Everyone loves a good give-a-way, so we’ve scoured the web to find some great travel opportunities that won’t cost you a penny – or a point! Good luck!

Where better to spend St. Paddy’s Day than in the mecca of four leaf clovers, Dublin, Ireland? Jameson Irish Whiskey and Pandora have teamed up to offer a 5-night stay for two at a 4-star hotel, plus round-trip airfair, extra spending money, and complimentary access to a number of unique Dublin attractions. Talk about a great Spring get-away. Enter by connecting with Facebook or simply filling in a few lines of contact information here.

Looking for an excuse besides “being sick” to get out of the office and hit the slopes? How about an all expense paid ski or snowboard experience at Whistler Blackcomb in Canada. Until January 31, you can get in on Wonderground’s exclusive sweepstakes for a 7-night extravaganza that goes above and beyond the typical airfair and accommodations provided by most sweepstakes. Among other perks, the winner will enjoy a Fresh Tracks Breakfast with an Olympian, 3 days or private instruction/guiding, a ski or snowboard gear package, and lunch in a private gondola!

This last one is for you sports enthusiasts, especially the tennis lovers! The Tennis Channel is giving away two tickets to the 2014 Australian Open in Melbourne, along with round trip air travel and a 5-nights hotel stay. We know it’s a long way away but, hey, what else will you be doing a year from now that could be more fun than visiting the land down under? Entries can be made here until the 27th of this month, so get a move on!

The customer buying experience is a mere exoskeleton of what it once was. Years ago we relied on salespeople and brochures to figure our what we wanted and when to buy it, but today we have all of the information we need right at our fingertips. Unfortunately, there is often so much information out there that figuring out exactly the best bargain can still be a challenge. Enter: EVRewards.

A simple online platform, EVRewards will perform an automatic search of all the available bargains and loyalty programs, including the mile and point conversions for various frequent flyer programs, per online retailer!

For instance, before committing to Best Buy to purchase some new electronics for my niece’s birthday I typed the term “Best Buy” into the search engine and it responded with a complete list of rewards. What I found, among other things, was a promotion code for free shipping and the point/miles per dollar spent conversion for all major airline and hotel programs. With this information at hand, I was able to figure our exactly which card would give me the best bang for my buck.

This may sound a bit confusing but the site could not be more user-friendly. What’s more, this means that you can stop scouring the web for the deals before going to the online retailer’s site. In other words, less time wasted, more money saved! It’s a complete win-win. Try it out here and see for yourself. And FYI, you don’t have to thank us – coming across the site in the first place was gift enough for us!

Guru Tip: It can cost 3 cents or more per mile plus fees (example: $75.25 for 2,000 miles on United) to top off your account from say 98,500 miles to 100,000 miles for your trip. Signup for Netflix for example and earn 1,500 miles, saving you $75.25! That about pays the $8 a month fee, most of a year, or cancel early and you may be able to keep the miles (we hear).

Bad weather is a traveller’s enemy. From snowstorms to high wind to volcanic eruptions (a la Iceland’s Grimvotn) – they all mean delays and cancellations. But what about missed connections? We’re always able to get through eventually, but who’s responsible for what when we get there too late for our next flight?

Unsurprisingly, all airlines include a provision against so-called “Acts of God” or problems that arise that they have utterly no control of, like the weather. Essentially, this indicates that the airline has zero responsibility to flyers who miss connections due to weather. That being said, every airline is different and often even the representatives within a given airline will often offer up different responses.

Here’s what we know: typically, if you get booted from a subsequent flight due to nasty weather, most airlines will allow you to rebook a later flight without having to pay the typical rebooking fee. We say most because not all will and, more often than not, you do have to engage a bit of sweet-talking. Sometimes you can even get them to waive the cost difference between tickets - a feat that is much less daunting if you have a paper ticket over an e-ticket. If you cannot get beyond that, you’re unlikely to get all that much love. Hotel stays and food vouchers aren’t offered up willingly unless the delays are unusually long.

If the airline is unwilling to provide you any re-accomodation, you’re booking agent may be able to help. While they typically have similar conditions in their sales contracts that exempt them from fault, their desire to do business again with you may prompt them to eliminate the rebooking fee or offer a discount on a rebooked ticket. Our Guru’s, specifically, are available 24/7 and always right in front of their computer – which means you won’t need to wait as long to rebook. What’s more, we can also often bank your ticket and issue you a new one on a competitive airline in order to get you out faster.

Guru Tip: Go prepared. Always schedule flights so that you have a minimum of one hour in between connections. We suggest checking into some forums to see what other travelers have experienced and what they recommend for connection times at certain airports or for certain routes - or simply ask your Guru.

Beyond that, be familiar with later offerings of your same flight. If you have some idea of the flights you could potentially try and jump on should you miss your connection, you’ll be able to make decisions more quickly and spend less time trying to pull information from sales representatives.

Finally, ask and ye shall receive. Ask for a free change, ask for a flight on another airline (even one that’s not a partner), ask for hotel and food vouchers, ask for an upgraded seat on the next flight, and you just may get it! One client our Guru’s had helped use his miles was stuck due to weather and could not get on his second outbound leg, so by asking, he got a free flight home and a free round-trip to use later - with no fees! You just have to ask, and know its possible.

Emirates will operate the first ever A380 scheduled service into Athens. “Touching down at Athens International Airport on the 26th of October will mark a significant milestone for Emirates and its operations in Greece,” the Dubai-based airline said. Emirates flight EK105 will depart Dubai on 26th October at 08:55 and will arrive in Athens at 12:50 the same day. The return flight, EK106, will depart Athens at 16:40 arriving in Dubai at 22:05 the same day.

About the Airbus A380

From Private Suites and Shower Spas in First Class to flat-bed seats in Business Class to extra room and custom lighting in Economy Class, and inflight Wi-Fi throughout the aircraft, the Emirates A380 is as close as it comes to flying in your own private jet!

There may be a lot to be down about right now, what with the dismal economy and all, but one thing we can’t complain about: delays and lost luggage! Believe it or not, the Department of Transportation has reported a record 84% of domestic flights arrived within 15 minutes or less of their scheduled time from January-July of this year. What’s more, less than 3 out of every 1,000 travelers reported loss, damaged, or delayed luggage.

Naturally, the correlated improvement is because (surprise, surprise) when flights are on time, there’s less chaos for luggage. But what’s the cause for all of it? Well, there are a few factors. First, the weather has been much less burdensome for airlines this year – fewer thunderstorms and less snow. Also, most airlines have adjusted their boarding procedures and boosted the positive influence of technology in recent months to streamline and speed up passenger wait time.

On the less exciting side, the Federal Aviation Administration reports that fewer passengers are flying due to the recession. Also, because of all the increased charges for baggage, many of us are leaving as much as possible at home, which means that there is less for baggage handlers to do (or make us wait for).

Yet despite a bit of dull news, the sum of the message is still uplifting for us frequent fliers: happiness is on the rise! We’ll be late for fewer meetings, at home for more dinners, and be making fewer emergency trips to the mall when our bags don’t arrive as they should. Needless to say, we’re smiling.

What if we told you that for just 4 frequent flier miles, or $33, you could be on your way to Hong Kong? Well while we may be good, we’re not that good. United Airlines, however, recently startled some of their customers with such stunningly low fares. Although, what seemed like a gift from the airline Gods was actually a computer glitch that sent United’s senior managers into a panicked frenzy.

By now you’re likely familiar with what is quickly becoming the infamous “United Glitch” – a computer error that showed up on June 15th and resulted in fabulous deals for hundreds, if not thousands, of passengers. Word of the faulty pricing spread like wildfire throughout the frequent flier community and many individuals cashed in on the opportunity, knowing full well of the reality of the situation.

When United caught up with the rest of us, they immediately pulled the plug and told those who had purchased tickets that they could (a) be refunded or (b) pay the appropriate amount. Interestingly enough, the DOT has just put their newest consumer protection policy in place, which prevents airlines from “increasing the price after the consumer completes the purchase.”

The ensuing debacle has granted an incredible amount of press to United and sparked significant debate. In a Huffington Post article, founder of AirfareWatchdog George Hobica suggested that consumers who purchased the tickets knew full well there was an error and should therefore be held accountable. While many have echoed support, others still have fired back that individual consumers should be able to take advantage of big businesses’ mistake. Well, frequent business class fliers, what do you think? Would you give the ticket back or, as they say, take the ticket and run?