Southwest Airlines is running a 72 hour sale on select routes under 500 miles.  

One-way fares begin at $39.   In the Philadelphia market this includes flights to/from Columbus, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Providence and Raleigh-Durham. 

These fares are available for purchase through 11:59 pm PST Feb. 11, 2010.   You can travel travel Mondays through Thursdays and Saturdays from March 15, 2010, through May 25, 2010.

To check out the fares from other cities visit:  www.southwest.com

 

The Kennedy Health System and its Podiatry Residency Program are joining forces with Delaware-based Shoes2Share in collecting new and gently-used shoes to be airlifted to Haiti.

 

Collection bins for the new and gently-used shoes, sneakers, work boots, sandals and flats will be available in the lobbies of the three Kennedy University Hospitals, the Kennedy Surgical Center, and the Kennedy Health Care Center from Monday, February 15 through Friday, March 5.

 

Shoe drive drop-off locations are:

 

• Kennedy University Hospital – Cherry Hill, Chapel Avenue and Cooper Landing Road (main lobby).
• Kennedy University Hospital – Stratford, 18 E. Laurel Road (main lobby).
• Kennedy University Hospital – Washington Township, 435 Hurffville-Cross Keys Road, Turnersville (main lobby).
• Kennedy Surgical Center, 300 Medical Center Drive, Sewell (just off Egg Harbor Road, behind Kennedy hospital).
• Kennedy Health Care Center, 535 Egg Harbor Road, Sewell.

 

Shoes2Share has provided more than 200,000 pairs of shoes to needy people in nine countries, including Haiti, since becoming incorporated as a 501©3 nonprofit corporation in 2003.

 

For more information on Shoes2Share visit this link:

 

 www.shoes2share.com 

 

 

 

 

Denny's is once again giving away a free meal.   The chain is offering it's Original Grand Slam breakfast for free to customers tomorrow, Tuesday, February 9.   The Grand Slam give-away will run from 6 a.m. through 2 p.m at participating restaurants. 

For locations and more information visit:  www.dennys.com

 

Bank of America this year is once again running what it calls the "Museums On Us" program.   Simply present a Bank of America ATM, credit or check card and a valid photo ID to gain free general admission to 120 museums and attractions nationwide.

The free admission is available for the first full weekend of each month through December.

Museums participating in our area include:

Delaware Art Museum*, Delaware Museum of Natural History, National Constitution Center, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Winterthur Museum & Country Estate, African American Museum, Garden State Discovery Museum, Grounds for Sculpture, and the Please Touch Museum.

*Saturday only

Now for those of you that don't live in the Philadelphia I have placed a full list of other participating museums around the country.

For more information visit:   www.bankofamerica.com/museums.

ARIZONA

Phoenix

Phoenix Art Museum

Phoenix Zoo***

Tucson

Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block

CALIFORNIA

Fresno

The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science

Inland Empire/Palm Springs

The Living Desert, Palm Desert***

Palm Springs Art Museum

Riverside Art Museum*

Los Angeles/Orange County

Autry National Center of the American West

Discovery Science Center, Orange County**

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Museum of Latin American Art

Sacramento

The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts

Crocker Art Museum

Explorit Science Center, Davis

San Diego

Birch Aquarium at Scripps

MUZEO

The New Children’s Museum***

San Francisco

Contemporary Jewish Museum

De Young Museum

Legion of Honor

Museum of African Diaspora

Silicon Valley/San Jose

San Jose Museum of Art

The Tech Museum of Innovation

CONNECTICUT

Hartford-New Haven

Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Mashantucket*

Stepping Stones Museum for Children, Norwalk

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

DELAWARE

Wilmington

Delaware Art Museum**

Delaware Museum of Natural History

Winterthur Museum & Country Estate

FLORIDA

Jacksonville

Museum of Contemporary Art

The Museum of Science and History

Miami-Fort Lauderdale

Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach

Miami Art Museum

Miami Children’s Museum

Miami Science Museum

Museum of Art-Fort Lauderdale, Broward County

Museum of Contemporary Art

Museum of Discovery & Science, Broward County

Young At Art Children’s Museum, Davie

Tampa-St. Petersburg

Florida Holocaust Museum***

Museum of Fine Arts

West Palm Beach

South Florida Science Museum

GEORGIA

Atlanta

Atlanta Botanical Garden***

Atlanta History Center

Zoo Atlanta

Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Millennium Gate

ILLINOIS

Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago History Museum

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Shedd Aquarium

MAINE

Bangor

The Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston

Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham

DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park, Lincoln

EcoTarium, Worcester

Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge

Museum of Fine Arts

MARYLAND

Baltimore

The American Visionary Art Museum

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture 

MICHIGAN

Detroit

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History**

Detroit Science Center

Motown Historical Museum*

Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn**

Grand Rapids

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

MISSOURI

Kansas City

National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial

Union Station Science City

Saint Louis

Contemporary Art Museum

NEVADA

Las Vegas

Las Vegas Natural History Museum

Lied Discovery Children’s Museum

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Currier Museum of Art, Manchester

NEW JERSEY

North Jersey

Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, Newark*

Jersey City Museum, Jersey City*   – closed Sundays through September 2009

Liberty Science Center, Jersey City***

Morris Museum, Morristown

Montclair Art Museum, Montclair

The Newark Museum, Newark***

South/Central Jersey

Garden State Discovery Museum, Cherry Hill***

Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton

NEW YORK

New York City

Bronx Zoo

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum***

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York Aquarium

Whitney Museum of American Art

Long Island

Parrish Art Museum, Southampton

Old Westbury Gardens, Old Westbury***

Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, Stony Brook

NORTH CAROLINA

Charlotte

Charlotte Museum of History

Levine Museum of the New South

Mint Museum of Art

Mint Museum of Craft and Design

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City Museum of Art

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

Tulsa

Gilcrease Museum

Philbrook Museum of Art

OREGON (new)

Portland

Pittock Mansion***

Portland Art Museum

PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia

African America Museum in Philadelphia  – beginning on June 19, 2009

National Constitution Center

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Please Touch Museum®

RHODE ISLAND

Providence

Museum of Work and Culture, Woonsocket

Providence Children’s Museum

The RISD Museum

SOUTH CAROLINA

Columbia

EdVenture Children’s Museum

TENNESSEE

Nashville

Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art

First Center for the Visual Arts

TEXAS

Dallas-Fort Worth

Dallas Museum of Art

Dallas Museum of Nature & Science

Fort Worth Museum of Science & History

Houston

Houston Museum of Natural Science

San Jacinto Museum of History, La Porte

 

VIRGINIA

 

Norfolk

 

Chrysler Museum of Art

 

Richmond

Children’s Museum of Richmond

 

WASHINGTON

Seattle

Museum of History & Industry

The Wing Luke Asian Museum

Northwest African American Museum

Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The Phillips Collection

 

* Closed Sundays

** Program not available on Sundays

*** Check institution’s website for variable hours

 www.bankofamerica.com/museums.

 

 

 

Are you interesting in flying to the Mile High City?

Southwest Airlines has kicked off a 72 hour fare sale for flights to and from Denver.  The fares are $30, $60, or $90 one-way, depending on where you're flying to or from.   Fares on the Philadephia route are $90 each way.

The sale fares are available for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from April 6, 2010 through May 26, 2010.

Tickets must be purchased online on www.southwest.com by Feb 4, 2010 at 11:59 PST.

 

It appears to be open season on Toyota!

Rival auto manufacturers are rolling out various incentives targeting Toyota customers.  This after Toyota suspended sales of its most popular vehicles due to the massive safety recall.

Ford, Hyundai and GM are offering Toyota drivers everything from $1,000 payouts to zero percent financing at a time when Toyota is seen as its most vulnerable.

Ford Motor Company (Ford, Lincoln, Mercury) and Hyundai are offering the incentives to Toyota owners who trade in a vehicle.

General Motors (Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC) doesn't require a trade in.

To check out the various incentives on a particular vehicle visit the link below:

http://blogs.edmunds.com/strategies/2010/01/carmakers-offering-incentives-on-toyota-trade-ins.html

If you live in Pennsylvania and were unemployed at some point last year, watch out!  

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor has indicated that an error was made on approximately 270,000 tax forms.  For those who claimed unemployment in 2009, the calculated income total could be incorrect.  Anyone who has already filed their taxes may need to look over their paperwork again.

The problem is being addressed as corrected 1099 forms are being mailed out to those affected and calls are being made.

For more information visit:  http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=659748&mode=2

Thanks to my friend Kathleen Miller at the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants for sharing this information!

 

 

 

It's another case of follow the leaders.   First Delta raised its checked-bag fees, then Continental followed suit, and now American has joined the club.

Travelers who purchase tickets after February 1 will see an extra five dollars tacked on to the carriers current bag check fees.  The first bag will now cost $25, that's up from the previous price of $20.  The second bag will jump too from $30 to $35.  That means if you fly round trip with two bags you can expect to shell out an extra $120 in addition to your ticket price.

Some customers are exempt from the bag fees.  They include some levels of the American frequent flyer program, full fare coach, business and first class customers, as well as active miliary personnel.

Again, as I've said in the past.  I suggest flying on Southwest if you travel with checked luggage.  They don't charge for checking the first two bags.

At some point practically all of us will be summoned to serve on jury duty.   While I've shown up as summoned, I've never actually been chosen to sit on a jury and decide a case - that is good news for the defendants as my friends often say that I would vote for the death penalty in a shoplifting case.  Hey, I am the son of a retired police officer, I believe in law and order!

But now the Better Business Bureau is warning people about an identity theft scam involving the jury summons.  Here’s how it works:  the scam artist calls you claiming that you missed jury duty. To make sure he is calling the right person, he needs your personal information for the verification process.   As a result, the BBB says some people may be unknowingly scammed.

Just in case you aren't familiar with the way a jury summons works, jury duty is by random selection.   In some municipalities once you are selected, a summons is mailed to your house and you are required to fill out a questionnaire form and mail it back.  But never will anyone call asking for your birth date or social security number.  

Both Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines have increased the price that you'll pay to check luggage.  The increase was first announced by Delta, and then Continental followed their lead.

Here's how the fees break down:

1st piece of luggage - you'll pay $23 if you pre-pay for the bag online, or $25 if you pay at check-in at the airport.

2nd piece of luggage - you'll pay $32 if you pre-pay for the bag online, or $35 if you pay at check-in at the airport.

The new Delta rates start Tuesday and apply to tickets purchased on or after January 5.  The increase on Continental applies to passengers who purchased tickets on or after January 9 for travel on or after January 16.

Remember to factor in these costs when comparing airline ticket prices.  Checking luggage can really pack a punch to your budget.  Or fly on Southwest, they don't charge for the first two checked bags.