Bermunda turns 400 years old this year and is hoping you'll help celebrate her birthday with a vacation.  Visit the island this winter and you can get up to $400 in credit (typically in the form of companion air credit from the airline with which you book the package). The credit amount is calculated on a sliding scale, based on the number of nights you stay. Folks booking a two-night stay will get $200 in credits; book a three-night stay and get $300 back; come for four nights or more, and you'll get $400 in credit. As a bonus, you'll also receive a booklet containing coupons worth $1,000.

This air + hotel package gives you a choice of 10 hotels and is available through various airlines and travel operators from major East coast hubs (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Miami, as well as multiple airports in Canada). Though the deal is the same, the airline depends on your departure city. A family departing from New York City, for example, could purchase the package through JetBlue and receive up to $400 in companion air credits.

Book by March 27 and travel by March 31.

What are our top three reasons for loving Southwest Airlines? No hidden fees, no hidden fees, and no hidden fees. We also like how airfares just got lower with the "Wanna Get Away?" sale. Fly on Tuesday or Wednesday and you can snag fares for $49 to $99 one-way on select routes nationwide. Fly Thursday to Monday, and sale prices range from $59 to $159 one-way.

Book by January 19 and fly between January 15 and April 30 with a 14-day advance purchase.

One nice thing about an all-inclusive property is getting a final bill with no big surprises. Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort & Emerald Casino just introduced a package that essentially turns your vacation into an all-inclusive experience. The “Escape Inclusive” special starts at $418 per room, per night and includes accommodations for two adults and two children 12 and under, all meals and beverages, kids’ club activities (for ages 4 to 12), and non-motorized, hotel-sponsored watersports including snorkeling and kayaking. 

Prices fluctuate with dates, as you would expect. When we priced a week-long stay in February, peak season, for a family of two adults and two kids under 12, we found rates of $550 per night, per room for a resortview room, $610 for an oceanview room, and $670 for a beachfront room.  A seven-night stay in an oceanview room would total $4270.  

Non-package rates for an oceanview room would run $359 for that same week in February, so the all-inclusive package would cost you $251 more each day.  At first glance, that's a sizable number.  But consider that the fee for the kids’ club is normally $50 a day per kid (so, for two kids, $100 a day). If you eat all your meals at the resort, you could very well spend more than $151 per day on dining.  Note: On the resort's web site, the package indicates that kids "under 12" eat free. We called to check on this and were told that the package does include 12-year-olds.

The bottom line: If (a) your children's ages fall in the 4-to-12 bracket and they like kids' clubs, and (b) you’ll be eating all your meals on-property, then this all-inclusive special could make sense for you. It will likely save you some money and also reduce your feeling of being nickel-and-dimed during your stay.  But if your children won't go near kids' clubs, you're probably better off opting for the non-package rate. 

The "Escape Inclusive" package is available through October 31, 2009 and is based on availability and double occupancy.  To book, enter promotional code NCL when booking online, or call 888/PARADISE and reference the same code.

For travelers, the silver lining in this weakened economy is the tidal wave of vacation deals we're seeing. Still, it's important to keep your giddiness in check and stick to common-sense travel strategies like our original 20 recession travel rules. Our latest lesson is about researching taxes and fees before you go. It's also the first time we've uncovered a deal that turned out to be too bad to be true. 

Atlantis, the megaresort on Paradise Island, the Bahamas, just announced a Winter SunScape promotion, which slashes prices on winter and early spring stays by as much as 35% below regular rates.  For stays between Sunday to Wednesday, the promo rate starts at $265 a night. For stays between Thursday to Saturday, the lowest rate bumps up to $319 a night. To take advantage of this offer, book a stay of two or more nights by December 31 and travel between January 4 and April 1, 2009.

When we priced out a three-night midweek stay for a family of four with two kids under 12, the least expensive option was a Terrace room in the Beach Tower, the most affordable of eight properties at the Atlantis resort. At a nightly rate of $265, our three-night total came to $795. Or so we thought until we glanced at the fine print, and this jumped off the screen:

"Add up to $144pp for mandatory taxes, mandatory housekeeping grats., & utility svc. fees."

Uh-oh. Up to $144 per person in taxes and fees?! We scuttled over to the Terms & Conditions page, clickable from the footer of the Atlantis web site, and scrolled down to the subhead "Additional Charges." And there it was:

"Atlantis guests are subject to $50 per night for each additional person, 12 years old and older; 6% guest room tax per person, per night; 3% Paradise Island Tourism and Development Association levy per person, per night; 3% Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board levy per person, per night and up to $24 per person per day mandatory housekeeping gratuity and utility service fee."

Holy moly—if that wording were accurate, we'd be looking at some crazy additional fees in the neighborhood of $670 for a three-night stay. This can't possibly be correct, we thought. And we were right. When we called Atlantis' reservation number (888/877-7525) and spoke to a reservations agent, we found out that the reality is far less nasty. Here's how the taxes and fees actually break down for our family of four for a three-night stay:

• 12% in taxes per room—not "per person" as stated on the web site ($31.80 x 3 nights = $95.40)
• For this level of accommodation, the housekeeping and resort fee is $19.50 per adult, per night—not "per person, per night" as stated on the site ($19.50 x 2 adults x 3 nights = $117)

So we're now talking about $70.80 per night in taxes and fees, which works out to $212.40 for the three-night stay.

The moral of the story: Always think of a promo rate as your base price until you verify taxes, resort fees, housekeeping fees, parking fees, and all the other charges hotels impose on top of their advertised rates. In this case, your true spend would be an additional 27% on top of the promo rate. 

Set on a hilltop overlooking the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts, the plucked-from-the-Gilded-Age Cranwell Resort, Spa and Golf Club is just a two-hour drive from New York City and Boston. The historic Cranwell Mansion, built in 1894, is the centerpiece of the 380-acre resort which boasts golf courses, 6 miles of cross-country skiing trails, and an award-winning spa. It's the only four-diamond resort in the Berkshires.  This winter, Cranwell is offering a Two-Night Berkshire Ski Package, with rates starting at $272 per adult (kids stay free, so it's $544 for a family of four) Sunday through Thursday and $299 per adult (or $598 for the family) on weekends and holidays.  The package is being positioned as a deal for families, but is it really?  We crunched some numbers. The package includes:

• Two nights of Superior Resort accommodations for two adults and two children under 12 sharing one room (worth $610 for a “resort double” room, weekend stay)
• Two Country Buffet breakfasts for two adults and two children under 12 years (worth $20/adult and $13/child 5-12, for a total of $66)
• Two lift tickets per adult to nearby Jiminy Peak (worth $224) or Butternut Ski areas (worth $220 on weekends)
• Unlimited cross-country skiing at Cranwell (trail passes worth $16/day x2 adults + $12/day x 2 kids 6-12 = $56, equipment rental not included)
• One casual dinner at Sloane’s Tavern for two adults and two children under 12 years (valued at $90, figuring $35/adult and $10/child)
• Complimentary access to the resort’s 60-food heated indoor pool and use of the spa’s saunas, whirlpools and steam rooms for adults (always offered at no charge to all guests)

For a two-night weekend stay, this package costs $598 for a family of four with two kids 5 to 12.  Note, however, that this ski package doesn’t include lift tickets for kids, which on a weekend will set you back an additional $172-$196  for two days at Jiminy Peak or $180 for two days at Butternut.  So your total spend would be closer to $868 (2 days of Butternut lift tickets = $180 + $598 package price).

If you purchased the package's elements separately, the same two-night/three-day weekend stay would cost $1222  (including $180 for two days of kids’ lift tickets at Butternut and one-day trail passes for cross-country skiing), so the package saves you $354.  (If you chose to ski at Jiminy Peak, where lift tickets cost more, you'd save another $20 with the package).

Deal or no deal?   A deal! For active, skiing families that like luxury, this package delivers posh surroundings at the Cranwell plus three days out in the snow. Since the regular weekend rate at the Cranwell runs $610 for two nights, you essentially get three meals and lots of slope time for just $258 extra—a 29% savings on what those elements would normally cost.  

Note: Blackout dates are January 16-28 and February 13-21.

Tough economic times call for savvy travel strategies, like our 20 recession travel rules. Today we turn our attention to no. 18, which is also one of our 6 Genius Travel Buys. If you travel even once a year, then springing for membership in the AAA is a no-brainer. Basic membership costs just $59 a year, and it entitles you to discounts on all kinds of travel services, from hotels and restaurants to cruises, car rentals, and train travel. 

To demonstrate how quickly that $59 investment pays for itself, we price-checked a stay at the historic Jekyll Island Club, on Jekyll Island, Georgia. The place was once the winter stamping ground for American millionaires such as Rockefeller and Morgan, but today it is a family-friendly resort (see our review). For a four-night stay in early March, the rack rate for a traditional room with two double beds is $189 a night. With the AAA discount, the rate drops to $159 a night. So you save $30 a night and make back the cost of your AAA membership after just two nights. Consider the additional $61 savings as gravy.

Note: For stays of three or more nights, the Jekyll Island Club will also give you a gas credit for $100 (be sure to mention code GASRED).