It's not impossible to score a cheap flight, but they seem to pop up sporadically, and sometimes to only quirky places. "The airlines will have these somewhat irrational sales," said George Hobica, founder of the airfare deals site Airfarewatchdog.com. "No one knows why they lower the prices." How to stay on top of fire sales? Twitter is one way. Airfarewatchdog tweets specific fares, as do other sites, such as Travelzoo. A number of online resources can help steer you to the best prices out of a given airport: Airfarewatchdog's departure city search, Travelzoo's best fares list, Kayak Explore and FareCompare's deal finder. WASHINGTON POST

Free app can help you create travel journal No travel blog? No problem. Shoot, group and annotate your smartphone pics into a travel journal-style post that you can share on Twitter and Facebook or by e-mail. The free app HipGeo uses geo-technology to organize your photos (and videos for iPhone/iPad) into a virtual travel story. The app also works with Android systems, but only for photos for now. LOS ANGELES TIMES

Michelin Guides: Green, Red, and online No, Michelin hasn't stopped publishing its Green Guides. The Green Guides, which list information on the sights in various countries, are updated only every five years or so. The Red Guides, which list more frequently changing hotel and restaurant information, are updated annually. Find the online Green Guides at travel.viamichelin.com. WASHINGTON POST

'Staycation' trend may be on the downturn The popularity of the "staycation" appears to be waning. In a survey three years ago, 30 percent of travelers stayed close to home to save money; now it's about 25 percent. The findings are from a survey of 2,527 U.S. households by two marketing research firms. LOS ANGELES TIMES