Timed Travel

An off-peak trip is a good value and a way to dodge the crowds.

By Jane Bennett Clark, Senior Associate Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance

March 3, 2004

It's the pause before peak, the sliver after slow, the time to travel when you'll find great deals on plane fares, hotels and maybe rental cars -- and also score a decent tan, a great opera ticket or a good run on the slopes.

It's called the shoulder season, a weeks-to-months-long window of opportunity when most tourists stay home and popular destinations afford decent weather as well as rates that are 15% to 50% lower than those on the warm sides of Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Usually defined as April through mid June and September through November, the shoulder can also jut into midwinter or summer. Says Tom Parsons of online travel site Bestfares.com: "No matter what the season, you'll find some places in the world are much cheaper."

And, as a calendar contrarian, you'll get more space at the beaches and a faster track to face time with the Mona Lisa. In Europe, "it's much easier to deal with the big, popular museums" during shoulder season, says Neil Martin, whose public-relations firm represents the European Travel Commission. "You're fighting with fewer Americans and many fewer Europeans."

Spring into action

That said, you can find plenty of deals and plenty to do during this spring's shoulder season if you start by asking "What would lemmings do?" -- and head the other way. And by lemmings, we mean people who wait until school lets out to schedule vacation. Says travel expert Terry Trippler: "We have this mental thing in the U.S. It's Memorial Day, it's summer," and let the vacations begin. Jumping the gun on summer can knock about 30% off peak round-trip fares to Europe, as long as you board the plane a day or two before school lets out, says Parsons.

You'll also enjoy packages and attractions that aren't available during summer months. For example, there are the hooded processions at Easter in Seville, Spain. Seven million tulips bloom in the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands from late March to late May. In early June, you may see baby bears and caribou in Alaska's Denali National Park.

Although presummer deals can be found in Hawaii and the Caribbean, you need to factor in the impact of spring break. During this prime party time, warm-weather resorts won't be giving you a break. Because the timing of spring break fluctuates, be sure to compare prices in those hot spots from one week to the next.

Some areas have more shoulders than a Picasso portrait. In Aspen, Colo., for instance, early spring lets you in on the last of the ski season, while late spring (toward the end of April) gives you first dibs on biking, hiking and playing golf. If snow is a no-show at the Wyndham Peaks Resort, in Telluride, you can opt for horseback riding or para-gliding, or repair to a nearby spa.

Keep an open mind

In fact, being flexible can sometimes get you both bargains and great weather. Colorado in April approaches March as the top month for snowfall. But most people are dwelling on daffodils, not ski slopes, at that time of year, says Maureen Porschman, a spokeswoman for the St. Regis Aspen, a ski resort. "If you live in Boston, it's springtime, you're out of the mode, but it's actually an incredible time for skiing here. I tell my family to take advantage of the deals and come then." (But bear in mind that Coloradans don't call spring in the mountains "mud season" for nothing.)

Similarly, temperatures in Aruba stay a pleasant 85 degrees or so year-round, but hotel and airfare prices dip 15% to 20% in April, when spring sprouts in the U.S. Then, "there's no reason to run from the cold," says Vernon Vrolijk, of the Aruba Tourism Authority. An added benefit: Aruba is too far away to be sacked by the college party hordes.

Alaska's shoulder season starts around May 15, when the cruise ships set sail; if you go a month later, you'll pay hundreds of dollars more for a cabin. You will, however, face cool (but not frigid) weather, says Judy Nicholson, who specializes in Alaska cruises at Malcolm Travel & Cruise, in Baton Rouge, La. "In May, you're not out of the chilly period -- 60 degrees in the daytime, 40 to 50 at night. You have snow, and the water freezes."

Colder inland temperatures at Denali National Park extend the shoulder season to mid June. But braving the cold brings a cool benefit: The glaciers at Mount McKinley are still frozen solid, allowing "flightseeing" tours to land for a closer look.

Figure on fall

If this spring is a little too soon to book a trip, the other shoulder is a summer away. Check out caribou shedding fuzz from their antlers during molting season in Alaska. That experience, plus shoulder-season rates, is available in September at Denali, where "you'll see a lot of wildlife getting ready for winter," says Fritha Hopkins, of the Denali Backcountry Lodge. Shorter days there mean more limited daylight for touring. But you also have a better chance of spotting the aurora borealis before bedtime.

In Europe, fall generally ushers in damp, chilly weather. Airfares to that part of the world, however, can be downright hot. "Close to mid September and October, we'll see deals to Europe as much as 50% less than for peak summer," says Parsons.

What's doing across the pond after Labor Day? For starters, opera season kicks off across the Continent. Oktoberfest in Munich constitutes a monthlong brew bash that lasts until the first weekend in October. Wine harvests (and requisite partying) in France start in September and extend into November. You can even catch Christmas in Europe before higher prices kick in. Sweden, Denmark and Germany deck the town squares for the holidays starting in late November.

If you're not seeking winter before its time, look for steamy deals in the fall to resorts on the west coast of Mexico, including Acapulco, and the Caribbean, where you'll pay as little as half the peak rate for the privilege of watching the horizon for hurricanes. Aruba, which sits outside hurricane territory, delivers its discounts and halcyon weather year-round, as does Hawaii. For late-year travel, count on breaks ending by December 15, when many airlines make like Scrooge, although you can sometimes grab a fall airfare sale that applies to travel through December.

One other caveat: Finding yourself alone on the Appian Way won't be much comfort if the other sights you want to visit are closed or curtailed. Although many big European museums stay open all year, they usually cut back their hours fall through spring; some less-traveled venues close up altogether.

Best ways to book

You'd think you would be able to spot shoulder discounts well in advance and plan accordingly. But that's not how the travel industry works. Says Parsons: "Airlines won't come out in July and tell you it's $500 cheaper to go in September. If they did, people would change their plans." He advises waiting until March or April to catch cheap airfares for a June trip, or until late summer for October or November travel.

If last-minute booking makes you crazy, consider calling a travel agent. Agents have access to blocks of airline seats and hotel rooms from consolidators that are locked in six months in advance. Brad Piontkowski, of Family Vacations Hawaii, says many of his clients book trips to Hawaii several seasons ahead, before "the cheap seats are sold out." The same strategy holds true for discounted tickets to Europe. Says Nancyhelen Fischer of Your French Connexion, a travel agency in Seattle: "Either get them early or at the end of August."

Because local festivals create their own buzz, you might land a cut-rate fare to a gateway city but face full-price accommodations at your destination. For example, says Fischer, "Alsace is in the middle of harvest in fall. September is high season."

In such situations, travel vendors may be able to put together a package that delivers a lower price than an a la carte itinerary. "If we can bundle the airfare and the hotel, it's amazing how much cheaper the airfare will be," says Parsons. That doesn't always work for car rentals, because rates are often determined by individual franchises. Parsons advises pricing packages that include hotel, airfare and car, and then peeling off the wheels component for comparison. "See what the difference would be if you got the car all by your little lonesome," he says.

Finally, continues Parsons, if you can't land a good deal in one part of the world during shoulder season, don't despair: You'll find lots of other places where the discounts are sweet and conditions are just as nice. That's especially true right now, he says. "When it gets to spring, everybody's equal. The weather is pretty decent everywhere."

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