Sherman's Travel

For some people, February 29 may be just another date on the calendar this year. But Disney Parks wants to make sure that day means a little extra magic. Two of its parks – Disneyland in California and the Magic Kingdom in Orlando – will stay open for 24 hours straight on February 29 to March 1, beginning at 6am on the leap day.

Schedule your stay for that time period and you could get a free night to spend at the resorts. The offer applies to stays of three or more nights from February 26 through March 10 at official Disney hotels at either Disneyland or Walt Disney World when you book a room and ticket package; book by January 31.

The best way to enjoy a Disney vacation, obviously, is if the whole thing is free: Every day through February 29, Disney is giving away a four-night vacation for four to either Disney World or Disneyland – a total of 60 prizes! The packages include hotel accommodations, airfare or ground transportation, Park Hopper passes, a $1,000 Disney gift card, and more. Enter to win (one entry per day) at disney.go.com/memories.

For general trip-planning information, see our Walt Disney World Travel Guide and Disneyland Travel Guide.

Aspiring art thieves, I’ve got good news for you – you can legally hone your thievery skills in Melbourne, Australia, at least until January 15. Melbourne’s Art Series Hotels (the Cullen, the Olsen, and the Blackman, each of which are designed around the work of iconic Australian artists) are about midway through a contest that encourages you to steal the art right off the walls. Well, some of the art, anyway. The hotels are (rather fittingly) currently offering up “Pulp Fiction” by renowned England-based graffiti artist Banksy, if you can steal it.

The artwork can only be stolen by a pre-paid guest of one of the hotels staying any time through January 15th, and only the Banksy piece is up for theft. The full terms and conditions can be found here, but notable rules include: “Be cool. Art thieves are always cool,” “Look the part- we prefer it if you are wearing black tie or a really stunning frock,” and “Banksy we really don’t want you to steal it. It would just be too twisted so please don’t.”

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Not grateful for that homemade knitted sweater your Aunt Eileen gave you this holiday? Instead of putting on a happy face and thanking her for her generosity, you can submit it to the Wyndham Rewards’ “My Horrible Holiday Gift” contest. The contest puts you in the running for some awesome prizes, with the grand prize being two million Wyndham Reward points (which equates to nearly a year’s worth of free nights at the brand’s hotels around the world, an $8,000 shopping spree, or more tickets than you can count to your favorite concerts or sporting events).

To enter the contest, Wyndham Rewards members can upload a photo of their ugly sweater or other unfortunate gifts and provide a little description on why it isn’t the new iPad they were hoping for. Submit your photos before January 10, 2012 in order to be considered. Online voting will take place from January 17-23. Even if you didn’t get a lousy gift this holiday, feel free to relish in other people’s misfortune by voting!

Use our Travel Search price comparison tool to find the lowest rates on hotels, flights, vacation packages, and more travel deals.

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: Funjet Vacations’ Fairy Tale Adventure contest sends three families on a three-night, all-expenses-paid trip to Disney World for four, but just one clan will score a stay in the elusive, by-invitation-only Cinderella Castle Suite atop the park’s palace. A Facebook photo contest selects the three families (two chosen by popular vote, a third elected by Funjet), and the winner of an in-park scavenger hunt nabs a night in the castle – on 11/11/11, to make it all even more magical.

Ease of Entry: Easy. Just “like” the Funjet Vacations Facebook page, and upload a photo that showcases your Disney fanaticism.

Value: Priceless: Disney opens the Cinderella Castle suite by invitation only.

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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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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: Sponsored by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and Queensland Tourism, this trip is a diver’s dream: Seven nights, including accommodations and coach airfare, for two in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, diving’s Holy Grail, which spans 1,400 miles of some of the world’s most stunning underwater scenery. The trip features three nights onboard the dive ship Spirit of Freedom and the opportunity for 11 dives, as well as a day trip to the Daintree Rainforest, the world’s oldest and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Burgeoning Indie artist? Karaoke king? Maybe your pipes aren’t paying the rent just yet, but they can score you a free room upgrade at five California Joie de Vivre Hotels if you can belt out a song without sounding like a first-round American Idol reject. The song list comprises Cali-loving tunes like “California Girls” by Katy Perry and “Hotel California” by The Eagles. Sing at check-in for the chance to win the free upgrade, as well as a two-night free stay at each of the Southern California hotels. Your performance will be taped and uploaded to YouTube and Facebook where users will vote on their favorite. The grand-prize winner will be selected in October; contest ends September 30.  Joie de Vivre properties participating are the Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach, Pacific Edge Hotel on Laguna Beach, Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach, and Hotel Angeleno in Los Angeles.

For general trip-planning info, see our California Travel Guide.

Users of the social networking site Foursquare can now earn points in the Starwood Preferred Guest program: Now through the end of July each virtual check-in when staying in one of the brand’s 1000-plus hotels racks up 250 Starpoints. All SPG members have to do is sync their Foursquare accounts on spg.com/foursquare.

To sweeten the deal, every day in May one lucky Foursquare member who checks in with SPG will win a Free Resort Night. Plus, Starwood will award one grand prize of five Free Resort Nights plus airfare for all check-ins made through July.

And as with any place on Foursquare, it is possible to become the Mayor. Each month Starwood will name the Foursquare member with the most check-ins the “SPG Mayor,” a title that includes a mention on the SPG Foursquare page as well as a chance to offer travel advice to fellow users.

Use our Travel Search price comparison tool to find the lowest rates and travel deals on hotels, flights, vacation packages, and more.

Two years after its wildly popular “Best Job in the World” competition – in which participants vied for a spot as an “island caretaker” on Australia’s Hamilton Island, a.k.a. tanning, scuba diving, and blogging from paradise  – Tourism Queensland is back with another blowout contest, this time for the business traveling set.

Dubbed the “Million Dollar Memo” (www.milliondollarmemo.com), this giveaway has companies face off to win a cool $1 million AUD worth of Queensland travel prizes for employees.

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Kentucky’s hippest hotel, just voted by Conde Nast Traveler’s readership as #1 in the country (and #6 in the world) for 2009, announced plans Wednesday to debut a new sister property just upriver in Cincinnati, Ohio. The 21c Museum Hotel, an upscale boutique which opened on downtown Louisville’s Main Street in 2006, has played a key role in revitalizing Derby City’s art scene. The renovated 19th-century tobacco & bourbon warehouse has drawn national acclaim for its high-style halls packed to the brim with whimsical paintings, abstract video art, photos and sculptures (like the lobby’s army of red penguin statues) – all from this millennium. The hotel’s 90 rooms feature custom touches, from furniture to pewter mint julep cups. Popular restaurant Proof on Main has become renowned for its modern twists on locally grown, regional cuisine (ahem, gourmet Bison burgers). Read more