Do last-minute deals still exist?!

dancingsammyt

Thanks for all the messages guys, I'll have a look now and see what's available. We'd probably only want 1 week but if there's a good 10 day offer we would probably take that. Richard, I'm based in Norfolk but am quite happy to travel from a London airport as I guess that's where we'd get the best prices.

miamoo

Another good site to try is Travelzoo, they have some great bargains on there. I would be wary of travel agents who tell you to book early or you will miss out, there is always availability if you are flexible with dates or destinations. It is always cheaper to book last minute in my experience.

stephb34

miamoo wrote: »

I would be wary of travel agents who tell you to book early or you will miss out, there is always availability if you are flexible with dates or destinations. It is always cheaper to book last minute in my experience.

Not all travel agents are just after a sale and the measly commission they get paid, before i was in travel i used to go to a girl at the coop who was fantastic that found me what i wanted and not what she was supposed to sell me, so i've moulded myself on her. My personnal advice would be pick a smaller shop not 1 in the middle of "westfield" "meadowhall" etc as they have smaller targets to hit so more time to help you and not hussle 1 in 1 out. When you go in the shop if you're interested in a particular place ask if any of the consultants have been and sit with them as actually having been to the place is good knowledge for a start anyone can read out of a brochure, and above all be nice would you want to help someone properly who was rude and thought you were on the make all the time.
In my experience its swings and roundabouts you can get good late deals we're not denying that but if you book early you get more choice, free kids, airport you want etc.
I'm off to cuba at easter i booked feb 08 £1300/ adult premium seats, last week it was £1675/adult std seats.

withabix

Much less capacity in the holiday market this year - availability is probably at thes 33% reduced to start with. The rooms are obviously still there, but the flight capacity has been reduced considerably across the board.

Also less competition - the market is dominated by Thomson and Thomas Cook. Just about all of the other main 'branded' tour operators belong to them now.

Anything other than 7 or 14 nights is quite difficult to quite a lot of destinations as well now, particularly for winter sun destinations.

We have always booked last minute, but this year price reductions and availability are clearly lower.

We are also finding that, for the first time in many years, package prices are working out cheaper than DIY, except possibly for room-only deals.

Everyone wants All Inclusive!!

There do seem to be good discounts on long haul - Carribbean/Latin America, Indian Ocean etc getting some good reductions. If you can avoid the Easter fortnight, for example, you will find prices rather attractive (if not the 9-12 hour flights!!).

than4

We have been on two last minute package holidays (although admitedly not during the school holidays) and have booked both times by going into our local travel agent as I find the search engines hard as many make you choose a destination etc etc, when the only thing you really care about is the price!
both times we have taken our accomodation to be allocated on arrival. This has saved us up to £50pp and both times the accommodation has been fine.

We are hoping to get another last minute deal this year so hopefully they are still out there!

WishI'dReadSooner

Maybe I should have put this site on as this tends to be one of the first sites I look on BEFORE I then try to get it cheaper by going direct.
You can put in your choice of departure airport & let it give you the best holiday/flight deals.
Best deals are invariably late bookings.

http://www.holidaysandflights.co.uk/

Sometimes you can get it cheaper by ringing them too.
I hate paying over £100 (except if it's longhaul, even that is sometimes possible!) & we have a number of holidays a year. Never had a bad one yet!

Engadine

Diamond_Olly wrote: »

If the tour operators and charter flight operators don't get the volume of bookings they need this year, my suspicion is that they will start cancelling flights and doing some consolidation. e.g. if Thomas Cook or Thomson or whoever have 2 flights a day to a particular destination and both are half full, they will cancel one and put everyone on the same flight.

It's always hard to know what late bookings will be available as we don't know yet how the travelling public will be booking this year. Lots of people are risking leaving it late to book- but this gives 2 possibles - 1. no flights available as the tour operators can't hold on waiting for people to book the day before 2. prices will be high to cover the lower number of bookings.

Like Steph says, look now and see what the prices are - might be better this year.

Booking patterns are very unpredictable this year!

Totally agree with Diamond Olly. At the moment it is very difficult to predict booking patterns, at the moment a lot of families are holding off booking.

This year there are less holidays available, Thomas Cook/Airtours and Thomson/First Choice have cut capacity for this summer. XL no longer being in business has also greatly reduced the number of holidays available for this summer.

A number of people in the industry have been saying that operators will cancel flights and consolidate them rather than heavily discounting prices just to sell the holiday.

miamoo

Steph I agree completely. I have a fantastic travel agent. I always price up hols all over the place, but I always go to her before we book to see what she can do for us. She knows us well now and she knows what we like and don't like. I never book on the internet, I always book in the store.
I think that alot of people wont bother having a holiday this year, so there wont be a "last minute rush"
Everyone seems to be going all inclusive to Egypt this year to escape the "eurozone" , so it will probably be over run with tourists this year lol!