Travel cheap. Save money. Have fun.
Virgin America is inaugurating new nonstop service from Washington, DC (DCA) to Dallas (Love Field).
The airline is offering an introductory fare of $79 one way, including taxes.
Tickets must be purchased today or tomorrow, April 25 or 26, 2014.
The fare is available for travel on most dates from October 13, 2014 through November 20, 2014.
Do you like the graphics in Virgin America’s advertising campaigns?
Visa Signature and Fandango.com have teamed up to offer a great buy one get one free deal for movie tickets.
Friday Date Night: Buy One Get One Movie Tickets
This deal is really easy:
The limit is 1 complimentary movie ticket per Visa Signature card purchase, per 30 day period, and is valid from April 25, 2014 through August 8, 2014.
The tickets must be purchased on a Friday for a Friday showing.
If you have one Visa Signature card, you could take advantage of this offer up to four times before the August 19th deadline.
If you have more than one Visa Signature card — you could be eligible for multiple BOGO movie tickets.
For instance,the Chase Freedom Credit Card, the Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer Card, and the Chase Southwest Rapid Reward card, and the Citi AAdvantage credit card each would qualify, as would many other Visa Signature credit cards.
The Amazing Spiderman 2 opens in theaters next Friday! Are you going?
Twenty Percent Discount on Fandango Gift Cards
There is another joint offer from Visa Signature and Fandango. You can get a 20 percent discount off $25 Fandango Gift Card purchases, if you pay with a Visa Signature card.
If you are planning an outdoorsy vacation this summer, listen up.
In honor of John J. Audubon’s 229th Birthday on April 26th, 16 Audubon field guide apps are on sale in the iTunes store for 99 cents, an eighty percent discount.
The sale runs from April 24, 2014 to May 1, 2014.
Audubon was the French-American naturalist and artist who revolutionized the practice of field identification and created fantastic illustrations of birds.
Audubon Field Guide Apps on Sale
Audubon field guides are a comprehensive suite of apps created in alliance with the National Audubon Society.
The sale extends to both single subject apps and regional guides, all of which are $0.99 each for a limited time.
The single subject apps cover topics such as mushrooms, fishes, birds, trees, reptiles, wildflowers and insects for all of North America.
The regional apps are the real bargain. Each app covers eight subjects in great detail:
The regional apps are for these areas of the United States:
I saw this notice in my Twitter feed announcing a travel trade show in Iceland May 15-17, 2014.
I clicked on the link and it took me to a notice advertising a special offer: $600 for a 3-day workshop in Iceland including airfare, transfers and hotels. Iceland is an expensive country, and this seemed like a terrific deal.
What’s more the workshop organizers were offering a chance to win a tour of Southern Iceland!
This picture of the Northern lights made it seem pretty enticing!
Icelandair is famous for its low cost flights to Europe. I’ve transited through the Keflavik airport in Reykjavik several times, but I’ve never left the airport. I’ve always been intrigued by Iceland.
As publisher of the Fishing4Deals travel blog, I figured that I was in the travel industry.
So I went ahead and applied.
Well, to make a long story short, the conference organizer said she would be in touch, but I haven’t heard anything.
I think they are looking for travel agents that do bookings.
So I am passing this along to my readers in case anyone else has an interest and might qualify.
Historic Union Station in Los Angeles is hosting a 75th birthday celebration in honor of the iconic art deco train station, which has been restored as a multi-modal transit center.
If I lived in Los Angeles, I’d head over to Union Station on May 3, 2014, for this free family event!
The celebration, sponsored by Metro, in partnership with National Train Day, Amtrak and Metrolink will commemorate all things rail on Saturday, May 3, 10 am to 4 pm.
There will be dozens of exhibitors at the station, tours, entertainment on four stages, as well as free Metrolink rides, a guided bike tour, and discounts at museums, restaurants, and theaters in half a dozen nearby neighborhoods.
Events at Union Station
Events at the station will include:
Entertainment on Four Stages
Free Metrolink Rides and Neighborhood Discounts
On Monday and Tuesday of next week, April 21 and 22, 2014, Staples will be selling $50 iTunes gift cards for $40.
This is a pretty good deal because if offers a 20 percent discount on purchases of music, books,movies or apps from the iTunes store.
It is an even better deal if you have a credit card that pays 5x points at office supply stores, such as the Chase Ink cards.
Instant savings offers are my favorite. You don’t have to file any rebate claims or wait for the check to come in the mail!
You can find the offer on page 9 of the ad for the week of April 20-26, which is posted on the Staples.com website.
This deal is limited to one per customer, and will sell out early.
My daughter is a junior in high school and we have been bombarded with colorful brochures.
How to choose?
The best advice we have been given is to scope out several campuses this spring — a state school, a small college, a large urban campus.
Amtrak offers a buy one – get one 50% off campus visit program to high school juniors and seniors and their parents. Children over age 13 must buy “adult” tickets on Amtrak, so this deal amounts to 25 percent off of two fares.
This seems like a good deal…but you won’t find it on Amtrak’s deal page!
The discount tickets must be purchased between December 17, 2013 – December 16, 2014, and are valid for travel from January 1 – December 19, 2014. There are a large number of blackout dates, though, include around spring break and other holidays.
There are some restrictions:
Double Points on Amtrak Travel
United Airlines has announced a 20 percent off sale on “saver” award tickets to Mexico City. Tickets must be purchased by April 29, 2014, for travel in May 2014.
Roundtrip saver awards between the U.S. (excluding Hawaii and Guam) or Canada and Mexico City, Mexico normally cost 35,000 miles. For the month of May 2014, the price is 28,000 Mileage Plus miles, plus taxes and fees.
There was plenty of saver award availability when I checked flights from and to IAD.
Here’s the link to the full terms and conditions.
The Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas houses the world’s largest pinball collection, with over 200 vintage games available for play.
The games are from the 1950s to the 1990s, and have been meticously restored and maintained by pinball maven Tim Arnold.
We met with Arnold when we were in Vegas in 2012, and he graciously explained everything that goes into running such an enormous operation.
The Pinball Hall of Fame
There’s no admission charge, and all the older pinballs are set to 25 cents per play, with newer 1990s models set to 50 cents per play.
You and your family can have a lot of fun here for a roll of quarters!
The museum is a nonprofit, and all proceeds go to local charities, such as the Salvation Army.
Arnold says:
I like the Salvation Army a lot because they’re kinda like us. They’re downtown on the cheap side, and they put all their emphasis on the areas that need emphasis, and not a lot on hierarchy and organization.
The Pinball Hall of Fame is located about 2.4 miles east of the strip at: 1610 E Tropicana Ave, Las Vegas, NV. The museum is open every day from 11 am to 11 pm, except Friday and Saturday, when it stays open until midnight.
The Neon Museum Family Activities
Another Las Vegas Institution well worth a visit is the Neon Museum and its boneyard of discarded signs from casinos from days gone by.
Our family greatly enjoyed our visit to the boneyard.
If you are looking for some family friendly activities in Las Vegas, the Neon Museum has expanded its educational programming to include a series of events for kids and families.
Here are a couple of noteworthy events for kids coming up:
Family drop-in events are free and open to the public. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Register by sending an email to education@neonmuseum.org.
Sign Design: Past, Present and Future
On Tuesday, April 22, the Neon Museum will host its next PRISM Times of the Signs event, a panel discussion: “Sign Design: Past, Present and Future.”
More than 50 embassies representing six continents open their doors to visitors on Saturday May 3, 2014 from 10 am to 4 pm for the annual Around the World Embassy Tour in Washington, DC.
Participants can travel the world as they experience the food, art, dance, fashion, and music of different countries.
Last year, offerings included karate demonstrations, dance performances, sari wrapping lessons, and henna demonstrations.
These events are a not just an exhibit of diplomacy. According to the Washington Post:
…the real reason everyone loves them so much is because if you play it right, the day is an all-you-can-eat buffet. With booze!
This year, 54 embassies are participating:
Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Chad, Colombia, Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Venezuela, Zambia, and League of Arab States.