Time to Recharge Your Batteries - the benefits of a 'quickie' vacation, or a vacation wrapped around a weekend - includes money market and certificate of deposit statistics

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Sept, 1999 by Ed Henry

Can't get away for a long getaway? Plan a quickie vacation.

Is summer-vacation season slipping away before you do? Just couldn't put together a couple of weeks when both you and your significant other could escape from your jobs? Then forget about a fortnight furlough: Plan a quickie vacation.

"The nice thing about it," says Rudy Maxa, host of the Savvy Traveler on Public Radio International, "is you don't come back to a pile of unopened mail, yet you've traveled somewhere that gives you a better perspective on life."

The ideal quickie vacation wraps a few days of leave around a weekend--when airfares, hotel rates and rental cars are cheapest. Janice Maniatis, a 45-year-old Atlanta-based management consultant, is a master at packaging such getaways--she averages five a year. "Short vacations give me much-needed rest," she says.

And some bragging rights, too. Her best deal yet: a four-day trip last year to the posh, five-star Marriott Camelback Inn, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Total out-of-pocket cost for lodging and airfare for herself, her sister and their mother: $60. The rest was courtesy of frequent-flier miles.

While complaints about the difficulties of using frequent-flier miles are legion (see "Desperately Seeking Seats," July), with more than three trillion redeemable miles in the hands of 57 million U.S. travelers, there's ample opportunity to cobble together vacations. But you must be flexible with your schedule and destination--and persistent.

Ann Hanson, who has crammed as many as 25 quickie vacations into a year, says that "diligence is very important" when making your arrangements. Her advice: Don't take no for an answer. For example, it's commonly believed that certain seats are allotted for purchase with frequent-flier coupons. But that's not necessarily so.

"When people complain that they can't get a seat on a flight, they're referring to the cheapest awards," says Randy Petersen, president of Frequent Flyer Services and editor of the Official Frequent Flyer Guidebook ($14.99 plus shipping; www.webflyer.com). "But seats are available if you're willing to spend more points" for first class.

Even without frequent-flier miles to grease the skids, bargains abound for quickie vacations. For example, from November 15 to December 18, Northwest World Vacations is offering a three-night package deal to Hong Kong for $645 (per person, double occupancy) if you fly from Los Angeles or San Francisco, and for $669 out of Detroit. Discount airfare alone usually tops $1,000, and this deal also includes lodging.

Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus.ie) ran a two-for-one deal from three cities in the U.S. (Chicago, New York City and Boston) to Ireland early this year that brought the per-person round-trip fare to Dublin to less than $250.

If three- or four-day weekend getaways appeal to you, be sure to sign up for weekly e-mail alerts on bargain-basement deals (see the box above). Cheap fares are often good only for travel from Thursday to Tuesday. "It's distressed inventory at up to 70% savings," says Petersen. And these are usually direct flights.

Airline sites sometimes offer hotel deals, too, and you can check Quik-book (www.quikbook.com; 800-789-9887) or Hotel Reservations Network (www.180096hotel.com; 800-964-6835). Beyond checking the Web, be sure to contact hotels directly rather than using the chain's "800" number to make sure you're getting the best deal available.

YIELDS

TOP-YIELDING MONEY-MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS

                                 RECENT       MIN.
Taxable                       30-DAY YIELD   INVEST.

1. Strong Investors(*)            4.96%      $1,000
2. Bunker Hill                    4.80        5,000
3. Wilmington Trust(*)            4.79       10,000
4. Scudder Prime Reserve(*)       4.78       10,000
5. Aon(*)                         4.77       10,000

NATL AVERAGE                      4.34%

                                                    TOLL-FREE
Taxable                       WEB ADDRESS (WWW.)      NUMBER

1. Strong Investors(*)        strongfunds.com      800-368-3863
2. Bunker Hill                payden.com           800-572-9336
3. Wilmington Trust(*)              -              800-254-3948
4. Scudder Prime Reserve(*)   scudder.com          800-854-8525
5. Aon(*)                           -              800-266-3637

                                TAX, EQ. YIELD
                    RECENT         28%/31%        MIN.
Tax-free         30-DAY YIELD      BRACKET       INVEST.

1. Strong            3.28%        4.6%/4.8%      $2,500
2. USAA              3.15         4.4/4.6         3,000
3. Vanguard          3.15         4.4/4.6         3,000
4. Boston 1784       2.99         4.2/4.3         1,000
5. ABN AMRO(*)       2.96         4.1/4.3         2,000

NATL AVERAGE         2.71%        3.8%/3.9%

                                         TOLL-FREE
Tax-free         WEB ADDRESS (WWW.)        NUMBER

1. Strong        strongfunds.com        800-368-3863
2. USAA                  -              800-531-8448
3. Vanguard      vanguard.com           800-635-6511
4. Boston 1784   boston1784funds.com    800-252-1784
5. ABN AMRO(*)   abnamrofunds-usa.com   800-443-4725