Are Thomson/other last minute deals good?

[Vijac]

Has anyone tracked whether the last minute holiday deals are worth waiting for? We are planning to go away in 6 weeks time to greece/Italy/Spain. Looking for a really nice hotel on tge beach, ideally near a small town/marina. I'm getting itchy feet to book now but want to know if waiting till a couple of weeks before is likely to get me a real bargain. Does anyone know?

I'm a travel agent and we're finding there's not a lot going on lates this year unless your willing to be completely flexible. If you want specific dates, flights or hotel then you might struggle. I spent a couple of hours last weekend looking for any deal to Majorca fir a customer with a weeks notice and there were only a couple of hotels on the whole island and they weren't cheap.

Generally, if it goes really cheap it'd because it isn't selling and there's often good reason for that :)

Thanks. So you think I'd be better looking for a deal now? Do you think voyage prive offer good deals or would you go with a traditional travel agent?

Last year we got let down on our holiday 3 weeks before we were due to go. There was building work in the hotel and the next door hotel, so we wanted to change the booking. The prices changed daily, and TBH there wasn't that much choice. It was, also, a lot more expensive than when we had booked originally in the January. We were looking at going the last few days of the school year/ first week of the holidays.

If you are going in the school holidays I would start thinking about booking soon if the weather doesn't pick up here. IME when the weather is bad here more people want to go away.

This year we are going to Majorca with Jet2Holidays, the hotel is in the Thomson brocheure as well, but it was over £800 cheaper with Jet2 and we've got day flights instead if night which Thomson were offering.

We always check TripAdvisor before we book.

I'm not convinced by Voyage Prive tbh I think its good marketing more than anything. If I was going to go for something a bit special I'd look at Sovereign or Hayes & Jarvis. Like land says you get some good deals from Jet2 and Olympic are good for Greece.

If you see something you like within budget I'd book it. The days of £150 late deal bargains are long gone. Go to your agent anyway as they'll check Jet2, Cosmos etc. for you if you let them know what you're after.

Thomson are v expensive IMO

I was just looking at a holiday on there. £1025 per person for a week half board, including flights. For 4 of us it would be £4100.

I them went on the same hotels actually website, and managed to get a family suite, half board for £925 total for the week. Flights then £620 on top.

Exactly the same holiday except with me looking it would be £1545, with Thomson £4100. Big difference!

Ooh thanks for the tips. I've never heard of any of these companies so I'll be googling now.

Forevergreek, what website?

Just the hotels own. So find a holiday and then look up hotel on their own website. You can always look the hotel up on last minute.com etc.. Then skyscanner for flights.

If you are travelling in school holidays then the prices will go up not down.
You always get better choice and price by booking early (the earlier the cheaper).
Last year the hotel I wanted was sold out so I booked it last October for July 2013, the price has gone up 20% since I booked, I know this because we nearly had to cancel recently so I had to look at changing dates.

Strangely for me Thomson was surprisingly good for cheap package holidays. I was looking at jet2 and easyjet holidays, assuming they would be cheaper and more affordable, but actually Thomson came out on top with far more option and many luxury hotels at cheaper prices. But then I think it depends on what you're looking for holiday wise.. i've booked to go to crete with flights 7 nights and half board stay at a 5* hotel, transfers taxes and luggage for around £650, this is in peak time in July. Had I booked a month earlier it would have been £100 cheaper. I struggled to find deals which were at a competitive price with hotels that looked similar in quality. But for short getaways, lastminute.com is good but the name is in the title, the deals really are the best last minute, when I looked in advance on the site I was unable to find deals that good. It just took a long time, went on Trivago also to compare hotel prices to see if it was cheaper to book it all separately but all inclusive deals are just the easiest option for me!

I waited for a last minute deal last year and it was a nightmare I ended up paying a fortune for a crappy 3* star hotel because there was very little choice and everything was very expensive. I would never do it again.