Hello,
At a fundraiser, my husband & I won 2 American Airline tickets to anywhere in the Continental US, Canada, Mexico & Bahamas to be used by Dec 31, 2005. Since he is a teacher, the most time we have would be in between Christmas & New Years. I am looking for suggestions on where to go for a relaxing, afforable trip for 2 adults.

My only idea thus far is to sit on a beach in Florida for a few days. A great idea, but looking for other suggestions also. Not looking for anything fancy. Neither of us have been to Mexico or Bahamas.
Please help!

The Northern California coast between San Francisco and Mendocino would be nice.

Oh, TeaCup, the OP is looking for something nice at the end of December, not something freezing

LPS, the first thing I would do is find out about the restrictions and blackout dates for those tickets.

Get on the phone now with an AA agent and start asking questions.

Your dates of having to travel during peak season are going to hurt you however, if you are flexible, you can overcome the problems.

Try and fly when others are not flying. Example, Christmas Day is an off day to fly. Flying Tue-Thurs is also better than trying to book Fri-Mon on award tickets.

Your best bet is to find out where you can get into then plan your trip.

I would head to either Mexico or the Bahamas since you have never been. They would both be an ideal relaxation area. It depends on what area of the country you are in, if closer to the east coast I guess I would go towards Mazatlan or Acapulco as the Bahamas would be closer to you and you might have another opportunity to go there as they are closer...or if you are near the west coast go see what is furthest away in the Bahamas. Especially if your DH is a teacher, that would be a nice break in between the two semesters. I would recommend Mazatlan for Mexico as it is a more mature area of Mexico, beautiful beaches and in a way similar to Hawaii. I have only been to Nassau in the Bahamas, but it too is so pretty and relaxing. Make sure you research it first and verify there are no black out dates as mentioned in the other post...Have a great time!!

LPS....This looks like a trip that will have to be booked "bass-ackwards".The "promotional" tickets that usually end up at charity functions/fundraisers are capacity controlled.Unfortunately you cant see if they are available by going online.If these are coach tickets,then for example they will be booked in "T" class and first class will be booked in "Z" class.But on the letter/certificate you received, there is a special fone number and thats all those guys do is promos.So they will be able to help you better than general res.Generally these promo tickets have no blackout dates, but the lack of availability cancels out the lack of b/o's.They will usually let you "hold" the reservation without processing any effective fees, etc, so that would give you some time to secure some accomodations once you establish exactly where you can go.Best of Luck!I hope this helps.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is lovely at Christmas-time. And I know American flies there. Depending on the kind of hotel you choose, you can find rooms anywhere from $25 to $250+ per night.

Have a look at www.casa-andrea.com as an example of one of my favorite independent properties in Old Town there.

Or flying into Cancun then go on to Playa del Carmen or Isla Mujeres for a more laid back town (on the Caribbean side, Yucatan peninsula).