Even if you haven’t yet booked your national park vacation for this summer, there is still hope, according to concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts. By following a few simple suggestions, any traveler can enjoy an affordable and memorable vacation in one the country’s most spectacular settings, even with as little as 24 hours’ notice.
“Advance bookings for national park lodges by both domestic and international travelers are strong this summer, so the key to successfully reserving a room in a park at the last minute is to be flexible and persistent,” said Judi Lages, vice president of sales and marketing for Xanterra.
Lages offers these tips for planning a last-minute national park vacation.
1. Be informed. Visit Xanterra’s web site at www.xanterra.com for general information on the parks operated by Xanterra as well as lodging descriptions, rates and availability. Rooms can be booked online too at www.travelyellowstone.com, www.grandcanyonlodges.com, www.zionlodge.com, www.brycecanyonlodge.com, www.craterlakelodges.com and www.furnacecreekresort.com (Death Valley). Another good source of information on national parks is the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov.
2. Be flexible. Because some people make their plans far in advance, they often have to change or cancel existing reservations. Be as flexible as possible with travel dates and choice of lodging and you stand a better chance of getting a room on short notice. Check the website frequently to see if rooms have become available.
3. Be timely. International tour operators reserve blocks of rooms up to two years in advance in anticipation of selling these rooms as part of tour packages to the United States. If all the rooms are not sold, operators must release them for resale 30 days out. Want to travel on July 30? Call first thing on June 30.
4. Be persistent. If you are not successful when you call or try to book online, try again. Rooms open up – and are often very quickly re-booked – every day.
5. Be a bargain-hunter. National Park vacations are a great value, and prices at lodges, restaurants and gift shops inside the parks can be lower than prices at facilities outside the parks. This is partly because every room, meal and souvenir sold by a concessioner within a national park is priced based on comparable items outside a park. The National Park Service monitors and approves all rates charged within the boundaries of every national park in the country.
6. Book activities and make dinner reservations. Dining rooms do fill, so if you want a meal in one of the lodges, plan ahead. Popular activities like the Old West Cookout at Yellowstone’s Roosevelt Lodge fill up fast too. Phone numbers can be easily found on park web sites.
