Bolt Bus, a new low-cost bus line with service planned up and down the East Coast, has announced it will launch a Boston to New York route in April. The New York-DC route begins on March 27th.

Why would you want to ride the Bolt Bus? Well, for one, you get free wireless Internet access (though the company admits it can be spotty at times), power outlets in the seats and three more inches of legroom than found in standard coach buses. On top of that, fares start at $1. Yup, there are a limited number of $1 fares, but hey, at least they offer ‘em. The company suggests buying tickets several weeks in advance to score the lowest ticket prices.

The MGM Grand at Foxwoods started accepting reservations yesterday. The new $700 million complex is slated to open May 20th in the sprawling Connecticut gambling mecca, which, as you may or may not know, happens to be the largest casino in the world. Yeah, bigger than any casino in Vegas. Rates are advertised starting at $295/night, but for a Friday night in June, you can expect to pay $350 and up.

The new resort casino will offer 825 rooms, a 4,000-seat theater, outdoor pool, full-service spa, nightclub, meeting space, upscale retail shops and several restaurants. Oh yeah, and gambling. Don’t forget the gambling.

If you’re going to be in New York this weekend and you love travel, consider checking out the New York Times Travel Show, a veritable smorgasbord of travel information from resorts, hotels, spas, cruise lines, tour operators, tourist agencies and adventure travel companies from around the world. Along with vendor booths and live entertainment performances representing a vast array of cultures, the show features a Taste of the World Pavilion filled with international cuisine and cooking demonstrations, a Spa Pavilion offering sample treatments and discounted packages at spa resorts, travel author appearances and special travel deals offered to folks brave enough to book their next vacation on the spot. And with travel experts Rick Steves, Arthur Frommer, Ian Wright and Stephanie Abrams - among many others - leading seminars, the show offers a rare chance for face-to-face learning from leading peeps in the industry. Cost: $15.

Downtown Boston’s Seaport District now has its very own Renaissance property. The 471-room Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel has adopted a maritime theme: an exterior designed to look reminiscent of a ship’s wind-filled sails, seagulls flocking above the front desk, blue hues in the rooms and wave-like structural features incorporated throughout.

While the hotel hopes to attract leisure travelers thanks to a location within walking distance of Fanueil Hall, the Boston Harbor Walk and the New England Aquarium, it is wooing business travelers with amenities like a DS-3 line Internet connection (28x faster than a T-1), rooms outfitted with flat panel televisions and connectivity panels that power multiple electronic devices at one time.

Travelers who stay at the hotel for two nights or more by Sept. 3, 2008 will receive a $100 Savvy Savings Certificate good toward a two-night stay at any Renaissance property in the U.S. or Canada. To score the savings, you’ll have to book through the site or call the hotel’s reservation number (1-800-834-7282) and use promo code PX3. Nightly rates at the hotel start at $169.

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

Yeah, last minute travel can be cool. But it can also leave you cash poor, especially when you’re talking high-season travel in major vacation destinations. But as with most things in life, a just little edumuhcation can go a long way. Case in point: Kayak.com’s Fare Alerts.

Create a Fare Alert (or 12) on Kayak.com or SideStep.com for the summer getaway(s) currently sequestered in your noggin by clicking on the “Get fare alerts for this trip” link on the top right-hand corner of the flight results page. You can track fares for specific dates, a flexible span of time (e.g. summer weekends or, say, the month of June) or an entire region (e.g. Europe). When your daily or weekly Fare Alert (you choose how often it arrives) touches down in your email inbox, you’ll be able to make informed travel decisions.

Depending on what you ask it to track (specific dates, flexible span of time or even top cities in a region), each Fare Alert can show you:

- How much the fare for specific dates has increased or decreased in dollars since the last alert

- The airfare history for your trip dates based on searches made by Kayakers over the past 90 days

- A snapshot of prices in Kayak.com’s matrix view, so you can quickly compare prices by carrier and number of stops

- The lowest fare available during a specific span of time (e.g. the next four weekends)

- The best fares available for popular destination cities in a region you want to visit (e.g. Africa)

Who knows, maybe you’ll still pay craptons to travel to the most expensive resort on the hottest island right in the middle of the high season. After all, it’s high season for a reason. But at least you’ll be pimping it out with full knowledge of your unbridled American excess. Just remember the wisdom of G.I. Joe.

(**Editor’s note: Yeah, Kayak.com owns us. You wanna make something of it? I’ll have you know I was surreptitiously using Fare Alerts to aid in making my personal travel plans long before Kayak.com bought our parent company SideStep.com in December. Nepotism, bias, blah, blah, blah. Fare Alerts just make good travel sense.)

With the push of the holidays upon us, travelers have even more reason to seek out pampering and personal maintenance services in airport terminals. And hey, what better way is there to spend a lengthy layover than indulging in a massage? But which airports have the best spas? According to Style.com, the Five Great Airport Spas that stand out from the crowd are:

1. Oasis Day Spa - John F. Kennedy International Airport

2. Jetsetter Spa - Boston Logan International and Miami International Airport

3. OraOxygen (pictured) - Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Calgary International Airport

4. Departure Spa - Newark Liberty International Airport and Orlando International Airport

5. Elemis Travel Spa - John F. Kennedy International Airport and London Heathrow Airport

Looking for a second opinion? Citysearch has a longer list titled Top 10 U.S. Airport Spas.

And now for the final last minute Thanksgiving hotel package of the day. After much hunting, we found a great spot that still has availability: the Samoset Resort on the Ocean in Rockport, Maine. First opened in 1889, this coastal resort is a well known golfing destination that’s home to the ESPN Golf School of Northern New England. Other diversions include the health club with its 30′ x 50′ indoor pool, gorgeous grounds and ample activities for kids.

The Samoset Resort Thanksgiving Package includes two nights’ accommodations, breakfast for two each morning, Thanksgiving dinner for two and activities like kids’ crafting sessions (pinecone picture frames, anyone?), an adult pastry class, a live turkey display and cupcake decorating. Following a $3 million renovation project completed earlier this year, the 178-room hotel offers rooms with new furnishings, flat screen TVs, free wi-fi and private balconies or terraces. The hotel still has queen oceanview and king oceanview rooms available. Rates start at $189 and go up to $209/night.

Providence is welcoming a new upscale hotel to its small, but action-packed downtown area. With views of the Rhode Island State House outside its guestroom windows, the 272-room Renaissance Providence Hotel occupies a historic, 78-year-old building originally intended to be a Masonic temple. The opening marks the completion of nearly three years of construction on the Neo-classical building. The completely non-smoking hotel puts guests a short walk (seriously, it’s really short) from the Amtrak station (perfect for folks coming in via train from Boston or New York), Providence Place Mall and the downtown canal walk area that hosts the wildly popular Waterfire events. For a Friday night stay in November, rates ranged from $239/night for a room with two queen beds to $279/night for a Club Level room with a king bed.

Oh it’s gonna be cold in December (if this global warming thing ever chills out), but ye New Englanders could be hopping down to Florida for only $10 come Dec. 17, 2007. How can this be, you may be asking yourself. Skybus, the low-cost carrier based out of Columbus, is launching routes from Boston-Portsmouth to Jacksonville-Daytona Beach and Punta Gorda-Ft. Myers just in time for the winter doldrums. Skybus always sells at least 10 tickets for $10 on each of its flights. You’ll have to buy early to grab these low fares.