Vol. 2, No. 1 - National Parks - It Pays to Think Ahead

By the end of the Summer of '09, many of us here at Tracks & Trails were noticing some new gray hairs on our heads. What we expected to be a year for hunkering down and riding out a travel industry recession turned into a surprisingly good year for National Park travel and a great year for Tracks & Trails. (Whew!) But that's not the whole story. What caused the gray hair was the fact that so many of our customers waited until the last possible moment to book their RV trips. And when that happens, things can get ugly.

It was completely understandable, considering the economic situation, and we're certainly not complaining. We love working hard for our clients, and we always do everything we can to make each family's National Park driving trip as good as it can be -- no matter how much lead time they give us. But as that lead time shrinks, so does our ability to do all the little things that make our trips so special.

We know from 12 years of experience that some areas fill up more quickly than others. If you contact us in May or June for a trip to Yellowstone over the July 4th holiday, be prepared for your Trip Consultant to inquire about your second choice.

Or if you are thinking about visiting Yosemite in the summer during peak time, we need at least 6 months of lead time especially if you want to have a chance at camping inside the park. And while it's usually the same story with travel in western Canada, we're seeing more summer-time availability at this time of year when compared to the past.

Even in a slow year, the RV rental companies begin running out of inventory months in advance of their busiest mid-summer weeks. So it's not unusual for us to encounter sold-out situations in March when we are booking with high-quality RV suppliers for rentals during July and August. If you choose to wait too long to make your RV vacation decision, we may offer you the option of changing your travel dates, switching to a different destination, or accepting a vehicle from a supplier that would not have been our first choice for you.

And if that's not enough to convince you to fly with the Early Birds, you should also know that most RV rental companies - just like the airlines - steadily increase rates as availability declines. Booking early can save 25% or more compared to a last-minute booking.

We have personally visited nearly every campground in the western National Parks. While we're there, we take careful notes on which campsites are the roomiest and have the best views. If you book early, you have a much better chance to get those choice campsites! Later in the season, we can't be so picky. If our first campground choice is completely booked, we will choose the best alternative. If those are booked too, we may offer you the option of altering your itinerary to skip that area altogether. And if the pickings get really slim we may suggest that you reconsider your trip or try again next year.

Please know that we're not trying to scare you into settling on a vacation before you're ready. We know that it's a big decision. And what is also true is that the National Parks have become a very popular vacation choice and we want your Tracks & Trails vacation to be the best possible. So, the moment you decide that this is the year for a National Park road trip, give us a call. We'll put your name on all the good stuff before it's gone!