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.

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.)

We don’t care who you flash from which balcony, how many beads you collect or the number of frosty, pink hurricanes it takes to render you senseless and befriending a lamppost in the French Quarter. But if there’s anything we do care about, it’s that you plan accordingly before you head down south to the nation’s biggest party. A few things to keep in mind for Mardi Gras 2008:

1. You can skip Mardi Gras and still go to Mardi Gras. Contrary to popular belief, the actual day on which Mardi Gras falls (this year, Feb. 5th), is not necessarily a day you need to include in your travel plans. The party officially ends the Wednesday after Mardi Gras - Ash Wednesday - and the town shuts down to recover from a month of parades, balls and parties. The best time to hit New Orleans for a taste of Mardi Gras debauchery is basically anytime during Carnival season, which officially began this past weekend and continues through Feb. 5th. While the weekend prior to Mardi Gras (Feb. 1-4) is prime time for those who love crowds, booze and packed bars, many who want to sample the sites and sounds of New Orleans without all the mayhem go in the weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday. Check the Mardi Gras 2008 Calendar, and you’ll see that there are parades and events every weekend in January.

2. Grandstanding can make all the difference. Unless you’re a college kid or someone with really solid legs and a strong bladder, standing alongside the parade route can get real old real fast. Not only will you have to fight your way through the crowd every time you need to get a drink or use the bathroom, but you’ll have few bathroom options save porter potties and those in packed bars and restaurants (which are almost always reserved for customers only). Especially if it’s your first Mardi Gras or you’re traveling with kids, we suggest forking over the extra moolah for grandstand access during at least one of the parades. For example, you can get $50 tickets to the Bacchus Parade (Premium Seats via Ticketweb) that will land you general admission access to the grandstand at the Intercontinental New Orleans Hotel on Sunday, Feb. 3rd. You’ll have access to bathrooms, as well as food and drink (for an additional fee, of course). Many local hotels and restaurants offer tickets to special viewing areas for watching parades, so do some research online before you go.

3. Book activities and restaurant reservations in advance. If you want to participate in any guided tours, excursions or other activities or dine at a specific restaurant during the Mardi Gras season, it goes without saying that you should buy tickets or reserve your table well in advance. Don’t wait until you arrive - you may be disappointed.

4. To really see New Orleans, you don’t have to see Mardi Gras. Yes, Mardi Gras is one of the most unique, exciting and culturally important annual celebrations in the country. That said, it’s also the most hectic time of year in the Big Easy. But New Orleans has the same festive spirit, party-hardy bars, colorful markets and great restaurants all year round. It’s worth keeping in mind that, while you may miss the big bang that is Mardi Gras, visiting at another time of year will definitely be more economical and may result in better service at restaurants, shops and hotels.

Carnival season in New Orleans officially kicked off on Sunday. And as of today, Mardi Gras 2008 is officially 28 days away. If you’re planning to hit the Big Easy for all the fun leading up to Feb. 5th, now’s the time to lock in hotel reservations. We’ve done some checking around to find the best hotels for different tastes and budgets. Note that many require full payment upfront for stays the weekend prior to Mardi Gras.

Where to stay for Mardi Gras 2008 if you want…

Bourbon Street Accommodations

It ain’t cheap, but the Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans is one of the best options for revelers who want to be right in the middle of the French Quarter action and want a moderately upscale place to rest their heads at night (hint, bring some earplugs…staying here means lodging in the part of the city that never sleeps). Double and King rooms are still available for the weekend prior to Mardi Gras. When we checked, rates were $339/night.

A Taste of the Traditional

For lodging that features a dose of classic New Orleans, Hotel Monteleone is hard to beat. The hotel offers many of the amenities you’d find at a similarly-priced chain (fitness center, rooftop pool, on site dining), but ups the ante with rooms outfitted in grand window treatments, ornamental moldings, prim sitting areas and marble bathrooms. Spa junkies can escape the rabble rousers in the French Quarter with a trip to Spa Aria, which offers luxe treatments like the signature Caviar Facial. Ready to splurge? Try one of the decadent suites, named after Southern literary heroes like Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Eudora Welty. When we checked rates for the weekend before Mardi Gras, we found a variety of guest rooms and suites available with rates starting at $279/night.

A Party Pad

With nightly rates for the weekend starting at $129 and a location near the French Quarter, the Baronne Plaza Hotel is our pick for budget-minded travelers who care more about having a convenient home base than top-notch service, flashy interiors or high-end amenities.

A Full-Service, Business-Class Hotel

Even if you’re hitting N’awlins mainly to party, you may still want all the creature comforts of a business-class hotel. Bed down at either the The Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel or the JW Marriott New Orleans Hotel, and you won’t be disappointed. Both hotels are located a few blocks from the action, but the real draw to these picks is knowing your room will be comfortable, clean, attractive (good design, marble bathrooms) and that amenities like high-speed Internet, room service, fitness facilities and concierge assistance are there when you need ‘em. When we checked, available Double and King rooms for the weekend were $279/night at both hotels. Note: you’ll have to prepay in full for accommodations during Mardi Gras weekend.

Jetsetter Digs

For travelers who put aesthetics on par with practicalities like location and amenities, the W Hotel New Orleans is the way to go. With touches like the outdoor courtyard area, pictured here, plush in-room furnishings, private poolside cabanas and sleek interiors befitting urban sophisticates, this destination won’t disappoint those willing to pay for looks. A recent check showed rooms for the weekend before Mardi Gras starting at $339/night.

Antoine’s Restaurant, New Orleans

It’s not everyday you find photographs of Pope John Paul II and well-coiffed debutantes occupying the same walls. Nor is it everyday that one dines from a kitchen that has played host to everyone from Bing Crosby to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. But that’s exactly what you’ll encounter at Antoine’s, the oldest family-operated restaurant in the United States.

And while many come to experience the ambiance of a place that’s been serving patrons since 1840, still more come to taste the original recipe for the founding chef’s most famous dish. Served on the half-shell since 1889, Oysters Rockefeller are known for their substantive, yet smooth sauce and its strangely tart, yet intensely rich flavor. But trying to figure out exactly what’s in the iconic dish is almost an exercise in foodie futility. Simply put, Oysters Rockefeller just do not taste like anything except Oysters Rockefeller. And to this day, the restaurant still keeps the recipe a closely-guarded secret. Ask your waiter to divulge the ingredients, and he’s likely to rattle off a few items, then smile coyly and offer, perhaps by way of distraction, a personal tour of the steamy, bustling kitchen, the opulent private dining rooms or the 165-foot-long, seven-foot-wide wine cellar with a 25,000 bottle capacity (pictured).

While the restaurant’s formality strikes an interesting contrast to the raunchy reveling happening just blocks away on Bourbon Street, even this historic venue cuts loose on Sunday mornings for the weekly Jazz Brunch. Settle in with the sweet, apple brandy brunch cocktail Antoine’s Smile, order up a plate of Oysters Rockefeller and end with classics like the crab cakes with horseradish sauce or fried trout amandine for a meal that truly sums up the flavor of New Orleans.

Antoine’s, 713 Saint Louis St., 504-581-4422

The TravelPost.com Insider Native City series is a regular feature highlighting unique, iconic or influential edibles, products and other creations found in some of the world’s most popular travel destinations. If you have a suggestion for an upcoming Native City feature, contact us.

Fly Frontier? Then you may want to snag some cheap tickets before Thursday through the airline’s current nationwide sale. Here are a few of the routes and fares offered (all are one-way):

Baton Rouge - San Francisco $149

New York - Portland $149

Denver - Vancouver $129

Las Vegas - Memphis $99

Sale ends Sept. 14th. A 10-day advance purchase is required. Search for off-peak days (Tue, Wed, Sat) to get these fares.

Should you be pondering a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras this year, you should get to steppin. The Feb. 20th festivities are fast approaching, but there are still rooms to be had.

To get started, here are Sidestep’s New Orleans Hotel Search Results, based on a Feb. 16-Feb. 21 stay for two adults. There are many hotels offering rooms under $200.

New Orleans welcomed back streetcars one week ago today. While service is not fully restored, it is on its way. The famous N’Awlins streetcards are currently operating on the St. Charles line between Canal and Lee Circle. Streetcar service is expected to be back to its pre-Katrina state by the end of 2007.

New Orleans Streetcar Returns

The Marriott Grand Hotel and Resort in Point Clear, AL officially returns to full operating status today after completing $50 million in repairs and renovations. The 160-year-old hotel and resort sustained so much damage from Hurricane Katrina that it was closed until April 2006. While about half the rooms and some facilities have been up and running since last spring, Nov. 1, 2006 (i.e. today) marks the official and complete reopening of the property.

As of today, the resort’s 450 luxury guestrooms, seven restaurants and bars, ballroom, meeting rooms, spa, two 18-hole golf courses, eight tennis courts, croquet lawn, pool, marina and landscaped grounds are back - and better than they were before Katrina did her dirty work.

Marriott Grand Hotel Point Clear Resort & Spa

Fresh off the boat from my recent trip to New Orleans, I’m really quite adamant about revisiting this wonderful, rad and culturally rich city. And fun. You can just feel the party in the air. And it’s contagious. As a traveler, I felt like visiting was helping in some small way to rebuild the city. Tourist dollars help the businesses there continue to operate and allow employees to keep living in the city. On top of that, and I am sure anyone who sees the remains of the destruction down there would agree, the trauma this city and its citizens have seen is just too great for the rest of us to forget. And now back to the fluff. Another plus for folks feeling the sting of colder days: it’s balmy and warm down on the Bayou this time of year. One last romp for the flops and tank tops.

Bookit.com is featuring an awesome deal this week for the Queen & Crescent Hotel in the downtown central business district, which is about three blocks from the beginning of the French Quarter madness. Close enough to walk to it, but far enough away that you’re not going to get beads slung around your neck the moment you step foot out the front door.

Through Dec.2 28, 2006 (excludes Halloween and Nov. 9-11), the hotel is offering $89/night rates for Fri-Sat, $69/night rates Sun-Thu. Stay three nights or more, and the hotel will slash the room rate to $59/night. Every fifth night is free, and valet parking is $10/day through Nov. 30 and free in Dec.

Having a car in New Orleans is a must if you want to visit other parts of the city like the Garden District, 9th Ward or even venture into nearby Mississippi for the day.

Bookit.com Queen & Crescent Hotel Deal