Do last minute cheap holidays really exist

[BG2015]

Having retired from teaching we can go on holiday when we want (within reason as DP still working but self employed).

So if we decided to book for the end of November will there be any cheap bargains? From what I can see they don't seem very cheap?

Im looking for winter sun so Canaries, Egypt, Cape Verde which I suppose will mean it's in demand which will mean ££££.

In the past we have had to book months in advance to secure a specific two weeks.

Yes they do for sure

You need to follow fb pages of the big travel agents

Also go on BA, EJ, Jet2 websites they have cracking last minute deals

it helps if u r flying from London

It's probably not going to be dirt cheap but if you're flexible with dates and destination etc then you'll get more for your money.

Plus I think you don't have to book too far ahead.

I'm currently annoyed with myself because I booked flights to Lanzarote that I paid £235 pp return for a few weeks ago. I know I only have myself to blame for looking but the same flight is now £180.

Yes as long as your flexible. November is not peak season by anymeans so you should be able to book a bargain !
Id start looking at love holidays or on the beach if you want a pacakge.

If you don't want a package download the 'trip' app. They have a fantastic flight search feature to book some real bargains depending on your dates.

I've previously done Marrakech and portrugal for £25 return end if nov eay dec. like like you can donit for around £30 return now.
Then check booking.com / trip app / trivago for accommodation and transfers.

If it helps at all, I've done this. booked flights very early and then saw them reduced. so I've banned myself from checking now. But it does sting a bit

Depends on time of year. November and May / June are good. However you almost always get cheaper the further ahead you book.
If price is your main criteria you will find cheaper holidays to hotels which haven't sold and flights at unsocial hours from major airports.
Also beware that Love Holiday are not a package tour operator like TUI or Jet2, they are just a booking agent.

That's true love holidays is not a tour operator, but they are able to book atol protected package holidays.

Do NOT use "loveholidays", they are not a package holiday company, they're not ABTA & there's no protection if/when things go wrong - as many MNers have discovered to their cost.

Look for the specialist operators for the countries you are interested in.
Ensure they're ABTA & ATOL protected.
We've had excellent holidays in Egypt & Jordan for example.

holidays can be cheap anytime of year if you stay away from packages and travel agents.

we’ve been all over the place and had amazing holidays and never paid more than around 1500 all in for flights and accommodation. Obviously we spend a lot once there 🥳

Yes if you look out for offers and you’re flexible in where you go. I got a real cheapy last month to Corfu but I waited until Jet2 were pretty much throwing extra discount at me

Honestly just keep
it simple and book with Tui or similar three weeks before, the discounts are amazing. I often get over 50% off. Look out for discounts for Mexico if you are up for a long flight, there are so many hotels there’s a good chance of a late deal.

I recently went with a different company
(Red Sea Holidays)I booked a solo trip to Egypt the day before I went. I booked a 5 star all inclusive hotel for a week with flights and transfer for £750. If I had gone with someone else it would have been £525 each, that’s in a hotel with 7 restaurants, various bars etc etc.

Follow your local travel agents. I follow a few and am often seeing really good late deals.

Thanks everyone.

It depends what you want from a holiday. We just book easyJet flights to Tenerife and get an Airbnb. At the moment flights would be about £60 pp and an Airbnb around £600 in Los Cristianos. TUI has SC holidays that aren’t much more in Costa Adeje.

Yes I have a friend who swears by it, you just have to be flexible on where you go. But she never books more than a couple of weeks in advance and that’s in school holidays