Here’s a good reason to start planning your summer jaunt through Europe several months in advance. Eurail is offering a free bonus day for all tickets purchased in February and March 2007. Passes come in 6-, 8-, or 10-day denominations. Buy before March 31, 2007, and your pass will be issued as a 7-, 9- or 11-day pass. Travelers have up to six months from the purchase date to commence travel.

Early Birds get an Extra Travel day for Free on the Eurail Select Pass!

If you’re traveling into central London on an express train from Heathrow or Gatwick airports before June 30, 2007, you can upgrade to first class using the code BAUPGR. You’ll need to book your train tickets online by March 31, 2007 to score the deal.

The free upgrade translates into a savings of about 9GBP each way on express trains from Heathrow to Paddington or Gatwick to Victoria. Not bad. First class seats mean reclining chairs, free newspapers, work tables and refreshment service on trains from Gatwick and more legroom, free newspapers, continuous wireless service and disembarkation near the destination station’s exit on trains from Heathrow.

Here’s how to book, excerpted from the Business Traveller newsletter (linked below):

When taking the Heathrow Express you should collect your ticket(s) from one of the ticketing machines at the station, using either the eticket reference number or the credit card used to book the ticket.

The procedure for using Gatwick Express is easier. Passengers simply board the train and provide the reference number or show their credit card to the conductor.

Free First Class Upgrade for Airport Expresses

If you’re a resident of the Midwestern states, then you already know about the raging storm blanketing the land with snow, ice and dangerous travel conditions. For travelers unlucky enough to be heading through major airports like Chicago O’Hare or Detroit or driving across Missouri, Illinois or Kansas, expect road delays and canceled/delayed flights.

In some cases, airlines will rebook travelers on alternate routes when they contact customer service in advance of a major storm warning like this one. In the future, if you hear a huge storm may hit your departure, connecting or destination airport, give the airline a call to ask whether you can be re-routed. American Airlines, for example, extended this service to travelers this week.

Before heading to the airport, call your airline or check online to confirm your flight status (easily the faster of the two options). If your flight has been canceled, contact your airline immediately to make alternate travel plans.

You can also check delays using Weather.com’s Airport and Flight Status Tool.

Budget Travel’s Are You The Ugly American? gives American travelers 10 tips on fighting the age-old stereotype that says we’re all a bunch of a-holes with suitcases. Not to speak ill of my bretheren, but while in Europe, I have often been appalled at other Americans’ behavior. Of course, the “crime” in question usually involves being too loud on public transportation or shouting at non-English speaking locals in English, as if that will somehow solve the problem. On the flip side, I know I have been the obnoxious traveler a time or two. Hey, I’ve had too much to drink and hopped on the Tube. When that happens, I just pretend like I’m Canadian.

CNN recently ran a story called the 5 Dirty Secrets of Airfares. You can check out the story to read them all, but my favorite, meaning one I whole-heartedly endorse trying, is this:

Delete cookies on your computer each time you search for airfares on a travel booking site. Cookies can alert the site to the fact that you’ve been checking in frequently to snag low fares. The site may end up giving you fares you’ve already seen before instead of ones you’d get if you were conducting a new search.

How to delete your cookies: Go to your Internet browser’s Tools menu. Select Options (Firefox) or Internet Options (IE). You’ll then see a tab for Cookies (Firefox) or a button that says Delete Cookies (IE).

This month, Budget Travel includes a reader tip for travelers stuck in musty or smoky-smelling hotel rooms: brew a pot of coffee to cancel out the odor. Sounds like good plan - as long as you don’t mind sacrificing your packet of coffee to the odor gods. For other ways to easily scent the air in your hotel room, I’ve got a few recommendations:

- Fabric softener sheets: Tuck a dryer sheet in your suitcase the next time you travel. Not only will it leave your gear smelling like laundry, but you can fasten the sheet over your air conditioning or heating vent to quickly freshen the air in your room. To get the best results, place an object - like a glass or book - on opposite sides of the dryer sheet to hold it down. An added bonus? Dryer sheets also eliminate static cling - so they’re great things for a traveler to have in case of a fashion emergency.

- Lamp rings: Ceramic oil-heating rings made to fit over light bulbs are small, lightweight and work like a charm. The easiest place to find them is the Body Shop. For just $5, you can buy a lamp ring and fragrance oil that will scent any room.

- Travel candles: Soy candles in travel tins are your best bet. Soy burns much longer than regular wax, so you’ll be able to take the candle with you on multiple trips. The Pure Hapa’s $7 travel candles come in tropical scents like coconut lemongrass and mango coconut.

If you’ve never been to Italy and want a whirlwind tour of three gorgeous cities, this deal from Air France Holidays may be the way to go. It’s another adventure under a thou! The “Presenting Italy” package includes a rountrip flight, rail and 2 nights’ accommodation in Rome, Florence and Venice for $749. Yeah, seriously. The price is for departure from New York (JFK ) or Newark, between December 1 - February 28 but click the website below for other departure possibilities.

Air France Holidays “Presenting Italy” package

Got miles to spare and no immediate travel plans? If you’re a United Mileage Plus member, you can use those extra miles to bid on everything from private cooking lessons to a Napa wine train tour to a spa package and dinner for two in San Francisco. Opening bids are 1,000 miles and increase in 1,000 mile increments. Most auctions last about a week and new items are constantly being added.

United Mileage Plus auctions

When you travel on one of the Eurail’s most scenic routes, your ticket does double duty. You’re getting from point A to point B, but you’re also getting an eyeful of Europe’s most breathtaking terrain, mountains and even glaciers. I pulled this paragraph on Europe’s most scenic Eurail routes from USA Today story European Travel: Do a Little Research First:

Eurail’s recommendations for the most scenic train trips in Europe are Austria’s Arlberg and Semmering lines, the Bernina Express in Switzerland and Italy, the Centovalli Railway in Switzerland and Italy, the Flam Railway in Norway, the Glacier Express in Switzerland, the Golden Pass in Switzerland, the Rauma Line in Norway and the Wilhelm Tell Express in Switzerland.

Eurail official site

Groople is a web site designed to help groups of travelers find flights, hotel rooms, cruise accommodations and car rentals together. You can search flights for up to five passengers at a time and search for hotels with space to accommodate your gaggle of visitors, whether it be a family vacation, school sports trip, church group outing, wedding, you name it. Even if you don’t choose to book through the site, it will direct you to group-friendly hotel options and flights that have room for your party.

Groople official site