Shoulder Season=Bargains

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SPRING In late March and early April, ski resorts have a deep base and sunny days, but prices for lift tickets and condo rentals take a dive as the country’s attention moves away from cold-weather sports. This also is a quiet time to visit the western United States, before the summer vacationers arrive. Flight prices to Europe, start rising when temperatures do, but rates are still far cheaper than during the summer. So are hotel rooms and package deals. This can be a good time to see the tulip fields of Holland or the green hills of Ireland. Starting in mid April, hotel rates and flights to Mexican beaches and the Caribbean drop sharply, because Americans who live in our Northern regions are experiencing spring. From Jamaica to Tobago (including the Bahamas, though, they are not in the Caribbean Sea), the water is warm and the beaches are less crowded. Flights to Central and South America often drop in tandem, except around Carnival and Easter. Many cruises offer their lowest rates in May, especially “repositioning cruises,” in which vessels move from the warm-winter ports of Florida to their summertime ports, especially in Alaska and to the Mediterranean. March through May is also a good time for deals in Hawaii. These months are autumn in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, meaning shoulder-season rates on flights and lodging. March through May are great times to visit hot, dry countries such as Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. SUMMER Summer is the toughest time to find a bargain, mostly because demand is so high from vacationing North Americans, Europeans and the Japanese. Add June weddings and honeymoons to the mix and a lot of people are on the move. However, in June and early July, Caribbean and Mexican destinations are at their lowest shoulder-season prices, before Europeans start filling resorts in August and the rains start afterward. Flights from Tampa to the Bahamas, for examples, can drop below $150 during this time. Beautiful but less-visited destinations provide great lodging and driving deals: Venezuela’s Margarita Island, the Bay Islands of Honduras and the coast and islands of Belize. June to September is shoulder season in Kenya and Tanzania; the weather is still cool and dry. This is an excellent time to go on a safari. In Canada, there is a short shoulder season for national parks in the first two weeks of June and the last two weeks of August. Top it off with a stay in a Canadian city, where even high-season prices are lower than the United States when there is a favorable currency-exchange rate. While it is summer in North America, it is winter in the southern hemisphere, but you will find beach weather without the summer humidity in Rio de Janeiro. Few Brazilians are on the move during this time, so rooms are plentiful. If you can stand the heat, you will find flights and hotels only slightly higher than the spring in Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam. Meanwhile, in the United States, prices fall where the heat rises the most: Orlando, New Orleans, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Tim Leffel is a freelance writer and author of “The World’s Cheapest Destinations: 21 Countries Where Your Dollars Are Worth a Fortune.” Find out more @ worldscheapestdestina tions.com. Source: St. Petersburg Times, Travel Section 2004.http://www.worldscheapestdestinations.comhttp://www.worldscheapestdestinations.comshapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1