Greetings airfare specials-seeker. This week there are several specials that end tonight. One is a one day only event for great airfares to Europe on Lufthansa. If you can afford to do it, there are lots of airfare bargains to be had. In addition to the ones in this post, there are several more to be found in the Air Travel Forum.

Lufthansa is having a one day sale on flights to Europe starting at $194 one way (based on roundtrip purchase and pre-taxes and fuel surcharges). If you know you want to go, today (Thursday) is the day to book! Travel dates - December 10-16, 2008 and January 12-April 2, 2009. Plus a $100 coupon for booking online is applicable. Kayak has the details on this pretty amazing sale.

Speaking of jaunts over to Europe - Hotwire's Travel-Ticker uncovered a pretty nice package deal for low season travel to Dublin, Ireland that includes flight, 4 night hotel stay, breakfast and transfers from $399 per person based on two people traveling.

And another sale that ends today is JetBlue's latest 4 day sale. All travel must be completed by February 11. Sample airfares include Boston to Seattle from $139.

Don't forget to check the Air Travel Forum - there are a lot of specials on sale this week - some are flights only, and others include hotel stay. Enjoy the hunt for your own airfare bargain, it's rare to see this volume of specials at this time of year.

image by Arlene Fleming

I am going to continue on with the theme of finding gifts that are air travel related, or can be used during one's travels that don't pack a huge wallop on the wallet. I set price limits, which did make the search a little tougher, but was able to find a good selection of items at less than $100 and $50.

One of the best things to ever hit the market for passing time at airports, and on flights is the portable DVD player. I know that most seat backs have screens on them, but not all do. And the thing is, this "electronic babysitter" can be a real gift for parents of toddlers or preschoolers who can then have dvds brought along of their favorite shows or movies, and help distract (uh, pass the time for) the younger set who may not be into crafts and activities yet and who may really not want to be restricted to sitting in their seats for the whole plane ride.

For the portable DVD players, I set the upper limit at $100, and there were actually a lot of options available within that price range. See - Portable DVD Players for Flights $100 or Less.

Also, MP3 players have become really affordable over the last 2 years, and can provide sweet musical relief from the repetitive channel choices the airlines offer. Hearing the same song selection on long flights both leaving and returning home can easily drive one to listen to the hum of the airplane engines instead, read about the sky shopping, do the tiny crossword in the inflight magazine...

For the MP3 players, I set a price limit of $50 and even found an MP3 player with 8GB of storage at that price point. See - MP3 Players for Air Travels for Under $50 - MP3 Players and Music for Flights, Airport Waiting Time.

The airports around Bangkok are still pretty much closed for business, leaving thousands upon thousands of tourists scrambling to find ways out of Thailand. Just a few more links to articles about the situation that has been affecting travel to and from Thailand for several days now.

Stranded tourists - closed Thai airports

Stranded tourists in Thailand battle frustration, boredom

Given that air travel is slumping along with the global economy, I thought it would be wise to look for gifts for passengers that are easier to take on the wallet. My mission for the gift giving guide this year is to find as many options as possible for under $100. So from gadgets, to practical travel items, the gift idea lists will all feature gifts that cost less than $100. Some of the articles I have drawn up even feature gifts that are under $10.

So, with several holidays coming up, the gift giving ideas are going to flow on the blog. Bring on the budget options!

It was a bit of a challenge, but I wanted to find items that cost less than $10 and could serve as travel-related gifts. With that in mind - Budget Gift Giving Ideas - Gifts for $10 or Less has several gift ideas from luggage locks, to travel pillows, all at under $10 each.

Budget carry on luggage options are sometimes a bit on the scarce side online. However, I took a maximum budget of $75 and found several stylish carry ons that fit the bill. A lot of airlines are charging for you to check luggage, so a good carry on and careful packing can make travel without checked luggage a possibility. A few pieces of carry on luggage you can purchase for less than $75.