Journey in shoulder season

Libby Kane / Business InsiderThe view from our balcony at sunset in Fira, Santorini. There is nothing more tedious than spending hours scouring the internet trying to find the best price on every element of your vacation. <br>So I may. <br>Instead, I make a single choice that saves me a fortune: I choose to travel in "shoulder season. "<br>This period of time is the months leading towards or away from the high season. <br>In the Caribbean, high season could be the winter. In most of Europe, it is the summer. <br><br>It's the period when that place is best proven to its advantage, so people go see it.  <br>It's also the priciest time to go because the tourism business knows what's up. <br>By choosing traveling six to eight weeks before or right 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 even blizzards. Really, the only difference is really a few degrees - a light jacket, or removal thereof. <br><br>And the financial benefits are huge. For instance, a friend and I went to the Cyclades Islands in Greece a few years ago, choosing to go in early May rather than summer, the peak season. <br>When I plug a 12-day vacation for the same dates into Kayak - leaving on the last day associated with April, the same days we traveled - the cheapest flight with 1 layover is $562: <br>Kayak. com<br>In early August, the results are almost twice the price, even though we'd become booking further in advance: <br><br>Kayak. com<br>Bear in mind that isn't a perfect evaluation. It involved no acrobatics to find the cheapest possible flight, nor direct comparisons of flights leaving and arriving at the same time on the same day of the week, nor analyses of how flight 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 in Fira, which charges 240 pounds, about $262, per night for our incredible caldera-view room in early Might. <br><br>Atlantis Hotel  <br>Using the same Sunday-through-Wednesday dates within August, that hotel is requesting 320 euros - about $350 - per night: <br>Atlantis Hotel<br>Admittedly, I don't have children and are not limited by the school calendar, plus my job isn't so extremely seasonal that I wouldn't be able to traveling in May rather than August, so I am just 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 cheaper, less crowded, and just as gorgeous.  <br>If you have your coronary heart absolutely set on tanning on the yacht, I concede that this technique might not be for you. Although if we're 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 making a two-minute choice. <br><br><br>SEE FURTHERMORE: I took advantage of the strong US dollar to spend 11 times touring Spain, and it was totally worth it