If the cold weather has you thinking about a quick junket to a sunny destination, this winter travel season is offering up two rare items — seats and deals.
It’s rare at this time of year to find available seats for last-minute travel, but there are still spots available on southbound planes, said Nikola Berube, director of sales for AMA Travel.
“Some flights only have maybe two or four seats left on them so there’s not a lot but there is still space,” she said.
Berube is booking all-inclusive Mexican getaways for $550 a person for a week, leaving this weekend. She also has packages leaving on Christmas and New Year’s Day starting at $1,100 a person. She hasn’t seen these types of prices since 1999.
Last minute deals require that travellers be flexible about their destination, departure time and type of hotel.
“If somebody is just saying, ‘I’d like a nice four star in Mexico anywhere, leave this weekend, what’s your best deal,’ we’ve got that available,” Berube said.
Since the current cold snap hit the Edmonton area, calls have increased 50 per cent and sales 20 per cent, she said.
Popular destinations at this time of year include Mexican spots like Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, as well as Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
According to The Weather Network, Cancun, Mexico and Kingston, Jamaica reached 30 C Tuesday while Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic reached 28 C. Puerto Vallarta was 26 C.
Edmonton-area highs are forecast to be around -14 C on Wednesday and Thursday, then dipping below -20 C until next Monday, according to Environment Canada.
For those who are considering a getaway for over Christmas, there are still seats available but supply is limited.
“Usually when people call in December and want to go over Christmas, the typical response has been ‘uh-uh, sold out.’ Today it’s, ‘let me check,’” Berube said.
St. Albert travel consultant Kari Pucci said she hasn’t noticed an increase in calls since the cold snap hit.
“It’s been quiet but I also think the majority of things are getting snapped up and sold out so there isn’t a lot to choose from anyway,” she said.
She thinks the current cold snap is also too close to Christmas to prompt spontaneous travel.
“If this were in November, I think we’d be getting lots of calls from people saying, ‘get me out of here,’” she said.
Spots on cruise ships begin to fill a year in advance but there are still some spots available now for last minute travellers, said Stephen Hennigan, owner of Cruiseshipcenters in St. Albert.
“It really depends on the ship and the destination,” he said. “If you wanted to go on a quick trip to Mexico, there would probably be space available.”
The cold weather isn’t making his phones ring any more than usual.
“The phones ring anyway,” Hennigan said. “It’s called wave season in the cruise industry. The wave season tends to begin sometime around mid-October and it’s busy straight through until April.”
