By Danny Almon, Travel Columnist
Is it better to book last minute and hope for sell-off prices? No, it’s not. Years ago, tour operators used to advertise prices throughout the year and then, closer to departure, if planes were not full, drop the price to fill the planes, but they ultimately determined that this was counterproductive to business planning as many travellers would wait ’til last minute and book then.
So, tour operators took a different tack: they offered the best prices available with beneficial discounts, further out from travel. They followed this up by NOT offering fire-sale prices a month before travel. So, whether it is a trip down south or perhaps a more carefully planned coach tour of Italy, a river cruise in Europe or an ocean cruise, it is wise to start planning as early as a year in advance to be able to get the itinerary desired , the cabin or room preferred AND the best price.
Consequently, you won’t see ads for travel in these articles – as pricing is often changing, often going up as time passes. And since publish dates are often close to a month after article-due-date, specials would likely be over.
The best thing for you to do is to determine your destination, your time preferred to travel and your budget (be realistic: in our industry it is common to hear “clients have champagne tastes on a beer budget”) Covid times have brought out the reality that it is wise to use the services of a travel agent (look at flights cancelled over the Christmas holidays, as an example). If you booked on your own, you were ON YOUR OWN!
And in most cases, it doesn’t cost you any more to use a travel agent so you have some protection built-in at NO EXTRA COST (there are some exceptions)
Not sure where your next trip should be? Visit my website at www. almontravel.ca/blog to view over 50 travel videos from a wide variety of suppliers and destinations, from river cruises (a specialty!), to ocean cruises, to coach tours or vacations down south, each video highlighting what the tour operator does best and particular destinations that are popular.
Thinking about booking a trip? Call me, Danny, at 902 431 4932 or at danny@almontravel.ca to consult: I would be happy to help you find that perfect trip to a wonderful destination and to give you updated pricing on most vacation plans you may have.
Image by Freepik
