It’s the first full week of fall and for Iowans who didn’t take a vacation over the summer, now may be the perfect time to make plans and go. Travel agent Chris McGinnis says we’re in the middle of two peak travel seasons and there are plenty of good deals to be found.

“We’re in a valley right now, right after Labor Day to mid-October when people start getting ready to go home for Thanksgiving,” McGinnis says. “It’s a great time to travel. It’s actually my favorite time of year to travel because the weather is great, demand is way down so there are fewer crowds and prices really do tumble.” McGinnis says there are many perks to taking a fall vacation.

“The crowds are fewer,” he says. “The people that work in the big resorts that are packed with people all summer and they’re tired and grumpy are all of a sudden in great moods because they’re dealing with fewer people and it makes the whole travel experience that much better. Everybody’s in a great mood.”

McGinnis says the deals during this in-between season are unbelievable. “Coastal places that are very popular during the summer, Florida amusement parks offer very good deals,” he says. “You can get package deals at hotels near Disney that you normally can’t get. The Rocky Mountain region at this time of year is a very good deal. You have beautiful weather. You’ve got beautiful accommodations at ski resorts that are in their low season so they offer very low rates.”

While you will save money on hotels and resort packages, getting to your destination remains costly. He says gasoline prices remain high, averaging $3.49 a gallon on average in Iowa, the same as the national average.

Iowans who are planning one last vacation before the year is out need to book their flights within the next few days or face very expensive airfares. Travel consultant Jeanenne Tornatore says you might consider celebrating the holidays at home and waiting until after December 25th to get away.

“If you are flexible with your travel and you want to go during those off times, typically we see that the week following Christmas tends to be a less-traveled week,” Tornatore says. “Often, if you want to head to those popular destinations like Orlando or Vegas, going the week after the big holidays can be a really great time to go and a really great time to save.”

College football fans are headed for bowl games, as the Hawkeyes are playing in Florida and the Cyclones will be in Arizona. She says Iowans can save a bundle on bowl game trips by adjusting their schedules slightly. “Those days when most people are going to be traveling to and from that destination, which for a bowl game is probably the day before and the day after the game, if you can travel a couple of days early and be flexible with your travel and come back a day or two later, you’re going to avoid some of those crowds and you’re going to avoid the really packed flights,” Tornatore says.

“The more full your flight is, the more expensive your airline tickets are going to be.” She says the three most popular weeks for travel this year were or will be: Christmas, Thanksgiving and July 4th. Tornatore says many Iowans delayed traveling earlier in the year.

“What we saw in 2009 was that, at the beginning of the year, people were wondering if they were really going to be able to afford that vacation and what they saw as the year went on was that destinations were really making it a buyer’s market for travelers,” Tornatore says.

“Places they thought they couldn’t go for a vacation actually were within their reach.” During all of 2009, she says the most popular destinations for Iowans were: Phoenix, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.