Most people fall in one of either two camps. They either book their trips well in advance or make last minute travel bookings. We used to be the former and considered ourselves to be early bird bookers. We often planned and booked our travels a year in advance. However, due to personal circumstances, we have had to book our recent trips last minute. We’ll be honest, it has been difficult resisting the urge to scan Skyscanner every five minutes and checking out what the weather would be like in X in X month. But what we didn’t want to do was continue to book at our usual intensity and run the risk of having to cancel, which potentially could have resulted in us losing money (which is never cool).
Many travel ‘experts’ state that the optimum time to book a trip is ‘several’ weeks in advance to get the best deal. That implies that you’re going to miss out on deals and money-saving offers if you leave booking your trip until the last minute. That is just not true. Depending on the destination you want to visit, the season, weather etc will depend on the deal you will get. But if we have learnt anything when booking our recent trips it is – they are out there, you just need to know where to look.
Sign Up For Offer Emails
This is something we have written about before and still stand by. We have found so many great last minute deals through emails we have signed up for from our favourite travel companies. Obviously, the offers detailed in the emails and newsletters are random and feature the best deals around at that moment. Therefore if you have a certain somewhere in mind or a destination you have to be, this may not be for you. But if you are looking for inspiration/happy to travel anywhere, emails are a great option when it comes to last minute travel bookings and bagging yourself a bargain.
Check Out ‘Last Minute Deal’ Offers
Another way of finding a day is by checking out the ‘Last Minute Deals‘ sections on booking sites such as Travelzoo and On The Beach. You never know your dream destination may just be there. A lot of airlines reduce their flight prices, some drastically, last minute to ensure as many seats as possible are sold on the plane. Many large chain hotels also drop their nightly rate too, again to ensure that there are as few unoccupied rooms in the property as possible. If you are lucky enough to be able to catch a deal on both flight and accommodation, you can make a massive saving.
Be Flexible When Possible
A great way of saving money is by being as flexible as possible. As mentioned above if you have not got a fixed destination in mind, you can simply see what offers are out there. However, if you have/want to visit a certain place there are ways you can save some cash too. If you are flexible on times/dates be sure to check out flights on the day either side of your ideal departure day. Also, check out neighbouring, possibly smaller, airports which may be a lot cheaper to fly into. You may also find that booking flights and accommodation together as a package will save you a few quid too.
Search For Discount Codes
Even though more often than not there are deals to be had. Unfortuanlty if you want to visit somewhere during peak season, the likelihood is you’ll still have to pay a premium, even if there’s a small discount applied. Another way to get more money off the total is to search for discount codes on the internet. We do this for everything we buy from furniture to shoes and all things in between. Finding a travel discount coupon or promo code is pretty easy. Simply Google (or use another search engine, obviously) the company you want to use and see what you can find. Even if it’s only 5% off, it’s a saving, right?
Do you prefer to book in advance or are you more comfortable leaving firming up your travel plans until the last minute? We’d love to hear any last minute money saving tips if you have some.
No Comments