Editing Take a trip in shoulder season

Libby Kane / Business InsiderThe see from our balcony at sunset within Fira, Santorini. There is nothing more tiresome than spending hours scouring the web trying to find the best price on every component of your vacation. <br>So I don't. <br>Instead, I make a single choice that saves me a fortune: I select to travel in "shoulder season. "<br>This period of time is the months leading toward or away from the high season. <br>In the Caribbean, high season is the winter. In most of Europe, it is the summer. <br><br>It's the period when that place is best shown to its advantage, so people see it.  <br>It's also the most expensive time to go because the tourism business knows what's up. <br>By choosing to travel six to eight weeks before or after high season, I save money upon flights, accommodations, car rentals, and most everything else by making one decision and never thinking about it again. <br>It seems obvious, but a lot of people don't do it. <br>It isn't the off-season. I'm not really going during monsoon season or blizzards. Really, the only difference is a few degrees - a light cardigan, or removal thereof. <br><br>And the particular financial benefits are huge. For example, a friend and I went to the Cyclades Islands in Greece a few years back, choosing to go in early May instead of summer, the peak season. <br>When I plug a 12-day trip for the same dates into Kayak : leaving on the last day associated with April, the same days we traveled - the cheapest flight with one particular layover is $562: <br>Kayak. com<br>In early August, the results are almost twice the price, even though we'd end up being booking further in advance: <br><br>Kayak. com<br>Bear in mind that isn't a perfect assessment. It involved no acrobatics to get the cheapest possible flight, nor immediate comparisons of flights leaving plus arriving at the same time on the same day of the week, nor analyses of how airline prices fluctuate. It took me all five minutes - which is kind of the idea. <br><br>Here's another basic illustration: Lodging were cheaper, too. On Santorini, we stayed at - the particular marvelous - Atlantis Hotel within Fira, which charges 240 euros, about $262, per night for the incredible caldera-view room in early May. <br><br>Atlantis Hotel  <br>Using the same Sunday-through-Wednesday dates in August, that hotel is asking 320 euros - about $350 - per night: <br>Atlantis Hotel<br>Admittedly, I don't have children and feel not limited by the school calendar, plus my job isn't so highly seasonal that I wouldn't be able to vacation in May rather than August, so I'm lucky enough that this strategy is easily achievable. Plus, I generally don't brain that I have to put a windbreaker over my bikini to see the coves of Santorini or the town associated with Mykonos. <br><br>It's less expensive, less crowded, and just as wonderful.  <br>If you have your center absolutely set on tanning on a yacht, I concede that this strategy might not be for you. Although if we are going to talking Mediterranean, you could try September! <br>I could keep giving examples - We used the same strategy when I went to the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain in late May/early 06 last year with another friend - but there's really no need. Simply by traveling in the shoulder season instead of the high season, I've consistently had the opportunity to save hundreds, if not thousands, associated with dollars on incredible trips by causing a two-minute choice. <br><br><br>SEE FURTHERMORE: I took advantage of the strong US dollar to spend 11 days touring Spain, and it was completely worth it