Prime Summer Deals: A Sampler

In Wednesday's post, I reported that dire economic conditions generally - and in the travel-biz specifically - are prompting travel providers to cut prices and offer deals. Proof? Read on, and you'll see a sampler of deals; all were announced or kicked-in just this week. As always, if you book, carry out due diligence: check the fine print and be sure a deal works for you:

* Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's classy major airline, is offering triple miles in either its own Asia Miles program or in oneworld alliance partner American Airlines' AAdvantage program to passengers who fly across the Pacific in first or business class. Starting June 15, travelers flying on Cathay from Los Angeles, New York JFK or San Francisco to Hong Kong can earn triple miles, provided their trips originate in the United States and they have completed round-trip travel by Aug. 15. (www.cathaypacific.com/us).

* I indicated in Monday's post (May 18) that post-flu Mexico would be on sale. The sale is beginning. RIU Hotels & Resorts, which operates swank resorts on Mexico's Pacific and Caribbean coasts, is offering rates starting under $100 per person (not per room) for the month of June. Rates begin at $73 per person at the company's newest property, Riu Emerald Bay, which opens May 29 in Mazatlan, and, at 40 percent off, are not much higher elsewhere. (http://www.riu.com/ or tel. 888.RIU.4990).

* Amtrak is cutting fares 25 percent on some trains in the Eastern U.S. this summer. The fare cuts start Tuesday, June 2 and run through Sept. 3. Two weeks advance reservation is required. (http://www.amtrak.com/).

* Marrriott International Inc. is offering members of its Marriott Rewards program double points through June 26, with two nights worth of credits for every one-night stay. (www.marriottrewards.com/doublenights). Marriott is also slating 20 percent discounts for staying Thursdays through Sundays at any of 2,500 properties it runs around the world. That deal began Thursday and runs through Sept. 7. (www.marriott.com/globalratebreak or tel. 1.877.MARRIOTT).

* The Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. is offering lodging and breakfast starting at $229 per night for families of two adults and two children. The package includes a copy of "City Walks for Kids,'' a guide to more than 100 free things to do in the capital city. Available through Dec. 31. (www.fairmont.com/washington or tel. 1.877.570.5566).

Right now, the cascade of travel deals that began during the drear days of winter and rolled on through spring is continuing into the summer. No doubt there's more to come.