Recently in Travel/Entertainment Category

A piece of junk mail arrived Saturday that for some crazy reason I decided to open. Smartest thing I did all day. Inside was a letter from Southwest saying I had earned a round trip ticket anywhere the airline flies. Hawaii, here I come!

Oh wait, does Southwest fly to Hawaii? Lemme check...Doh! They do not, at least not from any of the Los Angeles area airports.

Oh well. Back to the original point of this post - to figure out how much this "free" round trip ticket cost me. The Southwest Rapid Rewards page says that flyers like me earn a free RT ticket when they buy 8 RT tickets in 24 consecutive months. Wow, that's a lot of flying!

I went back over my credit card receipts and found I did indeed take eight trips within the past 21 months (all to see my family in the Bay Area). My Southwest tab came to $1,363.20 and the scary thing is, that does not include a handful of trips on other airlines. Hubby and I fly way too much!

If I try to max out my free ticket with a pricey flight to NYC or Portland, I may be able to snag a $250 ticket for free. That means I would get $1,613.20 worth of air travel ($1,363.20 + $250) for $1,363.20, a 15 percent discount. Not too shabby!

Driving home from Oxnard yesterday I spotted a sign advertising CineMalibu movies at Bluffs Park right where Malibu Canyon Road hits the PCH. Then I read Jen's list and remembered to blog about it.

CineMalibu has two more showings of family movies before the summer is out. Saturday, July 26 they are showing "Bee Movie" and Saturday August 9 they are showing Shrek 3." The free movies start at dusk and are shown outside. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on.

CineMalibu also has a marionette show on Saturday, August 2 at 1pm and the Malibu Symphony is playing Saturday, August 16 from 7 to 10 pm at the park. Visit Bluffs Park at 24250 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu.

The Contrarian Traveler has a list of their favorite travel blogs that can be used for researching an upcoming trip or, if the economy has you stuck at home, an evening of armchair travel. Here are a few to consider.

GridSkipper covers a mishmash of travel topics, including where you can swim with crocodiles (safely, if that is possible), the best places to suck down oysters in NYC, and a hotel that requires you to check your PDA at the door. Your thumbs need a vacation, apparently.

Killing Batteries is a quirky, honest blog written by a guidebook writer who says his kind have these telltale signs:

+ Looks at every business marquee while speed-walking down the street at a scorching 5 MPH.

+ Seems constantly distracted and lonely (by 'distracted and lonely' I mean horny)

+ Grills you and everyone else in the hostel for details about where you went and what you did that day and how you liked it. Then scribbles every detail down in a ludicrously large, bursting filofax or PDA.

+ Seems to have memorized ridiculous amounts of information about the country you're in.

+ Looks exhausted and disheveled, yet still intriguingly...

Seeing movie matinées are a great way to cut your entertainment tab and keep up to date with the latest blockbusters, like The Dark Knight.

Prices and times for matinees vary by theater and region but generally you can get a discounted ticket up to half-off if you go to a show in the morning or early afternoon. Hitting a matinee is a great way to escape the summer heat and hide during peak sunburn hours.

AMC Theaters, which owns Lowe's, sells $6 tickets for shows starting before noon Friday through Sunday.

Regal Theaters has adult tickets for $7.75 and senior/children tickets for $7.50 on shows before 3pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Call your local theater for details. Thanks, Tom!

That's what the Cheapest Destinations blog calls this recent ad in the Wall Street Journal.

Below the ad were these sentences:

"No 1st or 2nd Checked Bag Fees

No Change Fees

No Fuel Surcharges

No Snack Fees

No Aisle or Window Seat Fees

No Curbside Checkin Fees

No Phone Reservation Fees"

In other words, your cost is upfront on Southwest. Well said!

CruiseCompete.com helps you find a cruise deal by sending your vacation parameters to a slew of travel agents, who then compete with each other to send you the best quote. Click on cruise quote to choose exactly which cruise line you want, how many rooms you need, and which date you want to sail. Or search for cruise specials by region, ship or holiday.

Another option is to search for a generic cheapo vacation and leave parameters like sail date and cruise line open by clicking on cruise search. Once you find a cruise you are interested in, click on the sail date to get competing quotes.

Here's a cruise that sounds inviting. Three days and four nights, departing from Los Angeles. Each day you spend in a different port. The cruise sets sail in the evening and the next morning you are in San Diego. Then you head to Catalina for a day before going to Ensenada. The ship arrives in LA early in the morning on the fourth day.

Less than 30 minutes after submitting a pricing request I received a quote for $591.50 for an inside room or $651.50 for an outside room. Those prices are for both Hubby and me! It would be difficult to find a hotel room and pay for meals for that kind of money on land, even if we stayed close to home. Plus, no gas!

Cruise Compete has an 800 number for live help and a page where you can get descriptions and basic specs for dozens of ships. Getting quotes requires you to register an email address. Read more about how the site works.

Passengers stranded in an airport are less likely to get a comped hotel room from cash-strapped airlines these days, according to a story in the NY Times. So what's a lonely passenger to do? Pop a tent and make a night of it.

That is now possible with Frank Giotto's Mini Motel, "a one-person tent complete with air mattress, pillow, reading light, alarm clock and pillow (which he now sells for $39.95)," the story says. (The price has gone up to $49.95 since the article was written.) Giotto created the tent kit after he got stuck in a German airport on a business trip.

Of course, the problem is you never know when a flight might be canceled or delayed. Do you really want to carry around the Mini Motel just in case? It weights 4.7lbs and measures 17" x 12" x 3" folded up. Set up it measures 80"L x 25"W x 35"H.

The Mini Motel has many uses outside of airports (house guests, college visits, children's sleepovers, disaster relief), Giotto's site points out.

For more tips on sleeping in airports, including the best airports to have a sleepover at, visit SleepingInAirports.com.

Get $15 to $30 off a ticket on Jetblue with a promo code that is good through July 17. You get $15 off one-way flights and $30 off a round trip with promo code FF1508.

To use it you must travel between September 3 and December 16. The code is not eligible on certain routes, including a number from Long Beach: BUR-LAS, SLC-LAS, LGB-LAS, LGB-OAK, LGB-SJC, LGB-SMF, BOS-JFK, BOS-IAD, and JFK-IAD.

Caveats: blackout dates include October 9 through 14, November 8 through 10, and November 25 through December 1. You must purchase your tickets on jetblue.com. May not be used with other special offers or towards the purchase of a JetBlue Gift Card, Getaways vacation packages, JetBlue Cruise or already booked flights.

When Hubby and I take a vacation we trade off between a lazy daisy beach trip and a museum-packed traveling trip. Three years ago we went to Paris so this summer we are going to the beach.

"But you already live in paradise," my brother-in-law said while visiting last week. Yes, the weather is mild and on most days you can smell the salty air. But being lucky enough to live near the beach does not absolve you of doing laundry, taking out the trash, and opening mail - things you must escape to be on vacation.

Hence, my dilemma. We live near the beach and yet, it does not seem possible to take a beach vacation unless we go somewhere else. They don't call it "getting away" for nothing.

We have a week offf and are on a tight budget. Here are our options:

+Splurge on Hawaii. Turquoise water and sea turtles can't be beat. If only the price tag were lower.

+Fly to Mexico. The international trip will feel like a real vacation and we can do it for a lot less than Hawaii.

+Vacation in San Diego. We will save a ton by driving, but will we get bored after three days?

+Head north to Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Cambria, OR Carmel. It won't be as warm or exotic, but we may be able to snag a deal at a romantic B&B.

+Take a cruise. All our costs are upfront, though we end up being the youngest folks on board.

This is a tad late but still really useful. There are a number of buses that help bored teens and hooky-playing-adults get to the beach cheaply. Not only can you zone out on the ride, but you don't have to pay for parking!

Here's the low down from the MTA: The Topanga Canyon Summer Beach Bus starts at the Metro Orange Line in Warner Center in Woodland Hills and goes to Topanga State Beach, Will Rogers State Beach and Santa Monica State Beach. Catch the shuttle Monday through Saturday through September 1 for 50-cents each way. That's so cheap I feel like I'm in grade school! The shuttle makes three trips a day in each direction.

Calabasas runs a beach bus that runs Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays until August 27. It is $2 round trip or $1 one way. Exact change and picture ID required. For information call (818) 880-6461.

Agoura Hills runs a beach bus Monday through Friday until August 22. It is $1 each way and photo ID is required. Pickups are from different schools and drop off is at tower 6 at Zuma Beach.

The DWP runs a site that shows the timetables and fares for bus lines from Santa Clarita, East LA, Antelope Valley, Altadena, La Crescenta, Charter Oak and Topanga Canyon. All go to Santa Monica beaches.

Other beach bound buses:

+Metro Rapid Lines 704 from Union Station to the Santa Monica Pier.
+Metro Line 720 from the City of Commerce to the Santa Monica Pier.
+Metro Rapid Express Line 920 from Wilshire go to the Santa Monica Pier.
+Metro Line 4 from downtown to Santa Monica Pier.
+Metro Line 534, from Fairfax and Washington to Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica State Beach, Will Rogers State Beach and Topanga Beach.
+Metro Line 33 to Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier from Union Station.
+ The Metro Green Line to Douglas Station where it meets Metro Line 125 to Manhattan State Beach.
+ The Metro Blue Line from downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach.

UPDATE: Moorpark has a bus to Zuma Beach that runs every Tuesday and Thursday until August 26. It is $3 round trip.

Minors can get into the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for free and bring one adult into the museum for free when they fill out a brief membership form. The free youth membership includes access to the permanent collection and selected special exhibitions. It expires the day the minor turns 18.

Print the application in English here or in Spanish here. You can also ask for an application at the LACMA box office. The application requires your name, address, date of birth and your parent's signature.

The free youth memberships are part of LACMA's NexGen program, which also includes kid's events, family days, and programs for teens.

Visit LACMA at 5905 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles. (323) 857-6000. Thanks, Jen!

Totally broke and still haven't planned your summer vacation? Sounds like we are in the same boat. For a quick, cheap getaway consider camping. The Internet makes it easy to research campsites and make reservations.

Reservation.gov is a great Web site to book a trip on because you can search for a campsite by state, activity or keyword. Reserve a campsite at any number of federal parks across the country on the site, which is run by the federal government. Online reservations cost $9 and phone reservations cost $10.

Search private and state campgrounds on ReserveAmerica.com, which also has links to major public and private campground operators around the country.

For reviews of trailer campsites, check out RVParkReviews.com for the skinny on which sites have which amenities. CampgroundReport.com has reviews on hundreds of camp sites written by folks who have experienced the sites.

Here a link to a basic packing list so you don't have to fret over forgotten pot holders or make a last minute run to the uber-expensive back country general store for matches.

The Camping Guy suggests nine easy camping meals that require no pots or pans. Seriously, folks. These recipes sound easy and have me wondering if I should test them on the grill. You know, for research.

Check the LA Dodgers Web site for a slew of ways to get discounted tickets or food-and-ticket packages before you buy. Here is the page. Some of the best bets:

An all-you-can-eat ticket is $25 in advance instead of $30 on the day of the game. Food and non-alcoholic drinks from a set menu are included.

A Family 4 Packs is $70 and includes four reserve tickets (usually $16 each), four Dodgers Dogs (usually $5 each) and four cokes (usually $3 each). This deal is available on select Wednesday and Sunday home games in the Field Box, Reserve and Lower Reserve levels. With lower reserve tickets the package is $80. With field box tickets package is $175.

Seniors and kids ages 4 to 14 can get discounted tickets to all Dodger home games. Left field pavilion tickets (usually $13) are $7.00 and top deck tickets (usually $11) are $7.

The Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel is offering discounted hotel rates for active, reserve and retired military families. The discount is 20% off the published government rate when you book online. It is available for weekend stays through August 31, 2008.

When I checked rates online, rooms started at $155/night. With the discount they were as low as $110.

To qualify for the discounted rate, military personnel need to present a valid and current government identification card at check in. A "dependent" identification card is required for family members traveling separately from the military card holder. If you do not show valid identification your rate will be increased to the best available rate.

"This is our way of recognizing the enormous contribution made by the men and women of our Armed Forces," said George McGann, General Manager, in a press release.

The Burbank Airport Marriott has a fitness center, outdoor pool, restaurant and
bar, but the hotel is being renovated and one of the two pools is under construction until August 15, 2008. The lobby is also being renovated.

The Burbank Airport Marriott is at 2500 Hollywood Way in Burbank, California 91505. (818) 843-6000. Thanks, Holly!

It's getting tougher to redeem frequent flyer miles in exchange for a "free" ticket. So does a credit card with frequent flyer miles make sense or is it better to go with a cash rebate? The Airfare Watchdog weighs the perks of a miles card.

Pros:
Generous sign up bonuses of 15,00 to 25,000 miles
Great for international or first class tickets that cost thousands of dollars

Cons:
Frequent flyer miles often have a hefty annual fee (up to $100)
You may have to may cash to use your miles (up to $50)
Not great for relatively low-priced domestic flights

Say you charge $25,000 a year. The American Express Blue Cash pays 5% back on groceries, gas station purchases, and pharmacies, and 1.5% on everything else. The Chase Freedom card pays 3% back on your top three spending categories (of 15 possibilities) and 1% on everything else, plus a bonus $50 back with your first purchase, Airfare Watchdog says.

The site calculates a typical family earns $700 a year with the Amex card and about $450 with Chase. On a frequent flyer card you pay about $150 a year to earn 25,000 miles, which is almost enough for a domestic ticket, depending on the airline (with your sign up bonus you probably qualify the first year).

Other perks to the cash cards:

+ Everybody takes cash but miles come with redemption rules.
+ Chase and Amex aren't going bankrupt but your airline might!

Airfare Watchdog concludes that for "the vast majority of Americans who don't even own a passport and sit in the back of the plane, listen up: frequent flyer miles...aren't what they used to be. Take the cash instead."

Well said. Check CreditCards.com for the best deals.

A few perks that make it worthwhile to get a AAA membership, aside from the car-towing benefits. Get 20% off tickets to Wicked Tuesday through Friday this summer with code AAA. Limit 12 tickets. Get 8% off purchases of $199 or more at Circuit City with a coupon here.

Get 10% off a Motorola hands-free device if you do not already have one. Get 20% off the best available rate at Best Western on this site. Get a free car seat with your Hertz car rental and other discounts as a AAA member.

At Sea World in San Diego get adult tickets at the kid price and get kid's tickets half off now through September 1. A year's pass can be had for the price of one full-price single-day admission. In person show your AAA card, over the phone (800-25-SHAMU) press 14 and ask for the AAA 100 days of summer offer. Online use code SWCAAASmr08. Not sure if it is case sensitive.

Caveats: The SeaWorld deal has some blackout dates and cannot be used with other discounts.

The discounts require you to be a AAA member, which costs $47 a year plus a one-time $20 fee to join. Adding a second adult in the same household is $24 a year.

Discover Los Angeles, a private non-profit devoted to boosting LA tourism, has a huge list of discounts at city attractions. They have discount codes for Aquarium of the Pacific, the LA Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Universal Studios, many museums and about two dozens restaurants. The site also has discounts at clothing stores, spas, tours, and vehicle rentals.

A sample: 20% off a treatment at Nitespa. 20% off any pair of regular-priced shoes at Aerosoles, and 15% off your food bill at Bonaventure Brewing Co. Not too shabby!

Read more about Discover LA, which is contracted by the city of LA.

Get discounted tickets to all kinds of live entertainment by joining Goldstar, a free Web site that uses its hefty membership ranks to cut deals with shows. Goldstar has half a million members so they can fill the house.

Joining requires you to share an email address, password and one to three zip codes where you want to see events. You check up to 13 categories of events that you are interested in, including theater, dance, comedy, concerts and sporting events. The site works with venues in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, DC Metro area, New York, Boston, San Diego, and Las Vegas. Read more about how it works.

Like Ticketmaster, Goldstar charges a service fee per ticket. When I joined it offered orchestra seats to Wicked (usually $98) for $60 with a $3.75 per ticket fee. Tickets to a pro volleyball tournament in Long Beach were $10 to $20 (orig $20 to $40).

Get super discounted tickets to six Dodgers games next week when they play the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins. Tickets for games on July 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13 are $3 for reserve seats (orig $16), $6 for lower reserve seats (orig $20), $9 for infield reserve seats (orig $28) and $18 for field box (orig $50).

To get the discount buy your tickets online and first select the game you want to see. Then use code TZOOJULY in the promotions and special offers box next to the number of tickets you want.

Note Ticketmaster charges about $2 per ticket to buy them online and parking is $15.

A six-disc set of the Rocky movies is $25 on Amazon.com, today only (orig $60). The widescreen DVDs include Rocky I, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky V, and Rocky Balboa. The set could make a good gift.

A little known fact: I have never seen any of the Rocky movies. But I did write a story about the New Jersey boxer who apparently inspired Sylvester Stallone to create Rocky Balboa for the Jersey Journal years ago. The boxer, Chuck Wepner, told me his nickname was the "Bayonne Bleeder" because his face was like tissue paper. Wepner fights Muhammad Ali, above.

I'll break the bad news to you right now. None of these fares come anywhere near the City of Angels. But I could not resist sharing these $29 one-way fares from Southwest, which are good when you book 21 days in advance. They are sure to sell out very soon so pass them on to folks you know living in the following cities:

Austin, TX
Birmingham, AL
Boise, ID
Chicago (Midway), IL
Corpus Christi, TX
Dallas (Love Field), TX
Houston (Hobby), TX
Indianapolis, IN
Jacksonville, FL
Nashville, TN
New Orleans, LA
San Antonio, TX
Seattle/Tacoma, WA
Spokane, WA
Tampa Bay, FL
Tulsa, OK

The fare does not include about $10.50 in fees.

Looking for a place to see fireworks July 4? Here's a long list of pyrotechnic displays by date, courtesy of the LAFD, LAPD, LACoFD, LASD, and The Children's Burn Foundation. You can also read the list on their site.

July 2

Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles
July 4th Fireworks Spectacular: A Ball at the Bowl with the LA Dodgers
2301 N Highland Ave, Hollywood
The 2008 Celebration honors our own Los Angeles Dodgers. Randy Newman performs and Dodgers stars make guest appearances. Catch the next game at one of LA's great Dodger bars.
Phone: (323) 850-2000
When: July 2, 3, 4: 7:30pm
Tickets: Head to the Hollywood Bowl website

July 3

Altadena
Altadena Town & Country Club
2290 Country Club Drive
Altadena, CA 91001
9:00 p.m.

Bell Gardens
Suva Elementary School
6740 Suva Street
9:00 p.m.

Bellflower
Thomas Mayne Thompson Park - Rear Baseball Field
14001 S. Bellflower Blvd. / Rosecrans
9:00 p.m.

Want to take your sweet stuff out on the town but lack the dough to finance a big excursion? Consider these 50 frugal date ideas from The Money and Fitness blog. Some of the ideas are old hat - going for a walk, ice skating - so I'm listing just the best ideas below.

+ Cook dinner together for someone else
+ Volunteer together
+ Go to a minor league sporting event
+ Take him or her to happy hour
+ Watch the stars at night (print a free star map here.)
+ Give each other massages
+ Visit a historical site
+ Go out just for dessert
+ Rent a new Wii game (if you have a Wii)
+ Fly a kite
+ Rent a rowboat
+ Go to an art show

Thanks, Frugal Dad!

A MapQuest survey of 1,001 Internet users found people have dramatically changed their behavior and lifestyles because of high gas prices. Some of the changes people are making are drastic!

- Due to soaring gas prices, 94% of consumers have made lifestyle changes

- More than 80% of respondents are forfeiting day-to-day activities and changing their spending habits

- Nearly one out of ten consumers are stopping or cutting back on medications

- 19% are giving up heating and air conditioning

- 18% are resorting to paying the minimum balance on credit cards and delaying bill payment

- 66% of consumers say gas prices have caused them to alter vacation plans

- 34% have canceled vacation plans altogether

- 24% of consumers are turning to the Internet to search for cheap gas prices

- More than half of respondents intend to utilize websites to determine the cost difference between driving and flying when planning their next trip

- 78% of those surveyed feel that the Federal government should step in and set limits on gas prices

- 27% of consumers believe oil companies are to blame for continually rising prices

MapQuest worked with the online marketing agency DMS Research, which interviewed 1,001 Internet users age 18 and up between June 5 - 11, on the survey.

A colleague at the Daily News recently highlighted venues that show outdoor movies and many of them are free! Here's the list, minus the ones that cost moolah:

Big Free Outdoor Movie Night, Universal CityWalk, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City. (818) 622-1111.

"The flick is free even if the parking isn't. This being Universal, expect mostly family fare and some characters to show up as well. The Thursday night shows start at 8 p.m."

The line up includes "Horton Hears a Who" (July 3), "Hairspray" (July 10), "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie," (July 17), "The Simpsons Movie" (July 24), "Transformers" (July 31), "Shrek the Third" (Aug. 7), "Annie" (Aug. 14), "Curious George" (Aug. 21), "Grease" (Aug. 28).

Movies in the Park, Warner Park, 5800 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills. (818) 704-1358.

"An addition to its cousin, the popular Concerts in the Park, the Saturday night movie series gets under way with preshow at 7 p.m. and screenings as dusk."

The line up includes "Hairspray" (July 19), "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (July 26), "Sleepless in Seattle" (Aug. 2), "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (Aug. 9), "Field of Dreams" (Aug. 16), "Enchanted" (Aug. 23), "The Lion King" (Sept. 6).

Old Pasadena Film Festival, One Colorado Plaza and various venues throughout Old Pasadena. (626) 564-1066.

"While the annual One Colorado Plaza does its salute to Audrey...

It seems more and more important these days to calculate the cost of a trip down to the last penny. AAA has a fuel cost calculator that takes into account your car's make, model and mpg, but none of the other associated costs of driving, like insurance, wear and tear, which adds up to about $.50 per mile.

I created this chart to help you figure out which travel method is cheapest. Print the chart here (requires Adobe).

Cost of Flying
Ticket(s):
Cab or bus to get to the airport:
Driving to the airport (miles x $.50/mile):
Car rental, if needed:
Airport parking fees:
Drinks/snacks on plane:
Total:

Cost of Driving:
Miles to drive x $.50/mile:
Hotel stays, if needed:
Meals on road:
Tolls:
Total:

Remember to consider the travel time each method takes. Start from when you leave your house until you reach your final destination. For some travelers, taking the bus may be the cheapest and best option.

Soon after posting an item yesterday about discounted Disneyland tickets a reader wrote in to say she knew about an even better deal. Her secret? MouseSavers.com.

The site is devoted to everything Disneyland and it has a lot of information about buying cheap tickets. I like that they are upfront about letting you know that it's almost impossible to get one-day discounted tickets (unless you live in So Cal and have a work hook up). "Even with a discount, you're probably going to have to pay 92-95% of full price in most cases," they say. The savings do add up, however.

MouseSavers has a link ARES Travel, which sells 4-Day Park Hopper Bonus Ticket for $179 for adult and $149 for children ages 3-9. That's cheaper than tickets through Disneyland.com ($184 for adults, $154 for kids). It is not as cheap as Costco, however ($139 for SoCal residents).

I haven't been to Disneyland since I was about 16 and I'm waiting until my sister comes to visit with her burly brood. Without kids I'm worried that the magic will be gone for me. The wildly over-priced food will disgust me, the river will seem nothing more than a glorified duck pond, and the sugary churros won't melt in my mouth (re-heated, fried-yesterday dough, anyone?). Worst of all, everything will seem so small.

But with my three nephews in tow, I'll see the park through their eyes and everything will be as magical as the marketers promise, err, just plain magical.

Thanks, Rein!

The latest issue of Shop Smart :) magazine from Consumer Reports recommends a few Web sites to help you pare down your suitcase.

Onebag.com says the three elements to light travel is knowing what to pack, what to pack it in and how to pack it.

Travellite.org suggests products that will lighten your load. To reduce your clothing needs, the site says plan your outfits ahead and color coordinate using neutrals as a base.

RickSteves.com covers everything from travel news to packing light and getting the best Eurail pass deal. For a multi-week trip, leave behind anything you are not going to wear at least three times.

The travel store Magellans.com sells travel gear and has numerous travel articles. Below they lay out second bag fees at major airlines.

Continental, Delta, Northwest, US Airways, and United charge $25. AirTran charges $10 and British Airways charges £20+.

Packing light takes longer than packing heavy, but with many airlines charging $15+ for a checked bag, fitting everything into a carry on will save you money. Not to mention that tossing a small bag over your shoulder is a lot easier than schlepping around multiple over-sized suitcases.

Multi-day tickets to Disneyland are discounted on the theme park's Web site, though they are still more expensive than Costco. A four-day park hopper bonus ticket is $154 (orig $184) for kids and $184 for adults (orig $214) at Disneyland.com. A similar ticket is $139 at Costco for SoCal residents.

Both get your into the classic theme park or California Adventure. The pricier Disneyland ticket also gets you into one park early one morning and is not restricted to SoCal residents, like the Costco ticket. But the Costco ticket looks like it is good for any age.

Three- and five-day passes are also discounted at Disneyland.com. A kid's ticket covers ages 3 to 9 at Disneyland. Kids aged 10 and up need an adult ticket. Thanks, Barbara!

And now for the most pressing money-saving issue of the day. With the squeeze on your wallet do you sneak candy into the movies? Or do you fork over the $3 to $5 for boxes of Milk Duds and Jujubes?

Does sneaking treats makes one frugal or cheap, Frugal Dad asks. The question taps into how we judge how others spend their money.

I'm a sneaker. I mean, I'm already paying $10 for the ticket and perhaps a few dollars for parking. I could have waited for the movie to come out on DVD or found a sketchy copy online. So am I a tightwad for buying my movie candy at 7-Eleven beforehand - or a smart spender?

The free outdoor evening concert series at the Sherman Oaks Galleria is back now that it is summer time. In June they have music every Wednesday from 6:30 to 9:30pm, every Friday from 7 to 10pm and every Saturday from 7 to 10pm. To get the lineup click on "Events" from their Web site.

The salsa group Charangoa is playing this Wednesday. They've played a bunch of places in LA and opened for Cuba's most famous band, "Los Van Van."

United and US Airways announced they are g