Everybody’s looking for a bailout these days—but as we’ve all seen, not all bailouts are worth having. Take the Vacation Bailout package at Aruba’s Westin resort: If you book a six-night stay, you get a $200 resort credit and one night free. Sounds great, right?

The 481-room resort has a beautiful beach and awesome freeform swimming pool, and offers plenty of places to spend that resort credit, such as the spa, casino, and solid (but, alas, not free) kids' program for ages 6 to 12. Its Destination Club features crafts, sandcastle-building, iguana-feeding, a Little Chefs cooking class, and Friday evening s'more roasts.

When we priced a trip with the bailout package rate (factoring in the resort credit), a room with two queen beds came to about $2,300 for six nights—a $700 savings compared to normal rates. The Vacation Bailout must be booked by December 31, but you can travel through April 16, 2009.

Deal or No Deal? A deal, but not as good as you'd think. Book the resort’s Better Tomorrows package instead, which gives you 50% off for every other night you stay (thus averaging a 25% savings over two nights). It brings the same six-night total to $2,050—not only $250 cheaper than the bailout package, but all the savings go back to you. Now that’s what we call a bailout.

To take advantage of the Better Tomorrows package, you must arrive Thursday through Sunday, and travel by March 31, 2009.