With school back in session, is now the best time to bag a travel bargain? Pól Ó Conghaile, Travel Editor of the Irish Independent, brings Dearbhail through some of the value to be had in Irish and foreign holidays in the off-peak period. Listen back above.
While in years gone by flight prices would plummet off a cliff once August ended, Ó Conghaile says that nowadays "there are different sized cliffs": "It doesn't tumble as dramatically as we used to see it."
Of course, intense hot weather across the world and Europe in particular is one reason by more travellers are choosing to book their holidays in September and October, he says, but there is still a "significant drop" in prices when you come out of August.
By October, he adds, "the airlines flick the switch and put their winter schedules on".
Although gaming the algorithm is an area of fervid fixation for travellers trying to save some money, Ó Conghaile questions if chasing a bargain in that way is worthwhile:
"The whole weight of the industry and the algorithms are out there against you and if you're not talking your kids out of school, you have to go in the two months when everyone else wants to go and it's peak heat and peak season and everything is open."
One "super power", he says, is flexibility.
"If you're not pinned to a particular place and you're not pinned to a particular day of the week, all of a sudden [possibilities are] blown wide open."
For example, if you wanted to fly from Dublin to Lanzarote, planning your trip for the weeks either side of the October midterm will nab you tickets for as little as €30 a flight, he says.
In contrast, if you wanted to go from the Saturday to the Saturday of the October midterm, you'll pay around €250 each way.
Looking to the shoulder season can also save money. Ó Conghaile says to "look at it like a bell curve, so July and August are the peak months and either side of that are the shoulders. So you're looking at June and May and you're looking at September and October".
Beyond that is the off season, when airlines flip to the winter schedule.
If you're in the market for winter sun, the Canaries is a forever favourite for Irish travellers, although Ó Conghaile suggests visiting Morocco for something different or Greece for the last hurrah of the summer season.
Greece in particular is in its wind down period in September and October: the seas are still warm, the crowds are dwindling, ferries are still running, which makes it an ideal time to visit.
In Ireland, meanwhile, Ó Conghaile says that his suggestion is to book a week off in November before the chaos of Christmas travel, midweek. "That is, combined with late January and early February, the cheapest time to travel in Ireland."
Among the benefits of off-peak travel is getting to visit more expensive locations for less money, he adds. For example, Limerick's Adare Manor is "half the price in November that it is in September", while Tipperary's Cashel Palace is 25% cheaper.
These are, of course, "extravagant prices", he notes, but there are savings to made compared to other times of the year.
