“When Lulis Leal’s family gets together for Christmas, she is usually sunning herself on a beach surrounded by palm trees and turquoise waters, with not one extended relative in sight…

For more than 10 years, Leal has been spending the holiday season in exotic locales like the Bahamas or Hawaii — anywhere warm, the Cedar Grove, New Jersey, resident said…

She finds it the perfect time to get away with her husband and son.

“It’s like everybody’s home with their family so we’ve got the whole beach to ourselves. It’s like our own little private paradise,” Leal said, adding that her mother sometimes gently teased her about going away instead of visiting her for the holidays…

Hotel bargains

You may love your family, but if you’re yearning to escape the annual ritual of eating turkey with relatives you barely know or spending Christmas elbowing for room with other houseguests, lots of bargains and tempting destinations await.

“My favorites during Thanksgiving are to go to places in the Caribbean because the Caribbean, even during Thanksgiving, is off, off, off season,” said consumer adviser and HLN money expert Clark Howard.

“At Christmastime through New Year’s, it’s a different drill. The best deals are to Europe, starting on Christmas Day. If you can wait and go on Christmas Day or later, you’re going to get fantastic bargains to Europe.”

Travelers often focus on air fares as the barometer of whether to splurge on a vacation, but the big bargain story this year may be hotel prices, especially in big cities or convention destinations decimated by the bad economy.

The trick is to book a room anywhere but at those most in-demand locations, so check out hotels around the airport or the center of a big metropolis.

This may be your perfect opportunity to explore Washington, New York or San Francisco, California, during the period from Christmas to New Year’s, Howard said.

Where to get away for Thanksgiving

The United States may pause on turkey day, but for the rest of the world it’s just another day in November. You’ll find great deals outside the country, in places like Mexico, Canada and South America, said Pauline Frommer, creator of Pauline Frommer’s guidebooks.

St. Lucia may be a good bet if you’re thinking about the Caribbean, because the low-cost airline Jet Blue recently added a nonstop service to the island, she said. (Keep in mind the Atlantic hurricane season doesn’t officially end until the end of the month, though late November storms are rare.)

Escaping for Christmas

“Prices usually skyrocket pretty much everywhere in the world,” Frommer said.

If you heed Howard’s advice about flying to Europe on Christmas Day, check transportation options at your destination. Savings on air fare can be cancelled out by an expensive cab ride in cities where public transportation shuts down during the holiday.

Closer to home, Mexico is still a good value, Brown said.” (via  cnn.com ) by A. Pawlowski, CNN

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“Hi, I’m a frequent-flier addict
MILES AND MILES AWAY: Michael Whitley, in 2006, walks across the tarmac at the Antigua airport.

He flew first class to the tropical island, swapping his coat and tie, his usual flight attire, for more casual wear because of the humidity.
It’s that time of year again for the ‘mileage run.’ The goal is 3,807 miles, and the destination doesn’t matter. For this flier, it’s about the upgrades, the bonuses and the rush.

I have flown from Charlotte to Amsterdam and stayed just long enough to visit a coffee shop and see some Van Goghs before flying back across the Atlantic.

I have flown from Los Angeles to New York and wandered 5th Avenue and Central Park for an afternoon, admiring storefront holiday decorations, before returning to Kennedy for the flight home.

I have flown from San Diego to Las Vegas and stayed 20 hours — no hotel necessary — before heading back to the airport yet again.

My name is Michael, and I’m addicted to a frequent-flier program.

And, as any frequent flier addict can tell you, the end of the year is crucial. Yes, it’s time for the “mileage run.”

These mad dashes across the wintry skies at 35,000 feet are specifically designed to earn precious miles before the year-end deadline that can boost you from an ordinary coach passenger to, in the case of Delta Air Lines’ program, vaunted Medallion status, where free upgrades and other benefits await.

For aficionados, a mileage run is part practical matter, part puzzle to be solved — finding the cheapest flight while maximizing connections (and thus miles earned) and minimizing time spent. It takes an understanding of how the fare system works, and how to get the most out of that fare by pushing the rules to the limit.

The mileage run has been an airline subculture for years, and I am still a relative amateur by comparison. Today there are chat rooms and websites devoted to swapping tips on best flights. It takes a village to find a good fare.

Consider recent chatter, often urgent, a  Flyertalk.com: “Need 1,575 mile run from HPN [Westchester County Airport, New York] or BDL [ Bradley International Airport, Connecticut],” wrote one flier. Another asked how to stretch the miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Another offered a “Step-by-Step guide into buying tickets without Fuel Surcharge.”

One flier conceded that he had missed his target: “So, the goal is Gold. . . . just didn’t have enough time for Plat this year. Need 7,922 by 12/31 or else…:-) Extremely flexible on dates, including Christmas & New Years Eve. Thanks all.”

My needs were more modest. The strategizing began at Thanksgiving when I realized I would fall 3,807 miles short of the 25,000 miles needed for Silver Medallion status, which would entitle me to upgrades, express check-in, free checked baggage and mileage bonuses for free flights. Gold (50,000 miles) and Platinum (75,000 miles) offer better chances at upgrades and bigger mileage bonuses, but those levels were clearly beyond my reach this year.

There are mileage maniacs who will not stop until they reach Gold or Platinum, taking weird crisscrossing flights all over the world. I have my limits. This year, it’s only 3,807 miles.

Frequent flier miles have been a part of my life since I was 9. ” (via www.latimes.com ) by Michael Whitley

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