In case you missed it: Maps with no folding required

Planning a budget-friendly vacation is hard, and Hotwire, the blind-booking website, has today unleashed a spin-off, Travel-Ticker.com. The new site attempts to do the bargain-hunting for you. A team of experts compiles a list of the best insider travel deals, updated several times a day. Listings range from simple airfare deals to elaborate air-and-hotel packages at all-inclusive resorts. Each deal is broken down so you know exactly what's included. For example, Travel-Ticker recently listed a room at the Millennium Broadway in New York City's Times Square for $199 a night. It helpfully specified the dates for which that rate was available. The site also explained how you could get a free upgrade—and how much more you'd have to pay to stay on other dates. Hotwire first established the website as a newsletter in 2006; it has most recently been expanded into a geographically targeted website, meaning that there are a total of 32 different versions of the site for various parts of the country. Deals are ranked by popularity and the team makes recommendations based on your place of residence. You can see the TripAdvisor rating, and click-through for similar details. One catch to be aware of: The deals at Travel Ticker are the result of paid relationships with hotels, airlines, and other companies—unlike the deals you'll find on, say, BudgetTravel.com's Real Deals page. However, the site's spokesperson told the LA Times that "If we don’t have great deals, we’re not going to keep our customers," so they'll have to post competitive offers.

World Hum points out a story in Toronto's Globe and Mail about a new trend: "resorts that force guests to ditch their devices at the door." The reporter checked in to The Fairmont Chateau Whistler in British Colombia Upon check-in, I was forced to give up my BlackBerry and sign a waiver authorizing the hotel to hold my electronic belongings in the hotel safe... The package included a $100 credit toward the spa, golf, or activities such as zip-trekking, kayaking, trail riding and fishing. BudgetTravel.com recently rounded up a bunch of places where PDAs, internet connections, and even TVs are disallowed. These six spots are short hops from most major U.S. cities.* Check out the story "You, Unplugged." *UPDATE 7:30p.m.ET: This post was republished to correct a typo.

A handful of members of the House of Representatives are championing the "Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008." The bill would give inspection grants to any state that can prove it has a bedbug problem. The money—$50 million a year to cover all states—would come from the U.S. Department of Commerce's existing budget. To qualify, a state would have to require the inspection of at least 20 percent of its hotel rooms. Inspections would offer a chance at an independent, comprehensive assessment of the bedbug problem. Today, most statistics about the spread of bedbugs come from the sellers of pest control products, which have an interest in inflating statistics to persuade hotels to spend more on their products. The blog Bedbugger.com offers news updates. Plus, some individual travelers report bedbugs they find to The Bedbug Registry. While New York City is a well-known "hot zone" for bedbugs, Denver, L.A., and Maryland seem particularly hard hit, too. The bill (posted here) was co-sponsored by five Democrats and one Republican (all listed here). The bill has been in committee since May, and its future is unknown. The bill may strike some people as unfair because it asks taxpayers nationwide to fund inspections that, in all likelihood, will happen in only a handful of states. For others, the bill may seem wrong on principle because it encourages federal nosiness into state affairs or because government expenditure on such matters is perceived to be economically inefficient. Got a bedbug story of your own? And do you think that the Feds should encourage bedbug inspections? Let us know by posting a comment. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL For info on bedbugs and how to watch out for them, see the BT article: "They Want to Suck Your Blood."

Beijing's pair of new subway lines and its new airport-to-downtown rail line are expected to open Sunday. The design of the rail lines will be similar to one that opened last year and is shown in this one-minute video. The Olympics start within a few weeks. For full coverage, visit budgettravel.com/beijing2008.