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Dream year for cheap last minute holidays

By Casper da silva

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Published: 27Apr2009
Word count: 765
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Let's begin with the buzz words of the year Credit Crunch, and what it means for holiday seekers this year. I remember when I first started working in the Travel Industry last century (oh yes I do chuckle when I throw that one out), and up to twenty two years ago going on holiday was a luxury. By the late eighties quickly followed by the nineties, going on holiday evolved from been a luxury shared by a small minority to becoming an absolute necessity shared by the majority and a way to keep your sanity for the rest of the year. It was also something to aspire to and look forward to and despite the saturation of the travel industry it still holds that certain magic for people going away wanting to leave their humdrum lives behind and live the dream, catching the rays, looking at beautiful sunsets, tasting different foods meeting different people. Needless to say this year in 2009, there has been a bit of panic about whether going on holiday is going to be a possibility for most couples and families and the media's ongoing credit crunch mantra hasn't helped alleviate the fears to the average traveller.

However, I am going to go on record and state with absolute confidence and clarity that this is going to be a dream year for last minute holidays and great bargains will be bountiful in this buyers market. But and there is a 'but' here, you need to know what to do and when to do it. As any self respecting gambler will tell you, you just have to know when to gamble and when to fold. A last minute holiday booking does not necessarily mean booking your holiday a day before departure to get the best deal, a day before departure can sometimes mean you pay more than your counterpart who booked four weeks before you and sometimes six weeks. If I could count the amount of times I have heard my clients literally kicking themselves for playing the waiting game on brilliant offers they were given a few weeks before and because they have gambled and waited till a day before departure thinking they would get it even cheaper, was a foolish gamble and it wont work in your favour. If you have a specific somewhere that you want to go to with a certain type of board in a particular resort, frankly you book your holiday a minimum four weeks before departure so that you can get your particular deal. If however you are the type who wants to just turn up at the airport with a suitcase not caring where you go as long as you get a bit of sun then a few days before departure for a great late holiday deal will suit you just fine.

Again word to the wise, gambling with a last minute holiday a day before a Bank Holiday or the start of any school holidays is a definite no-no, trying to find a suitable last minute holiday bargain a couple of days before you want to get away can be an extremely stressful exercise for a family with specific needs and requirements, so always start looking five to nine weeks before departure. There are plenty of ways to get the best cost, but you need to be prepared with your full budget on a credit card or debit card, many a last minute deal has been lost over something as mundane as taking fifteen minutes to transfer funds from one account to another. If you do not have a debit or credit card make arrangements with a friend or family member who are prepared to lend you their card or pay on your behalf in exchange for cash, finding a bargain first and scrabbling around for a way to pay the funds is not the best way to secure your last minute holiday deal and options on any last minute holidays are simply non existent. It's also very easy to get companies to compete with each other over who is prepared to give you the best deal, but, if you do this for too long and involve too many agents, the electronic data been taped by several agencies does in fact give the operator the illusion that there is a demand on that particular holiday and the price will increase, so keep it simple, snap up that great last minute holiday you have found and defy the doomsayers and the naysayer media, 2009 IS the year of the Great British bargain, make the most of it!

Casper da Silva is a travel advisor with HolidayClick with over 22 years experience. HolidayClick specialise in Cheap last Minute deals

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