The traditional summer travel season has wound down with the passing of Labor Day but for those not constrained by school year schedules, travel opportunities may be just heating up.
Travelers not tied to the school calendar may find the so-called shoulder season — the travel industry term for the fall and spring periods between peak summer travel and the winter season lull — may be the perfect time for a getaway. These transitional periods offer a balance of good weather, lower crowds and better prices compared to the busy summer travel season.
AAA reports an upward trend of travel booking for getaways within the next one to two months.
“While interest in travel remains high, travelers are still looking for bargains. The shoulder season for travel offers a variety of benefits, including more options for cost-conscious adventurers,” said Lori Weaver Hawkins, public affairs manager for AAA Blue Grass. “Families traveling with school-aged children must travel during the summer when the kids are out of school, but other travelers are choosing fall getaways for less expensive trips to enjoy popular destinations when they are less overrun by tourists.”
What is “shoulder” season?
Shoulder season is most-often used to describe the time of year between a destination’s peak season and its off-season. It can vary by destination, climate, and popular attraction, but in the northern hemisphere, it’s usually used to describe travel in early fall — roughly September and October — as well as the early spring months of March, April and May.
The term can also be used to describe the window of lower-cost travel for certain destinations popular over the holidays, when a week before or a week after can be a lower-demand, lower-cost time to book.
Benefits of shoulder season travel
Shoulder season travel provides a variety of advantages that make trips less hectic, more comfortable and in many cases, less impactful on consumers’ bank accounts. Those benefits include:
• Smaller crowds, allowing you to explore at your own pace without feeling rushed.
• Shorter lines and less demand for tickets at popular attractions and destinations and tables at favorite restaurants.
• The worst of the summer heat has subsided in the Northern Hemisphere, making for a more comfortable travel experience.
• There may be more available options for flight times and airline seats.
• Travelers are likely to find better prices than during the peak summer travel season, not only for airfare and tour packages, but also for hotels, rental cars and train tickets. Travelers may also find better prices for ocean and river cruises. River cruises continue to be incredibly popular and there are substantial savings in the shoulder seasons for European river cruising.
• With fewer tourists, there are more opportunities to interact with the local culture and have more authentic experiences in the region or at the destination.
• Many theme parks, cities and regions host cultural or food festivals in the Fall and Spring, providing a glimpse of local cuisines and traditions.
AAA Blue Grass