DEALS O THE WEEK, TRAVEL DEALS, ORCHESTRA…

NEWS-HERALD
The News-Herald started a local blog community and asked me to be a part of it. You can find blogs on a variety of other topics in what they call the Media Lab Community on their site, including blogs on religion, motorcycles, and politics. Check it out at: http://www.news-herald.com/medialab/

For a limited time, get the Sunday News-Herald for 99 cents at participating Giant Eagle and GetGo gas stations.

TRAVEL TIPS
I’ve gotten a good handful of questions lately about last minute travel and with travel season in vogue I’ll make this post mostly about travel.

Tips: First off, plan ahead when you travel. Going last minute usually means paying tons. Sign up to farecompare.com or airfarewatchdog.com airfare alert notifier to let you know when ticket prices go up or down. Check for others at: http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/4771853/chart-how-airfare-alert-sites-compare.html. Prices tend to drop the most on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Try http://www.momondo.com or kayak.com for flight comparison pricing. Kayak shows costs of the days around the dates you plan to arrive and depart – one day difference could mean a drop in hundreds in dollars in the cost.

Check Continental’s last minute deals off their web-site along with other airlines. Sometimes they sell tickets for cheap just to fill the plane. If you have some miles to use you can buy a ticket at a discount, if not for free.

Call the airline to see if they can cut you a deal. They may let you know how to get seats for a discount. They sometimes can work magic to get you a deal.

Also check flying out of nearby airports like Akron or Pittsburgh, even Detroit. Same goes for other cities you’re travelling into.

Make sure you car rentals have unlimited miles and allows you to travel to other states if you are doing so.

Check Southwest, Allegiant, and JetBlue separately as they usually aren’t part of aggregator sites.

Check Continental’s last minute deals too off their web-site.

I have a large section of other tips for travelling in my booklet. Order one at:
http://www.joethecouponguy.com/merchandise/index.htm

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES
They were bought by United Airlines this past week, pending final approval. How will that affect Continental’s hub in Cleveland? Hard to say as of yet. There isn’t too much overlap in their two footprints. The headquarters location in Houston and Chicago will be most affected. They may consolidate a hub or possibly not. Cleveland provides relief from congested Newark and Chicago and has room to grow with existing terminal space, so Cleveland does has some pluses. If Continental pulls up shop, some low-cost carriers could move in like what happened in Cincy when Delta pulled their hub there. Cincy was one of the most expensive airports to fly out of up until that time. Non-stops and the number of flights would most likely be reduced though.

BEST WESTERN
Their hotels are very reasonably low-priced and are of consistent quality. Free breakfasts. Great Managers specials to get low rates. One thing about low cost hotels – they are more likely to have free wifi than a more expensive hotel!

Join Best Western Rewards® and register for the Promotion prior to your next stay.
Complete 2 separate QUALIFIED STAYS between April 4 and May 30, 2010 and earn a $50 USD Best Western Travel Card®.
BEST WESTERN DEALS

PRICELINE
Find flight, hotel, and car rental deals on Priceline. Bid for your deals. For bidding help and advice go to http://www.betterbidding.com.

For a limited time only, if after making your priceline.com Name Your Own Price® rental car reservation, up until 24 hours before the pick-up time, you find a better publicly available price on another Web site for the same rental car brand, car class, pick-up and drop-off location and pick-up and drop-off dates and times, call us at 1-800-PRICELINE/1-800-774-2354 (U.S. or Canada) or 1-212-444-0022 (from anywhere else). If you qualify, we’ll refund 100% of the difference and give you an additional $20 refund on your credit card. In addition, for customers with U.S. billing addresses, we’ll give you a coupon for $50 off your next purchase of a 2-nights or longer Priceline Vacation Package. Now that’s a Big Deal! The $20 refund does not apply to 1-day rental cars, pick-ups at off-airport locations, or one-way rentals.
Click here for the site:
PRICELINE.COM DEALS

EXPEDIA
Expedia was started by Microsoft. Hooters in Vegas hotel for $24 and other Vegas deals on this link:
VEGAS DEALS

Memorial Day Travel Deals: Hotels from $30!
Or this link:
HOTEL DEALS

TRAVELOCITY
The second largest online travel agency.
TRAVELOCITY DEALS

HOTELS.COM
They offer discounts on hotels. They get special discounts for rooms that they sell to the public. They also usually offer rebates for your stays. We used them for our recent NY trip. Catch the special percentage off plus specials and rebates for additional savings. I recommend checking TripAdvisor.com for ratings on hotels by people that stayed at the hotel. Lowest price guarantee.

Click here to book a room:
HOTELS.COM DEALS

CHOICE HOTELS
Just like Best Western they offer value. The chain includes Mainstay, Cambria, Comfort Inn, and Extended Stay amongst others. Largest franchise hotel chain in the world. As with any rewards program at hotels, airlines, etc., be sure to sign up for their points card. They have a best rate guarantee. Click here to book a room:
CHOICE HOTEL DEALS

MEGABUS
Want to go from Cleveland to Chicago for $2 round-trip? Other routes are just as cheap. Check out http://www.megabus.com. They offer $1 seats that once they sell out go up to $8, then $15 when they sell out, etc. Book the seats once the schedule opens up to get the $1 seats before they sell out.

CAR RENTALS
Check the Entertainment book for additional car rental coupons. Get the Entertainment book for $12 and free shipping at:
ENTERTAINMENT BOOK DEAL

AVIS
First car rental business to be located at an airport. Rent primarily GM cars. Get a free upgrade. Click here for the deal:
AVIS DEALS

BUDGET
The husband of Ann Landers of Dear Abby fame was one of the founders of the company. Get free Snapfish photos developed with each prepaid reservation.
BUDGET CAR RENTAL DEALS

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
They have an easy to use travel site. Southwest tends to have great deals on their flights and the best service. And no baggage fees like the other airlines. Find luggage fees at: http://www.farecompare.com/resources/airline_fee_table/index.htm
Find their Southwest last minute and other deals here:

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES VACATION DEALS

JETBLUE
They have great deals on flights. Celebrating their 10 year anniversary they are offering all remaining seats on U.S. originating flights on May 11-12 are just $10 each way! The sale is valid today only and it’s only available online.
Click here to book a ticket:
JET BLUE DEAL

VACATIONSTOGO
Find cruises up to 75% off and more. We used them to go on a cruise to Hawaii – Norwegian Cruise Lines – 7 nights – balcony for 80% off – normally $5,000. We got it for $1,000. My wife chatted with a lady that was there with her family that paid the $5,000 per person. They could’ve gone on 5 of the same cruises instead of just the one for the price! Bogus for them, but she told them about the site, so now they know. Did an Alaska balcony 7 night for $1,100 with Royal Caribbean with them too. Go for the inside cabins without windows for the best deals. The curtain usually covers them as it is. Click here for the site: http://www.vacationstogo.com

LAST MINUTE TRAVEL
Find international deals at:
LAST MINUTE TRAVEL DEALS

CAR INSURANCE
Does your state have the most expensive car insurance? Check out the rankings here:
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1422/louisiana-most-expensive-state-for-car-insurance/
Louisiana was ranked worst at $2,510. Ohio ranked with one of the best car insurance rates. They were #49 at $999!

HAAGEN DAZ
Visit any participating Häagen-Dazs Shop on May 18th between 4PM and 8PM and enjoy a free scoop of one of our original flavors: Chocolate, Coffee and Vanilla. Free scoop is only available at participating locations.

JOBS
The latest jobs report was a mixed bag. In April, jobs increased by 290,000, the most in four years. The jobless rate, however, rose to 9.9 percent as more people began looking for work, possibly indicating they felt there was more opportunity out there. Jobs increased by 230,000 in March, better than the 162,000 first reported. And jobs increased by 39,000 in February, an improvement from the previous estimate of 14,000 losses.

But many people are still looking for work after being unemployed for months. The number of people out of work six months or longer reached 6.7 million in April, a new high. These people made up 45.9 percent of all unemployed people, also a record high. Typically the rule of thumb is to have enough savings to last you until you get your next new job, should you lose it and that was typically pegged at 6 months. With the increase in long-term unemployment, that number should be increased, probably to at least a year. A recent survey said that only 80% of people that lost their job last summer are still looking for work. Wishing good luck to those out there looking for jobs…keep trying.

MOTHERS OF MULTIPLES SALE
Thanks Jeanne for this tip… Mothers of multiples is having a sale at the Lake County Fairgrounds 1301 Mentor Ave in Painesville on Sat. May 15th from 9am-4pm. Free Admission and Free Parking. Lotsa kid stuff. Usually most clothes are $1.00 apiece. They also sell furniture, toys. etc.

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
Free concert on the evening of June 5th. Get your free ticket by calling 216-231-1111 or got to: http://www.clevelandorchestra.com.

Speaking of music, back in the day I played in band. Not like a rock band, but the school band. I started playing the French Horn in 5th grade and learned the tuba later in high school. On tag day, a fund-raiser for the band, we went to the local shopping mall and collected donations. But we took it a step further. We went into Pick-n-Pay…remember them…they changed to Finast and then Tops bought them out. We marched playing our instruments down their aisles. At the time I was playing the E-flat horn, the marching band equivalent of the French Horn. But we didn’t have a bass drummer, so I figured I could keep the beat and still play my E-flat horn at the same time. All I needed was cymbals between my knees and a bagpipe or something under my arms and I was on my way to a new career at the carnival.

Playing both the bass drum and E-flat horn was like a patting your head and rubbing your belly kind of thing. But I did ok. I think the beats of songs were so ingrained in my head from incessant band practices that it was second nature. So anyway, we marched up and down the aisles of Pick-n-Pay. The shoppers were somewhat alarmed hearing about a dozen people blaring their instruments in the store. I think we unclogged a few of the shopping cart logjams, you know, the ones where people don’t notice there is a line of people waiting for them to move so that you can get by. Hmmm, I might want to pull out my horn and drum when I go shopping…

SEARS
They are planning to revamp the merchandise and services. Sears owns K-Mart so expect changes there also.

KENTUCKY DERBY
Did anyone notice that the winning horse’s name was Super Saver. I saw the names of the horses and thought to myself, I should bet on Super Saver. Did I? Of course not. I was too busy analyzing the latest Family Circle comic.

OUTBACK RESTAURANT
Sign up for My Outback Rewards today to receive a FREE Aussie-Tizer and your chance to win a trip to Australia to see Tim McGraw live.
Click here: http://www.myoutbackrewards.com/register

REGAL CINEMAS
Join the Regal Crown Club and get $1 Candy on Mondays & $1 Popcorn on Tuesdays this month with paid admission.
REGAL CROWN CLUB

PRELUDE PHOTOGRAPHY
Get a $134 gift certificate for $49 for a three-shot sharing package at Prelude Photography at the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor.
Click here to order:

PRELUDE PHOTOGRAPHY DEAL

BEST DEAL MAGAZINES
5/10 – Woman’s Day 1 Year – $4.29
5/11 – Bridal Guide 1 Year – $3.99
5/12 – Harper’s Bazaar 1 Year – $4.29
5/13 – Angels On Earth 1 Year – $4.29
5/14 – Sporting News 1 Year – $4.29
5/15 – Parents 1 Year – $3.89
5/16 – Soap Opera Weekly 1 Year – $21.97
WEEKLY SPECIALS:
ESPN
$3.75 for 1 year
Coupon Code: WKLYSPEC
Better Homes & Gardens
Additional 60% Off
$5.99 for 1 year
Coupon Code: BHGSPEC
Take An Extra 15% Off Most Titles – Code: PXCJ516 Offer Expires May 16, 2010
TAKE AN EXTRA $5 OFF $30 ORDER COUPON – Code: MNDCJ516 Offer Expires May 16, 2010
TAKE AN EXTRA $7.50 OFF $40 ORDER COUPON – Code: MQQCJ516 Offer Expires May 16, 2010
TAKE AN EXTRA $10 OFF $50 ORDER COUPON – Code: MQPCJ516 Offer Expires May 16, 2010

Click here to order:
BEST DEAL MAGAZINE DEALS

GREAT CLIPS
A new store opened at Harvard Park at 4025 Richmond Road across from Tri-C, next to Five Guys. And, using a coupon found in the Sun Newspaper and elsewhere, you can get a haircut for $3.99! The coupon is valid until 5/21. Aside from using a Flowbee that is pretty cheap for a haircut. I’d be a bit nervous that it would look like a $3.99 haircut. Then again, looking at some of the styles out there, it might fit right in. And nothing that a Sombrero wouldn’t cover up.

RITE AID
Get a $25 gift card when you transfer a prescription coupon in the ad this week.

WALGREENS
Make a $2 profit with recent $5 Shick Hydro razor coupon and register rewards
EOS shave cream – free after register rewards
Get $5 off a $30 (use code GIVEME5) purchase online or $10 off $60 (TAKE10). Free shipping on orders over $25.
Click here to order:
WALGREENS DEAL

ALDIS
Grape tomatoes – 79 cents a pack
Pineapple – $1.59
Bananas – 39 cents/lb

CVS
They are planning to expand their food offerings. They’ll be cutting back on the light bulb, technology, picture frame, and mop supplies area to get it fit in. Look for the deals in those areas as they clean them out.
Free after $1 coupon:
Bayer aspirin
Carefree
Always
Free after rebate:
U by Kotex
Free after coupon:
Shick Hydro razor or cartridges ($5 coupon in this weeks coups)
Right Guard Sport deodorant/antiperspirant (limit 2) – plus make money off $3/2 coupon found at:
RIGHT GUARD COUPON

RESTAURANT.COM
Get restaurant gift certificates 80% off! Spend $2 for $25 gift certificates! Other gift certificate amounts available at 80% off too.
Use 80% off coupon code: ENJOY
Use on any three of their popular products: Gift Certificates, Dinner of the Month Club, and Gift Cards.
Click here to order:
RESTAURANT.COM 80% OFF DEAL

Joe
http://www.joethecouponguy.com

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