Need to take a trip, but it's just not in your budget? Direct One will give you two free roundtrip coach tickets to places like London, Jamaica and Hawaii when you sign up for their long distance plan, as low as $19.95 per month. Flights are on airlines like American, United and Continental and subject to certain blackout dates, and you do have to use a "dial-up" number when you make your calls. But it might well be worth your effort, and you can cancel the service at any time.

If you need to travel on the fly, Economy Travel offers between 10% and 40% off published fares on 24 major airlines. Their consolildated fares do not appear on airline websites or reservation systems, only here. No advance purchase is necessary, and most fares are refundable.

What the heck, take a chance. Why not?

Anyone who's eager to earn free mileage ought to know about the programs that offer frequent flyer miles for taking surveys, surfing the internet, referring your friends, and/or making your purchases by linking to companies through their sites. Do you regularly buy books online? Link to Boarders through MyPoints, TrocaMania or S&H Greenpoints, and you'll earn miles for every dollars spent!

Rewards vary, as do the airlines that each program works with. If you're choosing a frequent flyer program, you might want to look at the chart below and see if the list includes any companies you buy from regularly. If it does, you might want to consider signing up for the incentive program that offers you mileage for those purchases, and focus on the frequent flyer program they are aligned with. But if you're like me, you'll be interested in signing up for all of these programs. Just click on the banner to link to the registration site. They're all free, and if you can earn points toward free mileage, why not?

Check out this great ten-in-one toiletry kit. Guarantees that your travel packing will be concise and neat, and you'll never again find yourself standing in the shower muttering "I'm sure I packed that shampoo...."