Booking last minute flights?

samtheman1k

Hi all,

what's the best way to book last minute flights? I'm talking within the next week or two as a last minute holiday? I don't have any definite destinations, though a few in mind, but am flexible...

I look on various websites, ba.com, easyjet etc., but their last minute flights are always the most expensive? Do airlines sell any unsold seats cheaply within the last few days or are they always sold out so they don't need to???

Thanks for the help!

Doshwaster

samtheman1k wrote: »

I look on various websites, ba.com, easyjet etc., but their last minute flights are always the most expensive? Do airlines sell any unsold seats cheaply within the last few days or are they always sold out so they don't need to???

Typically, no.

The main reason being that if airlines sold off their tickets cheaply at the last minute then most people would wait until the last minute to book tickets - which would throw their planning into chaos. Also, the people who really, really need to fly at the last minute are the ones who are prepared to pay for the privilege.

That's not to say that bargains cannot be obtained, it's just that you probably won't get them direct from the airlines. You would be better off looking at websites such as http://www.teletextholidays.co.uk as a clearance shop for package holidays.

zagfles

No, you usually get the best deals 2 weeks+ before the departure date. Last minute is invariably expensive.

About 30+ years ago airlines used to offer "standby" fares where you just turn up and if there's room you get a seat cheap, if there's not you don't fly. But the airlines realised that a lot of last minute travellers were business people and others who needed to travel urgently, and a lot of other people used standby as their usual way of travelling. They realised they would make more money by stopping standby fares (except for staff) and charging heavily for last minute bookings.

So even if a flight has lots of empty seats, it'll still be expensive last minute.

k3lvc

If you're not bothered where/when then you can use www.skyscanner.net to search for the lowest fares from a given airport to any destination

samtheman1k

I guess things have changed since lastminute.com wrote their initial business model!

zagfles

Last minute is still cheap for a lot of things - even package holidays sometimes. But not flights.