Fall travel deals could save you big bucks: 7 On Your Side has tips as summer wraps up

NEW YORK (WABC) — Looking for travel deals as summer wraps up? Fall is the season for you.

The combo of slightly cooler temperatures and less traffic turns out to be better for our wallets.

Domestic flights are 19% cheaper in September compared to November, and you’ll save 8% on average to travel overseas.

Even if you road trip locally from Cape May to Montauk, rentals are a lot less this month but hard to find as many people take advantage of softer prices to extend their summer.

“I don’t know if I should be saying this but September is one of the best months to be here local summer after Labor Day, it’s still such a beautiful time of the year, crowds die down a bit,” said Manasquan homeowner Matt Cosentino.

Jersey Shore homeowners Matt and Maggie Cosentino fell into a fall surprise this year. Renters booked their Manasquan house just blocks from the beach for most of the month.

“Anywhere from young 20’s, to families from North Jersey, New England,” Matt Cosentino said.

Extending the summer with a local rental or a flight in the autumn is a way to save and see parts of the country or the world for a lot less. The travel industry calls this “shoulder season.”

“Really simply it sits on shoulder, in between a peak season and a low season,” said Going.com travel expert Katy Nastro.

Nastro says fall of 2025 has a new favorite in the far east.

“According to our going data, we are seeing so many people are searching for Tokyo,” Nastro said. “Just recently we found a really great price on the Going app for nonstop on a full-service carrier from Newark Airport out to Tokyo — get this — $771 round trip. That’s just under 40% off.”

The locals in Barcelona will thank you for coming after the summer tourists leave.

“New York to Barcelona: $282. That’s like 60% off,” Nastro said.

Other international destination deals for September are off the beaten path.

You can explore Eastern Europe from New York to Prague for $390, or Budapest for $404 roundtrip, and you can fly to Albania on the coast just below Croatia with far less crowds for $416.

“Domestically, we see September as the best value month,” Nastro said. “For example, you can fly to Palm Springs, direct, for only $187 roundtrip.”

Other fall fares you should watch… check out Florida. You can’t beat the prices for the last week of September roundtrip to Miami on a budget carrier at just $58 nonstop.

Right now, we’re in what you call a “goldilocks window,” not too early and not too late, but just right for booking flights for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The rule of thumb is one to three months in advance for domestic, and two to eight months ahead for international.

So, if Easter is early this year, April 5, you better be locking down that Easter airfare. The time to act is now.

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