It wouldn’t be Christmas without a trip to the New York Botanical Garden’s magical “Holiday Train Show” in the Bronx. The “Big Apple” tradition that began 18 years ago features garden-gauge trains rolling past an array of more than 100 city landmark buildings, museums, bridges, and ballparks re-created using plant materials. Considering the scale and variety of materials, the details in each landmark dazzle.

Paul Busse of Applied Imagination in Kentucky adds more landmarks each year. Among this season’s additions, he and his team bring back the original Pennsylvania Station and its Beaux Arts architecture complete with the Grand Concourse, clocks, and statues. That station at W. 34th and 8th streets was torn down in 1964. The train show opens tomorrow and runs through Jan. 10 in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. t’s most popular on weekends, so consider a weekday visit.

New York Botanical Garden, Bronx River Parkway at Fordham Road, The Bronx. 718-817-8616. www.nybg.org (cq) for hours and admission information.

We were really impressed with the Spanish Room Mate hotel chain when we were researching our Spain guidebooks, so we were delighted to get word of the chain’s winter promotion at Room Mate Grace just off Times Square. Rooms start at $135 plus tax and hotel fee (i.e., at $158, once the state and city get their respective cuts) — practically a Y price in New York (the only other US location is Miami’s South Beach). The chain’s hotels are young, hip, and aimed at a youthful clientele. Clever and eye-catching design makes the most of tight spaces. Grace (they’re all named after fictional characters) even has a pool that turns into a swim-up bar. And in keeping with the Spanish sense of late-night priorities, the free continental breakfast is offered until noon. The only catch is that you have to book before Dec.15 for a stay between Jan. 4 and Feb.24.

Globe travel correspondents Patricia Harris and David Lyon write the Hungry Travelers blog about food, travel, and bringing the tastes of travel back home.

It might be my inner Red Sox fan talking, but the best pizza we found in New York was in Boston.

This is completely unscientific but while in New York, I had to make a choice between burgers or pies and went with the former. Pizza stops were a bonus. Spills and all, Spunto was grand and Lombardi’s had fantastic toppings, but their crust must be an acquired taste.

Seeking a slice in Boston’s North End a few weeks later, we asked a Sox-capped local in front of a packed back street bar where to get a slice. The "slice'' part of the request gave him some trouble as he flipped through his mental Rolodex.

“Ah! Il Panino Express.”

Sold.

We ordered at the cafeteria-style counter, sat, bit, and stared at each other in amazement.

She said: “This is better than New York.”

He said: “Yeah.”

Crisp crust, sweet sauce, a good dose of good cheese.

We’ll get ‘em next year.

Il Panino Express - MAP
264-266 Hanover St.
Boston
617-720-5720

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

I lied. I said there was "one'' NYC restaurant I’d really like to go back to eat in and, well, here's another:

Even at brunch a short while back, you could tell Le Pescadeux is a spot to watch: There’s a perfect smoked trout omelet and a steak and eggs that might stop your heart for multiple reasons at prices that won’t. And that’s not even counting champagne and chats with Chuck.

Dinner’s what I’d really like to try, preferably with a partner for footsie. The restaurant’s fish-focused Quebec cuisine (harking back to owner Charles Perelmutter’s origins) is on display – and he’s breaking his new chef’s back to please by offering dinner ''duets’' -- a pair of half-sized portions – a great way to showcase what you can do and get a new restaurant’s name out there. Perelmutter chalks it up to “culinary ADD.”

I checked in with Perelmutter to find out about a chef change – the impressive Matthew Ridgway left and has been replaced by Adriano Ricco (clever poaching on Chuck’s part as Ricco’s done stints at BLT Fish and Tabla) – here’s what Chuck had to say about the ‘'duet’' concept:

"Even if I am in a great seafood restaurant I get bored with my fish halfway through, and look to see what I can 'mooch' from others, usually with no success (people don't share anymore). I decided I would not be bored again and now I, and my guests, can enjoy two different half orders of fish prepared two different ways without getting their reaching fork slapped away.''

Right now, I’d take the grilled octopus and Wild Rock bass with a little neck nage … kick the tires on a fun concept and see what the new chef can do.

Le Pescadeux - MAP
90 Thompson St
New York
212-966-0021
lepesca@yahoo.com

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

There’s a lot to notice when we arrive at WD-50. The most outstanding is a booth of guys who look like they could be fraternity brothers, yet they’re silent as monks, paying close attention to what they’re eating; the antennae are up, they love the challenge.

You have to be up for the ride. Chef Wylie Dufresne bristles at the thought of preparing anything leaning toward making standard bistro fare for his customers. He’s just not interested.

What would he rather do? Stuff like floating plump scallops and pine needle udon in a bowl of grapefruit dashi. He deconstructs eggs benedict. He chars avocado. (?!?!) Even if his family is in the business you have to wonder how he thinks of this stuff, but when you put bites in your mouth, the combinations and preparations will stand hairs on end and leave you wondering how no one thought of it before.

Daniel Boulud’s kitchen at Daniel has a beautiful wall of spices sourced from around the world while Dufresne’s wall has pectins, starches, and syrups. Yet the adjectives Dufresne cuisine inspires are words like "clean'' and "clear'’ – you leave feeling like you’ve eaten a healthy Japanese dinner. His parsnip tart somehow makes me rethink my understanding of the vegetable. Parsnips!

Some argue the validity of this type of experimental cuisine -- they should eat here to join the converted.

Finally, all hail Dufresne for having the confidence to keep and highlight the work of pastry chef Alex Stupak. Instead of a clash of egos (that would usually lead to the latter getting dumped), you just sit there and say "wow’' all meal long.

Count on about $65 plus drinks if you go à la carte. The tasting menu runs $140 plus $75 for wine pairing.

WD-50
50 Clinton St.
New York
212-477-2900
www.wd-50.com

Full disclosure: I ate at the restaurant while working on an upcoming story about Dufresne and his collaboration with chef Daniel Boulud. That said, Dufresne didn’t realize we were in the restaurant for dinner until dessert was over and the check was paid.

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

They could serve Spam in the can here and I’d still come back. With a view this good, it really doesn’t matter what you eat. At Alma, it’s all about the view of southern Manhattan from the roof.

I joined friends here -- they were nibbling on sturdy Mexican food -- and accidentally figured out a peculiar system that allows you to bypass the restaurant’s Mexican-themed drink offerings, get a tasty microbrew at the b51 bar downstairs (I recommend the Sixpoint Ale), then walk it topside and enjoy it with your guacamole and fish tacos.

“It’s almost winter!” you cry?

No worries -- the roof deck is still open on the weekend and imagine it to be just as blissful watching an autumn sunset or when the snow flies.

Alma - MAP
187 Columbia Street Brooklyn, NY 11231
718.643.5400
www.almarestaurant.com

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Now that I’m back home and typing up a bushel of NYC blogs, the one place I really want to go back to is Brooklyn’s Fort Defiance. Not only are the drinks top notch, chef Sam Filloramo wowed me while, thanks to some sort of new restaurant timing/shipping glitches, he was still working from a half-empty* kitchen.

His deviled eggs were so good, I went home and told my mom about them and if that wasn’t enough to get me to want to go back, the ever-changing menu they now post on their Web site does: rabbit and chorizo hash, oysters Rockefeller, pan-fried catfish … my word.

Apparently, they even do breakfast and all I can do is imagine the possibilities.

I’m interested to see how the combination of a serious drinks bar combined with chef who’s making his mark pans out. It can only be good.

Fort Defiance - MAP
365 Van Brunt St
Brooklyn, NY
+1 347-453-6672
www.fortdefiancebrooklyn.com/

*Apparently, in mid-September, after the equipment arrived, a health inspector stopped in to check the kitchen and found gas equipment without gas service - like a car with an empty gas tank - and decided the restaurant would be better off closed for the week until they got the pipes hooked up… go figure.

Click here to see my Boston Globe Travel story, “Small Wonders” - featuring an interview with Fort Defiance owner and drinks expert St. John Frizell.

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

The Food Leprechaun strikes again.

We found SoHo’s 10-seat Snack by walking in front of it -- all three paces of the facade’s width. The name is odd for a sit-down Greek restaurant, but it’s a perfect lunch spot: The hummus is deep-flavored, brightened by lemon, and there’s a fish roe spread that’s pure sea-salty goodness.

Two doors down, there’s an even tinier establishment – Porto Rico Importing – a four-seat coffee shop with three beautiful ladies holding court on a bench out front. We sit with them, sip an espresso and watch the world go by.

Snack - MAP
105 Thompson St, NYC
+1 (212) 925-1040

Porto Rico Importing
107 Thompson St. NYC

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Mid-October brings peak foliage colors to the rolling farmland that
surrounds the long glacially carved lakes in western New York. It's also the
heart of the harvest season for wineries picking their award-winning
Riesling grapes. If you haven't tasted a Finger Lakes wine in some time,
give it the chance to surprise you. I found that their white wines can stand
toe-to-toe with the best of Napa and Sonoma, and surprisingly their reds are
starting to have much more complexity, with vintners creating top-notch
pinot noirs and cab francs. Walking into the tasting room at Heron Hill
Winery on the shores of Keuka Lake, I looked up at the high wooden ceiling
and felt like I was inside an oak barrel. The Ingle Vineyard Riesling was
crisp with hints of apple, while the sweeter semi-dry Riesling is their
number one seller. The crème de la crème, however, was the 2006 Ingle
Vineyard Late Harvest Riesling, a dessert wine not nearly as cloying as a
typical ice wine, yet creamy enough to garner a rating of 90 in Wine
Spectator. If you want to participate in the late harvest, you'll have to
wait until mid-November, when the weather cools down significantly. Bring
gloves.

Posted by Steve Jermanok, Globe correspondent

Steve Jermanok blogs daily at www.ActiveTravels.com.

Our gang watched late-summer jazz in Madison Square Park, but eyes rolled when we saw the line at the Shake Shack. It snaked hundreds of feet from the order window out through the park gates.
“What about the secret burger place?” said Maria.
We all stared and she smiled and dragged her toe in the dirt like she might not share her secret. It was rather sexy.
We got her to spill the beans and six of us bolted uptown by bike and subway to the … Parker Meridien. A burger joint in one of the city’s fanciest hotels? Hard to figure.
The lobby was everything you’d expect: high ceilings, artwork and fancy bars and restaurants … but it smelled like burgers.
Sure enough. A David Lynch-esque floor-to-ceiling curtain juts out into the lobby concealing the secret space. Approach and you’ll notice a skinny corridor with a neon-sign hamburger and a right-pointing arrow at the end.
Inside, it’s night and day; the space looks like a cross between Arnold’s Drive-In from “Happy Days” and my fraternity house basement. The burgers are great - you get to choose the cooking temperature and usually, you can elbow your way to a just-opened table right when they call your order number.
A good burger joint in one of the city’s fanciest hotels. Go figure.
Count on around $15-$20.
Burger Joint – MAP
119 W 56th St
New York, NY
+1 212-708-7414

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Years ago, when I cooked at the Left Coast’s Betelnut, a hidden army of wizened Chinese men would come in to roll dumplings in the basement. These quiet, artistic men were lost in their craft, turning dough into flat discs that, with a twist of the fingers, would encase whatever filling they put inside: crustaceans, meat, vegetables, love.

They would make what seemed like thousands at a time and, unlike the other cooks in the kitchen, once that task was done, so were they.

My first visit to Joe’s Shanghai was part of a get-to-know-you weekend with a former sweetie’s parents a decade ago. Then as now, there’s a reason the grease-splattered walls are festooned with pictures of mayors and glitterati with their arms swung around the owners: Joe’s dumplings are the bomb.

Instead of searing something (like a steak) and hoping all the tasty juices stay inside, here, the pork and crab goodness is held neatly inside the dumpling.

Skewer one with a chopstick and sip the juice that fills the spoon, or take a bite and blush as it runs down your chin.

Shudder with happiness as you swallow.

Joe’s Shanghai – count on about $10-$15.
While on their site, do not miss the “Kill Soup Dumpling” video.

Three Locations – I went to Chinatown
9 Pell Street
New York, New York 10013
+1-212-233-8888

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Across from Buddakan, we seek solace on top of Hotel Gansevoort in New York City. Fat chance. Up top, a hundred drunk kids in Prada are dancing their brains out while some dude plays drums on a bucket to accompany some loud music. Fun for another night.

We taxi north, walk through the lobby of the Hudson Hotel and get in the elevator. It lets us out on a deck halfway up the side of the building and we find a quiet nook. The city floats so calmly at our feet, it doesn’t matter that we’ve ordered another incredibly expensive and poorly-crafted drink. We’re paying for the view and the calm.

Worth every penny.

Hudson Hotel
356 West 58th St.
New York
212-554-6000
www.hudsonhotel.com

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

I was late for an interview at Fort Defiance.

I took the subway. I took a bus. I ran.

I was also hungry.

While I was running, I passed the Brooklyn Ice House and it was about that time when I smelled the barbecue.

The owner was sitting on a bench out front with some friends and I asked if I could get a quick pulled pork sandwich. Truthfully, the three of them looked so relaxed and friendly, I just wanted to sit with them for an hour.

The owner brought me inside - fantastic and saloon-like, a bar and a place to hang out. I watched a father and daughter sitting at in the corner, playing Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots.

My favorite part? At a serious beer bar, I asked what the owner would recommend to go with my sandwich.

“PBR”

Pabst Blue Ribbon.

She could have said something that cost twice as much -- and I would have enjoyed it -- but for a guy who’s running late and might not have a ton of time to appreciate what he’s eating, she stuck with something good. And cheap. My whole mini-meal cost $7. Woohoo!

Good thing she didn’t ask me to marry her.

Brooklyn Ice House
318 Van Brunt St.
Brooklyn
718-222 1865

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

“The Shake Shack?” asked a friend, “That place is a gimmick.”

I brought another friend when I went. We had burgers for breakfast.

That might be a bit of a stretch, but not by too much. We got there at around 11. On a nice day, the Shack has a line that stretches clear across Madison Square Park. I have no idea how long you’d have to wait, but I’ve got no desire to find out.

We ordered two cheeseburgers and two black and whites and, feeling generous, I told my pal I’d pick up the tab.

“Twenty-three dollars,” said the woman at the register.

Ai-yeeee!

It’s still worth it as a special treat. Plus, it’s a good burger and I had struck out looking for really good burgers on a recent trip to the Pacific Northwest. It’s not perfect, but there’s a friend, a seat in the park, and a happy mouthful.

Shake Shack
Madison Square Park (not to be confused with the faraway Madison Square Garden)

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Want dining as entertainment, all the show you’ll need is on display at Buddakan. The place was officially outed by “Sex and The City” and now (fortunately? unfortunately?) is full of mini Carrie Bradshaws. I’m not a fan of this form of pomp, yet I ate it up; it’s impossible to stand at the top of the stairway and not look slack-jawed down into the main dining room.

For its part, the food is up to the task. Buddakan is the East Coast cousin of Betelnut – the San Francisco restaurant where I once worked as a cook – high end Asian fusion that’s very well thought out like long beans with shrimp and soy and a rather exquisite Peking duck salad served French style with frisée and a poached egg.

There are a few cracks showing, a pricey martini arrives miraculously quickly from the packed bar yet it’s barely cold, and I’ll leave more than half of it on the table at the end of the night.

Later, our astute waiter asks how we liked our appetizers.

Me: I really liked the duck.

Him: Yes, the duck salad is really good.

We both ignored talking about the short ribs.

These are quibbles. We were here for the show and got it in spades – Carrie might have to elbow her way back in, but she won’t be disappointed. Dinner also turned out to be rather reasonably priced for a special treat kind of place – about $50 per person with drinks and a doggy bag full of lunch for the next day.

Buddakan
75 9th Ave, New York, NY‎
212-989-6699‎

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Watch CBS Videos Online

Scores of native New Yorkers and visitors in recent days have been flocking to High Line Park in Manhattan to catch the sometimes X-rated show in the windows of the Standard Hotel, which straddles the public facility.

It seems that a number of guests can be seen seminude or in the altogether through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the Manhattan hotel, according to The New York Post.

"It's like Wild Kingdom,'' Aaron Lipman, a Harlem media research analyst told the Post.
Apparently, the show has been taking place with the blessing of the management at the hotel, which opened late last year. One hotel worker was quoted as saying that staff members were actually encouraged to pose before the windows to create buzz.

While many find the free attraction funny and fun, some families and other local residents say they are less than amused, prompting at least one city councilor to ask hotel management to try to tone things down.

"When we built The Standard, we hoped it would provide the best view of New York looking out,'' hotel officials wrote in a statement. "We didn't anticipate that it would also provide those views looking in.''

In response to competition for business customers, Delta says it will add business-class seats that recline almost flat on flights from New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco and that it has already added such seats in business class on New York-London flights.

Both United and Virgin America already offer lie-flat seats on some transcontinental routes in business class. United also has these on many international flights.

"Delta's frequent business travelers tell us that the comfort of a flat bed seat with direct aisle access is a must-have on flights to and from London, and that a true BusinessElite experience is critical when flying to and from the West Coast," Ranjan Goswami, Delta's director of customer experience, said in a press release.

Delta already offered business travelers full-flat seats on flights between Atlanta and Detroit and London-Heathrow, as well as some other international flights out of Atlanta, Delta's home base.

Megabus, which guarantees at least one $1 seat per bus trip, says that it will free up an additional 50,000 $1 seats for travel Sept. 14 to Nov. 19.

What does that mean to you?

Amanda Mullin, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that "the added seats will make it so there is upwards of 10 $1 seats per bus.'' To improve your chances of getting a $1 seat you'll need to use the promo code HOTDEAL when booking your trip online.

Megabus currently provides service between Boston and Hartford and New York City. On the run to New York, Mega faces heavy competition from Boltbus and the so-called Chinatown lines, Fung Wah and Lucky Star.

Currently, Megabus fares to New York run from $1 to $18 and from $1 to $14 to Hartford.

The company announced in May that it was rolling out double-decker buses on the Boston-New York route. Besides offering 25 more seats than a regular buses, the double-deckers offer amenities such as free WiFi, electric outlets, and TVs.

Photo by Jennifer Taylor for The Boston Globe

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.

Forewarned is forearmed. Recent reports suggest that problems for the airline industry may be near bottoming out, and with the the seasonal uptick of air travel it looks like carriers are trying to may some hay. Bloomberg, citing numbers from Farecompare.com, is reporting that the major carriers may be trying to make another move to raise fares.

American Airlines and United Airlines raised most domestic fares by as much as $20 for a round trip, the second increase in as many weeks, as they try to take advantage of peak U.S. summer travel season demand.

AMR Corp.’s American boosted prices by $10 to $20 on most U.S. routes yesterday, and UAL Corp.’s United matched the move, ticket-research firm FareCompare.com said in an e-mail. Delta Air Lines Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. led carriers in a $20 round trip increase in the second week of June.

Two successful fare increases in a month would support an International Air Transport Association report today that the slump in global airline travel may have reached a “floor” following a 9.3 percent decline in passenger traffic last month. Airlines have slashed prices to win customers in the recession.

“We may have hit bottom, but we are a long way from recovery,” IATA Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Bisignani said in a statement. “This crisis is the worst we have ever seen.”

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

Fung Wah Bus will launch nonstop service from Providence to New York starting June 15. Plans call for daily departures from Rhode Island at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., with two returns from New York at 4:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Tickets are priced at $40 each way.
The discounter faces competition on this route from Greyhound and Peter Pan, both of which schedule multiple departures. Greyhound charges $14-$34 one way, depending on how far in advance you buy tickets, and its buses make stops in between. Peter Pan offers nonstops at $37 or $45, with the lower price being an online fare. Company officials say the firm also has a late-night rate of $32 and student discounts.

(Thanks to Matthew Keller of busjunction.com for the tip.)

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.

My pal Chris Reidy and I wrote a piece yesterday about Delta Air Lines trimming last-minute, walkup fares on its shuttle service from Boston to New York's LaGuardia Airport by as much as 60 percent to $129 one way, essentially bringing it in line with the fares offered by most of its rivals on the route.
While reporting this out, I stumbled onto an interesting little fact: While last-minute N.Y. shuttle tickets are going for as little as $129 to LaGuardia you can get seats for $89 if you fly into JFK. So it seems that Boston travelers are paying a $40 one-way premium to fly into LaGuardia.
LaGuardia is a closer, cleaner shot to Manhattan and if you're flying for work some one else is picking up the tab so it might not matter as much. Still. Consider yourself notified.

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.