4 places to go right after New Year's Eve for stellar travel deals

For most, the winter holiday season is one of the most popular times of the year to travel. With much of the country plunged into below-freezing temperatures and families looking to spend quality time together, millions hit the road—or the skies—to take trips around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

After years of suppressed travel demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel is back in a big way—and predictably, when demand for travel soars, so do the prices. If you have any flexibility in your travel plans, it may pay off many times over to wait out the holiday season and plan a vacation for mid-January. In many cases, flight and hotel prices drop significantly and the crowds thin out as kids are back in school.

Ahead, dig into the destinations that can offer up some serious savings post-holiday season. The prices you’ll find below were available at the time of publishing, but costs can fluctuate rapidly when it comes to booking travel. We’ve compiled these examples to help you get an idea of what can be possible, but you’ll want to do your own research into your preferred destination to make sure the prices work for you before making plans.

South Florida—and Miami in particular—is a perennially popular destination. It offers easy access from most parts of the country and an endless list of options for eating, drinking, cultural experiences, and, of course, beautiful sunny weather almost year-round.

But getting there during the holiday season isn’t cheap. Take, for example, a nonstop United Airlines flight from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale (Pro tip: Fort Lauderdale Airport is a viable—and often easier—alternative to Miami International Airport). If you were to travel over the Christmas holiday from December 22 to December 27, 2022, you’d have to hand over almost $550 for a round-trip nonstop flight in economy. However, if you hold off a few weeks and choose to travel from January 19 to January 24, 2023, you can get the same round-trip nonstop flights for $250.

A similar situation plays out when we look at accommodations. If you want to treat yourself to a luxurious stay at the oceanfront W South Beach during the week of Christmas, you’d pay more than $1,700 per night. A few weeks later, from January 19 to January 24, 2023, we found the rates at the W drop to $936 per night. While not an inexpensive rate by any stretch of the imagination, it still represents an almost 50 percent drop in price by simply waiting until January to travel.

Just like many other warm-weather destinations, travel to Puerto Rico is very expensive over popular holidays. If you’re looking to travel during the week of Christmas, Delta Air Lines is charging an eye-watering $894 for round-trip nonstop flights between New York’s Kennedy Airport and San Juan. Just a few weeks later, from January 19 to January 24, 2023, you can book the same Delta flights for a comparatively cheap $335 round-trip and save $559 per ticket in the process.

Booking a hotel offers a similar story. Looking at rates at the luxurious and ever-popular oceanfront Condado Vanderbilt Hotel, rates soar to more than $690 per night to stay over the Christmas holiday. Push your plans back a few weeks later between January 19 to January 24, 2023 and the rates drop to $471 per night, saving travelers more than $200 per night.

For West Coast residents, reaching Hawaii is relatively easy thanks to many nonstop flights to the islands, but it’s certainly not an inexpensive destination—and this rings even more true around the holidays.

Consider this: If you were to fly from Los Angeles to Honolulu between December 22 and December 28, 2022, you’d likely shell out more than $640 for round-trip nonstop flights with Hawaiian Airlines. Waiting a few weeks and booking your trip for January 18 to January 24, 2023 pays off. During this timeframe, we see round-trip nonstop flights on Hawaiian Airlines drop to $237 round trip, a savings of $410 per ticket. You see the trend.

For lodging, it’s more of the same, especially in Honolulu. Take, for example, the oceanfront Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa. Over Christmas, expect to pay more than $460 per night for a base-level room. Just a few weeks later in January, room rates drop to $289 per night—that’s a savings of $180 per night.

If you want to spend your days gliding down some snowy slopes, you can’t go wrong in Colorado. With world-famous resorts in towns like Aspen, Vail, Breckenridge, and more, skiers will be endlessly entertained in this gorgeous state.

Let’s dig into a travel scenario and break down the savings. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and are set on a Christmastime aprés ski, you’re looking at nonstop round-trip flights to Denver with United for $494 per ticket. Looking at dates for a four-day weekend in January—between the 19th and the 23rd—you’ll pay just $198 for similar nonstop round-trip United flights to Denver, resulting in a savings of $296 per ticket.

Finding a place to lay your head at night gets expensive, too. A night at the Highline Vail - A DoubleTree Resort will cost $655 between December 23 and December 27, 2022. But if you decide to wait until January, you can book the same hotel for $429 per night from January 19 through 23, 2023, saving you $226 per night. That’s a lot of post-ski snacks.

While it’s not always the case, it’s a relatively safe bet that you’ll save money on vacations if you consider postponing your holiday vacation a few weeks into January. If anything, it’s a worthy consideration if you’re looking to travel on a budget. You can save hundreds—in some cases, thousands—of dollars in popular vacation destinations around the country by avoiding peak holiday periods. Plus, you’ll likely experience fewer crowds and less of the holiday travel chaos. After all, being stuck in a never-ending TSA line is far from the best way to experience the holiday spirit.