Love this trend!

It's not easy being a costumed mascot...

As noted earlier this week, Southwest is changing its boarding policy. And as the blog Upgrade Travel Better has noted, Southwest's new policy makes it more important than ever that you check-in online as early as possible, if you want to grab the best seat. For a price, there's an easy way to check-in as early as possible: BoardFirst.com—a website not affiliated with Southwest—will automatically request an A group boarding pass from Southwest when that flight opens for online check-in 24 hours before departure. This service spares you the trouble of having to log on 24 hours before you depart to claim your place in a virtual line. The service costs $5 per boarding pass secured, or—obviously—$10 per roundtrip. The owner of BoardFirst.com declined an interview request about whether anything would change in its service in light of Southwest's new rules. Related: Southwest also stopped pre-boarding for families. See the firestorm of opinion at the L.A. Times Daily Travel Deal blog.

The dollar is hitting record lows against the euro and other currencies. You don't need to spend a mint to have a vacation that leaves you grinning. Just choose a a country where the U.S. dollar goes farther. Consider visiting Central and Eastern European countries that aren't tied to the euro. Prague, anyone? (Consider this real deal: Croatia Air/Cruise/Hotel, $2,295.) Or, further afield, Montenegro—the focus of a recent Budget Travel cover story. Check out the budget travel costs of 94 countries. Note that Latin American countries are good values. (Check out this Real Deal in Honduras: Roatan Resort, 7-Nights, $939.) RELATED: Tim Leffel and his family visited Guatemala this summer and had a blast. For an explanation of why the dollar is weakening,... Blame a faltering American economy, the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the $800 billion Americans put annually on the nation's credit card. Interest rates are steady here but poised to move higher in Australia, New Zealand and Britain, so foreign investors are chasing higher returns by investing there, not here. Less demand for the dollar means a lower exchange rate. For Americans, that means higher prices.—via the Los Angeles Times