Making your peak season travel enjoyable
MOST air passengers avoid travelling during peak periods because of the high flight fares and the hustling as well as the bustling of travellers to get to their destinations on time, CHIKA GOODLUCK OGAZI writes that the trip can be enjoyable and hassle-free when planned.
CHRISTMAS is fast approaching and so many people would be travelling from one part of the country to another. This is usually a period when friends and families visit one another to celebrate the end of the year.
Consequently, airports would be overcrowded with passengers moving in and out of the terminals or parks. However, if one is not adequately prepared, the person may not found it funny to travel at that period.
Air travellers who are on a budget can save big travel dollars by knowing what the peak air travel season is, and avoiding it! Sometimes the peak air travel season for a particular destination is easy to figure out.
As you might expect, the peak air travel season to the United States of America, London, Canada, Las Vegas, the Caribbean and other warm-weather vacation and resort destinations is during winter months. The most expensive airfare to Hawaii, for instance, is in December, January and February.
However, other destinations' peak air travel seasons vary, depending on the location. Most are driven by the local climate. Generally speaking, when it is very, very cold or very, very hot at your destination, you will save money travelling there.
This means that a trip to Europe during the dead of winter will be a bargain, and a trip to Italy, Arizona or Las Vegas during sweltering summer months will also be a bargain.
In that case plan your trip three or four months in advance for high and mid-season trips and you should get plenty of value for your money. As you get closer to the travel date, prices go in only one direction, and that's up.
In your search, for travel dates, it will pay off to be flexible with your travel plans. Going the day before or day after the dates you originally searched for may be much cheaper.
The cheapest apex fares are only available for travellers that stay over a Saturday night. As business travellers usually travel inside the week, Monday to Friday, those who stay over the weekend often get a significantly better rate.
If you're willing to travel at midnight, or at 5:30 a.m., you'll find some very cheap options if you plan ahead. Very few travellers book these tickets other than by necessity, and prices are often very low.
For those, who would like to fly on Christmas Day, try booking your travel on the main day. Passengers are few and far between, prices are lower, and service is better. This also goes for other major holiday on the calendar. Just make sure that public transportation is running at your destination, if you're not renting a car. Before you book with an agent or online travel site, do a search for the same flight on the airline's website. You may find that the price is lower.
Recently, most of the major airlines have offered "coupons" or "promotional codes" you type into their air fare booking systems, to claim the cheapest fares. To get the codes, sign up for the airlines' frequent flier programs and email newsletters. You can also use Goggle to search on the phrase "promotion code" plus the name of your airline,
Start with the Yellow Pages and try to find a specialist for the country you're going to. They often have the best knowledge and may be able to get you a better fare or hotel price. Alternatively, they may be able to sort you out with better quality accommodation, a nice rental car, or flexible flights for the same money or just a few dollars more.
Booking a travel package will save 30 to 50 per cent off your airfare. It is usually more profitable to book a travel package deal than booking the flight, hotel, and car rental separately. It's often possible to get a whole package for less than a regular flight would cost.
Many destinations, such as the Canary Islands or The Caribbean, don't really have an off-season. In fact, avoiding the times that the place is most busy often means cheaper hotels, restaurants, car rentals, and so on as well. And there are fewer tourists around. It pays to research this option though, as some places pretty much shut down after the peak season and the locals take their vacation.
You can also take advantage of the 'shoulder season'; this is the period between the peak season and true low season. Tourist crowds are sparser, and prices go down. The weather usually stays great and there is a better chance to interact with the locals. And in many places, such as New York, the heat dies down and you'll have a much more pleasant stay.
Apart from above, there are many, many more airlines in the world than the big international carriers. Research the market and see if you can book your local flights with one of these small players. They often use smaller planes and local airports, which can mean significant savings compared to code shares from an international airline.
Therefore, normal thoughts are not always right when it comes to air travel. Some times local festivities will change a peak period. So, you can expect to pay more when visiting a city during festivities.
All of the above information will give you an advantage by flying during the off-season. You have a shorter wait and the planes aren't as crowded, so this means you are more likely getting to your destination on schedule and in budget.
They also have a huge impact on the cost of your vacation. Don't ignore the importance of considering these two factors.
Your budget level mainly depends on the season and the time of the year. Some vacation destinations will be very cheap at some times of the year.
If you want to travel to a popular destination in peak times, you never find it cheap. For instance, planning to stay at luxurious hotel in a party city on New Year's Eve is not expected to exist as budget holiday, while travel to an established summer resort over New Year's may be extremely a different story.
As international travel is expensive and time consuming, there are many ways on how you can save money. Many airlines have different fares for weekday and weekend travel. If you are planning to break your journey midway, some airlines offer free stopovers while others charge a fee. Sometimes, direct / non-stop flights are expensive than the ones with one or more stops.
Travel agents are a good source to get great deals. They can help you in finding deals with more than one airline and can offer tickets for discounted prices. They have access to almost all airlines and have the expertise to search for the cheapest tickets in the market.
Do not hesitate to ask them questions. They can provide valuable tips on how you can save money. Travel agents deal with more than one traveller at a time and hence may not be able to give you the details in the first call. Give them your trip details and give them some time and they can come up with really good deals for you. Travel agents are easy to spot as many of them have websites.
The most important thing that you need to realize is that low seasons cost low for a reason. A typical example of this is hurricane season in the Florida and Caribbean. Other low seasons that vary include - very hot regions such as Egypt in summer months as excess heat makes the holiday less enjoyable.
