booking holiday last minute? How cheap does it get?

[Piddypigeon]

I haven't been on holiday with the DC but I promised to take them somewhere this year. They are absolutely desperate to go somewhere in the sun.

I have a teeny tiny budget only (max 1.5k for the three of us, DC are teenagers if that makes a price difference) and couldn't find anything now for the Summer.

Is booking last minute an option to get something really cheap in the school hols? I am thinking of booking a week of annual leave and then try to find something at short notice for very little money?

Both have disabilities, and camping is out of question. We need a hotel.

Op, don't listen to the poster saying it's impossible. Some people are just negative for no reason.

I just went on loveholidays and entered the filters August/5 nights/2 kids&1 adult/all inclusive/£500 per person and I got over 600 results. Nothing fancy, mostly 3 stars hotels, but it is absolutely possible.

I just had a quick look on Easyjet holidays and found few decent hotels in Turkey with bed and breakfast, for around £1300 in August (that was putting Bristol as airport & your DC as 14 and 15, and August 6th for a week as an example, if the DC are younger then even better)

Stay away from Tui and look at Easyjet and Jet 2. Also have a look at flight prices and booking . com as booking separately sometimes saves loads.

It’s perfectly doable and it might be worth your while to go all inclusive or half board for a few hundred more; or sometimes all inclusive is actually cheaper than self catering.

I agree that with teens, AI might make it cheaper overall, but that depends on what sort of food you all like.

The other factor to watch out for @Piddypigeon is where the hotels are - some locations are a few streets inland and could be up a very steep hill, and sometimes accessibility isn't very good - steep and shoddily built ramps etc, if that's a factor. Although some hotels do provide shuttle busses to the beach/resort centre. Check out the location carefully on Google maps before booking.

But it does look like there's loads of options within your budget, so I'm sure you'll find somewhere lovely.

There are still last minute deals around, but I wouldn’t rely on them, when you wish to travel at a premium time. Hope you find something suitable and within budget. Good luck.

And yet people have found exactly what she wants, in budget.

No it's not and wouldn't advise it either.
You had no idea where you were going to end up and no idea of your transfer time either to resort.

But they were great for a last minute cheap holiday, if you really wasn't too fussed about it all.
We did them when we were in our early 20s on limited budgets. It was the only way we could afford to go away so for us, it was worth the risk.

We never had anywhere really bad. Most were small room only resorts on Greek islands, with a pool area and walking distance to the town. The transfer times varied. And you did often arrive at odd hours - think very early hours. But the packages always let you access your rooms straight away which helped.

@Dishwashersaurous
our travel insurance 3 adults was about £20 for August 2024, Spain, several minor health issues.
we don’t need airport parking I don’t know many people who do…
We are fortunate in living 10 miles from a major airport.
If we didn’t we would get a bus/train in fact I did when we flew from LHR.

Perhaps you don’t realise but your posts are a bit negative and as another pp mentioned, many of us have managed to find options for the op within budget. There are many many suggestions for her earlier in the thread. I understand that some people wouldn’t choose to go for the bargain options but people were giving op advice from their own experiences.

Book your own flights and a hotel or apartment on booking.com and you will get something affordable in Turkey, Croatia (if prepared to go outside Dubrovnik), Bulgaria. Well reviwed apartments in Zadar (Croatia) in August are under £500 for a week, in Fethiye (Turkey) they are under £400. Or try thinking somewhere less traditional like Albania or Bosnia- beautiful countries, easy to travel, and much better prices. Holidays are only stupidly expensive if you insist on giving travel agents all your money!

This one I showed you yesterday is now £1527 with the code SUMMERSAVER

https://go.skimresources.com?id=470X1716091&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.easyjet.com%2Fen%2Fholidays%2Fspain%2Fcosta-blanca%2Fbenidorm%2Fmagic-cristal-park-hotel%3Fibf%3Dtrue%26amp%3Bto%3D10-08-2024%26amp%3Bfrom%3D03-08-2024%26amp%3Bdst%3DALL%26amp%3BsAccId%3D%26amp%3Bgeog%3DALL%26amp%3Bflex%3D2%26amp%3Borg%3DLPL%26amp%3Baa%3D1%26amp%3Brooms%3D21%3A14%26amp%3BoutId%3DE5e4ab0182f2642cf4e281827448dc8f5%26amp%3BinId%3DE73195e38f12bde931a218cdd10f1dda8%26amp%3BaccId%3DESCB0044%26amp%3BpackId%3D2170680859%2F2%2F2408%2F7%26amp%3BboardType%3DAI%26amp%3BofferRooms%3D221%3A14%2FDB01%26amp%3Btransfer%3DW2MS009665SS%26amp%3Bdtransfer%3DW2MS009665SS%26amp%3BisExt%3D0%26amp%3BlateRoomCheckout%3D0%26amp%3Btheme%3Dbeach%26amp%3Bejhsort%3Dhotelsslist6GhiT7C1R%26amp%3Butmsource%3Deasyjetholidays%26amp%3Butmmmedium%3Dshareicon%26amp%3Butmmcampaign%3DCopy%26amp%3Butmterm%3Den%26amp%3Butmmcontent%3DUK&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mumsnet.com%2Ftalk%2Famiibeingunreasonable%2F5084857-booking-holiday-last-minute-how-cheap-does-it-get%3Freply%3D135614909

We use airport parking for convenience. It starts at about £50 pw at our nearest airport, which is likely comparable or even cheaper than going there and back by taxi. It's about 30 mins by car, but nearly 2 hours on public transport, if both the buses actually turn up on time, which is rare.

Or if we use Liverpool or Manchester it's 1 hour or so by car, but we'd need to allow 3-4 hours at least and unless it was one person travelling, the train fare alone would be more than what it costs to park with buses each end on top. And seeing as the OP mentioned these two airports, it's probably reasonable to assume that she's between the two and will be making a similar decision herself.

Have a look on websites like easyjet and jet2.
Select both departure airports and select "anywhere" as your destination.
Then filter the search results by price low to high.
You Will probably find something, also consider doing just 5 nights to bring the cost down.
We've booked to go away late August, 2A and 2 teens. We've paid 3.5k for an AI with waterpark and a room with kitchen facilities (I'm coeliac so wanted to be able to cater for myself if I struggle to get much on the AI).
But we did find some holidays starting around 1600 so with one less person 1500 should.be doable. But check the cost of upgrading to B&B or half board as sometimes the upgrade is a few quid and will save u money once you are there. Ours was just £20 more for AI than SC which is bonkers, although I'd never have considered 3.5k for a SC holiday anyway! But sometimes even a cheap.holiday can have a very cheap upgrade so it's worth checking x

If you can go very end of august, into sept instead the prices are significantly cheaper? May mean missing a couple of days of school though.

I think you'll struggle. Dh is very good at finding cheap holidays but he finds them earlier, a few months before. We got a weeks AI for 4, £1100, Cala Ratjada, Majorca Easter, Apr 22. T'was great.

Just a few tips:

• Check all the major travel operators as well as Holiday Hypermarket and loveholidays. I've found that periodically those that are usually more expensive have deals on and end up cheaper. It can change over time too.
• When you're comparing prices look at whether baggage and transfers are included. With some operators adding a checked bag each and transfer can add nearly £100 per person whereas Jet2, Tui and some others include these things.
• If you're looking at agents that use various airlines, try changing to other airlines and compare the prices for any baggage etc you want. For example, if you're looking at holidays to Turkey, SunExpress flights include a 20kg bag for free. The flights are slightly more expensive but are usually cheaper than EasyJet plus baggage.
• If you're on a tight budget, consider the cost of food/activities etc when you get there as well as the price of the hotel/flights. If you have a region in mind check the tripadvisor forum for that place- many have posts from travellers with an idea of current costs.
• Don't discount all inclusive, but don't expect too much from a cheap AI. In the past I've managed to find an AI for not much more than B&B but the food and drink are pretty basic and there's not loads of choice. For us it was worth it because we'd have paid more than the difference just for soft drinks round the pool and a few snacks but some people seemed to expect 5* food and drink and were very disappointed.

This is what we've found too. Best bargains are booked well in advance.

I'd save up more and go next year OP.

@sockarefootwear
some top tips there that many of us would benefit from.

we saved over £300 pp on a holiday identical to one on the TUI website last year. Just a basic but very pleasant Spanish half board break.
Hotel exactly the same. Just by checking all the main companies and doing a bit of juggling/deciding what is important or not for your own family/circumstances. I love travelling light but appreciate some people don’t or even can’t.

the incoming airport I made a mistake as it was a 2 hour drive but we paid approximately €80 for a private transfer. No big deal - as I said to dh many times we’ve landed very locally but had a shared transfer which takes over 2 hours with multiple stops….And actually the ‘closer’ airport would have involved a paid transfer anyway.

Oh and order ghic cards today and stick to EU if health concerns are causing high insurance, the state system is far better than turkey for instance.

Sorry if it's been suggested @Piddypigeon but have you looked anywhere in the Costa del Sol region in Spain? There's always cheap and cheerful packages and my favourite, the transfer from Malaga Airport to any town is so easy and cheap. The promenade goes for miles and is flat and paved. The train is easy to get to and use.
It's not the fanciest but it's warm and lots to do.

Booking last minute used to be good, now there are very very few bargains to be had. What is left is generally pretty rubbish.

Last week of the school holidays tends to be the cheapest one.

"And yet people have found exactly what she wants, in budget."

I agree @PaddingtonTheAngelofDeath it's EASY to find a cheap week break abroad, even when factoring in food. We can easily do a week for £400-500 a week abroad....even two weeks for £500 if you budget 😂😎

www.jet2holidays.com/beach/turkey/dalaman-area/turunc/loryma-resort?duration=7&airport=77&date=05-08-2024&occupancy=r2c14&board=4&oflight=1137345&iflight=1137348&rooms=96268&gtmsearchtype=Smart%20Search&smartsearchid=beb1f922-f159-4112-8da5-283f9e67980a

www.jet2holidays.com/beach/turkey/dalaman-area/turunc/loryma-resort?duration=7&airport=77&date=05-08-2024&occupancy=r1c14_16&board=4&oflight=1137345&iflight=1137348&rooms=96268&gtmsearchtype=Smart%20Search&smartsearchid=f598e16c-ae38-4823-b58e-db3d938f7e59

£50 cheaper if you can go end July

£1198 self catering with transfers and luggage

www.jet2holidays.com/beach/turkey/dalaman-area/marmaris/blue-palace-hotel?duration=7&airport=77&date=05-08-2024&occupancy=r1c14_16&board=4&oflight=1137345&iflight=1137348&rooms=45635&gtmsearchtype=Smart%20Search&smartsearchid=95d1b614-8105-4f42-8bc5-9936eafa37fc

@Piddypigeon
I hope you are currently enjoying a holiday ☺️