pull their kids out of school <\/a>for a couple of days to save a bit of money.\u00a0 There is overflow at the last minute to these nearby dates because the main dates are sold out or very expensive.\u00a0 The sooner, the better for choice and pricing.<\/p>\nSpring Break Weeks<\/strong>: Spring Break is a North American phenomenon.\u00a0 For Americans, it tends to be around the Easter Break, and this can affect hotel pricing and availability even if it is not Spring Break in Canada (example, Cancun).\u00a0 Each province has different spring breaks that can affect pricing.\u00a0 Flights, and flight included packages will be affected by your Spring Break and other boards as well, sometimes including other provinces<\/span>.\u00a0 Cruises are often great value for Canadian spring breaks because our demand will not affect the overall North American cruise pricing.\u00a0 If you book your flights well in advance and a cruise, you will not pay the huge Spring Break premiums on vacation packages from Canada.<\/p>\nUniversity & College Reading Weeks:<\/strong>\u00a0 There are two primary weeks in February where most Canadian University and Colleges offer breaks.\u00a0 These are high demand weeks as well, as professors, teachers, students and their travelling companions fly back home to visit friends and relatives, head south for sunshine, or even to ski-hills and chalets.<\/p>\nLong Weekends:<\/strong>\u00a0 Any North American long weekend or short week (Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Victoria Day, Family Day, etc.), you\u2019ll find demand for flights within Canada (visiting friends and relatives), short stays in the US for weekends (New York, Chicago etc.), and even one week packages that include a holiday (less holiday time off work).<\/p>\nThe best deals will occur on Canadian specific long weekends, as there will not be any bump in weekend prices from Americans competing for hotel rooms.\u00a0 So Victoria Day, Civic Holiday, Canadian Thanksgiving, etc. are great weekends to hop over the border for a 2 or 3 night getaway to the USA.<\/p>\n
US Thanksgiving:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is the biggest peak travel period in the US and Canadians always forget it.\u00a0 It is bigger than Christmas with people all over the US returning home for the Thanksgiving long weekend.\u00a0 Americans are stingy with holiday time, and so the couple of days before and after straddling the weekend are also in hot demand.\u00a0 Remember, it\u2019s the third Thursday in November and keep in mind all the craziness of Black Friday.<\/p>\nHigh Season in Destinations:<\/strong>\u00a0 Some destinations have definite high and low seasons, for example, July and August in Europe and February and March for sun destinations.\u00a0 There are exceptions to this that can occur from one year to the next based on market supply, but generally, destinations with high seasons should be booked ahead for the best choice and pricing.\u00a0 This one is trickier to predict.<\/p>\nSmall Hotels, Upgraded Rooms:<\/strong>\u00a0 When supply is limited, it is best to book early.\u00a0 Not only that, a number of suppliers may have the policy of upgrading people to higher categories if they have to put rooms on sale to avoid unhappy customers.\u00a0 With cruise ships, distressed pricing will often come with a \u201cguarantee cabin\u201d \u2013 meaning, no specific cabin assignment.\u00a0 When you want premium rooms, suites, butler service rooms, etc, or the hotel or resort you are going to is small or boutique, book ahead.<\/p>\nAirports Serviced by Small Aircraft:<\/strong>\u00a0 If you live in a small community with connector service to a major airport, you should book ahead.\u00a0 The connector fares are unbeatable value compared to buying separate tickets and the number of seats available for those low connector fares are very limited.\u00a0 If you are connecting from a larger airport (let\u2019s say Ottawa or Halifax) through Toronto or Montreal, while there may be more seats, you need to look at how many flights make the connection work \u2013 often there is only one. Better book ahead \u2013 that connector flight will sell out first as it is likely feeding many more flights from Toronto, Montreal, Calgary or Vancouver.<\/p>\nIf you are flying into a destination serviced by small aircraft (Anguilla, etc) or limited air service, you need to book ahead.<\/p>\n
Peak Times of Day \/ Cruises:<\/strong>\u00a0 Want the 7am weekday flight from Toronto to Montreal and the 5pm return?\u00a0 How about the 7pm flight Friday night to New York and the 6pm flight back Sunday night?\u00a0 If you are meeting a cruise ship in Florida or San Juan, you\u2019ll find that the flights arriving in the morning and departing in the afternoon are at a premium.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason \u2013 they know they will fill them no problem with the thousands of cruise passengers going onto those ships.\u00a0 If you are flying the same day of your cruise, book early.<\/p>\nConventions \/ Big Events:<\/strong>\u00a0 If you are going to a convention or if you are going to a destination when a big convention or event is in town, it goes without saying \u2013 the earlier the better.\u00a0 There are always people that wait until the last minute to book and they end up staying a long way away or getting soaked with very high prices at the last minute.<\/p>\nRegularly Scheduled Flights and Hotels to Cities:<\/strong>\u00a0 Scheduled flights (those operated by the big airlines) and hotels in major cities (that have a business clientele and worldwide leisure travellers) are best booked in advance as opposed to the last minute.\u00a0 For hotels, it\u2019s almost never too early.\u00a0 Often you can book hotels without paying anything in advance, and it\u2019s about getting the best rate with no cancellation penalty.\u00a0 Sometimes the non-refundable prepaid options are a great deal and they are offered in advance.\u00a0 For flights, other than the dates and exceptions listed above, you can actually book too early.\u00a0 We find that for non-peak times, booking too early can result in a high fare which is not protected if the price drops.\u00a0 For average seasonality, we find prices in the 60-30 day range to be quite competitive.\u00a0 Seat sales will occur in advance, and if you can get a seat sale fare well in advance, it is usually worth booking.<\/p>\nLimited Competition:<\/strong>\u00a0 If you\u2019re looking for the hotel in Yellowknife, or a route serviced by only one or two airlines, it\u2019s best to book ahead.\u00a0 Bear in mind the note above about booking too early for flights and seat sales\u2026but in general, do not leave this to the last minute.<\/p>\nWhen you have to be there \u2013 no matter what:<\/strong>\u00a0 Meeting a cruise ship the same day?\u00a0 Going to a wedding?\u00a0\u00a0 An important business meeting?\u00a0 A medical appointment? Peace of mind is worth something \u2013 book ahead and avoid a scramble at the last minute that will cause you more stress than you can imagine.\u00a0 It\u2019s seldom worth it.\u00a0 And in these cases, remember to watch for the tight connection or the flight that only operates once a day \u2013 get in a day early!<\/p>\nFor insight on when booking last minute can\u00a0save you money, click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Booking early for the best price does not require a crystal ball.\u00a0No one can really tell the future of travel pricing.\u00a0 Neither can your stock broker, financial planner, real estate or insurance agent. But here are some general \u201crules of thumb\u201d that apply for booking early for the best price: BOOKING EARLY TO GET THE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":18498,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15628"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15628"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18402,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15628\/revisions\/18402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}