End of summer is a window of opportunity for bargain travel
Posted on Tue, Jul. 29, 2008
BY ARTHUR FROMMER
King Features
It's late July, the very peak of the peak season, when every bed, seat and berth is supposed to be full. But travel falls off sharply toward the end of August, when the new school year has begun. Even on some earlier dates in August, softness is found in travel bookings, and bargains begin to emerge.
• Last-minute cruises: In cruises, I find a great many top opportunities listed on VacationsToGo.com and the other big cruise discounters, even to such popular places as Alaska (www.frommers.com/destinations/alaska). Here are five last-minute openings on VacationsToGo.com:
Aug. 18 and Aug. 25 departures of the Island Princess, seven nights in Alaska, $535.
Aug. 10 departure of Holland America's Vaandam, seven nights in Alaska, $605.
Aug. 29 sailing of the Carnival Spirit, seven nights in Alaska, $599.
Aug. 14 sailing of the Carnival Victory, four nights from New York City to Canada, $449.
Aug. 30 sailing of the Carnival Liberty, seven nights to the Caribbean, $479.
• Last-minute Las Vegas: Travel to Las Vegas (www.frommers.com/destinations/lasvegas) always slumps in late August and early September, because it's beastly hot there, convention activity hasn't resumed after the summer hiatus and no large groups are coming to this city of big meetings.
Late-summer bargains are announced on LasVegasAdvisor.com, starting with rooms for as little as $19.99 at the Palace Station Hotel, which is off the Strip but quite serviceable. And right on the Strip in late August and early September, you can enjoy weekday stays at the Tropicana for as little as $39 per room per night, the Excalibur for $50 per room per night and at the cushy Luxor for $65 per room per night.
You'll get the best rates if you register with various hotels directly on their Web sites, thus inviting them to periodically e-mail their best offers to you.
• Last-minute Orlando: More and more elementary schools begin their school years before Labor Day, thus bringing families back home from their vacations in late August.
Business slumps at that time to the theme parks, and the cheap motels in Kissimmee (www.frommers.com/destinations/orlando), offer room rates (sometimes for a family of four) as low as $35 and $40 a night.
• Last-minute Barbados: The extraordinary Best of Barbados (www.frommers.com/destinations/barbados) program, flagrantly subsidized by the Barbadian government, offers its very lowest prices in September, when one-week air-and-land packages cost as little as $326 per person from Miami, using the Bayfield House Hotel.
Remember that prices shoot upward by $100 to $200 Oct. 1. All the major tour operators -- Liberty Travel, Vacation Travel Mart and Cheap Caribbean -- offer these rates and feature them on their Web sites.
• Gas rebates: And finally, keep in mind that most accommodations search engines -- like Hotels.com, BookIt.com and BedandBreakfast.com -- are giving valuable gas rebates to people who book a week-long, late-summer stay using their services.
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