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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Is it still possible to get last minute deals?

51 replies

Aqua82 · 09/07/2023 16:23

I know years ago you could literally turn up at an airport and get a holiday. I'm not thinking that last minute but we have sent off my children's passports off for renewal and if they come back in time we are hoping we could possibly do a last minute deal? But I'm not sure if that's possible these days?
Has anyone booked anything last minute before?

Many thanks in advance.

OP posts:
cherryassam · 09/07/2023 16:27

You can definitely still do things last minute, but the bargain deals you used to get aren’t around in quite the same way as they used to be I’ve found.

Tui and First Choice still do some decent late deals.

Jet2 late deals are usually fairly useless.

gogomoto · 09/07/2023 16:30

Yes, bagged a great bargain last year

Original poster
Aqua82 · 09/07/2023 16:38

gogomoto · 09/07/2023 16:30

Yes, bagged a great bargain last year

Who with? Through a travel agent? Also close to your holiday did you book? :-)

OP posts:
Original poster
Aqua82 · 09/07/2023 16:38

cherryassam · 09/07/2023 16:27

You can definitely still do things last minute, but the bargain deals you used to get aren’t around in quite the same way as they used to be I’ve found.

Tui and First Choice still do some decent late deals.

Jet2 late deals are usually fairly useless.

Thanks very much!!

OP posts:
cantstaymadatyou · 09/07/2023 16:48

We booked a last minuteish deal with Jet2 recently. We found somewhere fairly affordable which we’re just using as a cheap base really. We got a discount of £160 for booking last minute and got a free child place.

Tui seemed to have a lot of late deals too. They have a last minute section on their site. It’s not like the old days when you could get a week in the sun for £99 but you can still save money.

PicturesOfLily · 09/07/2023 20:35

I haven’t booked one but Tui had some really decent prices when I looked last week (e.g. under £4K for a week in Mexico for 4 but also lots closer & cheaper). I’m not sure if that will change as we get to the main school holidays though but I will keep an eye as that might be our plan for next year!

fruitbrewhaha · 09/07/2023 20:36

I thought passport applications were taking ages at the moment?

Caravanvirgin · 09/07/2023 20:41

fruitbrewhaha · 09/07/2023 20:36

I thought passport applications were taking ages at the moment?

About a week.

OP there is apparently a huge demand for holidays this year so there may not be a great deal of choice, although that probably makes it easier to choice one.

I hope you have a great holiday.

Marchintospring · 09/07/2023 21:06

Every year there’s apparently “ huge demand” though. Truth is there are masses of places to stay to meet that demand. Flights as ever are the issue. Package deals are probably the best if you want to fly somewhere.

Last year I got a bargain cruise booked in late June early July.. August holidays, 11 nights all inclusive ( drinks, tips, food entertainment, hotel and flights out , back to a Southampton) £800 each.

crackofdoom · 09/07/2023 22:49

Reminiscing about the time I just turned up at Gatwick and visited the little last minute travel agents they had there. Of all the flights they had on offer that day, I plumped for Lesbos at something like £60 return. Happy days....😊

Marchintospring · 09/07/2023 23:08

Here’s last minute …tomorrow.
Flights and a car to Florida.

Is it still possible to get last minute deals?
BabsDylan · 09/07/2023 23:15

We haven’t booked yet,looking to go august 3rd ish.

Hope we can find something!
good luck!

Original poster
Aqua82 · 13/07/2023 16:41

Passports back today! They took less than 2 wks! 🥳🥳🥳

OP posts:
Yoyoyo1 · 13/07/2023 21:57

Any luck with a last minute deal?

HunterHearstHelmsley · 13/07/2023 21:59

I've been holding out for a last minute deal. I'm really flexible with when so have been looking regularly. I'm regretting not booking early. The prices seem to be going up closer to the date.

Crabacus · 13/07/2023 22:01

We went on holiday last week which we'd booked 9 days before. Went through tui, got a good deal (it advertised it as 30% off but you never know how true that is!).
there were a number of offers we were deciding between so definitely feasible even though as a family of 5, looking for a 2 bed suite rather than a single room I thought we'd be quite limited.

Original poster
Aqua82 · 14/07/2023 18:31

HunterHearstHelmsley · 13/07/2023 21:59

I've been holding out for a last minute deal. I'm really flexible with when so have been looking regularly. I'm regretting not booking early. The prices seem to be going up closer to the date.

There are really cheap all inclusive deals to Rhodes and Corfu with Thomas Cook just looked!

OP posts:
Original poster
Aqua82 · 14/07/2023 18:32

Yoyoyo1 · 13/07/2023 21:57

Any luck with a last minute deal?

We've been looking and there are some! Turkey, Rhodes, corfu, canaries. Haven't picked one yet though!

OP posts:
Sycamorethanever · 15/07/2023 07:58

Sounds brill….may do this next year. A few years ago DH and I booked within 3 days as we wanted to be sure that both DC were def going to be away on school trips at the same time - couldn’t quite believe it! Booked flights direct and accom w booking.com and got bargains on both.

SamW98 · 15/07/2023 10:35

Jet2 got some good offers at the moment and EasyJet holidays often have discount codes.
There definitely aren’t the deals like the old days.
Me and the ex used to book tIme off work then scroll through teletext about a fortnight before - that’s just aged me 😀

WickedUsername · 15/07/2023 10:50

@SamW98 I loved doing this! Also allocation on arrival! Ended up in some swanky places, absolutely cracking bargains!

SmartHome · 15/07/2023 12:16

We always do this. Availability was defiitely a bit less this year but we are limited anyway as a family of 5 so need 3 bedrooms. We booked last week for next week on LoveHolidays and the place we booked in Canaries was 2.5K cheaper than still being advertised on other package sites like On The Beach (still expensive but our holidays always are with 5 ...).

If you are 2 adults, 2 children you would have had oodles of choice in Spain, Canaries, Turkey. Greece seemed a bit limited.

SamW98 · 15/07/2023 12:27

WickedUsername · 15/07/2023 10:50

@SamW98 I loved doing this! Also allocation on arrival! Ended up in some swanky places, absolutely cracking bargains!

I used to love having no idea where we would end up.
Back in the 90’s we had some brilliant last minute holidays.
One year we booked Sunday and went on Wednesday- ended up in Lefkas in Greece for an absolute bargain price and had a fantastic holiday.

Couple of places we ended up somewhere not to our taste but always made most of it.

Yoyoyo1 · 15/07/2023 15:04

Marchintospring · 09/07/2023 21:06

Every year there’s apparently “ huge demand” though. Truth is there are masses of places to stay to meet that demand. Flights as ever are the issue. Package deals are probably the best if you want to fly somewhere.

Last year I got a bargain cruise booked in late June early July.. August holidays, 11 nights all inclusive ( drinks, tips, food entertainment, hotel and flights out , back to a Southampton) £800 each.

Where didcyou find out about the bargain cruise?

wwyd2021medicine · 15/07/2023 15:21

I'm really interested to know the sites people use. Just two of us now and we are approaching retirement. I've got a week in November and really don't mind where we go - city or winter sun