As of Dec. 2, here are the current travel deals to popular destinations from American Airlines:

From:		To:		Fare*
Albuquerque, NM (ABQ)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$85
Atlanta, GA (ATL)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$120
Austin, TX (AUS)		San Jose, CA (SJC)		$95
Boston, MA (BOS)		San Francisco, CA (SFO)		$150
Charlotte, NC (CLT)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$120
Chicago O’Hare, IL (ORD)		Houston Bush Intercont’l, TX (IAH)		$95
Chicago O’Hare, IL (ORD)		Montreal, QC (YUL)		$127
Chicago O’Hare, IL (ORD)		Toronto, ON (YYZ)		$101
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Albuquerque, NM (ABQ)		$85
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Atlanta, GA (ATL)		$120
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Charlotte, NC (CLT)		$120
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		El Paso, TX (ELP)		$74
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Greenville / Spartanburg, SC (GSP)		$120
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Hartford, CT (BDL)		$135
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Indianapolis, IN (IND)		$94
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Jackson, MS (JAN)		$83
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Knoxville, TN (TYS)		$120
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN (MSP)		$86
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Norfolk, VA (ORF)		$135
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Palm Springs, CA (PSP)		$135
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Richmond, VA (RIC)		$112
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)		$114
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		San Diego, CA (SAN)		$114
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Toronto, ON (YYZ)		$140
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		Tucson, AZ (TUS)		$114
Denver, CO (DEN)		Chicago O’Hare, IL (ORD)		$76
El Paso, TX (ELP)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$74
Greenville / Spartanburg, SC (GSP)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$120
Hartford, CT (BDL)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$135
Houston Bush Intercont’l, TX (IAH)		Chicago O’Hare, IL (ORD)		$95
Houston Bush Intercont’l, TX (IAH)		Miami, FL (MIA)		$90
Indianapolis, IN (IND)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$94
Jackson, MS (JAN)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$83
Knoxville, TN (TYS)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$120
Los Angeles, CA (LAX)		Austin, TX (AUS)		$76
Miami, FL (MIA)		Houston Bush Intercont’l, TX (IAH)		$90
Miami, FL (MIA)		Las Vegas, NV (LAS)		$124
Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN (MSP)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$86
New York Kennedy, NY (JFK)		San Francisco, CA (SFO)		$105
New York LaGuardia, NY (LGA)		St. Louis, MO (STL)		$94
New York LaGuardia, NY (LGA)		Toronto, ON (YYZ)		$57
Norfolk, VA (ORF)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$135
Palm Springs, CA (PSP)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$135
Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$114
San Francisco, CA (SFO)		Boston, MA (BOS)		$150
San Francisco, CA (SFO)		New York Kennedy, NY (JFK)		$105
St. Louis, MO (STL)		New York LaGuardia, NY (LGA)		$94
Tucson, AZ (TUS)		Chicago O’Hare, IL (ORD)		$110
Tucson, AZ (TUS)		Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)		$114

International

Book now

Want to stay at a verifiably green hotel for your next vacation? Soon you’ll be able to choose from among dozens of hotel and resort projects, in various stages of construction or remodeling, that have registered with the US Green Building Council, aiming to achieve silver, gold or platinum LEED certification.

But so far only a handful of resorts, hotels and lodges, 13 at last count, have completed the LEED certification process. These get-aways, which include upscale, urban hotels; trendy spas and woodsy lodges, have met the LEED standards, which requires that building projects consider the environment in how they locate their structures; choose materials with a lighter environmental impact; recycle or reduce construction waste, and conserve energy and water.

The 13 green pioneers:

• Avalon Hotel and Spa — Portland, Ore., US (pictured)
  
• GAIA Napa Valley — San Francisco, Calif., US
  
• Kandalama Hotel — Damulla, Sri Lanka
  
• Len Foote Hike Inn — Dawsonville, Ga., US
  
• Orchard Garden Hotel — San Francisco, Calif., US
  
• Snowmass Golf Clubhouse — Aspen, Colo., US
  
• The Ambrose — Santa Monica, Calif., US
  
• The John James Audubon Lodge & Camp — Charlotte, N.C., US
  
• The Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens — Pine Mountain, Ga., US
  
• University of Maryland Inn & Conference — Adelphi, Md., US
  
• Vancouver Conference Center & Hotel — Vancouver, Wash., US
  
• Palazzo — Las Vegas, Nevada, US
  
• Unity Village Hotel - Kansas City, Missouri, US

**LEED certification of building projects differs from the certification by the Green Hotels Association. While LEED focuses on construction and energy consumption; the GRE, which also looks at energy conservation, more closely analyzes daily operations, giving points for hotels that use bulk soaps, low-toxic cleaners, natural pesticides and less food packaging.

Chart source: The US Green Building Council.

For more on green living, go to greenrightnow.com.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

The study provides several different views of travel taxes to help readers make informed choices. The top 50 markets are ranked by overall travel tax burden, including general sales tax and discriminatory travel taxes, and by discriminatory travel tax burden, excluding general sales taxes to count only taxes that target car rentals, hotel stays and meals. (Discriminatory travel taxes are those imposed specifically on travel services above and beyond general sales taxes.)

Separate data are offered for central city and airport locations, as the tax regimes are often distinct. In addition to combined data on car rental, hotel and meal taxes, separate data are provided for each of the three spend categories.

U.S. cities where travelers incur the lowest total tax burden in central city locations
(factoring in general sales taxes and discriminatory travel taxes for lodging, car rentals, and meals):
1. Honolulu, HI $21.45/day
2. Portland, OR $22.83/day
3. Fort Lauderdale, FL $23.35/day
3. Fort Myers, FL $23.35/day
5. West Palm Beach, FL $24.67/day

The cities that impose the highest total taxes on travelers are:
1. Chicago, IL $42.44/day
2. Nashville, TN $39.55/day
3. Charlotte, NC $38.80/day
4. Seattle, WA $38.70/day
5. Houston, TX $37.62/day

The U.S. cities with the lowest discriminatory travel tax rates for lodging, car rentals, and meals in central city locations are:
1. Oakland, CA $7.58/day
2. West Palm Beach, FL $7.62/day
2. Fort Lauderdale, FL $7.62/day
2. Fort Myers, FL $7.62/day
5. Orange County, CA $8.10/day

The cities that impose the highest discriminatory travel taxes on travelers for lodging, car rentals, and meals are:
1. Portland, OR $22.83/day
2. Seattle, WA $21.64/day
3. Atlanta, GA $19.82/day
4. Charlotte, NC $19.78/day
5. Chicago, IL $18.83/day

For the full report, visit the NBTA site.

Source: Business Wire

Sponsored list:

• Hotel offers under $99 (feed)

If these flights of fancy are still a bit out of your price range, you can at least enjoy the glorious pictures on the Forbes Traveler’s Best Balloon Trips slideshow. Here are some of the highlights:

• Burgundy, France
• Göreme National Park, Cappadocia, Turkey
• Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
• Friedrichshafen, Germany
• Hajar Mountains, Dubai
• Luxor, Egypt

For more details and the full list, see the Forbes Traveler’s Best Balloon Trips slideshow.

• United Kingdom: Glasgow to Fort William and beyond, Scotland
• Switzerland: The Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz (pictured)
• France: The new TGV high-speed line south from Paris to Nice and Monte Carlo
• Spain: The high-speed line from Madrid to Cordoba, Seville, or Malaga
• Germany/Czech Republic: Berlin or Dresden to Prague

For other routes, pricing and more details, view the full Budget Travel article.

Sponsored list:

• Hotel offers under $99 (feed)

But be warned: Working on a real archeological site can be strenuous. Jim Walker, a director at the Archaeological Conservancy, says, “People quickly learn… that archaeology can be hot, dirty, hard work.” He says that a good dig has “a high ratio of trained, degreed professionals to participants.” The professionals usually offer lectures and instruction.

Here’s the list of some of the sites:

• Truk Lagoon, Micronesia: Sunken World War II ships and aircraft

• Mayan Archeological Project, Belize: Mayan ruins

• Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colo. Anasazi artifacts

• Mount Zion, Jerusalem: Homes from the first century B.C.

• Cueva Victoria Cave in Murcia Province, Spain: Ancient human remains, artifacts and fossils

• Hot Springs, S.D.: Woolly mammoth fossils (pictured)

• Pambamarca Archaeology Project, Cayambe, Ecuador: Pre-Columbian fortresses

For more details, along with other sites and tips, click on the “See our slideshow of Top Archeological Vacations” link in the story.

Roadside America has rounded up the Yankified takes (“American Unhenged”) for your driving pleasure. Our favorites would have to be Carhenge (left), although if Stonefridge were still standing outside Santa Fe, N.M., it’d definitely be up there, but unfortunately, it seems to have gone the way of the Druids (as in R.I.P.).

Of course, there’s a mystery behind all of this American henging: What on earth inspires someone to go out and build a replica of Stonehenge in their own back yard? As RA says, “It’s an obsession as mysterious and primal as the original circle of rock slabs. … We figure that the ancient megaliths must emit an invisible energy field powerful enough to enslave sculptors, builders, and the odd guy with too much time on his hands.”

And now, on with the henges:

Sam Hill’s Stonehenge, Maryhill, Wash.
America’s Stonehenge, North Salem, N.H.
The Georgia Guidestones, Nuberg, Ga.
Carhenge, Alliance, Neb.
Stonehenge II, Kerrville, Texas
Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Va.

There’s more, but go henge yourself!

Budget Travel magazine recommends a dozen bridges that are worth a detour. And these structures are such marvels that even the bridge-phobics will be curious enough to drive or walk over them.

Millau Viaduct, Millau, France (2004)

Gateshead Millennium Bridge (pictured), Gateshead and Newcastle, England (2001)

Rolling Bridge, London (2004)

Helix Bridge, London (2004)

Station Bridge, London (2004)

Denver Millennium Footbridge, Denver

Sundial Bridge, Redding, Calif. (2004)

Reiman Pedestrian Bridge, Milwaukee (2001)

Lyre Bridge, Lute Bridge, & Harp Bridges, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands (2004)

Donghai Bridge, Shanghai, China (2005)

For more details, see the Budget Travel story here.

Each year Trails.com ranks the popularity of more than 40,000 trails by collecting and analyzing over 10 million “votes” from site visitors and members. Here are 14 of the site’s 20 best scenic drives in North America, in the event that you’ve got the itch for a spectacular road trip.

1. Angeles Crest Scenic Byway (pictured): La Canada to Mountain Top Junction (66 miles; California)
2. Canyons and Rivers: Medina to Garner State Park (46 miles; Texas)
3. Sonoma-Mendocino Coast Scenic Drive: Marin City to U.S. 101 (209 miles; California)
4. Mount Evans Scenic Byway: Idaho Springs to the Summit of Mount Evans (28 miles; Colorado)
5. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee)
6. High Point Monument (New Jersey)
7. Icefields Parkway: Lake Louise to Jasper (138 miles; Alberta, CA)
8. Blue Ridge Parkway: Asheville to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (75 miles; North Carolina)
9. Covered Bridge Scenic Byway (44 miles; Ohio)
10. Connecticut Coast Scenic Drive (71 miles)
11. Sonoma-Napa Valley Scenic Drive: Santa Rosa to Hopland (132 miles; California)
12. Skyline Drive: Shenandoah National Park (105 miles; Virginia)
13. Glacier National Park: Going-to-the-Sun Road from West Glacier to Saint Mary (48 miles; Montana)
14. Big Bend National Park (Texas)

The publication is just out with its “It List 2008: The Top 30 New Hotels in the World,” a guide to the coolest of the cool in recently opened places to stay when you want to get away.

Whether you’re looking for something by the beach, in a city, or a locale that’s a bit more rustic, T+L has some touts for you.

Here’s a quick sampling:

– Banyan Tree Maldives Madivaru (North Ari Atoll)

– Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya (Mexico)

– Six Senses Hideway Yao Noi (Thailand)

– Qualia (Hamilton Island, Australia)

Find out more about these, and check out other hot properties, at Travel+Leisure.