September 15, 2004 -- It's only Wednesday, but you're already yearning for Friday. Stress, deadlines, burning the candle at both ends -- you need to sleep, you need to relax, and most importantly you need to get away. Unfortunately, it's almost the weekend and you've got no plans, no ticket, no idea where to go. No problem. One of the best things about booking travel online is being able to make last minute plans.
Last minute travel is also a great way to surprise someone. Who wouldn't be overjoyed by the offer of a weekend sojourn in Paris or a few nights on an island paradise? (I should know -- my boyfriend whisked me off to Puerto Rico for Thanksgiving, proposed to me in snowy Montreal on President's Day, and now we're happily married -- all this thanks to last minute getaways.)
So rather than looking forward to cleaning out your closet, or doing household chores this weekend, start planning your next getaway today!
Online Packagers
Named for the 59th minute, Site59 (www.site59.com) is the Big Kahuna of last minute travel websites, packaging together air, hotel, car and exciting extras at discount rates that are often up to 70% off regular prices. But last minute does not mean scraping the bottom of the barrel -- these deals often include luxury hotels, exotic destinations and major airlines.
If you're not sure where you want to go, you can browse by destination, type of getaway (sun, adventure, international, romance, food & wine) or by price (from under $250). The latter allows you to browse and find the best destination for your price range, a terrific advantage if you got a budget to adhere to. Site59 displays all your getaway details up front with a tax inclusive price, including exact flights and photographs of hotels.
Other websites also offer last minute options, often to fill cruises, tours and seats on flights booked in large blocks to secure a lower price. However, you may discover after shopping around various sites for hours, that the site you are on is using Site59.com to secure your deal. Some of these sites include AOL Travel, Yahoo Travel, Travelocity, American Express, Cheap Tickets, Last Minute Deals, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, US Airways, Continental Airlines, and Northwest Airlines.
Other airline websites occasionally have semi-last minute discount flight options, although these tend to be prevalent in low-season, i.e. Qantas and Air New Zealand during the Southern Hemisphere winter, or Iceland Air and Aer Lingus during the Northern Hemisphere winter.
Sites like Priceline (www.priceline.com) and Hotwire (www.hotwire.com) provide last minute bookings at low prices, but often require you to make a financial commitment up front, before you know what airline you'll be flying, time you'll be leaving, or hotel you'll be booking. This can be a big leap of faith as you may get an unwanted surprise, but before you make your purchase, you can choose to specify the things you don't want, i.e. red-eye flights or small aircrafts.Tropical Travel (www.tropicaltravel.net), Cheap Caribbean (www.cheapcaribbean.com) and Crown Travel (www.crown-travel.com) are a few of the vacation specialists who offer last minute booking options for getaways that may be longer than a few days, mostly to Caribbean destinations for up to seven nights. Listings change weekly with some great deals to beach resorts, on cruises and all-inclusive vacation packages.
Eleventh Hour Vacations (888/740-1998; www.11thhourvacations.com) is another excellent site that offers you additional information on destinations, longer vacation times and like site59, makes searching for trips easy by using categories of vacations. Their prices are generally tax-inclusive (with the exception of certain cruise packages with additional port fees and taxes), so there are no hidden extras or last minute surprises.
The Downside to Last Minute Planning
As with any great deal, there can be a downside to making travel decisions at the last minute. It's not the best way to get to a wedding across the country that you have known about for months, or that business meeting you've lined up. Waiting until the day before you leave to secure a lower price on a trip is a gamble, as the best packages sell out quickly and you may be left with no alternative but to change destinations or pay a penalty for procrastinating. If you absolutely have to be somewhere on a specific date, make your reservation the more traditional way -- it may not save you dollars, but it will save you heartache and embarrassment.
To secure low prices, some last minute deals make you forfeit your frequent flier mileage, or impose hefty cancellation penalties. It may be a small price to pay, but check policies carefully on individual websites and see what you are giving up. Site59 does allow customers to earn frequent flier mileage. Last minute deals are also mainly for weekend or long weekend use, for trips to be taken within a few hours or up to two weeks from the booking date.