Airlines roll out last-minute sales for Labor Day

by Katie Hammel on

There are just two weeks left until Labor Day, but it’s not too late to plan a getaway for the holiday weekend. In fact, waiting until now to book your trip might even save you money with some of the great last-minute deals that are available.

American Airlines Flights
American Airlines has several destinations on sale for Labor Day. Buy your tickets to Belize by August 28th and travel Monday through Thursday, starting September 1st, for as low as $217 each way. Book a trip to Jamaica by August 24th for travel any day of the week after September 1st, and prices will start at $84 each way. Tickets to Cancun, booked by August 25th for Saturday and Tuesday travel after September 1st, start at $88 each way.

United Airlines Flights
If you can stretch your weekend until Tuesday (departing on Saturday), book tickets to destinations within the United States on United Airlines by August 25th to save. Prices vary by departure and destination cities, but sample fares include Chicago to New Orleans for $89 each way, Atlanta to Denver for $109 each way, and Miami to Washington Dulles for $69 each way.

Spirit Airlines Flights
Spirit is well known for its near-constant sales to destinations within the United States, Central America and the Caribbean. It’s like the Gap of airlines – never pay retail because, just as the Gap will knock 50% off those jeans in two weeks, chances are that Spirit will soon offer a better deal for the flight you want. Their current sale ends tomorrow, August 25th, and discounts some of their more popular routes to as low as $33.90 each way. As with all of their sales, $9 Fare Club members and those in hub cities like Fort Lauderdale and Detroit save the most and have the most options. But even the rest of us can still get some good deals for Labor Day. For example, New York to Medellin, Colombia is $138.90 each way, Boston to Myrtle Beach is $68.90 each way, and Atlanta to San Jose, Costa Rica is $128.90 each way.

Expedia.com Deals
Beyond flights, Expedia has deals on just about everything else – hotels, cars, cruises, package deals – for your Labor Day travels. Deals vary widely by location, but some of the highlights include discounts of up to 50% off hotels in Las Vegas, Orlando and Chicago (among other cities) and 3-night Royal Caribbean Bahamas cruises for as low as $262 per person for an inside cabin.

If these deals don’t work for you, there’s still plenty of time to plan your perfect Labor Day vacation at a great price. Check out Hotwire’s Travel Ticker, peruse the sale list on Travelzoo and follow your favorite airlines on Twitter. JetBlue and Southwest regularly post their top deals on twitter, so you’ll be the first to know about great fares.

Favorable fares may be coming to a close

by Tom Johansmeyer on

In past years, Memorial Day signaled the end of sweetheart flight prices. This year, a sinking economy stretched the deals a bit longer, but experts say the good times may be coming to a close. Remember the problems last summer, with higher prices blamed on jet fuel? Well, we could see the cost of oil work the same dismal magic this summer.

Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com, cites recent fare increases of $10 to $20 per roundtrip as an indicator that we are the brink of an upswing. But, these are counterbalanced by new lows elsewhere. A recent survey by Travelocity shows ticket prices down 17 percent for trips between Memorial Day and Labor Day. So, buyers and sellers are locked in a silent struggle to determine how much your next vacation will cost.

With an eye out for possible deals, customers are waiting, booking their flights 86 days ahead instead of the usual 90. While this doesn’t seem like much, it takes a lot of last minute purchases to bring the average down.

Even if airline fares are coming back, you can still take advantage of the lows now. If you’re thinking about taking a vacation, stop … and take action instead.

Labor Day themed sculptures: Hammering Man in Seattle and beyond

by Jamie Rhein on

Outside the Seattle Museum of Art is a kinetic sculpture called Hammering Man. The man who lifts and lowers his hammer four times per minute is one of several Hammering Man sculptures by artist Jonathan Borofsky.

Through his Hammering Man statues, Borofsky’s aim is to pay tribute to the workers of the world, as well as, indicate that the world is linked together through our labors. The sculptures hammer away at the same time.

Borofsky’s sculptures, in a way, are an artist’s version of what Matt Harding demonstrates with his dancing. The same dance, but the location changes. (Read Jerry’s Talking Travel interview with Matt here.)

The Seattle version is the second largest of Borofsky’s Hammering Man creations. The largest is in Frankfurt, Germany. You can also see outside sculpture versions in Dallas, Texas; Seoul, Korea; and Basel, Switzerland. Other versions are in wood and are located at various museums.

Last summer, when we went to Seattle on the way to Montana, we passed this sculpture on a Seattle Duck’s tour of the city. At the time, I didn’t know that the piece was part of a larger concept and could not view the whole sculpture from where I was sitting. In order to see it, we drove back to the museum.

As Borofsky says about this particular work, “At its heart, society reveres the workers. The Hammering Man is the worker in all of us.”

The statue, and the others like it, seems fitting for a Labor Day shout out.

Staying Home for Labor Day

by Josh Lew on

After reminding themselves that three-and-a-half dollars is still a lot to pay for a gallon of gas, many Americans have decided to stay near home instead of hitting the road during the Labor Day holiday.

The staying at HQ thing is nothing new. The number of people on the road was significantly down during both Memorial Day and July 4th. AAA did the math and predicted a 1% drop in auto travel over Labor Day and an even more significant 4.5% drop in air travel compared to last year. But there was good news for train and bus companies, the new dynamic duo of travel. According to AAA’s survey, the ridership on these modes of transit will rise more than 12%.

Many people will just be staying at home, opting for a barbecue and a soak in their kids’ inflatable pool. I guess people will just have to look towards Thanksgiving and the New Year for a better travel climate. Right?
According to Farecast, airline tickets will be 35% more expensive this holiday season than the 2007 holidays. Looks like the trend of staying home isn’t going to go anywhere.

Labor Day Traffic: How to Avoid Traffic Jams, Speeding Tickets, and More!

by Catherine Bodry on

“Holiday weekend” and “traffic” go together like tequila shots and hangovers – if you’re enjoying the former, you’ll likely get of taste of the latter. While I can’t promise hangover-free margaritas, I can offer you a couple of ibuprofen for the next morning – and a few tips to save you a travel headache as well.

Traffic Jams:

When trying to avoid Labor Day traffic, a little planning can make a difference the size of the Pacific Ocean. Obviously the best plan is to leave as early as possible. (Wednesday would be ideal, but Thursday would work, too – why not turn that holiday weekend into a holiday week?) If you can’t leave in the middle of the week, see if you can put some extra hours in at the job later in the month and try to take a half-day on Friday. On Friday, every hour makes a difference. You might not be able to avoid traffic completely, but you could save some time.

A late start on Friday (and we’re talking no earlier than 9 p.m. here) is also a great tactic. You might arrive late, but you’ll avoid that agonizing idling in traffic – and by the time you get there, the party will be in full swing.

Just don’t start taking tequila shots as soon as you arrive in order to catch up with the rest of the group.

Speeding Tickets:

So you’ve found an alternate route, and you’re cruising along the back roads thinking about how soon you’re going to reach your destination. Then a police siren cuts through your revelry like a tequila migraine through your morning.

What do you do?

I did some research on how to get out of a speeding ticket. Most websites I checked out gave advice on what to do in court, rather than at the scene. But your goal should be to not get the ticket in the first place. Many people advised not admitting knowing you broke the law, because if you admit guilt you’ll never be able to fight the ticket in court.

But I disagree. Because here’s the thing: I’ve gotten out of a lot of tickets. And I mean a lot. I’ve gotten a few, too. But my ratio of police incidences to tickets is on my side. And it’s all because I learned early on that if you’re polite, respectful, and up front, cops tend to treat you the same way. If you get belligerent and try to deny that you were speeding, odds are the cop is going to write you that ticket and leave you to try to get it dropped in court.

So, if you’ve been going a bit over the limit and you get caught, don’t treat the cop like he’s an a**hole. Give the guy some respect, and maybe he’ll show you some as well.

Drunk Driving:

You don’t need me to tell you not to drink and drive. It’s wrong, and I don’t condone it. But, if you’ve had a couple drinks before you hit the road and find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, I offer the following advice (lifted from Cameron Tuttle’s The Bad Girl’s Guide to the Open Road):

Only try these if you are absolutely certain that your blood alcohol level will prove that you are drunk. Challenging a law enforcement officer is very serious business.

  • Insist on taking a blood test instead of a Breathalyzer test. This will buy you time and may save you from a D.U.I. Some states, however, will automatically charge anyone who refuses a Breathalyzer test with drunk driving. So you had better know the law (and what state you’re in!) if you do this.
  • If you’ve been drinking and have an open bottle liquor in the car, you’re already in deep sh**. So what do you really have to lose? Immediately get out of the car carrying the bottle of Jack Daniels or whatever. Keep both hands in the air so the cop can see that you don’t have a gun. Then, standing right in front of the patrol car in the headlights, begin to guzzle the contents of the bottle. Surprise is on your side, but you must act quickly for this to work. If the officer sees you getting drunk before his very eyes, it will be difficult if not impossible for him to prove that you were drunk while operating the car. This is a ballsy move, but it hinges on the law, not logic.

These methods are risky and not guaranteed to get you off, but they may help you avoid getting a D.U.I. Most likely, you’ll be arrested for a lesser offense. Understand that if you try either of these tactics, you are doing so at your own risk.

Drive safe!