last minute holidays

mhibbard

i'm beginning to wonder whether booking package holidays at the last minute is all its cracked up to be. what are people's thoughts? when is last minute - a month, a week or a day before? what are people's most recommneded websites etc?

isayoldchap

mhibbard wrote:

i'm beginning to wonder whether booking package holidays at the last minute is all its cracked up to be. what are people's thoughts? when is last minute - a month, a week or a day before? what are people's most recommneded websites etc?

I'm sorry to say but there are only a few of us left who book their flights six months in advance(when they come out)easyjet etc and use other websites
like www.alpharooms.com www.find-rooms.com www.laterooms.com
Some of these can even be found on cash back websites like quidco.com
greasypalm,bighair and rpoints.com may also give you cashback.I hate saving a fortune when we go on holiday.It gives the kids and the wife so much more spending money and I hate it.
I have pleaded with the wife to use sites like expedia,last minute etc because
they are so expensive.I love them because they charge per person(usually).So instead of us paying £25 per night per room for four,they charge us that per person.I really hate it.Please can I join some of you that like getting ripped off.

I forgot to mention.I hate paying 0.01p plus airport tax if we go by Ryan Air
or £1.99 with easy jet.Where's that travel agent when you want one.

alared

Over the years I`ve had some really great "last minute" and "pricebreaker" holidays with Thomson.
None of which have been in the peak school holidays period.
It`s the old supply and demand situation,same with cheap flights,you`ll get them cheap if you go when others can`t or won`t.

Recently over the last year even Thomson`s are not giving a lot away for late deals with all their add-ons to the basic price such as if you book within 2 weeks of travelling they charge you £10 each for the privilage of picking your tickets up at the airport.
Then there`s your transfer cost,£15 each and any inflight meals,if you want to risk them.
So the days of the "package" is gone,thats why most people are booking their own flight,hotel and transfers.
Get yourself a cheap flight and have a look at this for accomodation.
https://www.broadwaytravel.com

isayoldchap

alared wrote:

Over the years I`ve had some really great "last minute" and "pricebreaker" holidays with Thomson.
None of which have been in the peak school holidays period.
It`s the old supply and demand situation,same with cheap flights,you`ll get them cheap if you go when others can`t or won`t.

Recently over the last year even Thomson`s are not giving a lot away for late deals with all their add-ons to the basic price such as if you book within 2 weeks of travelling they charge you £10 each for the privilage of picking your tickets up at the airport.
Then there`s your transfer cost,£15 each and any inflight meals,if you want to risk them.
So the days of the "package" is gone,thats why most people are booking their own flight,hotel and transfers.
Get yourself a cheap flight and have a look at this for accomodation.
www.broadwaytravel.com

Broadway travel are about £10 dearer than I got on alpharooms.Still a good deal as Bt are atol and abta protected and Alpha as yet are not.I wonder how much they add on to a price to be with them?

skr80ab

in terms of finding last minute stuff package wise, I have found that 6-4 weeks beforehand seems to be a good time to get best deals - if left too late there seems to be a price increase in some cases. Mostly now, apart from long haul stuff, tend to book budget airline and seperate hotel / cars - more flexibility and slightly longer (9 day) holidays making the most of a week off

scoobylou_3

If you dont want to do a d-i-y holiday and you like a package deal, I can give you a few tips [i work for a package holiday company] Unless there are just 2 of you travelling you'll never get a bargain at peak times [even then its tricky] Peak times being 6 week school holidays end July and Aug, anything that goes over a bank holiday weekend,and xmas and new year. May [away from bank hols] June and October usually have the best deals but it really is pot luck. Dont leave it til 1 or 2 weeks before you want to go to start shopping around. I would suggest about 5 weeks before you want to go start getting prices. Often the best deals are released about then but can have sold within a week and by 2 weeks prior theres little left. As has been said, tour operators advertise a basic adult price but then there are always add-ons [flight supplements, transfers, ticket collection at airport charges] so expect to pay more than the initial price. You can keep these to a minimum by 1, flying midweek and later in the day, 2, making your own way from airport to accommodation [a taxi from airport is often cheaper than transfers depending on distance of course], 3, Booking at least 3 weeks before you travel, [that avoids ticket charge at airport] hope this helps a bit.

saveapenny

I like to pack my case and get up early the morning I want to go away...get on the internet go to http://www.internetholidays.com and see where comes out the cheapest.
I have had some real bargains doing this but never have less than a 3*or 4* but you have to be not too bothered where you go for this to work and its not worth doing if you have kids because for 1 thing you pay the same late rate and for another you never know what your going to get...so far we have had only 1 bad one with Kosmar which was one of the most expensive ones at 250 for 2 weeks in Santorini

isayoldchap

saveapenny wrote:

I like to pack my case and get up early the morning I want to go away...get on the internet go to http://www.internetholidays.com and see where comes out the cheapest.
I have had some real bargains doing this but never have less than a 3*or 4* but you have to be not too bothered where you go for this to work and its not worth doing if you have kids because for 1 thing you pay the same late rate and for another you never know what your going to get...so far we have had only 1 bad one with Kosmar which was one of the most expensive ones at 250 for 2 weeks in Santorini

Oh I totally agree.That's why I like companies who charge per room.Some prices on the websites I quoted in an earlier post here start at just £17+ per room for 4 so for one week the accom is sorted for around £119(Spain is my example 19/12/05-30/12/05 Torremolinos ,El PinarHotel).Put that through some cashback websites like quidco and you should get 7% of that back.Find yourflights around 6 months earlier (we paid around £250 for our flights last Christmas to Gibraltar,and the savings begin to mount.This is for 4 star hotels.Top that with cheap car hire from carjet (who do an all in deal-
if you have an accident you pay no excesses and this also true if they steal the car.Ok not all of the sites are atol or abta,but aren't you just paying more because theyare.Shouldn't the travel insurance cover you if they go down the pan?(assuming you have it when you book)Finally with or without hte kids,if you can travel during the school time(we know they don't always like it,those 0.01 or 0.19 flights on Ryan Air don't seem bad at all.Even with some high fuel surcharges that some of the airline add in.