How late to leave it ????

psc3239

Hi all,
we intend on going somewhere hot for a beach holiday at the begining of Jan 2012 for two weeks. Ive just had spinal surgery so dont want to book yet as i want to make sure ive recovered enough to be able to travel.
We normally book well in advance but under these circumstances im wondering if this is a good opportunity to grab a late bargain. We are quite flexible about where we go so im wondering how late i should leave it to book to get the best deal, and can you leave it too late and the prices go up again.

cheers, Paul :beer:

Incapuppy

Re: your surgery - you may want to shop around for travel insurance, as the surgery has been within the last 12 months a lot of insurers will class that as a PEMC (for 12 months from the date of op) even though you may well need no further check-ups regarding this.

burntcookie

You will need to declare your condition to the travel insurance company and this may determine the price (I don't know for sure, not an expert).

If you were to book the holiday now and something happened and you had to cancel your trip then your travel insurance may reimburse you the cost of the holiday.

If you don't purchase travel insurance now and you can't go on holiday you will lose your money that you paid upfront.

Read and understand the travel insurance documents (that is what the 'cooling off period' is for) to make sure that you would be covered for something like cancellation or even if you were taken ill whilst abroad.

You could try a company called Free Spirit

psc3239

Thanks for the insurance advice, got 2 lots of insurance, one through bank and one with work so i will check.

Any ideas re original question

cheers Paul

Westin

For guaranteed sun at that time of year how about Goa? Reasonably priced. Not sure what you think about the long flight if you have had back problems.

For a shorter flight, but with a risk of the weather not being as good you could try one of the Canary Islands.

Another slightly different destination to try would be the Gambia.

Providing you avoid the Christmas and New Year break I would have thought you will find good availability.

Maryland_Cookie

We go to Tenerife every December, the week before Christmas. We usually book about April/May time and pay no more than £700.00, we go to the same Hotel every year (it's like coming home!!), I love checking the price and watching it go up and up and up knowing what a bargain we've got (very MSE!!). At the moment the same holiday is over 1k......

Anyway, that's beside the point you were making! I'm sure there are lots of good deals to be had, especially if you avoid Christmas/New Year, especially as you are flexible on date and location.

Hope your surgery and recovery go well.

KonkyWonky

You can't really tell how the prices will change and it varies from company to company. It's a supply and demand thing but the old days of getting rock bottom late deals in top hotels are hard to come by. I normally find the late deals advertised are in lower grade accommodation, primarily because it's all that's left.

I would thoroughly recommend Cancun. My girlfriend and I hope to return in Jan/Feb 2012 for a third time, hopefully in the Riu Caribe again.

vegasvisitor

We went to Egypt last January and the weather was really nice. We booked before xmas though for late January, paid just over £500 each for Club Magic Life hotel. Great hotel, we'd love to go back. I think prices are slightly higher this year though.

I think it's possible you might get a good deal. Early January isn't the most popular time, and everyone's mind is on xmas etc, and they are using holidays then so a bit more reluctant to dip any further into their leave. Could be a good time to get a good deal.

Diane60

We booked in August last year to go to tenerife in January and paid £700 each. The price to book same holiday in Mid December was £550!! If you are flexible you can afford to leave it late. Think everyone is suffering from credit card blues after xmas.

cp3go

We booked a trip to Egypt last winter to get out of the cold. I would advise you book the trip for mid of December or the start of Febuary. A holiday in January could cost you nearly twice as much because its when the kids are off of school. The 5* hotel I visited last December was just over £500 for a week when it was over £1000 for a trip during January. Egypt's also a good place to visit because the country doesn't use Euro's so it works out cheaper for meals and trips.

GlynD

Egypt's Red Sea resorts are very popular just now because the sunshine is almost guaranteed and the prices are good. Consider Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic as well though. Well priced and just as enjoyable as the more expensive Caribbean resorts. Sunshine is a dead cert around 28C-30C. Be prepared for a heavy downpour every morning on the islands though. It only goes on for about 10 minutes and dries up again immediately. It's because of the micro climate of the islands.

Nothing is guaranteed with the Canary Islands. It can rain and be quite cold, the Med can be absolutely freezing around this time too.