Last year, marketing executive Robin Tan paid an extra $200 for a $5,000 package tour for two to Hokkaido during December.
That was because he booked his trip only in August. Says the 28-year-old: 'I thought I was early already. Turned out I was not.'
They went for two weeks and returned a day after Christmas.
This time round, a wiser Mr Tan secured his December holiday in July. He will be having a white Christmas in Europe with his wife. The two-week trip for two to Italy and Switzerland ending on Christmas Eve cost him $7,500.
'I make it a point to travel every year,' he says. 'We travel only during this period because my wife is a teacher and it is the school holidays. Another reason is I like cold countries.'
His advice: 'Always book early, especially for package tours because prices are jacked up after the agencies secure a certain number of customers on a tour.'
That is indeed a good tip, especially as travel operators say year-end holiday packages are being snapped up very quickly this year.
According to them, the mad December rush is due to pent-up demand from the economic slowdown in the first half of the year.
A spokesman for UOB Travel Planners, which is seeing an increase of 30 per cent in year-end sales compared with last year's, says: 'Many families may have put their mid-year holiday plans on hold for a longer and well-deserved break this year- end.'
SA Tours says it has only 'pockets of seats left' for its popular December destinations, with just 5 to 7 per cent for destinations such as Japan and Taiwan.
Over at Chan Brothers, more than 70 per cent of its Ilan Taiwan package have been taken up and the agency recently launched new departures on chartered flights by China Airlines to cater to the overwhelming response.
Korea is another favourite for Asian winter holidays with ASA Holidays reporting only 5 per cent availability for its packages.
Tour operators say other popular destinations for Singaporeans include Vietnam, Bali, North Asia and the United States. They advise customers to secure their bookings up to six months in advance if they want the best deals.
Airlines, too, are reporting good business for the year-end. They say while seats are generally still available, they are selling faster than usual.
According to budget carrier JetStar Asia, which flies to cities in South-east Asia as well as Hong Kong and Australia, its ticket bookings for December are up by 5 to 10 per cent, compared with last year's. Popular destinations include Bali and Macau.
Singapore Airlines, too, is seeing an increase in ticket bookings for this period compared to last year, although it would not reveal actual figures.
But spokesman Stephen Forshaw says: 'Australia is a perpetual favourite over Christmas for Singaporeans.'
There are also certain hot dates to take note of if you are planning to travel at the end of the year.
According to travel agencies, they would include the stretch starting from mid-November and running into early December, as that is when the school holidays commence.
Industry sources say families looking to beat the festive crowd usually head out and finish their holidays during this period.
Next would be the public holiday stretches. Says a spokesman for SA Tours: 'The long weekends due to public holidays are packed as everyone is generally looking at the same dates.'
They include the weekend starting on the Saturday of Dec 6, which runs into Hari Raya Haji on Dec 8.
Going, going, gone
According to SA Tours, it has only 5 per cent of seats left for the year-end period to destinations such as Japan, Korea and some parts of China, and the figure is 'dwindling by the day'.
Chan Brothers Travel says its tours to West America - covering Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco - only have a 5 per cent availability, but for the Christmas period, they are sold out.
The Christmas stretch starts midweek from Dec 24, a Wednesday, all the way till Dec 31 and into the New Year. According to ASA Holidays, about 70 per cent of its packages for popular destinations in this period are sold out.
Sales executive Vincent Ke, 28, is one lucky person who has booked a trip to Taiwan with his wife from Dec 21 to 27.
Says the 28-year-old, who signed up for the trip in July: 'We like the idea of spending Christmas overseas, can take fewer days of leave.'
But if you are already too late, perhaps you can take the advice of Mr B. Karjee, who is heading back to India with his family in December to visit relatives.
The Singapore permanent resident says if it was not for his annual home leave, he would not choose the peak period for a holiday as it is simply too packed.
But the 46-year-old technical services officer has this recommendation for those who have to go somewhere: 'With careful planning, you can just go on a long drive up to Malaysia to avoid booking problems.'
Top photo: Singapore holiday-makers are drawn by the cold weather of countries such as Japan and Korea during December. Blanketed by a layer of fresh snow, elegant wooden inns line both sides of Japan's Ginzan-gawa River
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Sept 30, 2008.
