Airfares aren’t expected to drop anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean you can’t save on travel - especially during the first part of 2009. The trick? Booking now, while hotels, resorts and travel operators are hungry for travelers and offering up deals to prove it.

In the last two weeks, I’ve noticed a slew of travel deals good through the first four to six months of next year, and many are for destinations whose high season hits during that time (think ski resorts and warm weather destinations). Why are are these deals floating around right now? Well, higher airfares, checked baggage fees, high gas prices and a shaky economy all play a role. Destinations that rely on tourism know they’ve got to sweeten the pot for consumers right now - which means good things for travelers.

Some recent deals on my radar:

‘Tween Waters Inn USA30% Take Off Sale: Good through April 2, 2009 for 30 percent off stays of three nights or more at this Captiva Island inn.

Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club Sunset Romantic Getaway: Rates start at $650 for a two-night stay at this remodeled Florida resort. Package includes breakfast and dinner for two each day, reserved beach chairs or cabana, Champagne upon arrival and complimentary access to the resort Spa and Fitness Center.

Ski Utah Lucky 13 Package: During the last 13 days of January, Ski Utah offers lift tickets, lessons and rentals for $13 each at 13 resorts. Note that the deal is not yet up on Ski Utah’s web site, but that the resorts are advertising it, so it’s happening again this year. Check with individual resorts if you want to take advantage of the offer.

The Chelsea Atlantic City Rescue and Liquidity Packages: Both deals are good through March 31, 2009 if booked by Nov. 30, 2008. Rescue starts at $199/night and includes overnight accommodations, breakfast and a $50 gas card. The Liquidity starts at $399/night and includes overnight accommodations in an ocean view room, private limo transport and Champagne to and from New York, free afternoon beers, passes to the soon-to-open Florida Room aquatic facility and special rates for additional nights.

Heading from New York to Paris or Amsterdam this fall? OpenSkies is offering discounted fares for roundtrip travel in its PREM+ cabin, which offers perks like meals, in-seat entertainment systems, power outlets, leather seats and 52″ of legroom.

Round trip fares for travel from New York-JFK to Paris are $1198, while round trip travel between New York-JFK and Amsterdam can be had for $998. The airline, a subsidiary of British Airways, launches its New York to Amsterdam service this month and is offering the special fares through Oct. 15 to the first 1,000 customers purchasing tickets on each route. I checked today, and there are still discounted fares left.

If you’re thinking about buying a ticket on Northwest Airlines between now and Oct. 13, you can save $50 by paying with a PayPal account instead of a credit card through this PayPal Northwest Airlines Promo. After the purchase, PayPal will credit your account with $50.

In general, I prefer to use credit cards to pay for airline tickets because they allow me to earn miles, but it’s easy to designate a credit card as the preferred payment method on PayPal - and doing that for the ticket purchase means you can get the benefit of the promo without having to forfeit the miles.

Via Budget Travel, I read about the new deals search engine from the BootsnAll Travel Network, and, being the deal hunter that I am (but then again, what traveler isn’t these days?), I had to check it out.

The site aggregates deals from tons of online sources, including Kayak.com. While I couldn’t find deals for every destination (Whistler, for example, returned nothing), I did find a solid number of good deals for travel to major cities, like Vancouver, San Francisco and New York.

Right now, the RSS feed offered only returns deal results from Cheapticketlinks.com, and I’d rather be linked directly to the supplier, but the Budget Travel interview with BootsnAll CEO Sean Keener says a destination-specific RSS feed or email option will be added soon. Once that happens, I’ll likely add this to my reader when I’m targeting a specific vacation destination for the best available rates. After all, it never hurts to have as much information at your fingertips as possible when you’re about to make your next travel purchase….

The leaves haven’t even started turning, and we’ve already got snow flurries clouding up our travel vision this week, thanks to this week’s Top Snowboarding Destinations post. Continuing on that theme, here are some notable deals good for travel to Colorado this winter:

- American Airlines Kids Fly Free promo. Book a trip directly into Vail/Eagle Valley Regional Airport before Feb. 13, 2009 on AA, and you’ll get a free kid’s ticket for each adult fare paid. For more information, call 800-404-3535.

- Steamboat is offering travelers $25 American Express gift cards to offset the cost of checked bags when they book vacation packages through the resort by Nov. 17th.

- Crested Butte is offering one free airline ticket for every two tickets purchased through its Friends and Family Fly Free deal, good for stays of five or more nights through Dec. 31, 2008.

- While many resorts are offering fourth or fifth nights for free, it’s especially cool to find a third night free deal (it’s much easier for most of us to swing a three-day getaway). Those heading to Winter Park will find just such a deal through Vacations Inc. The 3rd Night Free promo is good for accommodations in condos or townhouses - but it expires Sept. 30, so you’ll have hustle to take advantage of it.

There are also plenty of “book early” deals on Colorado ski resort lodging floating around on Discover Colorado. Another place to start your hunt for downhill season discounts is Colorado.com.

I blogged earlier this month about the British Airways Companion ticket offer now available through the airline. It’s a good deal, but American Airline just announced an even better one today. In essence, the American Airlines Companion ticket offer is the same deal: buy a ticket from the US to the UK now, fly before the end of the year, receive a free companion ticket good for travel on an itinerary in 2009. But while the British Airways’ companion ticket is only good for 2009 trips to the UK, American Airlines will allow travelers to either return to the UK or redeem the companion ticket for flights to its Caribbean destinations.

For leisure travelers, this flexibility makes the deal a lot more accessible.

This is one of those deals that will likely prove impractical for most travelers (how many people are ready to randomly plan a four-day ‘09 vacation before day’s end?), but it’s a good deal. So I’m posting it here for the spontaneous few (or the lucky ones who’ve been pondering such vacations already and just haven’t acted yet) that may get some value from it.

Through tonight at midnight CST, NWA WorldVacations is offering $250 off airfare and hotel rates on packages to RIU hotels and resorts in Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. The offer is good for trips of four nights or more between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2009 - high season months that won’t see many sales closer to the dates of travel.

Details at NWA WorldVacations 20-Hour Mexico and Caribbean Sale

Okay, well, not all of them. But The Economist reported late last week that JetBlue’s much-blogged about eBay auction earlier this month did result in an average savings of 40 percent for winning bidders. While some did end up paying more than they would have if they had just purchased their tickets and vacations directly through the JetBlue web site, most came out on top. It’s good knowledge to keep in mind should another auction pop up in the future….

Good news (and extra good news if you happen to have twins): In 2009, Disney theme parks in Florida and California will offer free admission on birthdays. Guests may register their birthdays, and those of their children, in advance, and proof of age is required to score the discount.

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the company’s founding in 1928, the Leading Hotels of the World group is offering a limited number of rooms in properties around the globe for just $19.28  a night. Here’s the deal: Sign-up to participate in the promo, which will run for 80 minutes only starting at 12 noon GMT (8 am EST) on Oct. 1, 2008. During that time, those who’ve registered in advance will be able to book up to two nights for visits between Nov. 15 and Dec. 15 at the promotional rate.

There are eight U.S. hotels and resorts participating in the promo, including the Alex Hotel in New York and the Enchantment Resort (pictured) in Sedona. To peruse the list of participating properties or to sign-up, head to the link below:

Leading Hotels of the World $19.28 Promo