Hotel Urbano at Brickell, Miami’s first boutique “art hotel,” is celebrating its January grand opening, offering guests their first night for $20.10 when booking two nights or more Jan. 1-29, 2010.

Guests who book this offer will receive a complimentary welcome cocktail and free buffet breakfast voucher. Plus, they will be entered in a drawing to win an original artwork valued at $2,010 by Miami artist William Braemer, curator of Art Fusion Galleries.

The hotel features guest rooms designed by Marcie DeLaRosa; a free-form swimming pool; a sun deck with private cabanas, fire pit, and poolside lounge; a fitness room; and a restaurant fusing South Florida and Cuban cuisine.

Hotel Urbano will feature new, emerging artists in displays throughout the hotel.

The fine print:
The grand opening “New Year, New Hotel” offer is available for new bookings made for travel between Jan. 1 through Jan. 29, 2010. A minimum two-night stay is required to be eligible to receive the $20.10 first night special rate offer (based on double occupancy.) Guests cannot combine this offer with any other hotel package or promotion, and certain blackout dates apply. To receive the special $20.10 rate, guests must use the code “2010” when booking online or calling direct. For more information or to make reservations, call 888-657-3448.
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On my slog into Florida’s Big Cypress Swamp for Ways to the Glades NPR producer Greg Allen walked a few feet ahead with a microphone -- carefully – as the Glades photographer Clyde Butcher shared his world and art. Listen to Allen’s interview with Butcher here.

Posted by Patricia Borns, Globe correspondent

First it was planes and trains and now it's automobiles, too. Avis and Budget are banning smoking in their cars, starting Oct. 1.

The car rental companies told USA Today that they will impose a cleaning fee of as much as $200 on customers who violate the rule. The firms also noted that they would forbid their own employees from smoking in the cars.

For me, this is great news. I hate getting into a rental that smells like smoke. And apparently I'm not the only one. John Barrows, a spokesman for the Avis Budget Group, the parent company, told USA Today that "the No. 1 request we get is for a smoke-free car.''

This puts Avis and Budget in front of the pack on this issue. Other major competitors either do not have an across-the-board ban or simply allow customers to request smoke-free but don't guarantee it.

Domestic airlines, buses, and Amtrak have had severe restrictions or bans on smoking since the early 1990s.

Photo by iStockphoto

Call this the upside of trimming flight schedules. The on-time rate for US airlines in July was the best it's been in six years.

In fact, on-time rates in the first seven months of the year have been at their highest levels in six years, owing in part to the fact that struggling carriers have been cutting flights to save money amid the recession and falling demand.

This from Bloomberg News:

The 77.6 percent on-time rate for the month compares with 75.7 percent for the same month in 2008 and was the best result for the industry since 79.7 percent in 2003, the department said in a report released in Washington.

Which airline was best? Hawaiian Airlines at 93.6 percent, followed by Alaska Air at 87.2 percent. And the worst? Delta’s Comair unit with 63.6, followed by SkyWest’s Atlantic Southeast unit at 68.3 percent and AirTran at 69.8 percent.

An interesting bit: The most frequently delayed flights were Northwest Airlines 1266 from Boston to Tampa and Northwest flight 1154 from West Palm Beach to Boston, both of which were tardy 96.77 percent of the time.

JetBlue has just sprung a fall sale, with one-way, online fares as low as $49 from Boston. You have to book before Aug. 6, and fares require up to a 14-day advance purchase from travel between Sept. 8 and Dec. 16 -- note the Thanksgiving period is blacked out. And, for this one, you best shot at finding sale fares will be midweek.

Here's all the fine print.

Southwest Airlines, which will launch service from Logan starting Aug. 16, announced
a big 48-hour sale, with one-way fares going for as low as $30, $60, or $90 based on length of travel.
The move bucks a recent industry trend, which saw the major airlines raising ticket prices over the past couple of weeks as the beleaguered carriers once again find themselves facing volatile fuel prices.
The terms of the Southwest sale go like this: For flights up to 400 miles, you could pay as little as $30; 400-750 miles $60; and more than 750 miles $90. These fares don't include taxes and fees, and you must purchase before July 9 for travel from Sept. 9 through Nov. 18. Also you can't travel on Fridays or Sundays.
The complaints with this kind of deal tend to focus on the fact that sale fares tend to be in rather short supply. But here in Greater Boston we have an advantage because Southwest doesn't begin flying till next month, so, for the most part, there's no shortage of seats available for the fall.
I plugged in a few September and October dates for flights to the Midwest and California and found a number of openings at sale prices.
This sale could also kick off a smallish price war on competing routes, according to one airline analyst who was quoted in a Reuters story.
"While airline ticket prices have stabilized recently from their free fall, airlines are by no means out of the woods as oil prices remain volatile and demand precarious," said Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, in an e-mail this morning. "Later today we should see significant airfare matching activity (even for the modest 2-day purchase period on the Southwest sale) as legacy airlines will not want to be undercut."

Direct Air, which flies from Worcester Regional Airport to Sanford (Orlando) and Punta Gorda (Fort Myers) in Florida and to Myrtle Beach, S.C., is offering 50 percent off its lowest available fares from July 3 through midnight July 12. The sale is good on all available flights, into 2010.

The airline is presenting this as a deal to benefit last minute "Gotta get away" folks and "long term planners" who want to book winter flights at big savings. Travelers must use promo code "JULY4" to receive the offer. Visit the website or call 877-432-DIRECT (3473).

In addition to the discounted airfares, the oceanfront Myrtle Beach Sea Watch Resort is offering a "Stay 2 nights and 3rd night free offer, and USAVE car rental is offering a free day rental with 3 or more paid days.

The Clear registered traveler program, which promised to speed fliers through airport security lines, was shuttered last night.
Clear, which began about four years ago, had enrolled more than 250,000 travelers who paid nearly $200 a year and operated at 18 airports, including Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco and Washington Dulles. At Logan, the program was offered only through Delta Airlines in Terminal A.
Users of the Clear system received high-tech ID cards to verify their fingerprints or iris images at designated security kiosks. Clear faced criticism because TSA decided that registered travelers had to go through the same security screening as everyone else.
A statement on the website of Verified Identity Pass, which runs the Clear program, said that the firm "had been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations."
The note also said that the firm would keep member information secure until it was able to delete it and that "at the present time, because of its financial condition, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. cannot issue refunds.''
Clear was started by Court TV founder Steven Brill, who told USA Today that he had left the company in March to start Journalism Online LLC, a venture to help publications collect revenue for online content.

Bloomberg News photo

Southwest Airlines, which has largely refrained from engaging in the airline extra-fee feeding frenzy, has decided to add a levy for children flying alone, double charges for third checked bags, and allow pets in the cabin for $75 each way.
Southwest, which prides itself on its "no hidden fee'' policy, will add a $50 round-trip service charge for children ages 5 through 11 flying alone, according to a report by Bloomberg News. The levy will apply to fares bought after June 1 for flights starting June 17. Most of the major carriers, including Delta, American, and US Airways, charge $100 each way.
Southwest, which lets travelers check two bags for free, will raise the fee to $50 for a third checked bag and for luggage weighing 51 pounds to 70 pounds. The changes take effect June 17.
Among the major carriers only Southwest and JetBlue don’t charge for a first checked bag, and JetBlue charges for second and subsequent bags.

JetBlue started the week off with two big announcements. First it launched an online "300,000 seat Summer Sale" with one-way airfares as low as $29 to $129 for destinations across the nation and the Caribbean. Much of the fine print will be familiar: You must book before Friday for travel between June 2 and Sept. 9 and all travel must take place on a Tuesday or Wednesday. And fares require up to a 10-day advance purchase.
The discount carrier also said that it was extending its refund program for travelers who get laid off after buying tickets. The program, which JetBlue says has been welcomed by customers, was originally supposed to run only through June.

From May 21 to Sept. 27, 2009, Kimpton is offering a special PRIDE rate code to members of the LGBT community to receive a complimentary weekend night when they book two nights at the best available rate. Plus, Kimpton is including a $50 dining credit for use at participating restaurants adjacent to Kimpton hotels.
“Kimpton is proud to be supportive of the LGBT community,” said Alan Baer, senior vice president of human resources and co-chair of the Kimpton Gay & Lesbian Employee Network. “As a company we are very involved in the communities we live in and contribute to dozens of LGBT organizations.”
The Summer of Pride offer is available in 20 cities including: Alexandria, Arlington, Boston, Cambridge, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Portland, San Diego, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Seattle, Scottsdale, Vancouver, Vero Beach, and Washington, D.C.
Use the rate code PRIDE when booking. Some restrictions apply, based on availability. To book visit here or call 1-800-KIMPTON.

The wireless Internet battle in the sky is quickly escalating to a dogfight.
AirTran Airways said yesterday morning that it plans to offer in-flight, wireless, Internet access on all 136 of its aircraft by midsummer. Virgin America currently has the service on 24 of its 28 planes, and is on schedule have the rest ready to go by Memorial Day.
On Monday, Delta Air Lines, which became the world’s largest carrier after its merger last year with Northwest Airlines, announced that it has WiFi on 139 planes, or about half of its mainline domestic fleet, and will have the rest finished by September. The carrier also expects to complete outfitting all 200 jets in Northwest’s domestic fleet next year.
And American, which has already equipped all its transcontinental aircraft, says it will have a total of 165 planes WiFi-ready by the end of 2009, with a goal of having 318, or nearly half its fleet, finished over the next few years.
Facing tough competition, the nation's airlines are viewing WiFi, which they once saw as merely a desirable amenity, increasingly as a necessary feature.
“Going online at 35,000 feet isn't a ‘nice to have,’ ’’ said Henry H. Harteveldt, principal airline analyst for Forrester Research Inc. “In today's tough business climate, in-flight Wi-Fi is as essential as the beverage cart. Business people need to stay in touch with their clients and colleagues, as well as stay on top of the volatile business environment. Leisure travelers appreciate WiFi in-flight because they can stay in touch with family and friends, plan their journeys, and entertain themselves.’’
While many carriers are aggressively adopting WiFi, others are at the very least kicking the tires. Southwest Airlines, which carries more passengers than any other US airline, is testing the service on four planes and is looking at the prospects for expansion. JetBlue hopes to have 20 planes outfitted this year for a stripped-down service that would allow e-mail and instant-messaging.
For the most part, all the services work the same. Passengers pay a fee, generally about $8 to $13 depending on the length of the flight, and the service is supplied by a contractor, the largest being Aircell LLC of Itasca, Ill., under its Gogo Inflight Internet brand.
The airlines, which have been garnering increasing amounts of revenue from the assorted fees they’ve launched in the past couple years, expect the service will be not just popular but profitable.
“On a coast-to-coast weekday flight, airlines tell me that it's not uncommon to sometimes have two dozen or more passengers online simultaneously,’’ Harteveldt said. “That could turn into a nice revenue stream long-term for airlines as the product becomes more widely available and more passengers begin using it.’’
But analysts say that the service also eventually could yield significant savings as it may let airlines remove their in-flight entertainment systems, leaving passengers to access the many media options available online. Getting rid of the systems would reduce the weight of planes, making them more fuel efficient, and free the carriers from having to pay for licensing entertainment content.

Good morning, travelers.
For the first time, American plans to let frequent fliers use their miles to book one-way flights for half the miles of a round-trip. The carrier will also let customers redeem miles for first-class seats one way and use fewer miles for a coach seat on the return, according to the Associated Press.

Officials at American, which developed the first frequent-flier program nearly three decades ago, plan to announce the changes Monday and put them into effect shortly.
They say American is the first major US airline to offer a one-way award ticket at half miles. It's hard to know how many people would use miles for a one-way trip -- parents driving a child to college and flying home might -- and American officials didn't offer any estimates.

Marriott is offering active, reserve, and military personnel a deal at 26 Marriott golf courses across the country. With Fairway Furloughs, members of the armed forces with a valid military ID card get discounted green fees/carts, ranging from $29-$69 after 3 p.m. any day of the week, year round. Tee times can be made up to three days in advance.

"In this country, we have hundreds of thousands of active, reserve, and retired military personnel who play golf, and we can't think of a better way to reward their unmatched dedication,'' said Bill Nault, vice president, Marriott Golf.

The complete list of participating courses includes: Camelback Golf Club, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Desert Springs Golf Resort, Palm Desert, Calif.; Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Miami, Fla.; Grande Pines Golf Club, Orlando, Fla.; Grande Vista Golf Club, Orlando, Fla.; Hawk's Landing Golf Club, Orlando, Fla.; Renaissance Vinoy Resort, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Shadow Ridge Golf Club, Palm Desert, Calif.; Starr Pass Golf Club, Tucson, Ariz.; The Rookery at Marco, Naples, Fla.; Wildfire Golf Club, Phoenix, Ariz.; Cattails Golf Club, Kingsport, Tenn.; Griffin Gate Golf Club, Lexington, Ky.; Kauai Lagoons Golf Club, Lihue, Hawaii; Stone Mountain Golf Club, Stone Mountain, Ga.; Crane's Landing Golf Club, Lincolnshire, Ill.; Westfields Golf Club, Clifton, Va.; and Willow Crest Golf Club, Oak Brook, Ill.

For more information on the program, visit here.

Since discovering that some of Florida’s African American landscape artists known as the Highwaymen are still painting in Fort Pierce I’ve been returning to the southeast Florida city with photographer Gary Monroe for a book about the artists’ original home turf.
Recently, Monroe and I had lunch at Granny’s on Avenue D with artist Al Black whose prison murals can be seen for the first time outside the jail in Al Black’s Concrete Dreams, The Highwaymen Murals (Gary Monroe, University Press of Florida).
The oxtail stew was good as before, but now Hassie and Charles Russ’s restaurant and other Avenue D businesses are getting a face lift thanks to Fort Pierce’s Redevelopment Agency headed by Jon Ward. Besides an interpretive Highwaymen trail planned for the Lincoln Park neighborhood -- among possible landmarks is a spot outside the former juke joint Eddie’s Place where Highwaymen Alfred Hair was shot -- we found more great food on Avenue D:
Hot Stop Food Market opens at 5 a.m. for the citrus picking crowd. The fried grouper and-eggs breakfast with grits is excellent and one portion fed both of us ($6). 1702 Avenue D, 772- 465-8040.
A smoker was going full tilt at Tillman’s Backyard BBQ, newly opened next to 1523 at 16th Street and Ave. D. A group led by neighborhood redevelopment mover-and-shaker Elise Rollins was headed there for lunch. They raved about the ribs. 772-828-6261.
At Scott’s Deli and Grocery, owner Randall Scott’s wife Debbie makes a butter cream cake that equals Granny’s peach cobbler. (1507 Avenue D, open 11:30 am to 8 pm).
“This recipe came from the Arawak Indians,” said Vincent Barnett who was stirring a pot of brown stew at C-N-C restaurant. “In Jamaica, we make it with fresh pimento leaves, scallions, garlic, ginger and thyme.” The restaurant with its mural, "Ode to a Buffalo Soldier,'' by local artist Ade Rossman is unmistakable, and so is the stew. (#1143 Avenue D.)
Before leaving town we poked our heads in at D.G. Grocery and stayed for the barbecued pork ribs – smoked with oak in a brick oven at the back of the store – with collard greens done just right and sweet tea. $12/pp. (2311 Avenue D, 772-462-5172.)

Posted by Patricia Borns, Globe correspondent

Owner and chef Hassie Russ serves oxtails at Granny's Restaurant on Avenue D.
Photo by Patricia Borns for the Boston Globe

For generations, Daytona Beach, Florida’s main attraction was the “world’s most famous beach” where cars raced on the hard-packed sand. Then came the Daytona 500, a favorite of Paul Newman and two million rednecks. Luckily, some young, culture-starved Daytonans that included my parents realized that the world’s best musicians go on summer vacation. They invited the London Symphony Orchestra for a beach break, and ever since, the LSO has been a fair weather resident of Daytona Beach.
Now for two and a half weeks from mid-April to May, not only the LSO but also international jazz and Latin bands entertain at venues all over town. Last weekend while I danced under the stars to Afro-Cuban band Tiempo Libre from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., my great aunt attended the 8 p.m. program of Dvorak, Grieg and Brahms conducted by the LSO’s Daniel Harding.
The Daytona International Festival is held conveniently after the spring break and biker crowd pass through town. While you’re there, rent a bike, pack a picnic and do the 22-mile Ormond Loop taking in the Intracoastal Waterway and a great stretch of undeveloped coquina sand beach.
From the beach, it’s not far to High Tides at Snack Jack, one of my favorite places for a beer and fish sandwich while wiggling your toes in the sand.

Posted by Patricia Borns, Globe correspondent

Photo of Tiempo Libre by Patricia Borns for the Boston Globe

Rentalo.com currently has Florida vacation rentals — villas, apartments, and condos — that sleep as many as eight people for $100 a night or less. An example: Samantha’s Castle in Orlando is more like a house than a castle, but then it costs but $85 a night. It has three bedrooms, two baths, a formal dining room, an open kitchen, a deck, and a built-in heated pool. It’s 6 miles from Walt Disney World. A stay of at least three nights is required.
Visit www.rentalo.com/21058/samanthascastle.html

What do bells made out of sliced gas tanks, a thunderstorm, a vibrating cell phone, a trombone, Judy Garland singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," a viola, a VST plug-in called Ambience, analog synthesizer modules, ping-pong balls, pianos, and drum machines have in common? They all involve sound, and will be utilized in some form or another at the Experimental Music Weekend of the Subtropics Biennial in Miami Beach, Florida, on Feb. 27, 28, and March 1 in The Auditorium, on the campus of Miami Beach Senior High.
Produced by iSAW, the weekend will showcase performance-based work by some of the most celebrated proponents of experimental music and sound art in the United States, including Fluxus artists Alison Knowles, Long Tube composer Brenda Hutchinson, Compositional Linguistics minstrel Chris Mann, composer/research scientist David Dunn, sound installation artists Russell Frehling and Steve Peters, improvisational artist Jim Staley, intermedia pioneer composer Phill Niblock, and scholar and director of the Society for Ethnomusicology Steve Stuempfle.
My inside source tells me that festival artistic director, composer and sound artist Gustavo Matamoros will be performing on the 27 at 6:00 p.m. as part of the Fishtank Ensemble. Look for me there!
By Necee Regis, Globe correspondent

Logo provided by iSAW, Miami

It actually seems to be an advance purchase sale. It runs till Nov. 10, and there are blackout dates (like spring break, for instance). But if you can work around those restrictions there are some good deals to be had.
For instance, you can score a room at Hilton New York for as little as $159 a night, with a 3-day advance -- depending on availability. Use promo code NYSALE. Or rates at Millenium Hilton start as low as $159 night with 7-day advance purchase. Promo code is NYSALE.

Thanks to Kitty Bean Yancey's Hotel Hotsheet blog for pointing us to this one.

Last month I wrote about a promotion from lastminutetravel.com that promised to let visitors to the site score a room at any hotel in the site's 15,000-hotel inventory.

The catch was that the deals were only available for 15 minutes a day for one week, and, of course, they wouldn't divulge the magic times on any given day.

The promotion sparked some significant discussion and disagreement about whether the deal was too good to be true, with the most extreme folks speculating that perhaps the whole thing was a fake. There were, over the course of the week, folks who checked in to say that it wasn't bogus and that they had scored rooms.

But as it turns out things are a bit more complicated than that.

One reader wrote me to ask if this was a sale or a contest and whether she would have to pay taxes on her winnings.

I called Lauren Volcheff at Last Minute Travel and she confirmed that the company would be contacting winners to get their Social Security numbers so they could send them IRS 1099 forms. Basically, winners are liable for the difference between the amount they paid and the fair market value of the room -- in this case, according to Volcheff, what the room would cost on the site, which is a good bit less than the standard rate. Still if you scored a 3- or 4-star room for a week, the tax consequences could be significant.
Volcheff said if folks who had gotten rooms were concerned about the taxes they could just cancel and there would be no fee.
Seems straightforward enough. But it probably would've been useful to have this fine print somewhere on the site. And perhaps next time they will.
This from Volcheff on the confusion: "We do plan to run another campaign in the near future, and there are definitely learning lessons from this first one.''

This week, STA Travel is running a call-in contest promotion with 20 winners each day getting a chance to buy a round-trip ticket for travel through March 31 (think Spring Break) to New York, LA, Denver, Miami, or Chicago for $100, including taxes, fees, and any fuel surcharges.
The odds of scoring such a deal are obviously not good. Besides winners can only get one ticket and who wants to travel alone? So, STA will also be offering an online sale each day of a limited number of seats on flights to same destination city. What kinds of prices are we talking about? One way fares from Boston to New York $25; to DC $50, and to Miami: $75 -- plus taxes, fees, and fuel surcharge, according to Patrick Evans of STA. All these flights will be on American.
Evans said prices on Boston fares for the other destinations were not yet available.
This is the way the contest will work: On Monday-Friday, STA will announce that day's destination selected from the list above at 11 a.m. Today's is Miami. Starting at 1 p.m., the first 20 to call 800-360-9273 will be able to buy a $100 round-trip ticket from any departure city in the nation.
To qualify you must be a full-time student or teacher or under 26 years old and own or buy a $22 International Student (or Teacher) Identity Card or an International Youth Travel Card.

Posted by Paul Makishima, Globe staff

The Escape Romance Package from the Renaissance Resort in St. Augustine, Fla., offers accommodations in a newly-renovated room with a resort view. Couples get a choice of a bottle of champagne or wine, chocolate-covered strawberries, and breakfast-for-two daily. Rates are $154-$214 per room, per night. And because love isn’t confined to just the is not confined to only the month of valentines, the offer is good through May 19.
Visit the website and use promotional code LVU cq or call 888-740-7020.
Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Correspondent

With school vacation week right around the corner, families headed to Florida can score more than 50 discount offers by downloading an Orlando Makes Me Smile card.
The offers include accommodations, attractions, and dining, ranging from third-night-free and kids-stay-free hotel deals to free parking, free tokens in the game room, and free children’s tickets to attractions when an adult ticket is purchased.
Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Correspondent

Throughout the month, Jupiter Beach Resort in Jupiter, Fla., has a Red Hot Love getaway beginning at $599 per night. Couples stay in an ocean-view king room adorned with rose petals and get a Champagne and Chocolate Decadence dessert at turn-down, plus a couple’s spa treatment or a choice of two 50-minute individual treatments. Visit the website and use the code REDHOT or call 800-228-8810.

Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Correspondent

The two-night Regent Romance package, available at the Regent Bal Harbour Feb. 13-16 in Bal Harbour, Fla., includes accommodations, a four-course Valentine’s dinner for two with wine pairings, in-room breakfast daily, a Bath Turn Down bath turndown with orchids, champagne, a cheese selection, chocolates, spa items, and other amenities. The package starts at $1,200. Visit the website and enter the reservation code VALEN if booking, or call 800-545-4000.

Posted By Richard p. Carpenter, Globe Correspondent