MORE HOTEL OPTIONS

Told you last week about hotwire, which I admit I didn't know much about. Now travelocity is doing a similar project where you can look for hotels on certain dates but do so through an "opaque" process where you don't find out the name of your hotel until you push the magic "accept" button.

If you go to travelocity.com or travelocity.ca and look for hotels in, say, Vancouver in August, you'll get an interface that has several tabs near the top. Look for the tab that "top secret hotels" and you'll find a series of hotel options where you know the number of stars the property has and the general area but not the specifics. Until, of course, you agree to pay.

It's still fairly limited in terms of choice but officials say they've got properties in many Canadian cities already, including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal.

WHY YYZ?

I'm sure there's a good reason, but I had an interesting chat with a guy on a plane today about airport codes. I understand that when Canada's turn came it was decided that airports should start with Y to differentiate us from other folks. Toronto likely couldn't be TOR as it probably was taken by Torino (Turin in North American-ese).

But why is it YYZ for Toronto? Vancouver is YVR. Why isn't Toronto YTO or YTR or something that makes sense? I think it could be that YTO is for all airports in Toronto, just like YMQ is for all Montreal airports. But YYZ still seems kinda funky.

BRIARS WEDDING BELLS DEAL

The Briars up in Jackson's Point put out a notice today to say that folks whose weddings have been affected by the swine flu can get special deals by booking with them. And good idea, I say. For more info, go to www.briars.ca.

GOLF DEALS IN IRELAND

Finally, while still on the subject of good deals, check out swinggolfireland.com for the latest batch of fine bargains on the Emerald Isle.

MORE AIRLINE OPTIONS?

Reuters reports that RyanAir, the low-cost provider of air travel in Europe, has held talks with the folks in Buffalo about shuffling passengers off to Dublin, Ireland through upstate New York.

It would be a great alternative to Pearson for some folks, especially those who live down Hamilton or St. Catharines way.

Reuters reports that the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is "aiming to attract low fare airlines to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport."

There's also talk that the drop in oil prices could see the resurrection of Zoom Airlines flights from Toronto to Europe.

Bring it on; the added competition could only be good news for southern Ontario travellers.

COMPETITION FOR CALIFORNIA?

Folks down in Virginia have a burgeoning wine biz, and the city of Richmond will host a Virginia Wine Expo from Feb. 27 to March 1. More than 45 Virginia wineries will have tastings and comparisons, and there also will be wine seminars and celebrity chef demonstrations. go to virginiawineexpo.com for more information.

BLOSSOMS BY THE BILLIONS

Driving south after the march Break? The National Cherry Blossom Festival will be held in Washington, D.C. from March 28-April 12, with more than 3,000 cherry trees in (they hope) full bloom.

I NOW PRONOUNCE THEE...

The Big Apple is hoping to take a big bite out of the Las Vegas honeymoon biz. New York just recently opened a "Manhattan Marriage Bureau" near New York city hall in lower Manhattan, at 141 Worth St. They spent more than $12 million U.S. to gussy the place up.

It's hard to say whether it'll work. A wedding ceremony followed by a ride on a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park sounds more fun than watching a fake volcano blow up in Las Vegas every hour. But the weather's a lot better in Nevada, and it's certainly a cheaper destination. The golf's a little better in Vegas, too.

ROSES ARE RED ...

Okay, guys, it's about a month until Valentine's Day. That would be Feb. 14 for those of you keeping score at home.

With the big day in mind, travel folks are swelling with pride over their bountiful deals.

Here are a few of them:

Fairmont Hotels has a series of "doghouse" packages aimed at getting you out of the doghouse and into a nice set of matching bathrobes. Included are deals at signature Fairmont properties in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City has a deal featuring a romantic, chateau-style room, daily buffet breakfast for two and a special in-room delivery, with rates starting at $328 a night. Fairmont Chateau Laurier's package for Ottawa is called the "puppy love" package and features a bouquet of red roses, an aphrodisiac chocolate and breakfast delivered to your room, with rates starting at $395 a night. Most deals begin Feb. 15.

If you're interested in the northeast U.S., check out the Jared Coffin House (not a particularly romantic name) in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where you can wander cobblestone streets and have a drink by the fireplace. Chocolate-covered cranberries are dispensed upon arrival and there's a gourment Sunday breakfast for two, with rates starting at just $124 U.S. for Saturday night. Hotel officials recommend a stop at Ladybird Lingerie for the top of the line intimate wear.

One step down the line, if you will, is the Marmara Manhattan's getaway package, which gives you a one-bedroom suite in New York for two nights with a dozen roses, rose petals on the bed, a bottle of champagne, chocolate-covered Turkish Delight candies and a Kama Sutra kit "for couples to indulge their sensuous side."  The deal is $699 U.S. for the two nights for a suites hotel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan complete with a kitchen.

Willing to travel a little further? The Viceroy in Santa Monica, California has a weekend package that includes accomodation in an Ocean View Room, dinner for two at the restaurant Whist, a bottle of wine, local strawberries, organic bath amenities and poolside pedicures. You also get an organic breakfast and bike rentals (presumably organic) to tour the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. It'll cost you $800 including tax and gratituities but that's 35 per cent off and isn't your sweetheart worth it?

Le Meridien Bora Bora also has a romance package, but if taking your honey to the South Pacific isn't enough to get things going you're probably beyond hope.

GOURMET MONTREAL

The second annual Happening Gourmand restaurant week is underway in Montreal and runs through Jan. 31. Eight restaurants in Old Montreal are offering three-course, prix-fixe menus at either $17, $22 or $27. Go to happeninggourmand.com for menus.

OBAMARAMA

The Los Angeles Times reports that heading to Washington D.C. for next Tuesday's inauguration of Barack Obama isn't as problematic as some have suggested. A website called CrashtheInauguration.com can hook you up with locals, maps and travel info for the big bash.

JONAS JOY

The folks at Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas are presenting a Jonas Brothers "Burning Up" Atlantis package for three exclusive concerts this spring. The three day/two night packages includes accomodations, round-trip ground transfers on island and tickets for the concerts, with rates starting at $639 U.S. per person or $199 per child (ages 11 and under) for the March 14 and April 19 shows, and $589 per person and $199 per child for the May 9 concert. Call 1-800-Atlantis or book at atlantis.com.

WEDDING BELL BLUES

Modern Bride magazine (hey, I like to stay current with all the trends out there) conducted a travel survey through a group called Virtuoso, a network of 6,000 luxury travel agents who seemingly haven't put me on top of their invite list just yet. According to the agents, the top honeymoon destination for 2008 was, to me, a bit of a surprise.

That would be Italy. Which, come to think of it, makes a certain amount of sense. Venice is dreamy and romantic and all that, although I personally was disappointed on my only visit way some 30 years ago. Rome is Rome, and Florence is always a huge draw (sometimes too much; a visit in August a couple years back was like a trip on the Tokyo subway). There's also the Amalfi Coast, the Cinque Terre and dozens of gorgeous spots up and down the country.

If you think about it, Italy also is a place a lot of Americans, in particular, seem to feel comfortable. France can seem to foreign to some folks from south of the border, but Italy has food that's become so insinuated on American menus that visiting a taverna in Rome is a lot like being in New York or Chicago. Or even Tulsa.

But we digress. The next nine places on the list (and remember these were luxury travel agents, not your run-of-the-mill folks who suggest a post-wedding trip to Wingham or Winnipeg), were

• Hawaii
• Tahiti
• Mexico
• Greece
• Costa Rica
• Bali
• Fiji
• France (guess some Americans are pretty brave, after all)
• Turks and Caicos

 The latter one was a bit of an eye-openerl. I must admit I don't know a lot about it but I would've suspected the Bahamas or maybe Barbados would get the nod over the Turks and Caicos. Guess I better hustle down there and see what I've been missing?

TEXAS CALLING

In addition to missing the Turks and Caicos, I seem to somehow have never made it to San Antonio. We got a note on our travel wires today that said the San Antonio New World Wine & Food Festival opens Nov. 4 for a six-day run. More than 40 culinary and wine-tasting events throughout the city showcase internationally renowned vintners and the hottest chefs from San Antonio and beyond.

See www.nwwff.org for a complete schedule and information about ticket prices, or call 210-822-9555.

We hear there's great golf in the area, and having a margarita (a real one, not one of those pre-fabricated slushy thingy's some restaurants will dispense out of a slurpee machine) on the Riverwalk seems like a nice way to spend a fall evening.

HOW'S THAT AIRLINE STOCK HOLDING UP, GEORGE?

A glance at the business wires today (like I said, this is a blog that likes to widen its horizons) showed a whole bunch of headlines with words like "China Air loss" and "Malaysian Air loss"  and "Finnair loss."

It's not a good time for most stocks, as far as we can tell, and things aren't looking so great in the airline industry for sure.

On the other hand, experts in the U.S. say they're expecting much better deals than normal for Christmas-time and for the upcoming American Thanksgiving holiday.

Northwest Airlines started the rush Tuesday night with a broad holiday fare sale, Associated Press reports, and most other major carriers matched the prices Wednesday, according to Rick Seaney, chief executive of the travel website FareCompare.com.

“It’s by far the most broad-based fare sale we’ve tracked in at least 18 months,” Seaney said, “and this is the earliest I’ve ever seen one.”

The big deals might not migrate north of the border, but it's always worth a look to see what deals you can get out of Buffalo, or Detroit if you live down London way or further west.