Direct Flight

Luna Park, the amusement park at Coney Island, opens for business Sunday with a christening of the Cyclone roller coaster by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. (Forget champagne -- Markowitz uses an egg cream. Hey, it's Brooklyn.) This year the Cyclone has 280  feet of new track, making that first drop even more hair-raising. The first 100 people on line for the inaugural ride will...

A prehistoric monster snake has made its way to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The National Museum of Natural History opened an exhibit featuring a life-size replica of Titanoboa on Friday. The fossil was found several years ago in a coal mine in Colombia. When it was alive, the snake weighed 2,500 pounds and was 48 feet long. It was found near fossilized plants and creatures dating...

London transport officials plan to shut down the Mall -- the main boulevard leading to Buckingham Palace, the home of Queen Elizabeth II -- for three months starting in June.

Transport for London says the closure, to both cars and pedestrians, is needed so Olympic organizers can build both a stadium to hold the beach volleyball competition and seating for the marathon finish. The closure starts...

Variety Cruises, a small-ship cruise line, is offering special deals for second passengers and singles on select departures through the year. Depending on the itinerary and date, cruisers will receive two-for-one fares and no single supplement, or a 50 percent discount for the second passenger and a 25 percent single supplement. For example, on the eight-day Romantic Rivieras trip aboard the new...

Don't sweat gas prices with a deal from Sterling Resorts, which manages vacation rentals along the Gulf Coast. With the "Tanks for Staying" promotion, valid at most of its Florida properties, receive a $50 gas credit on stays of at least three nights and a $100 credit on stays of at least a week for travel April 9 through May 31. Rates vary. For example, a one-bedroom with a bunk room...

To celebrate its June 1 reopening, the Attwater, a historic hotel in Newport, R.I., will offer a 20/20/20 package. Through June 20, the property will discount rooms by 20 percent and give each room a $20 gift card to a local restaurant and $20 off the next stay. Discounted rates start at $143 a night, plus $19 taxes, a savings of about $40. If booking online, request the 20/20/20 package in the...

Southwest Airlines is rolling out new, larger planes. The Boeing 737-800 holds 175 passengers, has higher ceilings and more overhead bin space than other Southwest planes and will be equipped for wireless Internet access. The first plane will join the fleet on April 11. The airline plans to add 33 of the planes this year, 41 next year....

Gray Line New York is running guided day bus trips from New York to the nation's capital for sightseeing during the Cherry Blossom Festival. The 12-hour trips cost $149 and include round-trip bus transportation from Manhattan, admission to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in D.C. along with visits to the Air and Space Museum, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. Details at graylinenewyork.com....

Trivago, a website that compares the hotel rates of more than 100 booking sites, has discovered a bump in European hotel prices between February and March.

The highest spike was in Istanbul (29 percent), Rome (23 percent), Vienna (20 percent) and Amsterdam (19 percent). In London and Paris, the increase was a milder 7 percent. For bargains, head to Athens, Berlin or Budapest (Hungary), where...

International Expeditions is offering a $1,000-a-person discount on two departures of its Amazon River cruise. The June 1 and June 22 trips now start at $2,898 a person double, plus $368 in-country airfare, which must be purchased through the company. The trip includes seven nights aboard the Aquamarina; one pre-cruise night in Lima's Swissotel; tours of Lima and Iquitos; shore excursions; transfers;...