Advice on booking late

shandy1

Hi,
My girlfriend and I will be going on our first abroad holiday together this July and would like a bit of advice on your experiences on booking somewhere late in peak time. The main reason for the date is to coincide with my 30th on July 27th. (Looking to go either 17/18/19th)

We've been looking mainly at package holidays in the Canary Islands, Balearics and Malta, although if a great deal came up somewhere else, we would consider it.

We don't really have an exact budget, but cheaper the better so around £1000-£1200 for 10-11 days.
We've looked at a few already that fit in the budget, but would we be better off waiting 4-8 weeks before to grab a cancellation or something? Especially as we aren't restricted on where we want to go. Ideal scenario would be to grab a 4/ 5* hotel on the cheap!

Has anybody done something similar in the past?
How much would our budget stretch leaving it very late?
Many thanks in advance!

vegasvisitor

Very hard to guess how that will work out.

You do seem to have a decent budget though. I notice one of your options is Malta. I love Malta, but it's not got the best accommodation. There are some nice hotels, but they can be very expensive. There are a few nice places in St Julian's, although you have to be careful to stay away from Paceville (where the Intercontinental is), as it can be rather noisy in the evenings. I liked the look of the Corinthia hotels (Marina and San Gorg), they are in a nice quiet area on the coast. Last time we stayed at the Cavalieri, it was fine but not 4/5*. More like a good 3*. Ratings are a bit exaggerated in Malta. The Hilton Portomaso is stunning, but expensive. As is the Westin Dragonara. If you like Italian food it can be really quite good in Malta, I find b&b to be the best option there, good meals & cocktails around town.

Enjoy your holiday whatever you decide.

shandy1

Thanks for the info on Malta, I'll take the accommodation in to consideration if we decide to go there.

Does anyone have any stories of their late summer bookings?
Will really appreciate it.

flutterby_lil

I always book early to get free child places.

I used to work in travel, there used to be great bargain last minute deals but in this day and age, with supplements etc they don't seem to exist anymore.

I personally would be booking something now if you get something you class as a good deal.

shandy1

thanks. I guess we will keep looking regularly and see what we find using teletext holidays and the like!

richardw

Your problem is you want to go in peak time when package holiday companies want to maintain high prices to encourage early booking and demand is high, so what's left might be the leftovers that not many want to go on.

Have a good search now for a holiday that you fancy that is in your budget.

shandy1

Yeah I suppose it will be a big gamble to get somewhere really nice on a late deal in July. I will keep looking regularly on the internet and see what we like the look of!

Are the travel companies on teletext reliable enough? Any horror stories?

Alan_Bowen

Your plans co incide with both the start of the Olympics in London, which many people want to escape from and the start of the school holidays. As others have said it is the one week of the year when tour operators really want to make a profit, last minute deals therefore tend to be either acccommodation specially bought in that other operators couldn't sell or to destinations, such as Egypt this year, that no one wants to visit.

Between now and then, anything could happen but as this is a special birthday, I wouldn't leave it too late in case bookings, which are expected to be later than normal this year, exceed demand and prices go up, not down

shandy1

Hi again, We've been looking over the last few days and found a few deals that we will enquire about. However, one thing I have tried, is looking at flights and hotels separately. found flights in July for around £250 and £280 return to Lanzarote with Monarch and a nice apartment (where I've stayed before when I was younger) for £461 for 9 nights.(booking direct with the accommodation) So if we did that, It would work out at around £480-£510 each.

Only thing is I've never been abroad on a non package holiday before. plus we would need to make our own way to the hotel from airport and vice verca.

Will it be safe doing it this way and what are the pros and cons?
Thanks again!

badders256

Shandy, me and my OH are going away in May for 2 weeks independently, booked our flights through BA, doing transfers on public transport (but you could use resorthoppa or transfers4u etc) and then have provisionally booked a hotel on HRS.com (with the intention of cancelling and getting a super last minute deal). All in all coming in at £400pp for 2 weeks in tunisia all inclusive.

Archergirl

Could you hire a car while you're there, if you collect and drop it off at the airport you won't have to worry about transfers and will have the use of it while you are there. We always get a car, just a small one for the two of us.