Travelsmartplanet

Allegiant Air taking a cue from brick and mortar retailers, is offering for the first time, doorbuster fares for both U.S. Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday as well as great deals on hotels, rental cars and attractions.

U.S. Thanksgiving Doorbusters – Beginning at 5 am on Thurs, Nov. 28, Allegiant will offer $30 one way fares (including taxes and fees!) on select routes. Only 60 seats are available on each flight at www.allegiant.com.

Cyber Monday Sale – Beginning at 5 am on Mon, Dec. 2,  Allegiant will offer fares as low as $59 one way on select routes. Deep Cyber Monday discounts can save travelers up to 30 percent.

Allegiant’s Cyber Monday deals will include dozens of vacation specials including free nights, free upgrades, and free meals at participating hotels in Hawaii, Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona. Allegiant customers can save with free double car class upgrades at Allegiant’s Alamo locations nationwide.

Allegiant Air is focused on linking leisure travelers in small cities to world-class leisure destinations  operating a low-cost, high-efficiency, all-jet passenger airline. The company has been named one of America’s 100 Best Small Companies by Forbes Magazine for four consecutive years.

“Our customers love a great deal, so we’ve decided to give them something special,” said Rich Winiarski, Allegiant Travel Company Vice President of Marketing. “We are excited to offer travellers even more ways to save on flight, hotels and vacations with our exceptional U.S. Thanksgiving doorbuster sales and deep Cyber Monday discounts. This will be our biggest sale ever.”

www.allegiantair.com

VA Exit 177B: The movie, “12 Years a Slave”  has a connection to a slave site, now a Virginia museum, called Freedom House Museum. In 1808, a US law outlawed the importation of slaves. Still so necessary for plantation life, clever entrepreneurs did not let this stop the sale of slaves – they simply bred them! The slaves were encouraged to have as many children as possible so they could be auctioned off.

The last slave trader at this site, James H. Birch, was the same dealer who, in the movie,  paid kidnappers $250 for Solomon Northup of Saratoga Springs, NY; They then sold him into slavery in Louisiana. “What is unique about this building is it’s one of the few remaining buildings that the slave trade actually took place in.” said curator Julian Kiganda” who designed the exhibits here.

This building was once headquarters for the Franklin and Armfield Slave Pen, the largest and most successful domestic slave trading firm in America. “We will give Cash for one hundred likely YOUNG NEGROES”, read one of their ads in the Alexandria Gazette in 1828. “Persons who wish to sell, would do well to give us a call, as the negroes are wanted immediately. We will give more than any other purchasers that are in the market or may hereafter come into the market.”

Between the 1830’s and 1860’s Virginia exported more than 10,000 slaves a year to the Deep South, and the total may have reached 300,000, tearing families apart forever. The FREE museum is a must to absorb the personal stories of this black mark on the country’s history. “Everyone who comes through there, they feel moved.” says Kiganda.

Location: . 1315 Duke St., Alexandria, VA
Tel:  703-836-2858
www.freedomhousemuseum.org

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It costs $500 a year to join Patrons of the Vatican Museums which means you are a donor to the Vatican museums. For your basic membership, you get to jump the line at Vatican Museums – as in going straight in to the Sistine Chapel in the morning before anyone else. You get private tours of off limits galleries and restoration labs, special access to St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Gardens, priority seating at the Pope’s weekly general audience, and can score coveted tickets to Midnight Mass.

This is not necessarily for Catholics, but for anyone who is an art buff and eager for behind the scenes access. On top of that, it’s a good deal as it is tax deductible.

Three hundred and fifty of this fundraising organization (of about 2500) of Vatican lovers, had a 30th anniversary gala this year. The guests, art loving philanthropists,  were mostly from the US; They had become excited after seeing  a  traveling exhibit of Vatican treasures. For only $1900 a person, they enjoyed five days of touring, VIP treatment, lectures on museum restoration, catered dinners in museum galleries, question and answer periods with top official in the Secretariat about Vatican reform, vespers service in the Sistine Chapel – and even a one-on-one with Pope Francis himself.

Allegiant Air makes leisure travel affordable and convenient by offering low fares, nonstop, all-jet service without the hassle of major airports. The savings can be up to 72% on your flight but also a few bucks on your cell phone plan too.

Ever racked up a large cell phone bill while traveling? Allegiant, in partnership with Roam Mobility, offers a roaming plan that undercuts the big three carriers by more than 90%. Allegiant passengers can purchase daily-unlimited talk and text plans from $3 and data rates from 6 cents a megabyte from the in-flight crew to avoid “roam rage”.

If you sign up for their e-mails, you will get location specific sales – only deals pertaining to your closest airport. Besides flights, there are specials on hotels, car rental and show tickets. You will only get information on Tuesdays, so it’s easy to check then.

You can fly Allegiant to warm winter destinations like Florida, Las Vegas,  Arizona, California, Mexico and Hawaii.

www.allegiantair.com

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