NEED TO KNOW - A fare deal on those fees

Priceline is breaking from the pack and eliminating booking fees for certain air tickets. Extending a promotion it began in June, Priceline said Monday that it would permanently end its $5-per-ticket fee for regular published fares. But you’ll still pay fees on flights you win by bidding in its “Name Your Own Price” auctions. On those fares, this charge is wrapped into the total price, along with taxes and other fees. And just what is this charge? Priceline isn’t saying. “It’s a proprietary formula based on the route you’re flying and the price of the ticket,” spokesman Brian Ek said. So far, other websites aren’t rushing to copy Priceline’s move.

– Jane Engle

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Kid-tested

The ads for the Verizon G’zOne phone shows it half submerged in mud, the impression of a giant shoe smashed down on the device. It’s promoted as being built to survive the backcountry, but can it survive a few rounds with a rambunctious 9-year-old? Our fourth-grade tester stomped the phone into the mud, dropped it down a slide, kicked it like a soccer ball around the yard, let her dog chew on it and then tossed it down a staircase. We rinsed it off in the kitchen sink and the G’zOne, with a built-in camera and flash, still continued to make and take calls. Cost: $150 with a two-year Verizon wireless contract. www.verizonwireless.com.

– Hugo Martin

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Winging it

Angelenos no longer have to take the slow road overland to get to Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Late last month, AeroMexico’s new regional carrier, AeroMexico Connect, formerly Aerolitoral, began flights on 33-seat jets between LAX and Puerto Penasco, the fishing village turned beach resort at the top of the Gulf of California. Flights to Puerto Penasco will leave LAX on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Round-trip fares begin at $323. Info: (800) 237-6639, www.aeromexico.com. Mexicana also is expanding service. Starting Dec. 2, the airline will begin daily nonstop flights between LAX to Puerto Vallarta. Info: www.mexicana.com, (661) 387-9755.

Vani Rangachar

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Diamonds galore

Sin City’s gamble on class is really paying off. The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino has been promoted from four to five diamonds, the top ranking, in AAA’s 2008 list of top hotels and restaurants. Two years ago, Las Vegas had only two five-diamond hotels. Now it has five: the Venetian, the Bellagio, the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, Skylofts at MGM Grand and Wynn Las Vegas. And it still has four top-rated restaurants. Meanwhile, the Golden State continues to be, well, golden. With 16 five-diamond lodgings, California trounced No. 2 Florida, which had just nine. The St. Regis Resort Monarch Beach, in Dana Point (pictured above), topped off California’s total by earning its fifth diamond. For a full list, visit AAA’s news website, www.aaa.com/news.

– J.E.

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The gilded age

Let them eat cake – and feast their eyes on gilded furnishings, paintings and extravagances. From Saturday through Feb. 17, about 100 treasures from the private Versailles retreat of Marie Antoinette (portrait at right) will be displayed at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park. You’ll see an armchair from her bedroom, so elaborately carved and embroidered that exhibit curator Martin Chapman called it “one of the most original pieces of seat furniture ever conceived.” Everything is from the Petit Trianon chateau, which is undergoing a yearlong restoration. Adult tickets are $15. (415) 750-3600, www.famsf.org.

– J.E.