When is the Best Time to Get Summer Camp Discounts?

If sending your child to camp seems to get more expensive every year, trust us - it's not an illusion.  One of the main reasons why is because most camps need to raise prices each year to keep up with rising operating costs.

Counselor salaries, program and activity improvements, insurance premiums and so forth are increasingly difficult costs for camps to absorb. Typically, a given camp's only solution is to pass these costs on to you in the form of higher tuition rates, otherwise they couldn't stay open summer after summer.

Hot Summer Camp Discount Tip

Now even though camps seem to raise prices every year, that doesn't mean you can't save good money.
To the contrary, many camps generally offer very nice savings opportunities at various times throughout the year.

Here's a hot tip to help you save money on summer camp. Even though you could probably get at least a small discount (and maybe more than just a small one) simply by asking the camp director what they can do for you, most camps offer their biggest discounts of the year during the fall for the upcoming summer after their current year's program just ended.

Why do Camps Offer Their Best Discounts in the Fall?

Just to reiterate, you will generally always get your best discount from any camp during the fall months of September through November. This is because camps are seasonal businesses and only have a limited window of time to generate as much income as possible until the next money-making summer season rolls around. During the fall, camps don't usually make any income whatsoever -- it's their slowest income stream period of the year, so camp directors are often willing to do whatever it takes to get at least SOME money in during their slowest off-season months. "Whatever it takes" is good news for you, because it means offering some really nice discounts for the upcoming summer if you're willing to pay in advance.

What Kind of Discounts Are We Talking About?

How does 50% off grab you? That's right, we've seen some camps offering as much as a 50% discount for families who sign up for next summer's camp during the previous fall.  (In other words, you'd need to and prepay in full for summer 2017 during the fall of 2016 to get a 50% discount.)

While the size of this rather large 50% discount may be an exception to the rule, there's no doubt you can find several camps offering incredible savings opportunities of varying degrees throughout L.A. by doing a little online research. We suggest Googling, "Fall season summer camp discounts" or something close.

The point to remember is when you sign up for camp during the fall for the upcoming summer, you'll discover lots of opportunities to save money which would not be available to you by waiting just a few months longer until the tradition camp enrollment season starts, demand for camp increases, and enrollment activity is  highest everywhere.