TravelLeisure

Are you planning a quick weekend getaway this summer? Get one day free with Radisson's Friday is Freeday Promotion!

From May 15 through Sept. 15, 2009, guests of Radisson Hotels & Resorts will receive a free Friday night stay when staying a minimum of two or more consecutive nights (Thursday or Saturday night stay required). Friday is Freeday is available at participating Radisson hotels and resorts properties in North, Central and South America; Asia Pacific; and at Radisson Edwardian Hotels in the United Kingdom. In addition, goldpoints plus members (U.S. Residents only) that book and stay in the U.S. using the Friday is Freeday offer between May 15 and Sept 15, 2009 will automatically be entered to win the Free Fridays for a Year Sweepstakes!

The Friday is Freeday offer must be booked at least seven days in advance of the stay. Reservations can be made at www.fridayisfreeday.com or by calling 800-333-3333.

Starting today through Friday, June 12, travelers can get huge discounts and savings at Best Western hotels. Each day this week, Best Western will feature special offers for hotels in a specific theme. Just remember…if you're interested, you have to act fast! These promotions are only available for a few hours a day on bestwestern.com.

Here is the line-up:

• Monday: Capital cities – For example, explore NYC for less than $110 a night or Washington D.C. for $90
• Tuesday: 4th of July hot spots – For example, hit up Huntington Beach for $70 or Lake Tahoe for $75
• Wednesday: Destinations with huge tourist attractions – For example, visit Niagara Falls for C$81 or Orlando, Florida for $70
• Thursday: Hotels near popular water parks and theme parks – For example, enjoy Busch Gardens Williamsburg for $99 or visit Hershey Park and stay for $85 a night
• Friday: Your pick from a selection of popular destinations including Dallas, Texas; San Diego, Calif.; and Honolulu, Hawaii – all at a special rate

Head on over to www.bestwestern.com to save a bundle on summer travel! If you've missed the sale, a clock on the site will indicate when the next deals will be available.

Summer is in full swing now that June is here. If you have yet to plan your summer vacation, or just want to get away at the spur of the moment, Marriott has announced a Deal of the Day program, giving you up to 60 percent off of their regular rates. Better hurry though...Deal of the Day offers end on June 12th! The special rates and packages can be found on the company's Twitter feed and www.Marriottdealoftheday.com.

One new "Deal" will be featured each day, for 24 hours, at resorts in the Caribbean, Hawaii and California. New deals will be announced daily at 7 am EDT, Monday through Friday, with the last deal announced June 12.

Today's (June 1st) Deal of the Day is from the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort. Guests can book a room with a private balcony for $120 per night -- a 55 percent discount -- for stays of three nights or more through July 31, 2009. The resort is located on the world-famous Seven Mile Beach and also features a turtle lagoon and tropical gardens with walkways and private seating areas.

To book, visit www.Marriottdealoftheday.com. Check back in less than 24 hours for the next vacation Deal of the Day.

Universal Orlando Resort just announced a new summer vacation offer. For less than $34 per person, per night, they have a new Kids Free Package - which gives your kids free, unlimited theme park admission with a stay of four nights or more at a hotel near Universal. For only $28 more per person, per night - or a total of $62 - you can upgrade to an on-site hotel and receive complimentary Universal Express access to skip the regular lines at theme park rides and attractions just by showing your hotel room key.

The Kids Free Off-Site Package starts at $533 for four nights for a family of four at a hotel near Universal (that's less than $34 per night!) And, kids ages 3-9 get free theme park admission. The package also includes transportation to and from Universal's theme parks. The offer must be booked by July 31, 2009 and is valid for travel through October 8, 2009.Read more

Virgin America announced today that they are the first and only (as of now) airline to offer Gogo In-flight Internet service on every flight. You can surf the web, check email, log onto your corporate VPN – all while flying at 37,000 feet. Basically, what this does is no longer give you an excuse as to why that email didn't get answered. But, will I use this service when I fly Virgin America? You bet!

The Gogo service is available for $12.95 for daytime flights of over three hours, $9.95 for daytime flights of less than three hours, $5.95 on red-eye flights and $7.95 for handheld devices.

Another cool thing…Virgin America has another first for an airline: an air-to-ground Skype video call with Oprah Winfrey which will air tomorrow (Thursday, May 21) on The Oprah Winfrey Show (check local listings). The episode is entitled "Where the Skype Are You?" and Oprah will host a video chat from the First Class cabin of Virgin America Flight VX780 en route from Seattle to Los Angeles. For more on the segment, visit www.oprah.com.

Garmin just announced two new touchscreen handheld GPS devices – the Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t. These are not your average GPS units. Weighing only 6.8 ounces, they are waterproof, feature a 3-axis compass and include a built-in 3.2 megapixel autofocus digital camera that automatically geotags images.

Along with automatically geotagging each photo with the location of where it was taken, the digital camera in the Oregon 550 features a 4x digital zoom and allows you to take and view pictures in landscape or portrait mode. It also includes 850 MB of internal memory. Need even more memory? The 550 has a microSD card slot for more storage of photos and mapping. Your pictures can also be stored and shared online. Simply connect the device via USB, go to my.Garmin.com, then upload and store the photos on Picasa for all your friends to see. Read more

Best Western and AAA just announced a new sweepstakes, where one family will win a weeklong summer road trip that starts in the past and ends in present day. The "Retro to Now" road trip sweepstakes will give one family the chance to find out how road trips have changed during the last 60 years.

The trip starts in "retro" style with an old-school vehicle, paper maps, car games and other road trip supplies from the past. Mid-way through the trip fast-forwards to "now" with a modern vehicle, GPS device, DVD players and all the conveniences of today. Read more