If you are thinking of heading down south this winter, now is the time to book. There are great deals right now - check out Travelocity.ca and Expedia.ca to get started -- but they won't last. Supply is running out especially over hot dates like March Break.

To ensure you have an affordable sun holiday, I would recommend the following:

  • Book now. The travel industry has been savvy this year about playing with the supply and demand of pre-packaged tours. They don't want a repeat of last year where they were forced to sell off an over-supply of packages at low costs. So if you are planning on a dream vacation that you book at the last minute for virtually nothing, you are in for a surprise.
  • Don't go for a week. Go for a six- or an eight- day package vs. a seven-day package.
  • Don't leave on a Saturday. Depart on Sunday or Monday vs. Friday or Saturday.
  • Leave from an alternate airport. For example, if you are in the Vancouver area, search alternate airports to Vancouver International, like Abbotsford and even Victoria or Seattle. And travellers in Southern Ontario should search not just Toronto Pearson, but also Toronto City Centre, Kitchener, London, Hamilton and even border cities like Buffalo and Detroit.
  • DIY travel packages. Because all-inclusive packaged holidays have less supply, consider a do-it-yourself package. Look for combination or package deals when booking a flight, hotel, and/or car at the same time to receive additional savings. Travelocity.ca has a Create Your Own package product that allows you to choose exactly what you want from airline, flights, hotel, room type, car company and car type and only pay a single price for all of the items.
  • Be aware of the size of your group. If you are traveling with a family and trying to budget out destinations, many resorts will not allow five people in a room, even if three of them are children. In Cuba the resorts are even more restrictive, limiting the allowable number of people per room to three.
  • Know the rules. The Mexican government officially announced yesterday that as of March 1, 2010, all travelers require a valid passport for entry into Mexico. Hopefully most of you already have passports, but according to the Mexican government there were 10,000 Canadian visitors in 2009 that did not. So include a trip to the passport office in your plans.

Loren Christie appears regularly on Canada AM. If you have a travel question, email us at traveltips@ctv.ca.