When planning out a holiday as far in advance as possible, sometimes you can’t not take advantage of a last minute deal. These come with their own complications, and you’ll need to know how to plan last minute vacations to make sure everything is as stress-free as possible.
That can be more of an artform than many people are aware of. It’s worth following a few tips and tricks to avoid any of the travel-related hassle. You’ll be lounging in the sun before you know it.
How To Plan Last Minute Vacations: 6 Stress-Free Tips
1. Remember Your Baggage
Your baggage will naturally be a priority. You’ll need to know how to get your bags packed quickly, as you might only have a few days to get ready for your vacation. Remember to keep weight limits in mind when you’re doing so.
With last-minute vacations, it’s not uncommon to arrive in a city several hours before the hotel room is ready. If that happens, using luggage lockers Amsterdam or something similar lets you put your bags somewhere secure and enjoy the city while you’re waiting.
Make sure to leave space in your bags for anything you want to bring back.
2. Check Bundle Deals
Bundle deals are ones that include flights and accommodation in one package. These are typically expensive, as travel agents add on their own percentage after they’ve already paid for the flights and hotels. They then resell these to you at a markup.
If they’re unable to sell these by a certain date, then they’ll slash their prices so they don’t lose much money on them. Make sure to be on the lookout for these. While they’re rarer than needing to book last-minute flights and accommodation yourself, they can save you a lot of money.
3. Check Hotels Before Booking Flights
One of the keys to knowing how to plan last minute vacations is checking the price of hotels before you book your flights. While it’s tempting to buy your flights when you find out they’re much lower than normal, you could end up finding that hotel rates are quite high. Your savings from the flights could be undone with this.
They could even be more expensive, resulting in the vacation becoming more expensive than if you hadn’t bought it last minute. A quick online search about what hotel rates are for the dates you’re considering is recommended.
If they’re affordable enough, then there shouldn’t be anything stopping you from booking.
4. Don’t Assume Redemption Rates Mean Cash Rates
If you plan on using points or miles to reduce the cost of your trip, then you’ll need to be careful. The formulae that airlines use to convert points into reduced or free flights can be quite opaque. In many cases, you could get something different than what you’re expecting.
Don’t assume you’re getting something specific until you know what you’re getting. Sometimes, this can work out better for you and the redemption rates can give you a better deal, which typically comes into play with last minute vacations.
In other circumstances, the redemption rates could be lower, so it mightn’t be worth using your points.
5. Check Restaurants & Activities Online
One of the main benefits of planning a vacation ahead of time is that you have plenty of time to determine what restaurants and other activities are close to where you’re staying. With last-minute vacations, you naturally have less time to do so, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
It could take as little as an hour to figure this out with an online search. You could be surprised by how much you can find out when you’re doing so, like in Istanbul for instance. When you’re looking around online, make sure to find out if specific activities need bookings. Getting these booked as quickly as possible - if you plan on taking part in them - is essential.
The same can be said for restaurants. Getting all of these done may seem like it’ll be stressful, but it’ll be more straightforward than you’d expect. A quick online search should be all you need to figure this out.
6. Save Money on Ground Transportation
Sites like bookaway.com allow you to pre book bus and train tickets at discounted prices for many of the top destinations around the world. While this might seem unnecessary, knowing that you don't have to worry about how to reach your hotel when you land AND knowing that you did not pay full price for your transportation is a win-win combination.
This becomes specially true if you're traveling with little kids and/ or arriving at odd hours.
How To Plan Last Minute Vacations: Wrapping Up
Last minute vacations offer a host of advantages, such as typically being more affordable than some alternatives. Then there are the multiple benefits that come with having a vacation, such as being able to relax and unwind.
You shouldn’t have to go through a lot of stress to enjoy these. Once you know how to plan last minute vacations with each of the stress-free tips above, you shouldn’t have a problem enjoying your trip.
What’s in your way?
