New year, new resolutions.

My resolution (an annual one, I believe), is of course to travel more.

Another: blog more. My editor recently noted I haven’t posted in some time.

Fair enough. Personal reasons aside — I haven’t really traveled since August, unless you count that trip to Maplelag, one of my favorite places in Minnesota — it’d be fair to say that 2008 was a tough year for travel for all of us.

Sadly, if you believe the forecasts, 2009 won’t fare much better.

While I can’t necessarily put money in your pocket for travel, I can at least offer some tips and strategies for finding some of the better deals in 2009.

I, in fact, RESOLVE to do just that.

So let’s party.

Dealio #1. Mexico. Part of it’s the season — it’s a cold winter up here right now, I don’t need to tell you — and that annually spurs air fare sales to the country to our south.

But airlines and travel agencies are also feeling the pinch like the rest of us. Which means they’re getting competitive for your business.

I’ve heard more than a few second-hand stories about people these days booking deals to Mexico (that’s the photo above, btw, taken by Chris Welsch) at unbelievably low prices right now. And I’ve found a few online myself (some great local resources include: www.hobbittravel.com, www.suncountry.com, and www.worryfreevacations.com).

There are literally too many deals for me to possibly mention, so I’d recommend that if you have a destination in Mexico in mind, check some of the fares. You may be surprised at what you find.

Dealio #2: Likewise for other warm destinations. Last week I was able to book a roundtrip flight from Minneapolis to Florida on www.bestfares.com for under $250. My rental car is going to cost me more than my flight.

And BestFares isn’t the only deal in town. Hobbit Travel is boasting flight specials to Florida right now for as low as $119 depending on the city and your flexibility. WorryFree Vacations is likewise offering some good deals in their “Red Hot Deals” section of their site out of Minneapolis.

Dealio #3. Your frequent flier miles still work. I’m speaking from experience here. I was recently able to book a flight to Alaska through Northwest for the 25,000 mile fee. And I’m traveling this summer, no less. (That’s a pretty big deal, actually: Most of the summer award seats to Alaska are booked up to a year in advance, if not more).

So for $25 in fees, I’ll be flying into Anchorage via NWA this summer.

Dealio #4. Last-minute flights. From Springfield, Ill. ($150) to Vail, Colo. ($218) to Charleston, SC ($250), United Airlines is offering last-minute flights out of the Twin Cities this weekend and next to more than two dozen destinations.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.