Chalk up another one for Twitter. I was surfing there last week when an opportunity came to win a facsimile copy of Europe on $5 a Day by Arthur Frommer. The little book first appeared in 1957 and it revolutionized travel for thousands of North Americans. Wiley published a 50th anniversary edition in 2007, and happily, I was one of the lucky giveaway winners.

What's the big deal about a book with highly outdated information from 52 years ago?

Before this groundbreaking work appeared, most travelers were under the sad impression that visiting Europe was only for the rich. All others could read about the Piazza San Marco, Lake Geneva or the sidewalks of Paris in books. Frommer gave everyday people (like me) hope for visiting Europe by packing his little book with scores of practical tips.

Europe on $5 a Day came out two years before I was born. But a generation later, Frommer was still writing and updating his original copy. I think the first one I saw was Europe on $50 a Day. The prices had changed, but the concepts and advice still were sound.

When my facsimile copy of the $5 version arrived this week, I expected to find some interesting prices from 1957, and I wasn't disappointed. On the very first page, Frommer decried an unnamed guidebook that he said implied authentic Parisian tours could only begin from five-star hotels: "This tome states that one really can't consider staying in Paris at hotels other than the Ritz, the Crillon or the Plaza Athénée (at $30 for room and bath)..."

According to the usinflationcalculator.com, $30 in 1957 equates to $231 in 2009. At this writing, the cheapest rack rate I can find for the lowest level of room on the Ritz Paris Web site is €550 (about $820 USD).

But not everything was cheaper in 1957. Consider overseas airfares: Frommer cited a New York-London round trip coach class airfare of $522. Usinflationcalculator.com says that's $4012 in 2009. Most times of year, you could probably fly four people for that amount today. But Frommer mentioned that in 1957, there was an installment plan for airfares called "Pay Later." He also cited "excursion fares" for people who would spend 15 days or less overseas. The New York-London round trip excursion fare was cited as $425.

Read on, and you'll discover Frommer directed his 1957 readers to a three-course meal in Paris for 85 cents, a second-class Venice hotel room for $1.30/night and deluxe hotels in Athens for between $2.00 and $2.85 per night.

Even when adjusted for inflation, most of those opportunities could not be found today. But Frommer (whom I consider the father of modern budget travel) demystified places like London, Paris and Munich. He showed people they could indeed afford to visit these places without going broke if they were willing to look for no-frills options and live like the locals.

Mr. Frommer, thank you for writing that book back in 1957. It started a travel revolution from which we all benefit to this day.

_{Image courtesy Frommers.com}

Here's the latest list of 10 travel deals. Many of these links lead to offers with a very limited shelf life, so if you're interested, act quickly. But don't act so quickly that you miss the fine print. For deals that aren't quite so fleeting, check out Fall deals. This week's deals include some beachfront holiday bargains, shopping trip savings, and airfare discounts for Asia.

Is the airline credit card still in its heyday? I think not. These cards became popular many years ago because they allowed budget travelers to earn frequent flyer miles from everyday purchases like groceries and oil changes. But airline frequent flyer miles have become increasingly difficult to use as a budget travel tool. Many of us like to shop multiple airlines for a good deal, pay for those bargains in cash, and then use travel rewards to book hotels or car rentals. A bank-based travel rewards credit card works quite well in that scenario. What is best for you? There is no blanket answer. You must look at your own patterns of spending and travel. You must ask yourself if being tied to one carrier through an airline credit card is best.

I am usually quite skeptical of news releases with polling data or "research" conducted in the best interests of a business. Many deserve to be ignored because they are transparent attempts to get the company's name into news content.

But two recent studies pertaining to the upcoming holiday travel season prompted me to take a second look.

Travelocity did an analysis of holiday flight bookings showing the costliest flight itineraries a passenger can purchase ($459 on average) are for Nov. 22-29 (Sun.-Sun.) or Nov. 25-29 (Wed.-Sun.). When adjusted to a Nov. 26 departure with return Dec. 1 (Thurs.-Tues.), they found an average fare of $280. As always, the travelers with flexible schedules get the best deals.

American Express Spending & Saving Tracker reports current consumer attitudes about spending and savings: Although 19 percent of those surveyed who traveled last holiday season plan on staying home this year, 41 percent still plan to travel in the next 30 days. Notice this: the survey found about eight in 10 will spend more on dining out but cut back on grocery expenditures.

Half of the current Deals of the Week are airfare sales. But budget travelers who search online can find deals on hotels, resort stays and ski trips, too.

Bottom line: despite the economic gloom, lots of holiday trips are planned or booked, and there are still deals out there for the taking.