Last minute trips !!

[buzz for boys]

For various reasons we haved decided last minute trips maybe the way to go for us !!
Save the money then te second we are able to go just book and go !!
We normally go D.I.Y and book villa and flights way in advance is it possible to do everything D.I.Y on the spur of the moment o would we be seriously comprimising the availabilty of villas in areas we like??
Also flight prices is last minute a bad idea ??
Any views welcome as always x x x

 

[wayneg]

All depends on time of year. Try in school hols and chances are you will pay OTT or be disappointed. In school term then more chance.
We have tried 3 times, not planned but just decided last minute to go. Once was August, only flight we could get at a reasonable price was TCD into Sanford at £499pp & and had to take an overpriced car to get flights down to that price. Consider this was 7 years ago(2003) it was not a cheap way to go, at the time most I had ever paid for a flight.
2nd time was Xmas, only flights available were Virgin from Gatwick, again paid more than booking early, plus booking early we could have gone from Manchester cheaper.
3rd time again Xmas, nothing available, no flights at all(under £1,000pp) ended up staying at home.
Its not something I would plan in advance to do but we have to stick to school hols.

 

[nemmie]

During the whole swine flu debacle we ended up booking and flying the next day. It was actually something I've always wanted to do (go last minute) but I would never do that again it was way too stressful LOL.

I am guessing you are talking a few weeks so it won't be as bad as that

If you have airmiles to burn this is as excellent way to go as so much more availibilty opens up for reward seats but I've always found generally the closer you get to the date the more expensive they become. You could be lucky and hit a flash sale though like whats going on right now and get a decent price.

School hols are always going to be more expensive.

 

[buzz for boys]

Hmm i guess you guys have just rained on my parade !!

We dont tend to do school holidays - I know Bad Parent syndrome
I hink i am going to do a little more research into this by looking at flight prices now and then again a week before the date and see how much they have changed !!

Thanks for the replies guys x x x

 

[2Tiggies]

Hmm i guess you guys have just rained on my parade !!

We dont tend to do school holidays - I know Bad Parent syndrome
I hink i am going to do a little more research into this by looking at flight prices now and then again a week before the date and see how much they have changed !!

Thanks for the replies guys x x x

Hi Louise

Whan you say last minute, how soon before do you mean? To me, a couple of months would be considered last minute. To some, the week of departure falls into the category.

I think flights are your major consdieration here. As is, it's a gamble. This wasn't so bad a few years ago when prices were slashed in the last weeks as the airlines tried to fill their empty seats. It's just this year that things went nuts.

I just wondered if one of the major draws of your plan was saving for something special, rather than actually paying a debt in the run-up to the trip. If so I can relate to this. I never did get the last minute thing right but 2 years ago I had managed to 'get ahead' between returning from one trip and booking the next and while I still had to pay off a large proportion of it, it did mean that I was saving for the next one before we travelled for the one which was booked. It is a great feeling, and it must be the ultimate in satisfaction to book and pay off your holiday in one go, but maybe a bit of a compromise will help a little in that department. At least that would be one thing you can expereience some benefit from.

Let us know how you get on with it. As a planner, I really admire your hopes of just going with the flow to the very end.

 

[crabbie1]

Hi Louise.
I did this the first time me and my ex went to orlando.Did a week off site for 2 adults and a 3 year old for £1600 with tickets.That was only 8 nights but it was booked as a diy with flights through jetsave (VA) and accomodation through expedia. Booked 2 weeks before and we went on the 14th november. It was 2005 though but I have pretended Im going this december and flights with m+m with VA are £424 and then add accomodation and attractions. I think november /december/january/feb tend to be the cheapest but who knows with these flight prices.

 

[buzz for boys]

Hi Louise

Whan you say last minute, how soon before do you mean? To me, a couple of months would be considered last minute. To some, the week of departure falls into the category.

I think flights are your major consdieration here. As is, it's a gamble. This wasn't so bad a few years ago when prices were slashed in the last weeks as the airlines tried to fill their empty seats. It's just this year that things went nuts.

I just wondered if one of the major draws of your plan was saving for something special, rather than actually paying a debt in the run-up to the trip. If so I can relate to this. I never did get the last minute thing right but 2 years ago I had managed to 'get ahead' between returning from one trip and booking the next and while I still had to pay off a large proportion of it, it did mean that I was saving for the next one before we travelled for the one which was booked. It is a great feeling, and it must be the ultimate in satisfaction to book and pay off your holiday in one go, but maybe a bit of a compromise will help a little in that department. At least that would be one thing you can expereience some benefit from.

Let us know how you get on with it. As a planner, I really admire your hopes of just going with the flow to the very end.

Hi Lee,
Im thinking we would book and go within the month !!
The biggest reason we are contemplating doing it llike this is that my ds has so many health issues and in the past month we have had the fit to fly certificate given to us and then retracted more times than I can count !! Its so stressful when you are counting down to such an expensive holiday ! There have been manytime in the last year where he was stable enough to fly and we could have just gone but we put it off to wait fot the booked trip ! We kind of hold our breath at the moment whilst counting down the days - last minute would be far less stressful or at least thats what we was thinking !!

It would be far too hot for us in the summer months in orlando none of us would cope at all so we look at Sept - March not sure if that makes a diffrence to what has been said here though

 

[wideeyes]

I booked 3 months before we went on our last trip however that was for January, the flight was only half full. I looked at booking 4 weeks before for this september and it was really expensive for flights even though there was avilablity.

 

[gemmybear83]

I would never be able to get the time off work last minute, I have to work holidays around my work project deadlines

 

[MorningGlory]

Late March-Early April (outwith the Easter Holidays) would be a great time to go imo, both weather and price-wise. We went at that time last year and the weather was beautiful, but without the afternoon storms or extreme heat. We also got a good price for our flights, £400 each for me and my son, direct with Virgin from MAN.

As someone said earlier, M+M flights might be available if you have the Miles and they can cut the cost considerably, depending on when you fly and when you book.

Good luck