octa bus schedule boat, with food and beverage facilities. The fully narrated, 11 4-hour cruise passes beneath the Gol

boat, with food and beverage facilities. The fully narrated, 11 4-hour cruise passes beneath the Golden octa bus schedule Gate Bridge, and comes within yards of Alcatraz Island. Frequent daily departures from PIER 39 (not to be confused with their service to Alcatraz, which departs from Pier 41) begin at 10am in summer and 11am in winter. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $16 for kids 12 to 17 and seniors over 62, and $12 for kids 5 to 11; children under 5 cruise for free. For recorded information, call & 415/773-1188; for tickets, which cost an additional $2.25 each when ordered via phone, call & 415/705-5555 or visit www.blueandgoldfleet.com.

If you re willing to give up some control over your flight details, use an opaque fare service like Priceline (www.priceline.com; www.priceline. co.uk for Europeans) or Hotwire (www.hotwire.com). Both offer rock- bottom prices in exchange for travel on a mystery airline at a mysterious time of day, often with a mysterious change of planes en route. The mystery airlines are all major, well-known carriers and the possibility of being sent from Philadelphia to San Francisco via Tampa is remote; the airlines routing computers have gotten a lot better than they used to be. But your chances of getting a 6am or 11pm flight are pretty high. Hotwire octa bus schedule tells you flight prices before you buy; Price- line usually octa bus schedule has better deals than Hotwire, but you have to play their