In the off season, it’s a traveler’s market

THE number of people traveling to many areas of the world plummets after Sept. 1, and airlines scramble to cut fares to fill their planes.

The South Pacific is one of those places. From Los Angeles to the islands of Tahiti, round-trip travel on Air Tahiti Nui will cost $550 per person on numerous dates this month, and that’s for a flight of 7 1/2 hours each way.

Tickets must be issued by Saturday with travel completed by Oct. 5. For more information, call (877) 824-4846 or see www.airtahitinui-usa.com.

The offers from Air Tahiti Nui are even better for travelers to Australia and New Zealand. For $998, Angelenos can fly in September and October first to the island of Tahiti (whose capital city is Papeete), then to Sydney, Australia, and from there to Auckland, New Zealand, and finally back to L.A., a three-country adventure on what the airline calls a “Toru Air Pass.”

Air Tahiti Nui now flies nonstop between its islands and either Los Angeles or New York (and then onward to the bigger South Pacific nations). The airline offers to obtain hotel accommodations in three locations -- Australia, New Zealand or Tahiti -- for an extra $35 to $55 per person, per night.

Iceland doesn’t enjoy the sunlight that Tahiti does in September and October, but most travelers visit that North Atlantic island for other reasons.

Icelandair charges as little as $492 round-trip between San Francisco and Reykjavik in September and October. Crowds are noticeably diminished then, and Iceland’s hotels have yawning vacancies, lower rates and special attractions. Go to www.icelandair.com for details.

Throughout the fall, Club Med offers reduced rates for stays at its all-inclusive resorts in Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico and Tahiti. Those prices are greater bargains now because the French resort’s all-inclusive policy now includes unlimited drinks throughout the week.

Participants need only add airfare to the following seven-night autumn prices for room, meals and beverages: $630 for Club Meds in Ixtapa, Mexico, or Guadeloupe; $690 for Sandpiper, Fla., or Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; $720 in Cancun; and $810 for the Club Med in the Turks & Caicos.

Another attractive rate is the one-week charge of $765 at the Club Med on costly Bora-Bora in the Tahitian islands. Add to that $550 for airfare from L.A. on Air Tahiti Nui, during its September special, and the cost of a short flight from Papeete to Bora-Bora. Call (800) 258-2633 or see www.clubmed.com.

Travelers who are planning vacations for 2006 might want to take a look at some February offerings from White Travel, (800) 547-4790, www.whitetravel.com.

The cruise broker has prices as low as $971 per person in inside cabins for dates that will undoubtedly be heavily booked by parents and their children -- departures on Feb. 18, 19 and 20 -- Presidents Day weekend. The voyages are aboard Celebrity Cruises ships leaving from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, on seven-night sails. The price is as low as $681 on nine-night sails.