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Kids Stay Free at Iberostar Properties April 8 to December 13

Hey New Englanders! Still want to get away over Patriots Day Week with the kids. Iberostar Resorts just announced that two kids will stay free at their Mexican and Caribbean properties when two adults pay the full price. These include several of my favorites, Iberostar Paraiso Maya in Riviera Maya and Rose Hall Beach, outside of Montego Bay. If you prefer to head to one of their all-inclusive properties over the summer, the offer is good from April 8 to December 13.

 
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Liftopia Offering Discounted Lift Tickets for Super Bowl Sunday

Liftopia, the largest online marketplace for discounted lift tickets, is launching its biggest sale of the year today. Grab savings of up to 70% off lift tickets at more than 200 ski resorts for Super Bowl Sunday. With the game starting at 6:30 pm EST, you have plenty of time to hit the slopes before the game. In Vermont, lift tickets at Bolton Valley start at $10, Jay Peak at $46, Okemo at $59, and Stratton at $60. New Hampshire’s Ragged Mountain will be offering lift tickets for $27. In Utah, the Canyons has lift tickets for $69 and Solitude is offering tickets for $50. In Colorado, ski Copper for $55. The list goes on and on! 

 
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Win A Two Night Stay and Other Gifts from Burke, Vermont

Speaking to a small group of his constituents in Lyndonville, Vermont, in 1949, Senator George Aiken noted that “this is such beautiful country up here. It ought to be called the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.” The locals took the wise Senator’s advice. The Northeast Kingdom now consists of Essex, Orleans, and Caledonia counties, a large tract of land wedged between the Quebec and New Hampshire borders. In a state known for its rural setting (only Wyoming and Alaska contain fewer people), this is Vermont putting on its finest pastoral dress, with a few holes here and there. Wave after wave of unspoiled hillside form a vast sea of green and small villages and farms spread out in the distance under a few soaring summits. Here, inconspicuous inns and dairy cows have replaced the slick resorts and Morgan horses found in the southern part of the state, and the white steeples are chipped, not freshly painted. 

 
Indeed, it is the most authentic area in Vermont, a region that doesn’t put on any airs about attracting tourists. Well, maybe just a little. Burke, Vermont, in the Northeast Kingdom is offering a two-night giveaway for people who visit their Facebook Page and write what they like about the area. Here are some suggestions: biking on the best mountain biking network in New England, the Kingdom Trails. Staying at a beloved family-friendly B&B, the Wildflower Inn. Climbing Mount Pisgah above the glacially carved Lake Willoughby below. Dining on the fresh produce and innovative entrees at the River Garden Café. Give it a shot!
 
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Auto Slash Slashes Car Rental Prices

This past Saturday in San Diego, I used a relatively new car rental website, AutoSlash, to find an incredibly affordable car for the day. What I like about this website is that they go out and find the discount coupons and codes to automatically reduce your price, instead of you spending hours scouring your email for the latest deals. This being car rentals, where you don’t even need to put a credit card down to make a reservation, AutoSlash will find the best deals available until the moment you arrive at the car rental facility. Thus, you can switch at the last minute to find the best savings. Give it a shot and tell me what you think.
 
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30% Discount on all AMC Maine Lodges in March

First opened as a private sporting camp in 1867, it’s hard to top the locale of Gorman Chairback, located on the shores of Long Pond in the shadows of the Barren-Chairback Range. Reopened a year ago after a major renovation by the Appalachian Mountain Club, Gorman Chairback’s locale gives you the opportunity to snowshoe and cross-country ski deep into Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness, only to return back to the lodge for a home cooked meal and a seat by the roaring fire. Gorman Chairback is one of three historic Maine lodges run by the AMC that are now offering a 30% discount on rates in March for a two-night stay. The AMC maintains over 80 miles of trails in the region during winter so go out and play. 
 
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Fall Foliage Deals in New England

New England Inns & Resorts, a collection of more than 250 inns and hotels in New England, has some fall foliage deals up on their website. Harbour Towne Inn in Boothbay Harbor, Maine is offering a leaf and lobster tour, starting at $149 a night, including a bountiful harvest breakfast. If you prefer mountains to the sea, the Bethel Inn Resort in Bethel, Maine, home to Sunday River, is offering rooms as low as $119 a night, including breakfast. At the Daniel Webster Inn in Sandwich, on Cape Cod, rooms are as low $120 a night (including a 25% discount), champagne and chocolates upon arrival, and a $50 meal credit for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Even exclusive Nantucket is getting in on the deal. If you can wait till late October to hit the island, rates at the Jared Coffin House drop to $125 a night, with a $25 dinner credit.
 

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Six Nights in Beijing Including Air from America and 4-Star Lodging, $799

Now and then I get deals that come across my desk that are absurdly low. If I didn’t have the responsibility of being a father of a 15 and 13 year-old, I’d probably be on the next flight. China Spree is offering an 8-day trip to Beijing this winter that costs a mere $799, including nonstop flight on Air China from San Fran, 6 nights lodging at the Huabin International, six breakfast buffets, three lunches, and three guided tours of the city. The price increases to $849 if you’re flying out of LAX, $1129 if you’re flying out of JFK. Add another 100 bucks if you want to split your time between Beijing and Shanghai. Add another $500 for additional meals, transport, and government taxes and you’re spending a total of $1300 to see the Great Wall of China, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the alleys and courtyard houses of Old Beijing. That’s less than the amount one pays to spend a week at a hotel in Dominican Republic in winter, including flight.
 

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Costa Rica’s Finest Resorts Offers Discount Dependent on Age

It’s one of those rare days in Boston where there’s no humidity and the breeze is blowing through my window as I crank up Yes’ “Siberian Khatru.” What could be better? How about staying at a kick-ass resort in Costa Rica, heavily discounted this fall? The six upscale eco-lodges run by Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality, including two of my personal favorites, Lapa Rios and Finca Rosa Blanca, are offering a discount based on your age. That’s right. If you just hit 80, start celebrating. That’s 80 percent off the price of your room. Centurions get the room for free! The offer is valid for stays between August 28 and November 15, 2011.
 

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$10 a Night Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne

Drive across the Rickenbacker Causeway from Miami above the waters of Biscayne Bay and you’re suddenly transported back to the Florida of yesteryear, where swaying palms and thick tropical foliage line the roadway. Welcome to Key Biscayne, a 7-mile long barrier island that feels like a Caribbean getaway, especially when compared to the glitz, glamour, and congestion on South Beach, its neighbor to the north. This is the quiet side of Miami, the place to reconnect with loved ones on a beach vacation. If you want to spend the night on this island paradise, you’ll have to book a room at the only resort on Key Biscayne, the Ritz-Carlton. With its cheery yellow facade, the 13-story building reigns supreme on the island like a queen at her court.

The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne will be celebrating their 10th anniversary in July. Unlike most resorts that would simply charge $10 a drink to commemorate the occasion, they’re offering some serious discounts. Call 305-365-4582 at 10 am EST on June 10th and you’ll have the chance to book a guestroom in July for only ten bucks a night! If you can’t snag one of the rooms, book a Key Lime Treatment (50 minutes) in the spa for a mere $10 (call 305-365-4286) on Wednesdays in July. Or a $10 three-course menu at their signature restaurant, the Tuscan-themed Cioppino (also call 305-365-4286).
 

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Yellowstone in Winter, at a Discount

America’s natural wonders were chosen to be national parks to preserve their indigenous state. Yet, if you venture to places like Yellowstone in the summer, “forever wild” seems more like “forever congested.” Come winter, these same parks are virtually uninhabited, almost returning to their original state. Who wouldn’t relish the opportunity to cross-country ski or snowshoe with more bison and elk than homo sapiens? Now Yellowstone National Park Lodges has made it even more attractive, reducing their price at the lodge to $109 per person for a two-night stay. Rates include two breakfasts, a one-hour hot tub rental, unlimited ice skating and skate rentals, in-park transportation, and guided tours. Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel makes a great base to look for wolves in Lamar Valley or explore the wondrous travertine terraces just outside the front door of the lodging. Call 866-439-7375 and ask for the "Frosty Fun at Mammoth" package. The rates on the website were incorrect when I last checked.