The trip was thanks to a novel marketing ploy by Elite Island Resorts, which last fall published a list of 100 distressed financial industry stocks that it would accept in lieu of cash payment at the half-dozen or so properties it manages. And it got better: They credited your shares at the price they commanded the previous July, before the market truly melted down. During that period, Citi stock had fallen from $17 to around $10 a share, and prospects for the financial services giant looked grim. It seemed too good to be true; naturally, I bit. 

Turns out it was really what it seemed: a fantastic deal. Citi shares sank to penny stock levels just as I was lazing back with my family on a sunny beach, savoring our good fortune at having "sold" at just the right time. Yes, I did feel a tiny twinge of guilt that Elite had gotten the short end of the stick--who knows how long they'd have to hold onto the stocks they accepted till they even got back to those July prices? I figured they'd learned their lesson and would never launch such an offer again. 

So imagine my surprise recently when I saw the deal was back. Yes, you can, once again, dump your dud stocks for credit up until May 31, and take the trip through December 20, 2009. (Note: There is a $5,000 limit on the amount of stock you can trade for your vacation. Make sure to read the terms and conditions.) Interestingly, on the list of several hundred stocks they'll accept, one name is missing: Citigroup. I called the reservations line to ask what had happened, and the agent laughed when I told her my story. "Yes, we took that one off," she said, "probably just around the time you were down there."

Note: We did have to pay for our airline tickets. But, as Wendy Perrin and I have been writing about, even at the height of the season there were still seats--and deals--aplenty.