Has anyone ever decided where to go on holiday at the airport?

[BallerinaArm]

I have a weird fantasy about one day turning up at an airport and just deciding to book a flight that day on a whim.

Has anyone ever done it?

I think these days there's not much in the way of ticket desks at airports?

This is my fantasy on difficult days at work.

We used to do this in the late 90s. I don't think you can any more, security checks beforehand or something like that

Kind of. A few years ago I was supposed to fly from Dublin to Stockholm. When I got to the airport I discovered that my flight was cancelled due to SAS pilots going on strike. I couldn’t face the thought of going home so hopped on a bus outside the airport going to Belfast and spent four nights there.

Sounds like the start of a 90s romcom.

Would be great though wouldn't it if you could.

I don’t think you can even do that now? There aren’t tickets desks at airports nowadays. Two weeks ago though we got up at 8am and by 10.30 had booked flights to Crete and an airbnb for 5pm that day from an Airport two hours away! We took our 3 yr old twins too. We left the house without booking any airport parking or transfers! We had THE best time and would definitely do it again. Normally I’d be so stressed about making sure we had pre booked seats on the plane and a full holiday itinerary but we’d already had our big family holiday and thought let’s see what we can do for the next few days…..

There are still airline desks, ask if they'll sell you a ticket. If not, book it on your phone and go straight to security!

Some YouTubers do this sort of thing on the regular.

I have (perhaps) turned to to an airport, realised I didn’t book the ticket I meant to, and so booked it on my phone.

So it’s easy to do.

Not personally but friends packed a suitcase for warm weather, went to the airport and booked a trip.

That was in the mid-nineties though when you still had travel agencies at the airport.

I think you can book flights, especially at larger airports but not a full holiday anymore.

August 2019, 9pm, I booked a flight for Croatia at 9am the following morning.

Booked 4 nights accommodation in the Gatwick security queue.

These days it's likely to be really expensive to do even compared with booking a few days ahead. Airport parking is also usually about triple the price compared with pre-booking.

But you could definitely do it either in person at the airport which does still have ticket desks or just do it on your phone.

Unless you're made of money I'd just do it a few days in advance instead as it would be much cheaper.

All the websites have 'cheap flights to anywhere' search functions so you can use that to choose your destination. We booked a short break in Mallorca 4 days before we went a few years ago, the flights were about £120 each return so not cheap cheap but not silly money either.

Love the idea of doing this!

My dad used to do this. Turn up at the airport on a Friday evening, take an unfilled seat anywhere.

Even if it doesn't work that way now, I would love to try it one day.

I've used Skyscanner to find the cheapest flights to 'everywhere' and booked for 2 days later... definitely cheaper than booking at the airport!

It's kind of a fantasy of mine too. Though we actually are planning on packing up the motorcycle with tent and stuff, booking the overnight ferry to France and no more idea once we retire, just spending 3 months in Europe or just beyond, perhaps longer if we can get visa clearance to do so

I would love to do that but sadly in these days of API I don't think it's possible

I knew someone who used to do this. Eventually he gave up work on a whim and dossed round Europe in a van for a couple of years.

I had friends who did this in the 90s/00s but I don’t think you can so much now.

There is a company called “Journee” (I think that’s how it’s spelt) who you book through but you don’t find out where you are going until you get to the airport. I’ve been so tempted to do that!

Only possible for those who don't need a visa to travel to most places hehe.

In the 90s my friend and I had booked a holiday to Ibiza. The flight was overbooked and we were bumped. We had BA standby tix as we were travel agents. We went to the desk to see if there were any other flights and go standby by to the Seychelles! 10 days for £99 it was amazing. Upgraded to business class from Nairobi too which was nice. My luggage got lost but turned up three days later. It was epic.

No, but I’m currently sat on a sun lounger on a holiday we booked on Thursday evening and arrived at on Saturday morning, so that’d pretty close.

Booking a flight at very short notice traveling same day is not a problem at all as long as you don’t need a ticket desk.

With internet access booking is possible right down to just before flight closure at many airlines..which means maybe as close as one hour before departure…perhaps even less.

Visas may be more problematic but standard APIS to somewhere like Europe isn’t going to slow you up.

As a for example I’ve just checked a random route and you can still buy tickets on this mornings 1110 BA flight out of Heathrow to go to Paris.

I used to work with someone in the 1990s who'd book a week off every three months. He'd go to the travel agent's on the Thursday lunchtime the previous week and book whatever he could get. He used to get stuff like a week in Miami, or skiing in Tignes for peanuts.

At first I read this as your accommodation being the Gatwick security queue 😂

That’s fab people have done it, or similar. Yeah I guess I was just thinking I’d book it on my phone at at the airport. It’s mostly because I’m so fed up of booking holidays months in advance and then when you get there you realize you ended up in the one bloody week where it’s raining constantly. This way you could check the weather first.

That’s good to know about the “cheap flights anywhere” option