Travel

This week, Walletpop Canada highlighted a 24/7 Wall St. report which named the "9 Big Companies That Will Disappear in 2012". Included on that list was American Airlines.

So far, it seems those predictions are spot on. CNN Money is reporting that American Airlines plans to cut 13,000 Jobs:

"American Airlines told its unions Wednesday it plans to cut 13,000 jobs from the staff of 88,000 at (America's) No. 3 airline.

The cuts will fall most heavily on the airline's maintenance operations, which will lose 4,600 jobs. More than 4,000 additional ground worker jobs will be eliminated, as will 2,300 flight attendant jobs."

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For those who thought this winter would be another cold terror - think again.

Its been unseasonably warm for many of us across Canada - and the desire to flee into the sun has been lessened by temps hovering at zero and the lack of blizzards.

But what about the ski and snowboard crowd? For them, this winter so far has been a disappointment. All that new gear brought by Santa has so far seen little action.

But if you're willing to travel - there's a few spots that the snow has indeed made it on to the mountain.

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Get 50 per cent off Porter flights when you book by February 3. You do have to fly by May 31. Just enter Jan50 when you book your flight.

There may be a lot of economic uncertainty out there but it appears quite a few Canadians are sure of one thing -- they're still expecting to get their annual bonus.
A recent poll by BMO suggests that one third of Canadians in the workforce expect to get their year-end bonus which usually arrives between now and the end of February. It seems that those anticipating the reward also have high expectations when it comes to how much they'll receive -- 79 per cent of respondents who said they think they'll get a bonus said they expect it to be the same amount as last year or higher.

There's something strangely satisfying and less stressful about flying with only carry-on luggage.

The first snicker of satisfaction comes when you arrive at the airport with your boarding pass already printed off the internet and breeze past the line of people waiting to check in their bags. The second is knowing that you've avoided paying check-in baggage fees (this is not so much an issue on Canadian airlines, but you really need to watch out for them in the U.S. or on budget airlines around the world -- they hurt. Ouch!) Third is knowing that the airline won't lose your luggage (it's a slim chance, but it does happen.) And fourth is being able to walk straight off the plane, past those waiting for the baggage conveyor belt to start up, and straight out of the airport.

Before you say that there's no way you could fit everything you need into your carry-on, read on.

Winter is upon all of us Canada - and what do we want to do? Fly south.

Whether its to Mexico, Caribbean, Florida or Las Vegas, Canadians are happy to figure out how to get on a plane and get away from snow, ice and cold temperatures.

According to Google Insights, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick residents are looking for the travel deals, closely followed by Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

If plans are to take the better half and the family to a tropical climate, remember to bring the bathing suit, sunscreen and make sure to visit the family doctor.

For more than 10 years I have owned two timeshare properties, paying roughly $11,000 for each of them. One of them, The Manhattan Club in New York, is under a class-action lawsuit because owners like myself are fed up with obscene maintenance fees and the inability to book when we want to stay. The second one, Silver Lake in Orlando, Fla., is a place that I've never visited, choosing instead to use the points for exchanges into other properties in the RCI timeshare network. Its maintenance fees have also increased every year since I've owned it. Many timeshare owners lament their purchases for one reason or another. If you've been invited to a timeshare presentation, here are five things to keep in mind when you're confronted with the hard sell that you will surely face.

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

As news spread of the tragic Costa Concordia accident, you could hear the groans floating up from landlubbers everywhere.

• "That's why you won't find me on some fancy cruise ship."
• "There has got to be an easier way to see Europe."
• "I had a great time on a cruise last summer, but I'm never setting foot on a boat again."

Carnival's (CCL) luxury liner tipping over after running aground on a rock off the Tuscan coast was horrific. Fatal travel accidents always are. And while such events are extremely rare on the major cruise lines, even one is enough to scare people away from taking a floating getaway. But that's not the only reason why now may be the best time to book a cruise.

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From making the most of public transit when you travel to knowing the exact day and time to look for the best flight deals, these tips are sure to leave more money in your pockets this year. Click on the photo above to launch the gallery, or read the story below.


1. Book your vacation early. It's odd how we can procrastinate over the things we're most excited about - like our travels. Often, people make the mistake of deliberating too long over when they'll take their vacation time. What happens is they end up losing out on the choice weeks to travel and possibly hurting their pocketbook too. If you've got three weeks of vacation at your job, book off two of them as early as possible and save the third for last-minute getaway weekends or emergencies. With the two you book, know early in the year where you'd like to go. If you want to go to Chicago, head there with that week of vacay you booked in April and start looking now for hotels and flights. If you book a week off in October for your birthday and you aren't sure if you'd like to celebrate it in Shanghai or Maui, take a few weeks to research your options, but do so with the peace of mind of knowing you'll be blowing out the candles in style in 2012.

Tourism is an important part of a nation's economy. That is why cities, towns, villages, even, compete for the tourist dollar.

Now, the federal government has jumped in, head first, too. It has created a national strategy plan that it hopes will help the tourism industry flourish.

But: why should the government be involved at all? Well, the reason is simple: the more tourists, the more sales; the more sales, the more jobs in retail; the more sales and the more jobs, the more the government rakes in in taxes.

The question is: will the government's participation not interfere with the perfectly logical competition that exists between tourism companies, and that exists between provinces, cities, towns and villages, even?