The Liftopia blog (a.k.a. Gigasnow) reminded us today of a v. important point regarding snow, the Superbowl and cash. That little nugget is this: the Superbowl is to crowded slopes what sodium chloride is to ice. Of all the weekends during ski season, the one on which the Superbowl falls is notoriously a slow one at the lift ticket box office. And though I’m one of those people who will be watching the game instead of heading for the hill, that doesn’t mean part of me won’t be wishing I was kicking it in Tahoe instead of hanging out with a bunch of meatheads (you know who you are) who happen to have multiple televisions and a way with a deep fryer.

So for ye sports-averse among us, this weekend promises some good deals on lift tickets through lovely Liftopia, the discount lift ticket retailer based in good ‘ole San Francisco. You could, for example, find yourself riding Park City $66.99 (15 percent savings), Powder Mountain for $45 (15 percent savings) or Wildcat Mountain for the freakishly low price of $24.99 (58 percent off).

Check out the post below for more deals.

Superbowl Sunday - Fewer Skiers, Bigger Discounts

Today Mobil Travel Guide announced its 2008 Four- and Five-star ratings for U.S. hotels, restaurants and spas. Notoriously picky (they don’t just hand out five-star ratings to any old Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton), Mobil added eight new hotels to its five-star list for 2008. We’ve listed all 41 of the five-star hotel winners below. For four-star results and winners in the restaurant and spa categories, you can check out all the ratings in the Mobil Travel Guide’s 50th Annual Star Awards.

Mobil Five-Star Hotels

California - Beverly Hills

Raffles L’Ermitage Beverly Hills

The Beverly Hills Hotel

The Peninsula Beverly Hills

California - Dana Point

St. Regis Resort, Monarch Beach

California - Los Angeles

Hotel Bel-Air

California - Oakhurst

Chateau du Sureau

California - San Francisco

Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco

St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

Colorado - Aspen

The Little Nell

Colorado - Colorado Springs

The Broadmoor

Connecticut - Washington

Mayflower Inn & Spa

District of Columbia - Washington

Four Seasons Hotel Washington, D.C.

Florida - Manalapan

The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach

Florida - Naples

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples

Florida - Palm Beach

Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach

Georgia - Atlanta

Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta

Georgia - St. Simons Island

The Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club

Hawaii - Wailea

Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

Illinois - Chicago

Four Seasons Hotel Chicago

The Peninsula Chicago

The Ritz-Carlton, A Four Seasons Hotel

Massachusetts - Boston

Boston Harbor Hotel

Four Seasons Hotel Boston

Massachusetts - Lenox

Blantyre

Nevada - Las Vegas

The Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas

New York - New York

Four Seasons Hotel New York

Mandarin Oriental, New York

The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park

The St. Regis

New York - Saranac Lake

The Point

North Carolina - Pittsboro

The Fearrington House Country Inn

South Carolina - Kiawah Island

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island

South Carolina - Summerville

Woodlands Resort & Inn

Tennessee - Nashville

The Hermitage Hotel

Texas - Dallas

The Mansion on Turtle Creek

Utah - Park City

Stein Eriksen Lodge

Vermont - Barnard

Twin Farms

Virginia - Richmond

The Jefferson Hotel

Virginia - Washington

The Inn at Little Washington

Wyoming - Jackson

Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole

Shoutout to Denver International Airport for joining the ranks of free airport wireless Internet zones. Passengers can now access the Internet for free from any part of the airport. The ad-supported service is managed by FreeFi Networks.

Denver International Airport Offers FreeFi Networks’ Free Wi-Fi Service to Passengers

Flight 001, one of my all-time favorite travel stores, has the long-awaited solution for cooties: The No Cooties 4Pack. A simple spray. Who would have thought? I would suggest bringing one of these little guys out right as the plane takes off and spritzing every half-hour or so while casting sidelong glances at the person next to you. Advanced cootie combatants may want to up the ante by spritzing backwards between the seats. Make sure to follow this up by peering at the people behind you. For effect, when you attempt the post-spritz peering backwards move, make sure just one eye is visible through the crack in between the seats. People will love this.

This TravelPost.com Insider poll was inspired by George Bibel’s NY Times Op-Ed piece Listen Up and Fly Right.

Well, things got hot in Sin City this morning, but not in the way you might think. The Monte Carlo Resort and Casino Hotel caught fire and sent panic through the Strip. Thankfully, the fire has now been stopped and all hotel guests safely evacuated.

Who hasn’t wished they had something like this when their bags decided to take a trip of their own? The Arrival Survival Kit takes the sting out of the lost luggage experience with essentials to pull you through. Each kit comes packed in a clear zippered bag with:

• A t-shirt

• A pair of undies

• Cotton swabs, cotton balls and a nail file

• A disposable razor

• Travel-sized deodorant

• Travel toothbrush and mini-toothpaste

• Packet of pain reliever

Clearly, this is one for the ladies. But guys can benefit from it, too. You know what they say, hell hath no fury like a woman with lost luggage. Cost: $40

This recent bit I wrote for San Francisco Citysearch aims to give the jilted and cheated-upon help hunting down and busting their wayward lovers before moving on to the next great love affair. But really, it’s just a thinly-veiled roundup of cool San Francisco destinations good for city visitors and us local folk. Check it out:

To Catch a Cheater: Where Pigs Hide in San Francisco

We all like to gripe and moan about how terrible air travel can be these days (well, at least I know I do), but here’s an image that will remind you that we don’t have it all that bad. Back in the day, poor stewardesses had to lug “travel-sized” contraptions like this 1940’s era Universal Stewardess Steam Travel Iron with folding Bakelite handle along with them as they puddle-jumped around the country. (Not surprisingly, the seller on GoAntiques.com reports that the iron still works - must not have gotten too much road use during its heyday).

Although no one we know can provide us with an eyewitness account, we hear tell that a new airline was spotted in the skies this week: Air Yeti.

Aiming to be the low-cost carrier of choice for travelers in Nepal, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the Air Arabia-owned airline has its hub in Kathmandu, Nepal and flies to destinations that include Bangkok, Delhi, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Sharjah and Doha.