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Airline Travelers Take Advantage of 'Shoulder Season' Deals
posted 09/08/09
7:41 pm
With her passport in hand, recent college graduate Bridgette Ruotolo is off to Spain for three weeks. "I just graduated from college and chose to travel now because it'd be cheaper than in the summer," she said.
The summer travel season is over with Labor Day weekend, but the next two months could be an ideal time to get out of town for less.
"Just like traveling midweek, between Tuesday and Thursday, it's usually cheaper to try and travel than trying to travel on a weekend or Friday night," said Steve Langevin, an Alexandria (web | news) resident.
The travel industry calls it "shoulder season" because September and October are sandwiched between summer vacations and holiday trips. Discounts are deepest to destinations considered off-peak in the fall, including Europe and the Caribbean. Experts say airlines like American, United and Alaska are among the carriers touting Autumn deals.
"Like anything else, [it's] supply and demand," said a traveler. "People are traveling less -- weather is nastier. There's no real need to in many cases until you get into the holidays again."
In addition, the economy has forced many Americans to trim their budgets -- some by clipping coupons. The Promotion Marketing Association says coupon use was up 20 percent in the first half of the year.
"You know what? I think in this economy, we all have to use our money more smartly and I think that a targeted coupon is definitely one way to go," said Kathy Schneider, an Arlington resident.
That's after shoppers saved more than $3 billion with coupons in 2008 -- a small fraction of the more than $400 billion in discounts on packaged goods offered in the United States every year.
The group encourages families to clip and download even more during September, which they've designated as National Coupon Month.
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