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Cruise West is calling all families with new discounts for young cruisers. Kids ages 18 and younger pay half the adult fare, and kids under 2 sail free. The offer is available on any Cruise West small-ship sailing, whether it be an Alaskan adventure, a river cruise along the Columbia River, a warm-weather getaway to Panama and Costa Rica, or a historical and cultural itinerary in Asia or Europe

NH Hotels offer 20 percent off hotel rates for those that book in advance. Plus, find discounts for guests 60 and older, discounts for young travelers, and ways to extend your weekend.

Crowne Plaza not only offers discounts for booking ahead, but also guarantees you'll find the lowest rates on its website. Plus, add breakfast to your stay.

Holiday Inn is offering a free night at various properties in Aruba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas. Minimum stay requirements vary by destination.

Here's how coaches, families, friends, and players of Little League Baseball or the LPGA can receive 15 percent discounts at Choice Hotels. Plus, Choice Hotels guarantees its best rates when you book on its website.

Microtel Inns & Suites offers 20 percent savings when you book 14 days or more before your stay.

Loews hotels and resorts is offering 30 percent off your stay of three nights or longer this holiday season. Also offered are advance purchase discounts.

Save up to 30 percent off the best rates at Best Western hotels throughout Europe when you book 21 days in advance. Also, book online to ensure the best rate.

Book ahead with Hilton Garden Inn and receive up to 25 percent off the best available rate. Or, receive breakfast for up to four people when you book the Holiday Bed 'N Breakfast package.

Apollo Belvedere / Photo: alun salt A traveler/philosopher shares his motivation for creating The Big View, a hub of classic philosophy and new ideas that may be critical for humanity’s future. “If life is a journey, then philosophy is like a compass. It helps us to find our way through the jungle of possibilities that life presents.” With these words, Thomas Knierim articulates his reason for creating The Big View , a website with the goal of “rendering a bird’s eye perspective on various philosophical topics, hence, the name.” Topics as diverse as Space Time , Buddhism , and Greek Philosophy are all presented clearly…and more importantly, concisely

My wife bought me a Garmin GPS for Christmas last year. After showing her Google Navigation on my G1 , she asked if her gift is obsolete

A significant development is the announcement by cost-cutting upstart airline AirTran that it will begin flying to far-off Aruba , from Atlanta, starting mid-December. This makes the fifth tropical destination for the cheaply-priced AirTran (which has earlier begun flying to the Bahamas , Cancun , Puerto Rico , and Jamaica ), and a far more remote destination -- nearly two hours more of flight time -- than any of its Caribbean routes to date, and leads me to speculate that we will soon be seeing more such lengthy itineraries, and an end to the self-imposed limitation of domestic destinations by pioneering Southwest Airlines. You have only to recall that the president of Europe's Ryanair, the cheapest of all carriers, has spoken of his eventual aim to fly trans-Atlantic

Have you ever had your credit card rejected overseas? It's probably not due to bad credit, but the different validation systems used.

A computer glitch in Atlanta has set off a wave of delays across the country, and numerous airlines have already canceled flights. Watch this space for updates.

The boards of British Airways and Iberia last week signed a memorandum of understanding, bringing the airlines one step closer to the all-stock merger that's been more than a year in the making.

Only one European travel buyer in five anticipates an increase in their travel budget next year, according to a survey released yesterday by American Express.

Increases in the standard value added tax rates of several European countries have intensified the need to recover VAT incurred by employees on foreign trips, according to the VAT recovery specialist Meridian Global Services.

The United Kingdom & Ireland's Institute of Travel & Meetings announced today that it successfully negotiated important changes to the British Airways/Virgin Atlantic fuel surcharge refund process for travel managers.

Lower taxi costs to and from the airport, as well as automated, lifetime check-in can make air travel easier. But who charges $60 to print your boarding pass at the airport?

If you have any flexibility in your schedule, you'll want to consider planning a trip immediately after the holidays to take advantage of low travel periods and great bargains. The weeks after Thanksgiving and New Year's are especially affordable.