Travel with Katie Butler, Total Travel: Top tips if you are looking for a last minute holiday

Here are our top tips if you are looking for a last-minute holiday:-

​Be flexible: When booking a ‘late-deal’ it is important to understand that you may not get everything you want, within your budget – without compromise. Consider looking at alternative departure airports, especially if you are looking for a free child place. There may be more availability if you are able to travel from East Midlands Airport as oppose to Manchester or Leeds Bradford. You might find the flight times you prefer at a better price if you look to fly from a different airport. You may have wanted a ten-night holiday, however, many destinations (especially at peak times) fly daily and you may be able to get a better deal on a 11-nights or even nine-nights.

Consider new destinations: Open your options to discovering a ‘new’ resort or even country that you have not been to before. If you have always travelled to Spain, perhaps consider a change to Greece, Turkey or even Egypt. As the saying goes ‘don’t knock it ‘til you try it’. When we are looking for a last-minute holiday for our customers, the key question aside from budget is, “Is there anywhere you don’t want to travel to?”, and Turkey is quite often the most common answer. Going back to post-pandemic when Turkey at one point was one of the only places you could travel to, I remember booking many customers who just wanted to get away to the sunshine and would not normally holiday in Turkey, but returned having absolutely loved it and booked again for the following year.

Weigh-up the costs of self-catering vs all-inclusive: Going back to a few weeks ago and the results from the Post Office Family Holiday Report, weigh-up the cost of living at the destination you are looking to take a holiday to. Whilst going all-inclusive is a great option, especially when travelling with children, the cost to upgrade to all-inclusive can be a huge jump from half-board and self-catering. If you go all-inclusive, do you still tend to find yourself eating out in the resort? Likewise, breakdown the cost of upgrading to a higher board basis on a daily per person basis, and establish – is it value to you?

Be ready to book: Holiday prices, particularly for late deals, can change the minute you walk out the door or log off, more so if you have managed to grab a last-minute free child place. If you are happy with the holiday and happy with the price then don’t dilly-dally as you will be disappointed if the holiday is no longer available when you do choose to book.

No surprise that late bookings (travelling within the next 12 weeks) were in huge demand and accounted for a whopping 37 per cent of our total new bookings. Long-haul was also particularly strong and took 23 per cent of the share, although these were booked more in advance and most to travel next year.