Tourism in the Tropics

New chances to win Spirit miles

Missed the chance to win a million miles from Spirit at the airline's luggage throwing competition in February? Practice those duffel tossing skills, because more chances are here.

Turns out the Davie event, which drew almost 600 competitors, was just the test run. (Though the prize was real; Dustin Zacks won the miles.)

Starting April 13, Miramar-based Spirit is expanding the giveaway program, starting in South Florida and stopping in markets including Dallas, Chicago, Boston and Atlantic City before finishing in Charleston, W. Va in mid-May.

For a chance to participate in the Mega Miles Giveaway Tour, sign up at www.getfreemiles.com (and get 5,000 miles automatically). Hundreds of people who register will be selected at random a few days before each event and instructed to go to an area competition.

Registration for local events closes Monday. The contests will be held at the Shops at Pembroke Pines, 527 SW 145th Terr. at 6 p.m. Wednesday; at 1 p.m. April 16 at The Falls, 8888 SW 136th St. and at 1 p.m. April 17 at Sawgrass Mills, 12801 W. Sunrise Blvd.

Club-going tourists beware

Federal authorities arrested 17 people early Wednesday for preying on dozens of businessmen and tourists at South Beach nightclubs.

The scam: hire Eastern European women to lure the victims into clubs and have a field day with their credit cards. Investigators said hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges were racked up.

Read more about the allegations and bust here.

 

South Fla. seeks bigger slice of the wedding pie

Bridal gown: $1,000. Wedding cake: $550. Reception venue: $9,000. Band: $2,700. Flowers: $1,800. And so on.

Cost of a wedding? Pretty, pretty pricey.

In an effort to drive more brides (and big wedding budgets) to South Florida, tourism bureaus in Miami-Dade and Broward are launching new programs. Both Miami Romance Month and Greater Fort Lauder-DO start in June, the traditional month for weddings.

Miami is taking the dedicated month approach, designating June as the time for deals on romance -- from proposals to bachelor parties to weddings, honeymoons, anniversaries and vow renewals. Look for packages from participating businesses including hotels, attractions, restaurants, bridal boutiques, cake shops and more. If this sounds familiar, it's modeled after the popular deal-based Miami Spice and Miami Spa months, though the push to get more wedding business will be year-round. The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau is partnering with wedding planning giant The Knot.

Broward's campaign will be a sustained effort, including a dedicated page online, a wedding guide and a host of promotional activities. The county's tourism office has an in-house wedding expert whose services will be highlighted.

For more details and stats on South Florida weddings, check out our story here.

 

American and Expedia back together

Search Expedia.com today and you'll see something that hasn't been around for awhile: American Airlines fares and schedules.

The companies announced Monday that they were working together again after parting ways in early January. No such outcome yet for Orbitz and American, whose breakup predated the Expedia split.

Read more on the story here.

Iberia celebrates new Miami-Barcelona route

The latest in a batch of new direct flights between Miami and Europe arrived Tuesday night, when an Iberia flight from Barcelona landed at the airport

As we reported last year, airlines are adding flights between Miami and such destinations as Moscow, Berlin, Amsterdam and now Barcelona, the first time Miami has had nonstop service to the Spanish city.

Iberia already had daily flights between Miami and Madrid, but added the Barcelona flights as an overall expansion strategy that will increase capacity by 13 percent. The new flights will be available Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and Iberia expects to carry 53,000 passengers on the route in its first year.

To celebrate the event, Iberia threw a party this week at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami with Spanish cuisine, brief speeches and a master mixologist serving up cocktails.

Iberia's general manager for USA and Canada, Jose Maria Alvarado, said Spain has a lot to offer as an affordable vacation destination known for food, wine and a growing cruise industry.

And Miami, Alvarado said, is appealing for its own reasons: beaches, culture and shopping -- especially outlet shopping at malls like Sawgrass Mills.

"This market is a good bargain for Europeans in general," he said. "Spaniards love to shop."

Giant jet coming to MIA

Fans of jumbo jets can catch a glimpse of the world's largest commercial airliner at Miami International Airport starting in June.

But to get an up-close look at the Airbus A380, they'll have to book a flight to Frankfurt.

German airline Lufthansa announced Thursday that it will start flying its Frankfurt-Miami route on the double-decker aircraft on June 10.

Miami airport officials say they've been waiting for an airline to bring the 526-seat plane their way. They had to modify two loading bridges and add a third, prep work that should be finished by May.