JetBlue offers an all-you-can-fly pass

Earlier this year we reported that Avis and Budget adding satellite TV to rental cars. The new in-car live TV Cruisecast service, has 22 channels of satellite TV and 20 satellite radio channels. The cost is $9 a day. We received the following letter from a reader: I was disheartened to read of your "kudos" to this company for promoting the idea of sticking kids in front of video screens on car trips (March, p. 33). As a magazine that celebrates the wonders of travel, I find it troubling that this is being lauded. Don't kids spend enough time in front of screens in their everyday life? Do they really need to miss out on the great sights that a road trip has to offer because they're watching "Hannah Montana" instead? I realize that watching videos on long trips is something that is now a reality for parents, but should Budget Travel be promoting this crutch, instead of encouraging us to allow our children to look out the window, observing the real world in real time? Yes, they may occasionally become bored, but here's where the imagination comes into play—an archaic notion, I confess. Your readers deserve to be reminded of this sentiment much more than Avis Budget Group needs the plug… Thanks for listening, Maureen Block We think that Maureen is probably right and that, in hindsight, perhaps we shouldn't have praised the idea of putting TV screens in rental cars. What do you think?

The Austin Ice Cream Festival, going on this Saturday, has a simple mission—"to have fun with family and friends while enjoying a variety of wonderful ice cream treats." Let's break it down: Fun: Besides ice cream, the festival oversees four contests centered around the sweet confection—ice cream making (contestants bring their own ice cream machines), ice cream eating, screaming for ice cream (open to all ages; screams are judged on decibel level, style, and technique), and a popsicle sculpture competition. There's also live music, a funny-looking ice cream truck, and a sprinkler zone. Family and Friends: Admission is $5 for adults, but kids under 12 get in free—and attendees are encouraged to bring their pets (because even Spot likes ice cream). Festival organizers expect about 15,000 people. Wonderful Ice Cream Treats: Vendors sell ice cream tastes for around $1. Quite a crowd!: Festival organizers expect about 15,000 people. And a Bonus: Some proceeds go to the local Big Brothers Big Sisters foundation. And really, you've got to be some kind of summer scrooge to not love ice cream—especially in the throes of August's heat. Austin's Saturday forecast calls for sun, with temperatures topping out at a balmy 101 degrees. Perfect for a frosty sweet treat. The Details: Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Waterloo Park. See icecreamfestival.org for more info. Admission is $5 for adults, but kids under 12 get in free—and attendees are encouraged to bring their pets (because even Spot likes ice cream).

I could probably think of something I like better than a chocolate chip cookie that's just come out of the oven, but it would take me a long, long time. Which is why I think the new Warm Cookie Radar on the Specialty's Café and Bakery website is perhaps the most genius idea I've heard in months. The concept is simple: Click on the Warm Cookie Radar link, and a map pops up with little pulsating cookie icons at all the locations where cookies have just been baked. True, I don't live anywhere near the cities where Specialty's has its shops—the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle, and Chicago—but to my mind, the promise of a freshly-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie is reason enough to schedule a trip.

Some of our favorite links from around the 'net this week: Many dams are coming down, uncorking rivers for kayakers to explore. [The New York Times] A San Diego luxury hotel discounts rooms to $19 a night—but you have to sleep in a tent. [CNN] Keats House, residence of poet John Keats, re-opens in Hampstead, England, after a two-year renovation. [Wall Street Journal] Gear alert: Incase's new digital camera bags. [Cool Hunting] Adventures in places with unfortunate names. [World Hum] The U.S. House Transportation Committee questions airline fees. [Cheapflights.com] For more travel blogs, go to Alltop.