Southwest plans to start offering international flights for the first time through a partnership deal with Canada's WestJet.
Southwest said it is working on a so-called code-sharing agreement with WestJet, a low-fare, Canadian regional airline, which flies around Canada as well as to Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Code-sharing deals typically allow carriers to sell tickets on each other's flights.
The airlines hope to detail schedules, fares, and other features of the pact by late next year. I think it's pretty safe to say, though, that New England customers of Southwest, which services Providence, Hartford, and Manchester, will likely be among the recipients of more lower-fare options to Canadian destinations. The agreement is subject to review by regulators.

We apologize to Sally Field, who actually said in her 1985 Academy Award acceptance speech: “I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!” Today, we’re talking about travel – Americans abroad, and how they are viewed.
A recent Pew Global Attitudes survey asks where we, as Americans, are most likely to be welcomed. It turns out that the countries Americans most like to visit are, for the most part, countries that like Americans. The survey polled residents of 24 countries – including the United States – between March 27 and April 21. In 14 foreign countries, a majority of respondents have a favorable view of Americans. (The United States itself, on the other hand, is well-regarded, on balance, in only nine foreign countries.)

Not a big surprise, but United and US Airways have decided to join rival American and start charging many customers $15 to check even one bag.
United, which said it was considering making the change when American announced its move last month, also plans to increase fees to check three or more bags, overweight luggage, or items that need special handling from $100 to $125 or from $200 to $250 depending on the item.
US Airways, which also plans to start charging domestic coach customers $2 for nonalcoholic drinks Aug. 1, detailed other cuts, including trimming its domestic schedule as much as 8 percent by year's end and axing 1,700 jobs.
The $25 fee that both carriers charge for a second checked bag will not change.
United's new policy will apply starting June 13 for passengers who buy seats for domestic travel and starting Aug. 18 for those headed to and from Canada, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
Exempt will be travelers flying United First, United Business, and those who have premier status with either United for the Star Alliance. Here are more details.
US Airways' new baggage fee will apply to tickets booked on or after July 9 for domestic flights and those to and from Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The airline will exempt Dividend Miles Preferred members, First Class and Envoy passengers, Star Alliance Silver and Gold status members, military personnel on active duty, unaccompanied minors, and passengers checking assistive devices. Here are the details.
All this should come as no shock. Sit tight. There will be others

It seems that every other week in Richard Carpenter’s Real Deals another women’s business has joined the travel industry. On bikes, on hikes, on safaris, out West, up north, across the Pond, women are traveling together, and cornering them has become smart commerce. (Other than to shoot game or play or attend one, do men travel together?)

Marybeth Bond won the Lowell Thomas Award for best travel book with “A Woman’s World: True Stories of World Travel’’ (Travelers’ Tales, 2003) by several dozen contemporary voices, many of them writers. Then she had a best seller last year with “50 Best Girlfriends Getaways in North America’’ (National Geographic, 2007). This spring she delivers “Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide” (National Geographic, 272 pp., paperback, 15.95). Bond is described on the jacket as “a travel expert, spokesperson, and motivational speaker” and it is this last calling that may, or that should, seem quite personal to the reader.

The Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA) has released these Top 10 rankings for US, North America, and International hot spots for student and youth travel from their annual member survey, which polls student and youth travel industry professionals on current and emerging trends:

Top 10 U.S. Destinations
1. Washington D.C.
2. New York City
3. Orlando
4. Chicago
5. Greater Boston
6. Historic Virginia
7. Southern California
8. Philadelphia Area
9. Baltimore/Annapolis
10. Hawaii

Top North America Destinations
1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Quebec City
4. Vancouver
5. Cancun & the Yucatan
6. Calgary
7. Edmonton
8. Ottawa
9. Oaxaca
10. Mexico City

Top 10 International Destinations
1. United Kingdom
2. France
3. Italy
4. Spain
5. Australia
6. Germany
7. Greece
8. Brazil
9. Peru
10. China

The folks at Greyhound -- who brought you BoltBus -- are at least as excited about the whole lower-price, free WiFi, guaranteed (and clean) seating bus idea as you are. Maybe more. Right now, Bolt travels between Boston and New York (as well as NY-DC and NY-Philly).
But Greyhound has decided to partner with Adirondack Trailways and will start offering BoltBus-type service between New York and Toronto, starting May 22. They're calling this new venture NeOn.
I spoke with Greyhound's Dustin Clark about it, and he told me that this was a kind of a pilot project and that if it's successful the company will probably look at other good markets -- like Boston -- to see whether there is sufficient interest. And to where.
Toronto is OK, but, Dustin, if you guys start up between Boston and Montreal, I'm there.
Stay tuned.

Finally, a vacation package that lets you travel at your own pace, without the big group-dynamic thing. And here's the kicker: Airfare is included.

Canadian travel company Maxxim Vacations is offering a seven-night self-drive vacation that begins and ends in Halifax, Nova Scotia. For $1,679 per person you get round-trip airfare from Boston, seven nights' lodging, seven-day car rental with unlimited mileage, and seven breakfasts. First you'll get some help from a "travel specialist" to fashion your personal itinerary. From Halifax it's off to Lunenburg, Digby, and Wolfville along scenic coastal roads and through picturesque fishing villages. You'll spend each night in a reserved room at a country inn, B&B, or hotel.

This package isn't called "A Taste of Nova Scotia" for nothing: the emphasis is on stopping along the way for lobster, scallops, clams, mussels, fiddleheads, a local appetizer called "Solomon Grundy" (marinated herring and onion with sour cream), chowder, black pudding, and scones with cream and strawberry preserves.

Extras include dinner at Digby Pines Golf Resort and Spa, dining and entertainment at the Halifax Feast Dinner Theatre, and guided tours of three wineries.

How refreshing to find a hotel "deal" that is actually a bargain! Shell Vacations Hospitality is offering family-friendly summer deals at some of its resorts in the US and Canada. Included are a $15 gas card (OK, that's not even half a tank these days, but at least it's something), room rates ranging from $68-$189 for guests staying four nights or more, and a gift pack of beach games for the kids. Packages are valid from June 2 until Sept. 5 and can only be booked online through Shell's website. Shell's resorts include:
Peacock Suites, Anaheim
Orange Tree Golf Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Legacy Golf Resort, Phoenix
Starr Pass Golf Suites, Tucson
Desert Rose Resort, Las Vegas
Carriage Ridge Resort, Horseshoe Valley, Ontario
Mountainside Lodge, Whistler, British Columbia
Waikiki Marina Resort, Oahu
Kauai Coast Resort, Kauai

Admit it. You forgot, didn't you. Starting today, the Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Dream makes Boston -- the Black Falcon Terminal, actually -- its home port, replacing the smaller Norwegian Majesty.
The Dream, which can take 1,750 people, is a good bit larger than the Majesty, with a capacity of 1,462. It also comes with amenities like two pools, a driving range, and b-ball court. But the big deal is that the Dream offers ocean-view state rooms with balconies.
Like the Majesty, the Dream will be making regular seven-day cruises to Bermuda, but it will also be shoving off for Canada, starting at the end of Aug. through Sept. 21.
Next year, NCL will base an even bigger ship here, the Norwegian Spirit. So what's this all about? They apparently figure that there is a pretty good cruise market here, waiting to be tapped. What this means for cruisers down the line is more amenities and potentially more choice.

Snow may have evaporated from most of New England’s neighborhoods and forest floors, but up in O Canada --- namely, at Rigaud, Québec’s Sucrerie Lavigne, about an hour west of Montreal --- you can still experience maple sugaring season, and eat yourself silly on a traditional Quebecois brunch. To a half century-old sugar shack, Jean-Paul and Claire L. Lavigne added a rambling and folksy dining hall where locals mingle with weekenders to scarf down the $20 all-you-can-eat buffet. The menu includes potatoes, beans, eggs, sausage, ham, homemade pickles --- plus some unexpected, local specialties like a custardy, eggy concoction called “omelette au lard”; pork cracklings; pea soup; squares of pork fat pate called “cretons”; and, for dessert, luscious, thick pancakes (more the consistency of crepes than pancakes) and maple sugar pie. All drenched in real maple syrup. If you’re not already bloated to bursting, waddle outside to the window where you can sample fresh sugar-on-snow taffy on a stick. There’s also horse drawn wagon rides, walking trails and sugar shack to poke into.

If you collect places with interesting names (Truth or Consequences, N.M.; Tightsqueeze, Va.; Dunmovin, Calif. — you get the drift already) have I got the place for you: God’s Pocket, British Columbia. Sea Kayak Adventures has a sea kayak trip July 7-11 suitable for families with teens 13 and older. Stay in a rustic seven-room lodge on a remote uninhabited island in God’s Pocket Marine Provincial Park off the northern tip of Vancouver Island. Paddle by day among the network of waterways surrounding the islands that make up the park, hike into an island rainforest, spot whales, sea otters, and bald eagles, and unwind in the evening with a hot meal (featuring locally caught seafood) and a dip in the hot tub. The five-day tour is $1,699 per person and includes all kayaking gear and instruction, lodging, meals, and certified guides.

A taste of royalty in the Canadian Rockies

Visiting Banff or Lake Louise? The Fairmont Banff Springs and Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, those two storybook hotels, may be out of your budget for lodging, but it's still possible to play prince or princess for the day.

At the Banff Springs, spend a half day or longer in the Willow Stream Spa. Day access is a whopping $79 (for nonguests, reservations required), so the longer you stay, the better it seems (it's open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.). Of course, one dip in the progressive pools or the central mineral pool (be sure to lay your head back in the water—music is piped in), and you'll think it's worth every penny. At least I did. Head outside to the whirlpool, and don't be surprised if a deer strolls by. As another woman said: "It doesn't get any better than this!" Well, actually, it does, but that requires spending beaucoup bucks for a massage (rates begin at $165 for 60 minutes, plus gratuity and GST) or other service. Instead, add a mini-splurge for breakfast or lunch, perhaps even light dinner, in the spa. In between taking the waters or trips to the steam room or sauna (with a window overlooking the mountains), simply relax in your robe and slippers, munch on complementary fruit and perhaps cookies or muffins, and sip tea for big Ahhhh! factor. Before leaving, shower using the spa's fancy-schmancy shampoo, conditioner and cleansers, then slather liberally with lotion. Now melt.

At the Chateau Lake Louise, make a reservation for high tea, served daily in the lakefront lounge from noon to 4 p.m. Yes, it's pricey at $38, but the experience is priceless. Begin with a glass of wine (or champagne, for an additional $10), then choose a tea and sit back and nibble your way through a three-tiered silver tray of finger sandwiches, sweets and to-die-for scones with Devonshire cream and strawberry jam. It's so elegant and so self-indulgent and so satisfying.

Posted by Hilary Nangle, Globe Correspondent

If you loved Anne Gordon's polar bear story in the Globe, The Great Canadian Travel Co. has four fall trips that are sure to tempt you.

Go north to Churchill, the "Polar Bear Capital of the World,'' on three-, four-, six- and seven-day tours that range in price from $1,589 to $3,489 (Canadian).

Explore the sub-arctic on a Tundra Buggy after a flight from Winnipeg to Churchill, 650 miles north on Hudson Bay. A naturalist guide accompanies all groups.

In two days of touring, Gordon's group saw 62 bears, and as Anne reported, one so close that she could feel his breath.

It's peer group pressure, people. US Airways says that it will charge some passengers (i.e. those not in its frequent-flier program) $25 for a second checked bag, starting May 26. Sound familiar? It was just earlier this month, that United said it would was planning the same thing.
Hear that? It's the footsteps of all the other major carriers getting ready to queue up.

Planning a summer trip to Quebec City? Add a visit to Paris without jet lag.

Tickets for the Musée National des Beaux-arts du Quebec's exclusive exhibit, "The Louvre in Quebec City," are on sale now. The one-time-only exhibit of more than 270 major works selected from eight Louvre departments and representing 5,000 years of history will be on view from June 5 through Oct. 26, in conjunction with the city's 400th anniversary celebrations. Tickets are $15 and must be reserved for specific dates and times. They can by ordered by telephone 877-643-8131 or online. Note: all websites have an English button.

Posted by Hilary Nangle, Globe Correspondent

Comair, an airline providing regional flights under the Delta Connection banner, is beefing up its summer service at Logan, Delta Air Lines said. The carrier will extend through Sept. 6 its once-daily Spring Break nonstop Saturday service between Boston and New Orleans, which originally was planned to run from Feb. 2 to April 26. On May 3 it will reintroduce once-daily weekend flights between Boston and Myrtle Beach, S.C., after having suspended that route in October. And it will resume once-daily summer service between Boston and Quebec City, Quebec, and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, between June 13 and Sept. 7. Big Sky Airlines, another Delta Connection carrier, ended its Quebec City route in December because unusually bad weather, disappointing revenue and record high fuel prices made many of the carrier's operations unsustainable. Additionally, Comair will add a third weekly flight between Boston and Bangor starting June 5.
Posted by Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff

A few weeks ago we wrote a Checking In review on Inn Victoria, a truly splendid B&B in Chester, Vermont. Seems we weren't the only ones who were impressed. Innkeepers/owners Jon and Julie Pierce (see photo) recently wrote to tell us that the inn placed #7 in the list of Top Ten Bed and Breakfast Inns in the US in the TripAdvisor Travelers Choice awards.

But any glow over their accomplishment that the Pierces enjoyed was short-lived. They happen to be British citizens. "We have been having some issues with our visa and the US Immigration services do not believe we are doing well enough to qualify for a visa renewal next year," Julie wrote to us in an email. "As we could find ourselves removed from the US next November, we have no choice but to cut our losses. We are considering relocating to Nova Scotia and buying a B&B there when we sell (because contrary to the USCIS belief we ARE great innkeepers!)."

They're also incredibly civic-minded folks who have contributed immeasurably to their local community. When they sell Inn Victoria and move on, New England's loss will be Canada's gain.

Posted by Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

Feel that your life is incomplete because you have never slept in an igloo? Spirit Trail Adventures, a Canadian company, offers a mountain winter night in an igloo near Kimberley, B.C., with candlelight, hot chocolate, sleeping bags, and breakfast. The cost is about $180 US for two, or you can just have a salmon dinner in the igloo for about $90 a person.
Posted by Richard C. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

One of the things you really should do with your lottery winnings is to see Canada. Not just the spa in Quebec, the food in Montreal, the theater in Toronto, the green gables of Prince Edward Island, but all of it, the second largest country on earth. You could start by having one of your retinue pick up “Unforgettable Canada: 100 Destinations” (Boston Mills, 288 pp., $29.95 paperback). Photographer George Fischer and author-editor Noel Hudson have only numbered, but not rank-ordered, sites from Newfoundland and Labrador to Nunavut to British Columbia. The color photography is entrancing, be it of the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Baffin Island in Nunavut, the polar bears in Manitoba, the lobsters in New Brunswick, or the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia. Snow, sea lions, the Inside Passage, diamond mines, rodeos, icebergs, hot springs, skyscrapers, the Northwest Territories, the Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver, landscapes traced by ice ages, it all can seem so exotically … Canadian. Even the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Alberta, which archeologists estimate was used as a buffalo jump (to what fate they jumped I trust you can infer) for almost 6,000 years, looks inviting in its barren sprawl, almost untouched since the aboriginal peoples abandoned it – except for the $10 million interpretive center built into a cliff. On one page, the Dempster Highway lies like a ribbon on the pale green tundra of the Yukon, the only highway in this hemisphere to cross the Arctic Circle; on another, it’s Canada Day in Ottawa; on another, the Outlaw Trail stretches through the Big Muddy Badlands of Saskatchewan, visited by the Sundance Kid and, after Little Bighorn, by Sitting Bull and his followers, and looking like a scene from Australia. Can you see yourself in the picture?

Temperatures are slipping downward again, it's gloomy outside, and another onslaught of snow can't be far off.

Need a break? We have the spots for you. Even if you can't get away, just reading about these places that pamper is bound to brighten your mood.

In Sunday's travel section Doug Warren takes us to the Lake Austin Spa Resort where he and his wife spent a luxurious few hours, starting with a Ruby Red Grapefruit Refresher. They were in Texas, after all.

In other pieces, Ellen Albanese explores wellness offerings at the Spa at Colonial Williamsburg that draw on centuries of treatments. Kathy Shorr takes us to Spa Eastman in Quebec, a budget alternative to other destination spas like Canyon Ranch. The least expensive option: Judith Fein finds bargain massages in Vietnam.

And for the ocean lovers among us, Susie Woodhams writes about thalassotherapy centers in southwest France. Here it's all about seawater, algae, and coastal mud. Just the thing if you're pining for the beach.

Never travel where your husband honeymooned with his first wife. Especially if you’re staying down the road at the quirkier hotel. The hotel with the wood paneled walls, the bathroom where the featured amenity is a wall-mounted bottle opener, and a rumored ghost in residence. (I hate ghosts.) While just up the road sits the majestic Chateau Lake Louise, the Fairmont’s jewel of the Canadian Rockies. It’s not just a grand hotel. It is a palace in a fairy-tale land of snow-laden pines, crystal waterfalls and ice castles set against a backdrop of sheer soaring cliffs and expansive white glaciers. Just walking into the lobby makes you feel as if you should be wearing a beaded gown. It is where my husband spent a week with his “practice wife”—the woman he married right out of college and who, for the most part, I never think about. But now, in this setting, with my husband at home while I’m on a business trip, his “ex” has morphed into the evil stepsister whom my prince took to the ball. I need a fairy godmother. I need a pumpkin. I need that beaded gown. And for that matter, I need my prince! Instead, all I get is a ghost.

Posted by Peggy Shinn, Globe Correspondent

When Sunday's blizzard stranded us for an extra day and night in Quebec City, we escaped the elements at the Musee National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec, edging Battlefield's Park on the Plains of Abraham. It's an architectural gem with a Neoclassical wing and another in the converted former Quebec City prison, tied together by a glass-and-granite centerpiece.

Swept in by a frigid gale, we warmed up with "Picasso of Antibes" and "Paris 1900: Collection du Petit Palais, Paris," both on view through Jan. 6. They're worth a special trip, as the museum is the only North American venue for both shows, and while the museum itself is free, these are worth the $15 temporary exhibition fee.

The Picasso exhibit comprises 55 works created by the master in 1946, when he was staying at Chateau d'Antibes. Included are paintings, sculptures and drawings, all packing sufficient Wow! Accompanying it are photographs of the artist during this period. The Paris show, drawn from the City of Light's Petit Palais fine arts museum, includes 130 turn-of-the-20th-century works in varied media. Another don't miss is the museum's Brosseau Inuit art collection (no entry fee required). The intricate carvings are nothing short of magnificent.

Time your visit to coincide with the kick-off for Quebec City's 400th-anniversary celebration. When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, the walled city begins its 10-month-long party with spectacular fireworks and a free concert in Place d'Youville.

Posted by Hilary Nangle, Globe correspondent

Let me channel Mom for a moment: I know you never pay attention when I talk so let me remind you for the last time (I mean it. Take those ear-pods out.) that as of the end of January, anyone who is 19 or older (really, 19 or older; your fake ID age doesn't count) will need to show proof of citizenship when entering the good old US of A: 1) if by land, or 2) if by sea.
You already have to show a passport if you are coming in by air.
Now what do we mean by "proof"? You'll need either a birth certificate and some government-issued ID like a driver's license, or if you have a passport you're covered for both.
Your little brother and his pals who are under 18 will just need the birth certificate. (Stop smirking. No, he was not cloned at Beth Israel).
These new rules will apply to all border crossings, including Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. (Yes, Spring Break in Cozumel counts).
Probably some time this summer the rules will change again, and everyone will be required to have passports. There will likely be another rush to get them as there was last spring when the wait times got ginormous.
So, young man, it would make sense just to get a passport now. Right? And stop slouching. Do you want your back to stay that way?

Ever since Mark Twain penned "Innocents Abroad" (1869) about Americans traveling overseas, our countrymen have been something of a class apart. We have a bad reputation (sometimes deserved, sometimes not) for dressing poorly, not speaking the local language, and being ... well, pushy.
A few weeks ago, I spent an hour in line at the KLM transfer desk in Amsterdam because the airline computers were down. One traveler complained so loudly and fidgeted so intensely that other people in line let her creep ahead of them until she reached the front. The transfer desk personnel were helpless to print boarding passes, so she shouted at them, berated the Dutch in general, and hinted that she'd sue KLM if she missed her flight.
This fit of frustration and pique was carried out in perfect American English, of course, which she spoke even louder when no action materialized. Almost everyone else in line was carrying an EU passport, but as an American, I cringed and bit my lip -- until she pulled out her passport and slapped it down on the counter.
"I'm a Canadian citizen," she said, "and you can't treat me like this!"

Posted by David Lyon, Globe correspondent