1. Put down the snow shovel and fire up the PC. SmarterTravel.com offers daily alerts, including for social media sales usually found only on Twitter. For example, go to SmarterTravel to see JetBlue’s Web-only Cheap Tuesday sales, which start at $10 (one way) for domestic flights. And from Monday through 8 a.m. Wednesday, the site scours the Internet to bring you news of seats that airlines couldn’t sell for the following two weekends. LastMinute.com offers packages for most U.S. cities. 2. Pick a package deal. You can often save by booking your airfare and hotel together because travel agencies typically lock in low rates early. For example, if you’re keen to see the lights of Paris (or London or Berlin, Go-Today.com offers exceptional off-season packages. The site recently offered a trip to Berlin for $999, including round-trip airfare (but excluding airport taxes and fees), six nights at the four-star Park Inn Berlin-Alexanderplatz Hotel, and breakfast daily).
3. Get to the islands, mon. CheapCaribbean.com offers all-inclusive vacation packages, which recently ranged from four nights at the three-star Viva Wyndham Fortuna, in the Bahamas, for $349 per person, to five nights at the four-star Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort, on St. Thomas, for $849 per person. Starting February 17, JetBlue will fly from New York’s JFK airport to the Turks & Caicos islands, and Continental is starting service there from Newark. For accommodations in Turks & Caicos, the luxury West Bay Club resort (www.thewestbayclub.com) is offering a fourth night free through April 30 if you book three nights.
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