When booking early doesn't pay

Lady_of_Charlotte

Is there ever a right time to book. We booked hol to Sardinia with Thomson three weeks ago, and it has now been reduced by more than £200. Thomsoncares say prices fluctuate, but surely they could give a price promise to early bookers as a way of rewarding the earlybirders.... I feel let down.

richardw

Prices do fluctuate, when you've booked, it's best to spend time looking for other money saving opportunities, not checking to see if the price has gone down.

wallbash

I feel let down.

You would feel more let down if the price rose and you were asked for the extra.

Book a holiday, then don't check prices ......simple.

Early book if you have to certain weeks ( school hols? ) or a special hotel .
If flexible, book late.

PeacefulWaters

Demand is low. So they cut the price.

I tend to find booking early is expensive and booking late is either very cheap or exceptionally expensive.

If you have flexibility over both departure date and destination booking late can be very cheap indeed.

johnmcga

Completely agree with the philosophy of booking and then forgetting about it - it's a gamble. Some you win, some you lose!

The only advice I can give is that I usually check availability in the local area before committing. If lots of hotels have rooms available in all categories then it's a reasonable assumption prices aren't going to zoom up - and they might even get cut nearer the time.

Best thing is to chalk it up to experience and enjoy the holiday!

EssexExile

I booked flights & accommodation some time ago then saw I could now get the next class up of travel for less than I'd paid! I felt miserable, but then I checked the accommodation availability & found I wouldn't be able to book what I wanted now, so I felt better. I still phoned the airline though, but no upgrade forthcoming.

sillygoose

Lady_of_Charlotte wrote: »

Is there ever a right time to book. We booked hol to Sardinia with Thomson three weeks ago, and it has now been reduced by more than £200. Thomsoncares say prices fluctuate, but surely they could give a price promise to early bookers as a way of rewarding the earlybirders.... I feel let down.

If your booking to go this year I wouldn't call January the same year early myself.

I booked for August this year in September last year, that's early! and what little availability that is left there is currently at 200% what I paid.

zagfles

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Demand is low. So they cut the price.

I tend to find booking early is expensive and booking late is either very cheap or exceptionally expensive.

If you have flexibility over both departure date and destination booking late can be very cheap indeed.

Yes if you're going somewhere popular at peak times booking early can be cheaper but if you're going off-peak booking later would very likely be cheaper.

A few times I've booked hotels early on cancellable tariffs, then closer to the time have found a cheaper deal with the same hotel, so just cancelled the original booking and rebooked the cheap deal.