Travelocity.com is just plain cool. They can often beat the prices of other discount travel sites but even if they miss on occasion, their site it totally awesome when it comes to planning and gathering information about everything travel-related. They offer discounts on airlines, trains (rail), cruises, hotels, rental cars, family vacation packages, golf packages, last-minute deals, etc.

You'll like being able to set several ranked criteria (price, time, airline, or number of stops) when searching for fares, and you can create profiles for both business and pleasure and store all your frequent traveler numbers for air travel, hotel stays, and car rentals. You'll love their Trip Expert tools to get instant and personalized recommendations on where to go, where to stay, or where to cruise. They also have a video gallery, photo gallery, map center, currency converter, weather center, and excellent reviews of restaurants, hotels, and destinations. They have an excellent search engine! You'll like being able to set several ranked criteria (price, time, airline, or number of stops) when searching for fares, and you can create profiles for both business and pleasure and store all your frequent traveler numbers for air travel, hotel stays, and car rentals.

The Travelocity Preferred Program delivers insider savings and exceptional services such as cash back on airline tickets (get paid to travel for business), free club passes, complimentary upgrades, deeper discounts, VIP treatment, dining discounts, free airport parking, and MANY others!

Economy Travel has been in business since 1988. They have special consolidator contracts (wholesale rates) with 24 of the world’s leading airlines and they have full access to the product range of all international and domestic carriers (that's no small feat). They use a sophisticated database search engine that allows them to provide the lowest airfares regardless whether it is a published fare (airline fare sale) or wholesale fare (consolidator fare). This helps ensure that they can provide you with the best possible fare regardless of the season or situation. While they brag about their very low international fares, we found them to have among the cheapest domestic prices on the market! In addition to airfares, Economy Travel offers European Rail Passes and Travel Insurance. They also offer online booking hotels and rental cars. You'll like their Airfare Sales too.

They have financial failure protection so your travel arrangements are protected in case the economy takes another victim just before your vacation. Be it leisure, business, or group travel, they can make your arrangements...and probably at the lowest rate.

The main reason you can get such discounts is that once an flight (for example) has reached a certain percentage of capacity, it has paid for itself and any additional passengers beyond that percentage is basically pure profit (less a small amount for snack consumption, a few extra drops of fuel to carry your weight, and an extra few moments of time to transport your luggage, clean your seat, etc.). Therefore, airlines are willing to sell the extra seats (on flights that are typically not full) for extremely cheap rates because other than a few extra bucks a seat, it's all pure profit and they'd rather get the money than fly the plane with empty seating. The more flexible you are in travel dates, times, carriers, etc., the better chance you have of obtaining an excellent deal. Also, the more patient you are in trying a super low price (or specific date/carrier) first and waiting overnight, then slightly raising your costs or becoming more flexible in your dates/carrier on your next try, you'll be ahead of the game. Once fulfilled, offers generally cannot be canceled--although we've been able to change orders with a convincing explanation that we accidentally typed in the wrong date, etc.--but we had to be willing to substitute for a similar offer with our correction.

Expedia.com is one of the fastest growing travel companies on the Internet. Their site covers just about everything you need for travel and great vacations (airline tickets, cruise, hotel, car, etc.).

Some of their excellent site features includes: tools to preview destinations (360° Tours and Slide Shows), Destination Guides (information about major attractions, culture, weather, etc.), excellent tips and advice, a Family Guide (when traveling with children), excellent search tools, Bargain Fare (save 10%-60%), Flight Price Matcher to name your own price, Mileage Tracker (tracks your frequent flier miles & credits), many other helpful features.

If your travel dates are flexible, you can search for the airlines' lowest published fares between routes with Fare Calendar (one of our favorite features), or use Fare Compare to see what fares other travelers are finding. You can also save your itineraries, traveler profile, and special offers and promotions for which you've qualified. This is a high-quality travel site.

HotelDiscounts.net is the leading hotel provider on the net offering discounts of up to 70% off hotels in major cities worldwide at the lowest guaranteed rates! Their specials are pretty amazing.

REI.com is the Internet's largest outdoor store, offering a broad selection of trusted gear as well as expert advice and in-depth information about products and outdoor recreation. Whether you're looking for gear for a day hike or summiting K2, REI has it. Their outlet features the best assortment of brand-name closeouts, overstocks and seconds with discounts of 20 to 80 percent.

REI's entire catalog is online and the REI-OUTLET store is exclusive to the Internet shopper. Their Learn & Share section contains absolutely the best collection of free outdoor information in the world!

REI is surprisingly not a publically-traded company. Instead, they are a consumer cooperative has more than 1.8 million active members in the U.S. and Japan. While non-members are welcome to shop at REI, only members (requires a one-time $15 fee) enjoy special benefits (including profit sharing) and offers and the ability to elect the Board of Directors.

REI Adventures has been operating small group tours throughout the world for 15 years, avoiding standard tourist routes and emphasizing outdoor activities (domestic and international bicycling, trekking, kayaking, hiking, camping and mountaineering adventures).

REI offers quality gear, clothing and footwear selected for performance and durability in muscle-powered outdoor recreation. All products sold by REI are backed by a 100 percent guarantee. REI quality assurance testing has set product standards for the outdoor sports industry. Tests are conducted in REI's laboratory in Sumner, Wash., in the field by employees throughout the company and by a consumer panel that meets monthly. There are numerous categories to shop including: Camping / Hiking, Climbing, Cycling, Paddling, Snow Sports, Cross Training, Fishing, Travel, Men's Clothing, Women's Clothing, Kids' Clothing, Footwear, Books / Maps, and Gifts.

Lands' End is a leading direct merchant of traditionally styled, casual clothing for men, women and children, as well as soft luggage and products for the home. Lands' End is known for providing products of exceptional quality at prices representing honest value, enhanced by a commitment to excellence in customer service--THIS IS VERY OBVIOUS WHEN YOU VISIT THEIR WEBSITE! Lands' End offers the best guarantee we've seen which lets the customer return the product at any time, for any reason. They provide additional buttons, belts, luggage or attache repairs free of charge! That is impressive!!

We loved their excellent personalized shopping aids such as Lands' End Live™, Your Personal Model™ and Oxford Express™. Your Personal Model enables women to build and store a 3-D model of themselves. The model then recommends outfits that flatter body profiles and suggests sizes based upon the customers' measurements. Oxford Express allows customers to sort through hundreds of fabrics, styles, collars, cuff options and sizes within seconds to find just the dress shirt that fits them.

First Person: Offers finely constructed, tailored clothing that caters to the working woman and casual classics that remain staples from season to season. Lands' End for Men: Offers a complete line of finely tailored clothing for men. They are one of the largest sellers of men's dress shirts online! Coming Home: Features quality, classically-styled products for the home. The focus is on honest value. Corporate Sales: Offers a compelling option for company incentives, rewards, gifts, or group apparel. Kids: Features quality clothes, styled with a twist, to dress kids (newborns to pre-teens) from head to toe. Lands' End for School — School Uniforms: Clothing made with the same standard as their Kids' apparel, with services and products designed to meet dress code requirements.

They even have electronic greeting cards on their site to round out that online gift purchase. You absolutely must experience this store!

Wal*Mart has done it again! They are not only the largest retailer around, but when they hit the Internet, they set out to really prove something! They are awesome online too! Walmart.com is a lot like your neighborhood Wal*Mart store. They feature a great selection of high-quality merchandise, friendly service and, of course, Every Day Low Prices. Their other stated goal is that they strive to bring you the best shopping experience on the Internet. We think they've succeeded!

Their website offers just about everything. Some of their online departments include (take a big breath): Electronics (Computers & Printers, Internet Service, TV, DVD & Video. etc.), Photo (Digital Cameras, Camcorders, Photo Center, etc.), Movies, Music, Books, Video Games (PS2, Xbox, etc.), Toys (Outdoor Play, Bikes & Scooters, etc.), Baby & Baby Registry (Shop by Age or Stage), Home (Furniture, Appliances, Bed & Bath, etc.), Garden & Hardware (Patio & Grilling, Lawn Equipment, Home Improvement), Sporting Goods (Exercise & Hot Tubs, Camping & Hiking, etc.), Gifts (Specialty Foods, Gift Registry, Store Shopping Cards, etc.), Jewelry & Watches, Vacations (Cruises, Hotels, Car Rentals), Pharmacy, and just about anything else you can think of!

ValueMags.com is THE site to find just about any magazine or journal that you are looking for (well over 1200 to choose from at last count). This vendor has an excellent selection and hard-to-beat prices. Excellent for new subsriptions as well as renewals! They offer a "Best Price Guarantee" and a 100% satisfaction guarantee to ensure you've found the best deal on the Web. They provide a wide variety of features such as thorough descriptions of each magazine, multiple subscription durations to choose from, and even the ability to change your mailing address on-line.

GiftCertificates.com is the largest online gift certificate store. They offer gift certificates for literally hundreds of leading stores. The categories of stores include Apparel, Beaut/Spa, Books, CDs, Videos, Children, Dining, Entertainment, Electronics, Food/Wine/Cigar, Gifts, Home, Hotels & Travel, Luxury, Specialty, Sports, and Teen.

When you can't decide what to buy, send them a gift certificate...and this is THE place to do it!