Welcome to Mumsnet's holiday forum. Discuss all international travel here, including both shorthaul and longhaul trips. Related topics: UK holidays & day trips, skiing, camping & campervans.
Welcome to Mumsnet's holiday forum. Discuss all international travel here, including both shorthaul and longhaul trips. Related topics: UK holidays & day trips, skiing, camping & campervans.
Holidays
Are last minute holidays still a thing at all?
LaSevillana · 04/02/2022 00:26
I remember they were a big thing about 15 years ago. I used to get some great bargains as a young early 20-something temp who could just pack quickly if I ended up with a few days off between contracts and go to the Canaries or Turkey with a friend. We got such ridiculous deals sometimes that it would have been more expensive for us to stay at home...I remember one week in Fuerteventura being something like £175 all inclusive! We walked into the travel agent on a Friday afternoon after work and we were on the plane the next morning.
I'm not a big fan of planning ahead and much prefer to see what the weather is doing at my destination (rain the entire time makes it so pointless I'd rather not bother going) and of course what the covid situation is, but it seems much harder since things have improved to get these good last minute deals.
Am I missing something or do they just not exist anymore?
waterlego · 04/02/2022 00:31
They used to list them on Ceefax back in the day! I booked a couple of ridiculously cheap holidays from there. My brother and I found an absolute bargain ski trip which we booked and departed for a couple of days later. I really don’t know if they’re a thing anymore.
Fallagain · 04/02/2022 00:33
Last minute cheap holidays have not been a thing for a long time. You can still book last minute and go on holiday.
YellowMonday · 04/02/2022 00:44
No. Airlines and hotels are so much smarter now with their pricing models through AI - they make more revenue (EBIT) by not offering last minute discounts.
WhatsitWiggle · 04/02/2022 00:49
Given that the travel and hospitality industries are on their knees after 2 years of restrictions, supply is much closer matched to demand - if a plane is only 20% sold, the airline is far more likely to cancel the service than knock out loss-making prices. Same with hotels - there's a real shortage of staff so if a hotel is 50% full, they might choose not to fill more rooms because they can't actually service them. Many seasonal hotels in the Med have delayed re-opening until they know they've got enough bookings to cover their costs.
There's been a huge surge in demand since UK restrictions were eased, so the chances of a cheap deal this summer are low.
That said, if you're really not fussy about when and where you go, there may be offers around for but not at the prices of 15 years ago!
LaSevillana · 04/02/2022 11:19
@Fallagain
Well yes, obviously I'm aware of that, but prices are then sky high. The point of last minute holidays was that you were getting a very reasonable rate.
LaSevillana · 04/02/2022 11:24
@WhatsitWiggle
There's been a huge surge in demand since UK restrictions were eased, so the chances of a cheap deal this summer are low.
That said, if you're really not fussy about when and where you go, there may be offers around for but not at the prices of 15 years ago!
Airlines don't really want to lose their airport slots, though, either, especially now travel is really picking up again. Once lost, it's a lot of time and money and hassle to get them back. I've flown on some very quiet flights over the past year.
I never travel in peak times anyway because I don't like crowds, but I always used to get some amazing deals mid April to mid May in places like the Canaries. I guess people have lots of annual leave saved up and plenty of money to spend, so that keeps prices high and there's no need to drop them.
Guess I'll have to go to my backup strategy of travelling to places in their off season and crossing my fingers for the weather!
CeeceeBloomingdale · 04/02/2022 11:24
I think many people are booking last minute due to uncertainty so there are fewer deals to go around. Also the fact that you may need to test or fill in paperwork before travel to certain destinations means you might need to few days lead in now. I think if it’s outside of peak holiday time and school holidays there is a chance you will pick up a deal. Passengers are cancelling at the last minute due to covid so while we still need to isolate there’s definitely a chance of a last minute bargain.
LaSevillana · 04/02/2022 11:26
@YellowMonday
So what happens if Tui have got a flight going to, say, Cape Verde, and there are one or two spare seats, and a couple of free hotel rooms the day before? Why wouldn't it make sense to drop the price and fill those last spaces at the last minute rather than fly empty seats?
Chasingsquirrels · 04/02/2022 11:28
I booked last Monday for yesterday, and it was about £400 cheaper than the same package had been about 2 weeks earlier.
AI in the Caribbean, had been pricing at around £1,300 I paid £907.
Looked on Tue night out of interest (flight was Thu am) and the same package was around £1,600.
Plan was full.
EileenGC · 04/02/2022 11:30
You definitely can’t get a week all inclusive for £175 anymore, but there are often cheap flights for tomorrow/the day after, but very unlikely these will be popular tourist destinations.
It’s currently half term where I live (not UK), and I’ve just looked at random flights for tomorrow morning. You can get a return to Rome for €35, for example. Also London for €40 return or Paris for €80. And this is during the school holidays, so not as much availability or choice as you would have during term time.
Trying to book flights to Mallorca in July the day before won’t get you these prices… but even during summer I often see extremely cheap flights to Estonia / Poland / other non-touristy, less warm place that is still offering cheap deals.
Countdownis35 · 18/04/2022 10:47
I was just looking a various places for this year end of the month or next t month. It's cheaper by quite a lot to do it last minute... I compared prices with 2023.
Places like CUBA AND DR need to fill the plane. I usually book my holidays inadvance 12 months a t least!
Next year I will wait and book last minute even if its a couple months before.
NeedleNoodle3 · 18/04/2022 11:06
It most definitely still is a thing, an example is an all inclusive week in the Canaries is 48% off flying this Saturday.
Countdownis35 · 18/04/2022 11:17
Infact I booked last August for me and DS £1000 a week in Spain. Thats the first time I've been able to afford school holidays. That was inclusive and for both of us.
Enzbear · 18/04/2022 12:17
I have seen some heavily discounted cruises lately.
I remember going to Greece and Portugal last minute for £99 for a week in the 90's. Also Croatia for about £200 half board in the early 2000's.
We're certainly going to try last minute again when we retire although we're much fussier where we end up now.
Countdownis35 · 18/04/2022 13:07
Portugal is extortionate nowadays. I've managed to get a week last week of September for £350 each for me and DS all in inclusive. I hope we managed to get the sun that late on.
Surelyitscoffeetime · 21/04/2022 18:52
I loved a cheap last minute deal. An ‘allocated on arrival’ accommodation added a bit of fun - fortunately I always did well on these.
LaSevillana · 22/04/2022 18:17
The people who are saying you can still find these bargains - where are you finding them?
JudgeRindersMinder · 22/04/2022 18:26
It seems like it’s totally flipped on its head now and the bargains are to be had if you book early. We book flights as soon as they’re released (use easyJet and Ryanair apps for alerts).
We’re going away in couple of weeks, we booked the flights early for about £180 return for 2 of us, I just checked the app and we’d be over £500.
Rlights I booked to the sun for December as soon as they were released cost £105. I’ve just checked and they’d be £550 if I booked them now!
gogohm · 22/04/2022 18:30
I booked 2 weeks beforehand last autumn, got it for less than half the list price
BobblyBlueJumper · 22/04/2022 18:50
Surelyitscoffeetime · 21/04/2022 18:52
I loved a cheap last minute deal. An ‘allocated on arrival’ accommodation added a bit of fun - fortunately I always did well on these.
I used to do these with my mum when I was young. Definitely a bit of extra excitement added to the holiday. Never had a bad experience from what I recall! But as long as there was a pool and some other kids to hang out with I didn't much care. My mum might have had a different view 😅
Startuplife · 22/04/2022 18:59
I booked a British Airways package for around £400 each back in October, travelling in June. Just had a look yesterday to see what the prices are like now and the exact same flights and hotel are now over £700 each. They also didn’t throw in half board for free which we got and only offered continental breakfast.
DivorcedAndDelighted · 23/04/2022 22:46
Lastminute.com has a section on this - it's still a thing, just less of a bargain than it used to be!
BarbaraofSeville · 24/04/2022 09:16
You can look for cheap flights on your available dates using the 'I'll go anywhere' option on Sky Scanner or airline websites.
Outside the main summer peak, you'd probably always be able to find some accommodation for a decent price for what it is on Booking.com/Trip Advisor etc in a city or larger coastal resort but not necessarily bargain basement £99 for a week HB in Benidorm sort of price, but in reality, that was years ago so the equivalent, taking inflation into account is probably more like £300 pp.
There's lots of flights on Easyjet for the next couple of weeks for £50 pp return for example.
A couple of years ago (2018/19?) we booked Mallorca with about 4 days notice and got flights for about £90 pp and B&B in a nice hotel for about £60 a night. I was happy with that.
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