Avis is offering up to 10 free tracks from eMusic when you rent a car from one of its U.S. locations. I took advantage of a similar offer from Avis a while back - the songs came from iTunes - and while it doesn’t make much sense to rent a car from the company just to get this deal if you can find lower rates elsewhere, it is a nice perk of renting directly through the company if you’re already planning to do so.

To receive your free music, you have to register for an Avis Wizard number in advance, then use that number when you make a rental reservation. Rent a car for one to four days, and Avis will email you a code - good for 30 days only - to download five free eMusic songs. Rent a car for five to 10 days, and you’ll get 10 free songs.

eMusic tracks work on the iPod and Zune. Really the only catch is that eMusic exclusively carries independent labels - and that may be an added bonus for many of you. Just don’t go in thinking you’re going to get the latest JT track.

Rent on Avis and Get Free Music

Pop Quiz

Question: The greatest football team ever to roam the planet earth?
Answer: Daaaaaa Bears!

Question: The greatest coach ever to lead a football team to certain victory?
Answer: Ditka!

Question: It’s Ditka vs. Superman. Who would win?
Answer: Ditka!

Question: If Ditka fought the sun, who would win?
Answer: C,mon, ask me a tough one. Ditka!

Question: When was the last time you were seen in public wearing a coconut bra?
Answer: Ditka!!!!!

If you answered any of the above questions correctly, or have been known to eat brats while experiencing a mild heart attack, then we’ve got two vacation destinations for you: Mike Ditka’s Lighthouse Key Resort and Spa and the Runaway Beach Club, both in Orlando, FL.

Opening this weekend, the Lighthouse Key is the larger of the two resorts and offers villas with gourmet kitchens, washers and dryers and flat screen TVs. On the grounds, visitors will find two pools, a huge European spa, fitness facilities and a 50-seat movie theater. For a weekend in April, I found rates starting at $299/day for a two-bedroom suite.

Also, opening this weekend, The Runaway Beach Club Resort also offers villa accommodations with similar amenities, but has smaller grounds and fewer resort amenities, i.e. no grand European spa. But there are two pools and a fitness center. For a weekend in April, I found a one-bedroom villa starting at $149/night and a two-bedroom villa starting at $189/night.

Don’t forget to grow out that ’stache before you go!

Both resorts offer free shuttle service to Walk Disney World theme parks (both resorts are within 2.5 miles of the maingate).

LastMinuteTravel.com recently launched a program aimed at frequent travelers willing to pay a $49.99 annual membership fee for “exclusive” rates on hotels. The
LastMinute Travel Club offers discounted rates on around U.S. and international 13,000 hotels. The company says savings average between 23 and 66 percent of the rack rate. Not being a member, I can’t personally vouch for the service and the potential savings, but I do think this sort of “pay for deals” system is part of a growing trend in the online travel space. Frequent travelers who book their own hotel accommodations may very well find this sort of setup to be worth the cost of membership. My guess is that the service makes more sense for people who prefer business class to luxury hotels.

LastMinuteTravel.com Launches Discount Travel Club

You think you’ve had to sit around at the airport for a lengthy stretch? Try living there. Actually, on second though, don’t. You might end up a police target like “homeless chef” Anthony Delaney, a Brit who reportedly lived, ate, slept and showered in London’s Gatwick Airport for three whole years. Airport authorities were none to pleased with their guest, who now faces charges for violating the court order banning him from the airport.

Homeless Chef Lived in London Airport for Years

AT&T has launched an effort to warn iPhone users of the high charges they may accrue when traveling abroad. Sure, the phone automatically works outside the United States, but that doesn’t mean it’s cheap. In fact, as AT&T makes clear in a letter I received yesterday, simply opening an email with a 5 megapixel image in it while you’re traveling internationally could easily cost you $40. And with the dollar being what it is (i.e. lame), American travelers abroad need all the help they can get. Am I right?

If you travel abroad frequently, then it makes sense to pay for one of AT&T’s Data Global Plans ($24.99 or $59.99 per month). But if you’re only getting outside a few times a year, it’s probably more sensible to just curb your phone use while you’re away. In the PDF doc below (it’s a large file and may take a second to load), AT&T outlines steps travelers should take to prevent astronomical charges. For example:

- Turn off data roaming function (and you need to have the latest iTunes software on your computer to do this, apparently)

- Turn off auto-checking for emails

To learn more, check the doc below:

iPhone International Calling Charges

More often than not, articles that purport to offer travel tips are really just filler stories offering up a bunch of common sense knowledge. But Heather Eng’s Budget Travel story Psst! Broadway Tickets For Cheap had some advice I’d never heard before. Granted, I’m no theater buff, so maybe this is the most obvious tip in the world for a regular Broadway show-goer, but I’m copying it here because I think it’s a really worthwhile piece of travel advice for anyone headed to NYC who wants to catch a Broadway show:

Crack the codes

When you’re buying tickets online, the major agencies — Telecharge and Ticketmaster — ask for a promotional code, which can shave between 25 and 50 percent off the face-value price. You can find one of these codes by visiting Playbill, TheaterMania, and BroadwayBox.com. These sites list promotional codes for many shows, including blockbuster productions like “Hairspray.” Playbill and TheaterMania are more comprehensive but require registration. BroadwayBox.com posts a more limited number of codes, but you won’t have to cough up any personal information.

Insider’s tip: If you buy directly from a theater box office, where you can also use a code for savings, you will avoid the fees that Telecharge and Ticketmaster slap on the tickets they sell online.

If you spy a scary looking dude with a semi-automatic weapon pacing around the platform the next time you hop an East Coast Amtrak train, don’t be alarmed. The company announced a series of new security initiatives today, but not in response to any specific threat.

Rather, Amtrak hopes armed officers patrolling train platforms, bomb-sniffing dogs and random checks of carry-on luggage will be the preemptive strike necessary to thwart terrorist activity and other acts of violence. While trains have been prime targets for terrorist activity abroad, we statesiders have been lucky to escape any similar incidents thus far. Knock. On. Wood.

The new Amtrak security measures will be put in place along the Boston to Washington corridor.

Amtrak Beefs Up Security

Amtrak Launches New Security Procedures

When we read about Lufthansa’s recent move to allow passengers to self-board airplanes at its Frankfurt hub, it gave us pause. Was this, we asked ourselves, a brilliant step in human self-determination or a recipe for certain disaster? Lufthansa’s Quick Boarding system lets passengers scan their own electronic tickets at the gate and then walk through subway-esque turnstiles to board the aircraft. The airline estimates that the system cuts boarding time by 25 percent. Perhaps the Germans can get this right, but my pessimism about the human condition makes me wary about a system like this - and not for any security reasons. I’m imagining some college kid trying to scan his own retina with the machine and octogenarians piling up like sandbags at the customer service desk nearby. What do you think?

While we humans groan at the thought of carrying a heavy pack, many dogs can’t wait to be put to work. Over the weekend, my husband and I invited a dog trainer friend over to evaluate our lovable, but somewhat neurotic pitbull mix. We were looking for pointers on helping her to become more relaxed in the many distracting situations that bombard a city dog each day, as well as friendly and confident around other dogs in potentially conflict-inducing places like other peoples’ houses, dog-friendly inns and hotels and the weekend getaway spots we often rent with our friends.

Our trainer’s solution? Well, there were many. But the one that I am most excited about is the doggie backpack. From now on, wherever she goes - on our daily walks, on hikes, on out-of-town weekend adventures - she’ll be dressed up like a canine mountaineer in Mountainsmith’s Dog Trippin’ Dog Backpack. I chose this model because it combines comfort features like padded, adjustable compression straps and a ventilated back (important for preventing hot spots) with its a set of dog travel accessories: two collapsible bowls, a fleece sleeping pad and a leash. I like the idea of her carrying her own supplies whenever we leave home, whether it’s for a 30-minute trek around our neighborhood or on the trip up the coast of Northern California we have planned for later this month.

At the risk of sounding like a traveling germ-phobic nutjob, I’ll admit I rarely get anywhere near an airport, bus or means of public transportation without fishing my trusty hand sanitizer out of my bag. And while I sometimes find myself wondering what happened to the free-spirited traveling self who would most certainly scoff at the more uptight version that exists today, I can say this: once you hit 30, getting sick starts to suck more. Way more.

While most hand sanitizers kill germs right when you apply them to your skin, SkinWear claims to continue killing pesky germs for hours and moisturize your skin at the same time (good for use during flights, when my skin starts to feel nigh on reptilian). The product is also non-toxic, biodegradable and vegetable-based. Once applied correctly, which requires rubbing the product into the skin for 60 seconds, SkinWear will do its thing through four rinses at the sink.

Not being scary germs ourselves, we can’t personally vouch for the product’s effectiveness. But not getting sick is good enough for me.