Sherman's Travel

Once again, the holidays are upon us. Mailboxes are over brimming with holiday catalogs and in-boxes are jammed with travel gift ideas. As in past years, there are too many choices. And, as in past years, bad ones outnumber the good. Therefore, our family travel gift guide committee (me) has sprung into action, weeding through the many gadget, apparel, and accessory offerings out there so you don’t have to.

Here now are my favorite products, almost all of them new for 2012. And if they’re not, they simply deserve to be recommended once again.

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Airlines, bloggers, cruise lines, and resorts flood our inboxes daily with travel contests and sweepstakes. The prizes are always tempting, but it’s tough to figure out which giveaways are worth your valuable time (and contact information) and which you should demote to the spam folder. To up your odds of scoring a free vacation, we’ll feature one travel contest each week – and say why it’s worth your while.

Contest: Angry Birds aficionados will attest that the mobile game is crazy addicting, and eight lucky gamers will get to prove it onboard Finnair’s Angry Birds Flight from Helsinki to Singapore September 20. The entire plane will be decked out in Angry Birds paraphernalia – think game-inspired entertainment, Angry Birds-themed crew uniforms, and a real live Angry Bird – and each seat equipped with a mobile tablet to master the game. When the plane reaches cruising altitude, the Angry Birds Asian Challenge commences; the highest-scoring players, as well the eight Finnair contest winners, advance to the final competition.

Winners receive not only a seat on the Angry Birds flight but also transportation from their home airport to the appropriate destinations; Finnair will also provide accommodations in Helsinki and Singapore, if necessary.

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