You Should Plan Your 2025 Travel During These Dead Weeks
Peak travel days, weeks and seasons are busy for a reason: there is usually some combination of ideal weather conditions, a calendar full of popular events, and/or a built-in day off during holidays or school breaks. But the trade-off for holidays during these periods is higher prices and more crowds, so if you have flexibility in your schedule, you may be better off booking trips for 2025 during the so-called dead weeks.
What are “dead weeks”?
Unlike shoulder seasons, which are several weeks or even months between the high season and the off-season, dead weeks are short and specific periods of time when there is a lull in travel. They can often be found between or just after the peak of travel. As The Points Guy notes , there are several dead weeks a year:
-
January: The week after New Year’s until Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
-
January to February: Weeks between MLK Day and President’s Day.
-
September: week after Labor Day.
-
November to December: Two weeks after Thanksgiving, from about midweek after the holiday weekend until mid-December.
Note that the exact dates may vary slightly from year to year, but you’ll generally find good deals on accommodation (both hotel and vacation rentals) and airfare during these time periods, as well as cruises and tours.
Of course, the longer off-season may also be a good time to book a trip, as it promises fewer crowds and lower fares, as well as good weather. (Prices can also be low during the off-season, but you’re also more likely to experience store closures and difficult weather conditions.)
How to find off-week travel deals
You can find deals on off-peak travel the same way you can during any other period: just focus your search on general time periods and allow flexibility in your arrival and departure dates. We have a list of the best websites for finding travel deals , such as Skyscanner, but you can also use Google Flights and other major travel search engines and comparison tools.