This week's travel deals feature everything from domestic apartments swaps to luxurious resorts half-a-world-away, all picked especially with New Yorkers in mind.
Better yet, all the fascinating destinations we're featuring offer deals with serious savings - in one instance, in fact, a resort is up to 80% off regular prices.
Our favorite find? Airfare to Barcelona for a long weekend this month at just $508.
On that note, as always, all our listed flights are roundtrip, all-fees-and-taxes-included and non-stop unless otherwise noted. We detest stopovers!
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Vacation Swaps
Paris Apartment Swap Available to Those With Roommates: Someone is willing to swap their entire apartment in the Marais, our favorite neighborhood in Paris, for just a room in Brooklyn. Dates are super flexible for March/April/May, though this Parisian wants to hang in NYC for 2 months. Sounds like a dream to us - Paris in the spring, for free! Find out more here.
San Francisco Apartment Exchange: 1BR in the Upper Haight available for one month this spring or summer. Caveat: there's a cat. That said, the lovely-sounding swapee says she'll take care of your pet if you swap apartments. Close to the Golden Gate Park. Get more details here.
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Over-The-Top Luxury Escapes
Local Getaway at The Gramercy: We can't think of an easier romantic escape (or a more fun sleepover with friends) than a stay at The Gramercy Hotel. This completely luxurious NYC property has it all: fantastic rooms; exclusive, onsite bars, lounges and restaurants; and top notch service, ready to deliver room service at a moment's notice. Normally, such a property would be out of our price range, but Tablet Hotel's private sale is offering rooms at dramatically discounted rates for February: Loft rooms, which are normally $515/night, are now only $361. Deluxe Kings are $326/night and normally $465. Want to book? Hurry, the sale ends tomorrow. And if you're not a Tablet member, get a membership code here.
Save up to 80% at Maldives Luxury Resort: [via Truth.Travel] A Maldives travel specialist has negotiated a fantastic rate at a beautiful hotel so good, it's almost unbelievable: Pay $515/night for a pool villa, regularly $1,1776/night, or $598 for a treehouse villa, which is normally $3,096. Valid for February and March, which in the Maldives is the high season - and the best time to visit. Find out how to book here.
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Flights
- Loving London Sale: Prices on flights to London's Heathrow airport on one of our favorite airlines ever - Virgin-Atlantic - are as low as $575 with their Loving London promotion for travel between Feb 13th and May 23rd. Prices increase for spring travel. Purchase by February 11th. Book with Virgin here.
- Miami for $209 or Less: [via Travelzoo] Unadvertised fares to Miami for nonstop flights are going for as little as $209 for long weekends in February + March. Fly for even less if you can travel midweek. These prices are about $150 off regular flights; search for flights here.
- Last minute Tokyo - Tempting: [via Travelzoo] Up for some international travel this month? Airfare to Tokyo is just $604 on Delta. Return/depart Wednesdays till February 23rd for this deal. By the way, this airfare is about $400 off regular ticket prices to Tokyo. Get more details here or book with Delta here.
- Long Weekend in Barcelona: Tickets to Barcelona leaving Newark or JFK Thursday, 2/18 and returning Monday morning on 2/22 are just $509 on Continental, United or American Airlines with this unadvertised airfare. It's hard to find a ticket to Europe this cheap - ever - and we love the idea of heading over to Spain for a long weekend of three full days and nights of fun. Hurry and search on Kayak for this deal - it could disappear at any time!
