The final day of the auction has finally arrived and the bids are furiously going up and up as everyone scrambles to get in on the action! If you have not begun to bid, I highly recommend you start - not only is it for a good cause, but these hotel stays, flights and other great items are available to you at serious steals! Business class tickets to Europe for under $3000 are normally over double that price - the savings are unbelievable. Luxury hotel stays for $150 - these deals cannot be found anywhere else. So, please log onto www.globaltravelerusa.com/auction and bid. Winners will be notified Monday via email and once the payments are made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, original prize certificates will be mailed out. Within weeks, you could be on your luxury vacation - be it your graduation trip, a second (or first!) honeymoon, a birthday celebration or just a chance to kick back and relax, you will be able to enjoy a lot more while at your destination because you saved so much booking airline tickets and hotel stays!

Just to avoid some confusion - the auction will end promptly at 11:59.999 pm EDT, as the time changes to 12:00 (midnight). We have been advertising this time, as opposed to saying midnight, since the beginning of the auction, as you probably all know from my previous blog postings. But this does bring about a good question - is 12:00 midnight the official start of the next day or the last minute of the previous day? Is May 30th’s midnight already past or is it coming up? According to Wikipedia, the concept of midnight has a variety of meanings.

So, enough reading, get to bidding!

-Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive

Hello Readers and Happy Memorial Day!

On this day when we remember those who have served and are serving, I would also like you to take action against leukemia. You can do so by logging onto www.globaltravelerusa.com/auction. There are some wonderful flights, hotels and travel packages from which to choose to bid. All proceeds go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The bidding ends at 11:59.99999 pm EST on May 30th!

I would also like to introduce you to a new charity, Pencils for Kids. I serve as one of the board members of this organization which was established by Loretta Jitner, an advertising executive in Los Angeles. Loretta has always been a world traveler, frequently traveling to Thailand, Myanmar, Bali and other destinations. Loretta has never been afraid to pack up and go, with her backpack in hand, engaging and meeting people wherever she travels. In Myanmar, she was struck by the lack of school and educational supplies available to the children. Lack of these supplies often meant that these children could not attend school.

Travelers return and they tell their tales of meeting people and places and so did Loretta. But to her, these children would not remain “just stories” over a cocktail party. Loretta had to do something, she had to act, and she did. She reached out to industry leaders, friends and family and she launched Pencils for Kids as a not-for-profit organization.

Due to the near impossibilities of working with the military junta in Myanmar, it was decided to start efforts with Bali. This decision was made prior to the recent devastating cyclone to hit Myanmar.

I am proud to say that Loretta and her team will make their first trip to Bali to distribute our first load of school supplies this summer on June 28th. This will be a full three week journey and will also involve meeting with local schools, teachers and their administrators.

Here comes your part, please log onto www.pencilsforkidsinc.com and donate whatever you can so that Loretta and her team can reach their fundraising goal for this trip. You can also learn about the organization and its goals. I think the mission sums up our goals:

Pencils for Kids is dedicated to helping children around the world to attend school and, in doing so, build the foundation for a better future. We partner with other like-minded individuals, organizations and corporate sponsors to fulfill this mission. We believe that, working together, we can transform the world, one child at a time.

Thanks for being a part of this special project!

-Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

There are a lot of exciting opportunities for Global Traveler blog readers happening right now! I suggest taking part in three of the options and joining in on the celebration as our May issue will see Global Traveler’s ABC audited circulation reach 100,0oo+ for the first time ever!

Opportunity 1 - Participate in our online auction to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! I know I have talked about this before, but since the auction kickoff on February 1st, the bidding action has been heating up and I wouldn’t want you to miss out on all the action. More great items to bid on are still getting added and some prizes bids are well over $1000. Act now because there is less than 2 months left until the auction ends on Friday, May 30, 2008 at 11:59.999 p.m. This is an opportunity to get your hands on some premium hotel and airline trips at a steal and to help a worthwhile charitable cause. To participate, visit www.globaltravelerusa.com/auction. The auction this year has become particularly meaningful as one of my close friends was recently diagnosed with lymphoma - I urge you to help this cause.

Opportunity #2 - Global Traveler has teamed up with Conrad Hotels & Resorts to create “The Luxury of Being Yourself” contest. To enter, submit a short (100 word) essay telling us what the luxury of being yourself means to you when you are staying a hotel or resort. The grand prize is a weekend stay for two at the Conrad Miami including two spa treatments and dinner for two. To enter for your chance at the grand prize today, submit your essay at www.globaltravelerusa.com/conrad.

Opportunity #3 - For those of you who are not subscribers, this offer is for you! Global Traveler has entered into a partnership with InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards. We are currently offering members of the Priority Club Rewards program discounted subscription rates and PCR points when they subscribe for a 1-, 2- or 3- year term. Double the benefits at www.globaltravelerusa.com/priorityclub.

- Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive

This is a very busy time of the year here at World Headquarters. With our awards luncheon less than a week away, things are in full planning mode and everyone is busy. Even though we begin working on the event months in advance, in the weeks leading up to the big day, all the finishing touches are being put in place - we are finalizing the RSVP lists, making the name tags and place cards, loading boxes full of goody bag items and much, much more!

Once the luncheon is over, our attention turns to our annual online auction that benefits The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. One hundred percent of the proceeds raised benefit LLS and I cannot implore you enough to visit our Web site and bid on some of the great items. Every little bit helps support those afflicted with blood cancers, and the donated items are pouring in. We have vouchers for hotel stays from around the world, Abu Dhabi to Denver to Hong Kong. Airlines donated tickets, and a win means you could fly from eastern Europe to Asia and back. You could bid on a golf game, dinner for two and much much more. And all for a good cause.

I have known many people who have suffered from Leukemia and Lymphoma and, thankfully, most have beaten the disease - with the help of funding and research that comes from LLS. In order to participate in our auction, log onto www.globaltravelerusa.com/auction beginning February 1. The auction ends May 31, 2008 - plenty of time for some high-stakes bidding!

Here is a teaser for all you anxious bidders out there - a list of just a few of the great prizes that will be offered: Round trip tickets to Fiji on Air Pacific, flights to Colombia on Avianca, a stay at The Breakers Palm Beach, a stay at The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa Wine Country, flights on Malev, a stay at the Prince Resorts Hawaii, flights on Qantas and Singapore and much, much more! I only wish I was eligible to bid. These prizes are only a few of the high-ticket items, and more are coming in everyday. Stay tuned!

-Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive

Each week for eFlyer I look at all the latest fare sales, and I’ve noticed that advertisements for fares seem to have moved back to the bad old days. That is, there’s one “bargain” price in the big print, and then surcharges in small print. It’s one thing when the charges add another 10 or 15 percent to the fare, but another thing entirely when they almost double the fare. Online booking sites are pretty good about showing you the bottom line up front, but I seem to remember a day when you weren’t allowed to run ‘teasers’ when the prices bore so little resemblance to the actual fare. How come they can get away with that again?

Another thing I’m noticing is that the deals on SkyAuction don’t seem to be as good as they used to be. Low opening prices attract more bidders on any auction site. On eBay, to make sure you (as a seller) don’t lose your shirt you either set a reserve price, or start the bid at the minimum price you can afford to get. But on SkyAuction, you notice that there are “service charges” posted to add to the winning bid. Those make the airline surcharges look modest. For example, you’ll see an airfare with a $300 service charge that will be added to whatever you bid, or a hotel ‘won’ for $75 a night that carries a $125 per night surcharge.

I got some good deals on SkyAuction a few years ago, but I haven’t seen any lately that seem to be much of a savings–at least not if you shop around the non-auction travel sites. Also, as with eBay, SkyAuction seems to have been taken over by merchants selling packages that aren’t really much of a deal–just distressed goods or overstock at a small discount. Those wild and wooly days of the early Internet auctions were fun; today, not so much.

–Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer