“It takes more than a dropping ball or a big crowd to make for a great New Year’s Eve celebration…

As a former flight attendant, Beth Blair had been to Las Vegas countless times. A few years ago, she decided it would be a great place to spend New Year’s Eve: bright lights, cocktails, and an all-night party.

But it wasn’t what she’d hoped. “On the last day of the year, Las Vegas turns into a disrupted anthill—too chaotic and wild for me,” says Blair, now a travel blogger based in Minneapolis. “I was surprised Las Vegas could get any more amped up. It just brings out the wildest of the wild.”

Of course, that anthill level of excitement doesn’t scare everyone away. In the latest Travel + Leisure survey, Sin City ranked No. 5 out of 35 as the best American city for New Year’s Eve.

The best place to spend New Year’s Eve was just one part of the America’s Favorite Cities survey, where Travel + Leisure readers ranked 35 U.S. cities in 54 categories, such as the best luxury shopping, the best live music, and even the best coffee bars.

Finding a great place to celebrate New Year’s Eve is important. While many of us keep a standing New Year’s date with the TV and a pair of fuzzy slippers, more than 1 in 4 Americans plan to travel this year to welcome in 2011, according to a survey from LowFares.com.

Like Blair, not everyone who travels for New Year’s wants a raucous time. When we looked at the Top 25 for New Year’s in the AFC survey, a mix of great live music, good bars, and wild weekend potential helped bolster many cities’ rankings. But warm weather also seemed to play a huge role. Two of the Top 10 cities are on islands, two are in the desert, and one—San Diego—is the AFC voters’ winner in the climate category.

Many people also just have different definitions of what constitutes a good party. Memphis, for all its great music and good food, still came in at No. 25 for New Year’s Eve—perhaps because AFC voters found other things about staying in Memphis that dampened their spirits. Meanwhile, southern city Savannah—new to the AFC survey—shot to No. 4, even besting Vegas, proving that some folks would rather err on the side of charming for December 31.

And what about New York City, arguably the epicenter of New Year’s Eve? It made a mediocre No. 13 showing, perhaps due to cold temps, big crowds, and high prices. Shari Lynn Rothstein-Kramer, a native New Yorker, admits that she has spent more New Year’s Eves than she can count in Times Square. “Every year I swore I wouldn’t do it again,” she said, “but then a friend would come into town, or it wouldn’t seem so cold—but it was never really fun.”

Here’s where to go—and where not to go—to ensure that you do have fun on New Year’s Eve. ” (via  travelandleisure.com by Katrina Brown Hunt

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to read all of America’s Best Cities for New Year’s Eve to see the slide show

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Airports will have executives working as greeters, gifts in Los Angeles for restless kids in long lines, and people with big yellow clipboards in Boston acting as roving information booths.

While bad weather is usually the biggest threat to holiday travel, there’s a bigger concern this year: new Transportation Security Administration procedures, including full-body scans and aggressive pat-downs that have screeners feeling inside waistbands and touching all the way up legs and on breasts.

The fear is that Thanksgiving travelers—many of them students, families and older people who fly once or twice a year—will be unfamiliar with TSA procedures and slow to get through checkpoints. Full-body scanners require removal of wallets, belts, jewelry and everything inside pockets.

“With people getting partially molested at checkpoints, all that is going to be a real shock for them,” said Greg Wells, senior vice president of operations at Southwest Airlines. “TSA will create an issue for us. It’s going to slow things down.”

Southwest will have employees with walkie-talkies at checkpoints to hold airplane departures if passengers are stuck in long lines. ” (via  online.wsj.com) by Scott McCartney

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to read the rest of  Southwest Airlines: “People getting partially molested at checkpoints”. Will Turkey Day Fliers Cry Foul?

He said, "Once you cross that line, I can do whatever I want."

I said that wasn't true. I say that I have the option of saying no and not flying. He said, "Are you going to let me search you, or do I just throw you out?"

I said, "Finish up, and then call the police please."

When he was finished with my shoes, he said, "Okay, you can go."

I said, "I'd like to see your supervisor and I'd like LVPD to come here as well. I was assaulted by you."

I still don't know what I'm going to do, but my advice to everyone is complain all you can and call the cops. I think it might make a little difference. Maybe you can become a VIP too.” (via  drudgereport.com) by PENN JILLETTE

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Adam Sandler’s new movie “Just Go For It “opens Feb. 2011.

A man enlists the help of a woman and her kids to land the woman of his dreams.

Staring Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Adam Sandler, Brooklyn Decker (Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model- now actress) and Heidi Montag.

Filmed in Kauai and Maui Hawaii and  California.

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While many gas stations have 24/7 convenience stores, the crowds that gather at this humble taco stand, even at 3 a.m., are testament to the tastiness of these award-winning tacos piled high with juicy meat and served with delectable sides like corn with a Mexican-style Parmesan cheese.

“It’s insanely popular in Dallas. People go out of their way to eat their authentic Mexican tacos,” says Rosen.

Whether you’re an insomniac or an early riser, the beauty of a 24/7 spot is you can go — literally — whenever you want.

Urban diners that catered to workers on the graveyard shift coming and going from nearby factories at the turn of the 20th century were some of the first establishments in America to stay open around the clock. Since then, all-hours businesses have grown beyond the greasy spoon, providing locals and visitors with a much-needed place to rest, drink, or even go shopping at any hour of the day or night.

With an antidote to restless nights in mind, TravelandLeisure.com searched out 10 of America’s best 24-hour spots. Take the Wilshire Spa in Los Angeles’s Koreatown. This full-service spa keeps its doors open for those who are looking for relaxation, detox, or a full-body scrub at any hour.

While some brands have started keeping their flagship stores open 24/7, L. L. Bean, the granddaddy of outdoor supplies, has temporarily closed its original store in Freeport, Maine — open since 1951 — only four times, including the day the founder, L. L. (Leon Leonwood), died in 1967. While the always-open policy was introduced to accommodate hunters going out on trips before dawn, today it’s also convenient for last-minute holiday shoppers, teenagers looking for a place to hang out, and locals and visitors to Vacationland looking for some after-hours retail therapy.

The next time you find yourself awake in the wee hours of the morning, don’t get stuck in front of the TV channel-surfing through reruns of “The Golden Girls.” Instead, celebrate your inner night owl and head out to one of these cool all-hours haunts.” (via  msnbc.msn.com/) by Lyndsey Matthews  Travel + Leisure

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to see the slide show for – Up all night? Visit these 24-hour spots

High Line New York

“Leave it to New York City to turn an unused elevated train track into a public park,” Frei says. “The elevated track now known as the High Line was

originally built on New York’s West Side in the 1930s to keep freight trains off the city’s streets.” These days, the 30-foot-high structure lined with

maple trees and wild geraniums is a great place to escape daily life and take in views of New York’smost iconic sights. “Every Saturday at 11 a.m.,

visitors can enjoy a free, guided walking tour,” Frei says.

U.S. National Parks

Throughout the USA The U.S. National Park system waives its entrance fees several times throughout the year. The next fee-free days are Sept. 25 and Nov. 11. “In New York’s Adirondack National Park, autumn foliage is at its most brilliant during the last two weeks inSeptember,” Frei says. “Out west, September is elk mating season in Colorado’s Rocky MountainNational Park.”

Smithsonian Museums Washington

“There’s a reason why the nation’s capital remains such a vibrant center for arts and culture,” Frei says.After all, “there are 19 Smithsonian museums andgalleries, 17 of which are in Washington, D.C.,” and admission is free. Plus, Frei says, “the Museum of Natural History is celebrating its centennial this year with a special exhibition looking into its own history and evolution.”

The Getty Center Los Angeles

“The Getty Center has been credited for helping Los Angeles come into its own as a highbrow culturecapital,” Frei says. “Perched in the Santa Monica

Mountains, its impressive travertine marble buildings have sweeping views of the Los Angelesbasin and hold a remarkable collection of mostly

European art. Admission is free. Parking is $15 per car but free after 5 p.m. on Saturdays and forevening events throughout the week.”

Aruba Aloe Factory Oranjestad, Aruba

“The island’s native aloe plant can be found all over the island,” Frei says. “Take a tour through the state-of-the-art Aruba Aloe Factory, and you’ll see the production process firsthand, from the harvesting of raw aloe vera leaves to the finished product. Informative tour guides explain the restorative and soothing qualities of the aloe plant and its many uses, the most popular of which, at least among tourists, is applying it to sunburned skin.”" (via  usatoday.com) by Darren Frei, editorial director of ShermansTravel.com, shares with Sarah Sekula

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W Minneapolis – The Foshay, W Montréal, W New Orleans – 2 locations,

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It seems ludicrous, but it’s true. That’s because Starwood, which owns the combination hotel/residence property at Hollywood and Vine, contracted a slew of hotel services out to third parties…

Drai’s, a Las Vegas nightspot promotion outfit, opened on March 17, and was charged with nightlife at the W, too, presumably because the hotel wanted to purchase some off-the-shelf cachet with hipsters rather than earning it through the merits of the product…

I found this out, of course, the worst way a guest can: By staying there, and being denied access to a swim. On a recent 85-degree Sunday, I tried taking the elevator to the rooftop pool (called WET) for some of those famous California rays.

After all, my room on the 11th floor was literally thumping with the beats coming through the ceiling, and I wanted to enjoy a little of this party that I had to put up with despite paying $230 a night.

But the 12th-floor button wouldn’t light up. Down in the lobby, I was directed to a line of early 20s hipsters who were waiting to be admitted to the pool deck themselves. I was informed by a doorman that although “the general public” (that would be me: a paying hotel guest) was not permitted upstairs today, I was welcome to join everyone in the line if I wished, or he would “introduce” me to someone inside who “might be able” to get me on the guest list.

As I walked away, he called after me, eyeing my clothes. “Don’t forget, sir. Appropriate pool attire.”

I’m a reporter at heart, though, and undeterred, I skulked up a service elevator with a friend. I paid $10 to bribe a staff member to let us into what Drai’s publicizes as a “sexy poolside affair with House music and Hollywood’s elite.”

Drai’s is dreadful. There wasn’t a spare inch. A DJ blasted beats, pneumatic girls danced laconically as they stood on the cushioned lounge chairs, and shirtless boys in fedoras smoked cigarettes in the pool while they scoped the girls’ bikini bottoms from shin level. My friend glanced around and proclaimed it “a douche-tacular.

” Nearby was a big empty table marked “reserved.” We were told we couldn’t be seated there because “it’s the owner’s table.” It was like this all day, from 10am to 10pm, exclusive of guests unless they greased the right palm.

A luxe L.A. hotel without a pool is like a wedding without a cake. A banquet without forks. A pretentious product without a shred of class. ” (via  gadling.com) by Jason Cochran

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to read more about Starwood has another problem.