Now that the deadline has almost passed for scoring those low, low fares from Virgin America and JetBlue, United Airlines has swooped in with its own fall fare sale. You’ve got to purchase by Aug. 20 and travel by Dec. 13, 2007 on off-peak days of the week. If your travel plans can deal with those parameters, you could snap up tickets on the cheap. Some sample routes (all fares roundtrip):

Washington Dulles - Chicago: $172

Los Angeles to London - $528

Chicago to Puerto Vallarta - $308

Boston to Washington Dulles - $128

United Airlines Fall Fare Sale

Today’s Airfare Watchdog newsletter alerted me to the Alaska Airlines fall fare sale, running now through Aug. 5th for travel between Sept 5th and Nov. 15th, 2007. Use code EC04607 to save 20 percent on Alaska Air flights from San Francisco to Mexico and Alaska Air flights between Idaho and San Jose, Sacramento, San Francisco and Oakland.

Looking for last-minute late summer cruise deals to the Caribbean, Hawaii and Mexico? Check out this round-up from Market Watch:

Sail Away with Last-Minute Cruise Deals

Travelocity has launched Travelocity Mexico to serve residents of Mexico and its Spanish-speaking customers in North America.

Travelocity Launches in Mexico

Here’s a cute way to make your child’s first flight a little more fun: USA3000’s First Flight Certificate. The discount carrier offers them to children on its flights upon request. The airline flies to Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean from 15 U.S. cities (St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Hartford, Philadelphia, Newark, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Ft. Myers and Ft. Lauderdale).

In response to angry travelers awaiting passports to comply with the new passport rules that went into effect earlier this year, the Bush administration has announced that U.S. citizens flying to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda can bypass the passport rule until through the end of September 2007 - as long as they have government-issued identification (e.g. a drivers license) receipt showing they applied for a passport.

Passport Rules to be Eased Temporarily

For many of today’s frequent travelers, the no-tech vacation is something of a conundrum (Wait, no television? Then how am I supposed to watch The Inferno III?). In fact, the last time most of us were anywhere near being “off the grid” involved an unsolicited power outage followed by disbelief, then sheer panic. Don’t try to deny it.

But as much as we love (and we mean love love, not like love) technology, destinations without plasma televisions, resort-wide wireless Internet access, in-room telephones and the latest gaming consoles give us something that’s often impossible to pin down on the grid: ourselves.

Don’t worry. We’re not talking about destinations where you’ll end up twisted into a yoga pretzel drinking green tea before a mandatory colonic treatment in the “spa.” We’re talking about 10 places you can visit where the sound of the surf is louder than the television in the next room, where news of Anna Nicole’s paternity test doesn’t cause a mad rush to the business center’s Internet kiosks and, finally, where wake-up calls are more likely to come from birds outside than bedside phones.

Check out our list of 10 No-Tech Escapes here.

I’ve noticed an interesting thing lately. More and more places are coming up with travel experiences that, well, don’t have anything to do with fun or relaxation. We’ve blogged about volunteer vacations, but what about vacations, tours and overnight experiences that allow you do something altogether unpalatable? Like scare yourself silly in a prison. Or attempt a border-crossing between the U.S. and Mexico. Or get up close and personal with toxic waste. I’ve decided to list some of the ones I’ve found:

1. Caminata Nocturna: This 4-hour nighttime hike takes interested travelers along the same route illegal immigrants might use to enter the U.S. from Mexico. You even get chased by fake border control police in the pitch black darkness.

2. Toxic Tour: California-based Communities for a Better Environment takes tour participants to refineries, chemical sites, “brownfields” and other areas to educate them about the environmental and social impacts of pollution.

3. Liepaja Prison: How about an overnight in a Latvian prison once run by the KGB? They even give you a faux medical exam when you arrive for your stay.

4. Street Retreats: A San Francisco organization offers day-long experiences living on the streets like the city’s many homeless. You can stand in soup kitchen lines, panhandle and try to get into drop-in centers.

5. Reality Tours: The tours offered by San Francisco’s Global Exchange can involve anything from visiting a landmine field in Afghanistan to meeting with coffee farmers in the Andes. The offerings are educationally-driven, but do include cultural excursions to prominent museums and historical sites.

6. Slum Tours: Tourists can visit the small alleys of Mumbai’s famous Dharavi slum. An extended tour option includes visits to the Red Light district, open air laundry and a home for boys.

If you live in or near one of the following cities, and you’ve been planning a trip to Mexico or one of Aeromexioco’s destinations, you should think about buying your ticket this weekend, during the airline’s four-day two for one fare sale. Buy one adult ticket from one of the destinations below, and you can get a second ticket for the same itinerary for free. You will have to pay taxes and additional fees for each passenger. Tickets must be purchased by Monday, though travel - excluding the inevitable black out dates - is allowed through Dec. 14, 2007.

Austin

Boston

Chicago

Ft. Lauderdale

Houston

Las Vegas

Los Angeles

Miami

New York City

Ontario, Calif.

Orlando

Phoenix

San Antonio

San Diego

Aeromexico 2 for 1 Sale

The deadline for new passport rules is fast approaching - the hammer drops on Jan. 23, 2007. Even if you’re not planning on leaving the country in the next few months, having a passport just makes good sense. Just so you have all the relevant passport information you need at your fingertips in one happy little post, behold the TravelPost.com Insider’s tutorial on passport procurement:

Step 1: Cut a hole in the box.

Step 2: Read Passport Rules in a Nutshell on the TravelPost.com Insider

Step 3: Read the TravelPost.com Insider’s How to Get a Passport

Step 4: Get yourself to an official Passport Application Location and get started.