Off-season travel used to mean smaller crowds and cheaper rates because not as many people were traveling, writes Elaine Glusac for The New York Times.

Not anymore.

This year, hotel rates have stayed high even past summer into the traditionally low-travel month of November.

“People are making choices to avoid the crowds and the heat,” said Virgi Schiffino Kennedy, the founder of Lux Voyage, a travel agency in Newtown Square.

“I’m seeing summer rates creeping into shoulder season,” she added.

Destinations like Santorini and Mykonos in Greece that normally peak in July and August “are now impossible to book in September,” she said. 

Off-season was also the time of year when kids were back in school, and families tended to stay put.  

Again, not anymore.

Schiffino Kennedy said her family clients are adding days onto long weekends.

“Clients call with their school calendar in front of them, looking to make the most of holidays,” she said.

Kennedy said she’s guilty of the practice herself. On Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 9, she’s taking her 9-year-old daughter out of school a few extra days to take a five-day trip to Sedona, Ariz., and the Grand Canyon.

Find out what’s going on these days with off-season travel in The New York Times.