deals

Retailers are making an effort at keeping shoppers happy this holiday season, and if you haven't finished crossing off the names from your shopping list yet, now's the time to cash in; there are plenty of retailers offering up free shipping, free phones, and amazing deals on tech. Check out some of the latest savings below, and be sure to place your orders today — shipping deadlines end this week!

• Get an iPhone 4 for $147 on contract at Sam's Club and the iPhone 3GS for $47 until Dec. 25.
• Now through Dec. 22, you can get free one-day shipping on select items from Amazon.
• Best Buy has removed restocking fees from all items except special orders.

See even more deals after the jump.

Yup, you heard me right. The 2011 Volkswagon Jetta is going for $5,995 on the luxury discount site, Gilt.com, tomorrow, reports CNN. There are only three available, and each one will be sold on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. That's a great deal, because the car retails for $15,995. How do you get yours? The car will only be available via the Gilt mobile app tomorrow, and you can access the deal through your web browser at the Gilt.com website on Thursday and Friday. Who's gonna try their luck for one?

If you're flying Southwest this Thursday, you can start celebrating turkey day with a free alcoholic drink, according to the company's Twitter account. The budget airline might be trying to up American Airlines' cool-kid status — American recently introduced a happy hour special on flights that run throughout December.

If you're the type who usually naps on the plane, just remember, if you snooze, you lose . . . on booze. Tell me, if your flight offered a free alkie drink, would you totally take advantage of it?

The Black Friday train keeps on chugging, and this time it's Barnes & Noble that's announcing deals on books, accessories, and other treats your favorite geek will love. If you've got a Nook (or are springing for one this holiday), then you'll be happy to know that during Barnes & Noble's Black Friday sale, you can take 25 percent off any Nook accessory with purchase of a screen protector. Considering how many awesome cases Barnes & Noble is offering for the Nook, you've got some serious decisions to make.

Find out what else the retailer has in store for Black Friday and Cyber Monday when you read more.

The holidays are coming early for the millions of customers who patronize Starbucks each day. Starting today through Sunday, the coffee chain is offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal on holiday drinks. From the hours of 2 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, customers who buy a caramel brulée latte, peppermint mocha, peppermint white chocolate mocha, gingerbread latte, eggnog latte, caramel brulée Frappuccino, or peppermint mocha Frappuccino will get one of equal value gratis on the house. For those who shun caffeine, the deal includes the company's peppermint hot chocolate, too.

Now I have a legitimate excuse to order that peppermint mocha I've been denying myself this week. Will you do the same?

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Is there anything better out there than tacos? Not that we know of — except, well, maybe free tacos.

Today only, mosey over to your nearest Jack in the Box anytime after 2 p.m. and score dos tacos, gratis. Although there isn't much explanation in the promotion's advertisements, officials did say it's intended to highlight improvements made to the menu item.

Want to know if Jack's tacos are better? Find out for yourself and get to a participating location.

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The Black Friday train is chugging along, and even though their ads may have been leaked a little early, Kmart, Old Navy, and Walmart are officially showing off even more of what we can expect on Nov. 26.

Charting your Black Friday plan of attack? Be sure to take note of these deals before you head out:

• Purchase $25 dollars worth of merchandise at Old Navy and get a free copy of Dance Central for the Kinect.
• Kmart is offering up game titles like Fable III for just $40, while Mass Effect 2 and Rock Band: Beatles will be priced at just $10 and $15, respectively.
• If you're looking for a Sony product (including PSP, PS3, and PS2 games), Sony Insider has compiled a buying guide that lists of all the products on sale and where to get them on Black Friday.

Find out more about what Walmart has up its sleeve, including the insane hours they'll be holding and some pre-Thanksgiving savings, after the break.

Remember when I told you about the hospitality-focused location service TopGuest? At the time, it was just picking up steam, but now the service, which is used in conjunction with Facebook Places and Foursquare, has teamed up with Virgin America to introduce a perfectly-timed holiday promotion.

Earn 25 extra Elevate frequent flier points just by checking in on TopGuest at any Virgin America airport terminal or baggage claim. You can rack up 50 extra points per trip, which can then be used toward future flights. Easy enough, right?