Mega Travel Sale Season Alert: Where to Go and How to Save
The kids are heading back to school, and that means it’s time for the grown-ups to venture out and play. We’re talking about shoulder season, that sweet spot between high and low tourist seasons where prices come down, the weather is still pretty good, and there are fewer crowds to hassle with.
Once Labor Day passes, shoulder season will be in effect for many cities in the U.S., the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and elsewhere. How to get the best savings will depend on your activity and choice of location, and we reached out to various travel experts to help you start planning. Here’s a rundown of the best deals you’re going to find on land, sea, and air:
Airfare
If you’ve been dreaming of South Beach, mojitos, and Cuban sandwiches, now is the time to book a trip to Miami. (Photo: iStock)
While the prime shoulder season locations are often the same, there’s a new wrinkle this year: Flights to major U.S. cities are shaping up to be extra cheap, thanks to lower fuel prices and the expansion of routes on budget airlines. One optimistic indicator of this is the 5.6 percent drop in airfare from July 2014 to July 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. It’s the largest monthly decline in 20 years, and while this doesn’t mean all fares and routes are going to be cheaper (fares have risen at times this year, too), it’s at least a good sign for the rest of the year.
“Adjusted for inflation, on some major routes, airfares have never been as low as they have been recently,” George Hobica, CEO of the airfare deals site Airfarewatchdog.com, told Yahoo Travel.
“Domestically, the big development this shoulder season is the expansion of Frontier and Spirit with their insanely low fares. The remaining major airlines are matching them on competing routes, especially American to and from Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, and a few other cities. We’ve seen $80 round-trip fares on the majors on popular routes, even between Philadelphia and Las Vegas on United; United had $150 round-trip coast-to-coast fares such as New York LaGuardia to Los Angeles.”
Related: More Discounts, Fewer Crowds: Your Guide to Off-Peak Travel During “Shoulder Season”
Or perhaps relaxing on a beach in the Caribbean is more your speed? (Photo: iStock)
Hobica also said that flying to the Caribbean has never been cheaper, thanks to Southwest’s expansion into the region. So if you’d rather get there by plane than by boat, the post-Hurricane, pre-holiday season in November and early December looks ideal.
In addition to the Caribbean, travel booking site Expedia told Yahoo Travel that Mexico and Hawaii are prime candidates for a shoulder-season visit. Here are some of the routes with the biggest savings:
Mexico: 18 percent savings from New York; 14 percent savings from Philadelphia
The Bahamas: 16 percent savings from Los Angeles; 8 percent savings from New York and Denver
Hawaii: 22 percent savings from Dallas; 21 percent savings from San Francisco; 18 percent savings from Boston
Cruises
Set sail to sunny Santorini. (Photo: Milles Studio/Stocksy)
Strictly speaking, there is no shoulder season for cruises — ships just move from one warm-weather part of the world to the next twice a year. But getting to that choice location? That’s when to make your move.
This fall, cruise ships will be heading from Alaska and Europe to places such as Mexico and the Mediterranean — the industry term is repositioning cruises. Such cruises often cover different countries or continents and give you a package of sights you may not get on a regular cruise.
Cruise expert Stewart Chiron suggests looking to set sail in the following places this fall: the Caribbean, Mediterranean, trans-Atlantic cruises, the Panama Canal, and Hawaii. Here are two of Chiron’s favorite upcoming cruises:
11-night Mediterranean cruise from Venice to Barcelona on Oceania’s Riviera starting Nov. 7 and going through Zadar, Kotor, Palermo, Rome, Florence, Monte Carlo, and Marseille. Price: $2,999 (down from $9998), including airfare from some U.S. airports, prepaid gratuities, unlimited Internet, and $200 per-person shipboard credit. Chiron calls the Riviera one of the best ships in the world.
16 nights from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale on Holland America’s Oosterdam starting Sept. 30 and going through the Mexican Riviera, Panama Canal, and Cartagena, Colombia. Price: $1,699 per person.
11 nights on a Mediterranean cruise with Celebrity Cruises starting Oct. 12 from Rome and going through Santorini, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Mykonos, Athens, and Naples. Price: $2,918 per person (down from $4,599), which includes airfare from some U.S. airports.
Hotels
Look for deals in New England (and it’s SOOOO pretty in the fall). (Photo:Nicholas Erwin/Flickr)
If you want to travel within the U.S. and are looking for the best value on hotels, booking site TripAdvisor suggests looking to the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions, where average nightly rates are projected to drop 15 percent and 13 percent respectively. Ironically, those regions still maintain the highest average rates, whereas the Southwest remains the cheapest at $79 in the fall. The full breakdown is below:
Courtesy: TripAdvisor
Internationally, the best hotel savings include many of the usual suspects. Expedia told Yahoo Travel that the biggest decline in average daily rates vs. high season belongs to Mexico and Central America, and the Caribbean, each at 16 percent. Hawaii is a nice bargain as well, with a 9 percent decrease.
More specifically, here are where hotel values are best during shoulder season this year, according to Expedia:
Grand Bahama: nearly 40% lower than high season
U.S. Virgin Islands: more than 30% lower
Mazatlan: more than 30% lower
Paradise Island, Bahamas: more than 30% lower
Turks & Caicos: more than 20% lower
Looking to go to Hong Kong this fall? November’s your best bet. (Photo: iStock)
If you’d rather look to Asia and can score a reasonably priced plane ticket, consider Hong Kong in the fall. The travel site Gogobot says it’s a prime shoulder-season bargain.
Related: 20 Best Budget Destinations for Fall
Tourists may be tempted to visit Hong Kong in January when the temperature hovers between 54-68 degrees Fahrenheit,” Gogobot Getaway Expert Krista Canfield told Yahoo Travel. But the massive array of celebrations happening in the month of January in Hong Kong mean you’ll be paying an average daily room rate of $205.33. Instead, Gogobot says you should go in November. The weather in Hong Kong will be warmer in November (between 64-78 degrees Fahrenheit), but the muggy summer months will have passed and you’ll feel cool given that you’re scoring your room for $168.46 per night.”
Vacation rentals
Beach seekers can score great deals in Bethany Beach, Del. (Photo: Jake Slagle/Flickr)
Compared with hotels, the shoulder-season savings to be had with rental homes can be dramatically better. For instance, TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals found that Bethany Beach, Del., whose population swells with summer tourists, will see a 44 percent decrease in average weekly rates for a two-bedroom rental in September and October, down to $1,086. It’s the largest such decrease to booking site found in the U.S., and a compelling reason to choose a rental over a hotel if you’re traveling with a large group there or in other beach spots.
“Like many other destinations in the U.S., demand for vacation rentals in Bethany Beach in September — once the kids are back in school — drops off,” TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals spokesperson Laurel Greatrix told Yahoo Travel. “Vacation rental prices drop just about everywhere in the U.S. once school starts up again, but the savings are more pronounced in traditionally popular beach and summer hotspots like Bethany Beach.”
Related: Go Cheap! A State-by-State Guide to Rentals Less Than $100
More great beach rentals can be found in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (Photo: Robert S. Donovan/Flickr)
Tying for the second-largest savings in shoulder season vs. peak season were Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (down to $1,123 weekly), and North Topsail Beach ($759) with 34 percent drops. Surfside Beach, S.C. ($691), and Port Isabel, Texas ($1,193) are 29 percent cheaper, and perennial favorite Myrtle Beach, S.C., is a notable bargain: its two-bedroom rates drop from $1,074 to $782.
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