The deal
The holiday season can be draining, but luckily, there are plenty of affordable beach getaways starting in 2009 to help you unwind after the festive season. Indeed, we’ve found some great peak-season beach deals to help you beat the winter blues, like a romantic four-night vacation at the smart Cabo Azul Resort in Los Cabos from $649, discounted rates in the U.S. Virgin Islands for $127/night, a sunny Florida resort from $249/night and more. Just be sure to book soon, as deals this good won’t last long.

Romantic couples vacation at Cabo Azu Resort for $649
For anyone looking to experience a one-of-a-kind Mexican escape, the oceanfront Cabo Azul Resort offers guests a first-class luxury vacation at affordable prices. Resort features at this new deluxe Los Cabos property include an oceanfront tri-level infinity-edge swimming pool, a swim-up bar and 600 feet of pristine white beach.

Don’t skip a visit to Paz, the resort’s signature spa, offering a range of treatments at the full-service facility plus massages inside the resort’s private beachfront cabanas. Enjoy fine dining at the resort’s gourmet Mexican restaurant, plus world-class golfing and shopping nearby.

Regular rates for one-bedroom villas at $350/night. Or, book a romantic getaway for two and choose either a four-night midweek stay, or three-night weekend package with a complimentary couples massage for just $649.

Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort from $127
Overlooking picturesque Charlotte Amalie Harbor on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, the secluded beachfront Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriot Beach Resort offers luxury accommodations in an elegant island setting.

Guests at this conveniently situated property can participate in activities such as jet-skiing, kayaking, sailing, tennis and beach volleyball, or simply spend the day unwinding in the hotel’s three swimming pools, spa, sauna and white sandy beach. Book a stay with this luxurious island hotel now, and you can save big with Cheap Caribbean’s special rate offer of $127/night.

Piedras y Olas Hotel & Resort from $140
In addition to its pristine beaches and great surfing, the historic fishing village of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua also offers abundant opportunities for nature lovers with hiking trails to nearby volcanoes, jungle canopy tours and guided fishing and sailing adventures.

From tree-lined cliffs overlooking the town, the deluxe eco resort of Piedras y Olas affords sweeping ocean views, with facilities that include tranquil gardens, a scenic open-air restaurant and deluxe accommodations featuring either two queen beds or one king bed. Room rates during low season start at $140/night, but prices can climb to $240 during the high season.

Ritz Carlton Sun & Sand Package from $249
For a quick Gulf Coast beach getaway at a world-class resort, try a stay at the elegant Ritz Carlton in Sarasota, Fla. This luxurious 266-room spa, beach and golf resort offers a private beach for resort guests, an oceanfront pool and kids recreational programs, plus amenities that include three lighted tennis courts, a championship golf course and two fitness centers.

Don’t skip a visit to the hotel’s state-of-the-art spa, offering deluxe mud masques, massages and bodywrap treatments as well as saunas, steam rooms and whirlpools. All guestrooms feature private balconies, with sweeping views of the city or the nearby bay and marina. Starting at $249/night, the Ritz Carlton Sand & Sun Package includes overnight accommodations and valet parking, plus a resort spending credit of up to $300 valid for stays through April 30.

The office of Congressman Luis Gutierrez says JP Morgan Chase has pledged $400,000 to use strictly for the workers laid off last week by Republic Windows and Doors.

The window company’s main creditor is Bank of America, and that bank has also offered a limited line of credit so the workers can be paid.

The company abruptly laid off 240 employees last week and about 200 of them responded to the plant’s closing by occupying it and vowing to stay put until assurances they would get severance and accrued vacation pay.

They swear they’ll stay until they get assurances that they’ll receive severance and accrued vacation pay.

Lawmakers have criticized Bank of America for cutting off money to the plant after it exhausted its credit line, even though the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank itself received $25 billion from the government’s financial bailout package.

Workers have remained defiant, if surprised that their protest has drawn intense nationwide interest, including expressions of support from President-elect Barack Obama.

“I never thought this would get so big,” said Ricardo Caceres, a 39-year-old assembly line worker taking part in the sit-in. “I am proud of my brother and sister workers.”

In its statement Tuesday, Bank of America sided at least in part with the disgruntled workers, expressing concern for what it alleged was “Republic’s failure to pay their employees the employee claims to which they are legally entitled.”

The loan would be designed only to enable Republic to pay laid-off workers, said bank spokeswoman Julie Westermann. There was no question of offering a loan large enough to reopen the factory, she said.

Asked whether the bank sympathized with the laid-off workers, Westermann said, “Of course we do.” She added that bank officials were ready to begin the loan-approval process if talks concluded with an agreement.

Republic officials did not return messages on Tuesday from The Associated Press.

Without the severance and vacation pay, Caceres said, he and many of his fellow workers risk falling behind on mortgage payments and even losing their homes.

Fried said most of the workers made no more than around $30,000 a year at the plant, which she said was barely enough to feed and house their families.

“They’ve had rough times, and that fuels a desire to say, ‘Enough! We can’t be kicked around anymore,”‘ she said. “There really is a sense of desperation. They have nothing to lose.”

Airlines in North America are expected to shift from huge losses to a modest profit next year, the trade group said on Tuesday, but carriers in Europe and Asia will have deeper losses. Unlike airlines elsewhere, several American carriers were only just emerging from bankruptcy protection as oil prices were rising last year, leaving them unable to hedge and protect themselves against the surge in fuel costs. When oil prices fell sharply, their lack of contracts locked in at high prices turned out to be a boon.

While oil, which peaked at $145.29 a barrel in July, is likely to average $60 a barrel in 2009, according to the trade industry’s forecasts, overall revenue in the industry will fall by $35 billion, to $501 billion.

“The chronic industry crisis will continue into 2009 with $2.5 billion in losses,” said Giovanni Bisignani, the chief executive of the association, based in Geneva.

Describing the economic environment as the worst in 50 years, he said, “The outlook is bleak.”

Oil has now fallen to around $43 a barrel, but not soon enough to prevent American carriers from posting what the trade group predicts will be $3.9 billion in losses this year — the worst regional performance in the industry.

Next year, North American airlines should claw out a $300 million profit, but the margin will be less than 1 percent, the report said.

Global passenger traffic is expected to fall faster than it did after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Traffic grew 2 percent in 2008, but was expected to fall 3 percent in 2009, the group said. In 2001, it fell 2.7 percent.

Air cargo traffic is an early indicator of trends in economic growth because companies stop flying inventory when a slowdown bites. The group predicted that the falloff in cargo traffic would accelerate, dropping 5 percent in 2009 after an expected 1.5 percent decline this year. In a sign that the slowdown was worsening, cargo traffic shrank 7.9 percent in October.

In Europe, where many carriers are still locked in at higher fuel-hedging levels and the biggest economies are already in a recession, aviation industry losses will be 10 times as high, or $1 billion, in 2009, the group said.

Losses for airlines in the Asia-Pacific region will more than double, to $1.1 billion, next year, group said. The area has a disproportionate 45 percent of the air cargo market. But Chinese exports are expected to slow, Japan is in a recession, and India is likely to have a drop in demand.

Among the fast-expanding Middle Eastern airlines, losses will double, to $200 million. African carriers already battling to retain market share can expect another year of losses, estimated at $300 million.

“The industry remains sick,” Mr. Bisignani said, adding that “the ferocity of the economic crisis” had overshadowed the industry’s efforts to rein in costs. “It will take changes beyond the control of airlines to navigate back into profitable territory,” he added.