baggage fees

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Airlines rely on you to have minor and major personal crises. Everything from changed meeting dates to family emergencies generate around $2 billion in change and cancellation fees a year, according to the Department of Transportation. That’s pretty much twice the amount the airlines pull in from extra bag fees – a measure that’s already been lauded by the Wall Street set for its impact on the airlines’ finances. For American Airlines parent AMR, for example, change and cancellation penalties came to $116 million for the first quarter of the year, while baggage fees amounted to $108 million.

These penalties, lamented almost universally by passengers, upped airline passenger revenue by 3.2 percent in the United States. As usual, business travelers get screwed most (probably because they travel most. They paid the bulk of $527.6 million in first quarter change fees.

Even with fewer people climbing onto planes this year, increases in penalty amounts have led to a net gain in revenue for airlines from this type of fee. A number of the larger airlines upped their change fees from $100 to $150. JetBlue moved it from $40 to $100 – and saw first quarter fees surge 29 percent, from $25 million to $32.2 million, relative to the first quarter of 2008.

These change fees are actually pretty important. With the money they bring in, airlines can offer discounts elsewhere, financed by the extra income. And, they make it more attractive for passengers to buy full-fare tickets, that way they have a bit more flexibility. The more expensive tickets benefit the passenger … and of course, the airline.