Anyone played holiday roulette (and won)?

rubberduck

rubberduck

rubberduck

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Thinking of giving this a go. I have booked the first 3 weeks of October off work (with the expectation to only actually take 2 weeks off) and am going to see if I can bag a 'bargain' if I book pretty much last minute. I don't have my heart set on any destination... as long as it is warm and has a beach etc. but would prefer somewhere interesting as opposed to a resort holiday (that said would consider Maldives etc). Upper budget would be £1.5k per person for 10 nights but if it was something I consider 'special'... Alternatively happy to go bargain basement if it represents 'bang for the buck'.

Please share your stories if you have managed this in the past and grabbed a great holiday for an absolute steal of a price.

RD x

PS No Rhyl jokes plz
 
**** holiday but I once got a week in Benidorm for my Uncle and Aunt for 50p each (flight/hotel/transfers) the tour company had started trying to shift some with no reserve auctions, also got florida flydrive for about £30 from same site
 
Last minute £150 each for 1 week b&b in Olu Deniz, Turkey about 12 years ago.

And did £300 pp for a week in Sharm, Egypt at the Ritz Carlton b&b. That was about 10 years ago

Not really in the market for that sort of holiday now, as we've got kids, so haven't looked what sort of bargains are available. We did get €150 off on a trip to a Belgian Centre Parcs by booking late though :D
 
Kemik said:
Do it every year for skiing. Never tried for summer but there must be some amazing deals surely?
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Do you manage to get a decent deal on Skiing?

Always considered this - we are quite flexible on when we could book time off too really or just book a week or two and see what available.

What websites do you guys use just normal travel agents?
 
I've booked a few holidays a week before I'm due to travel. You can often get great deals through expedia where a flight & hotel works out to be cheaper than hotel only.
 
Bunka said:
You can often get great deals through expedia where a flight & hotel works out to be cheaper than hotel only.
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That's quite often the case in advance, though.

For a summer holiday last minute I'd imagine a lot of the deals will be all-inclusive resorts desperate to fill their rooms. I might be entirely wrong though. I've been tempted to try it for skiing though.

I booked a holiday for the 20th last week. Certainly didn't get a "last minute deal" :o
 
Vanquish-Storm said:
Do you manage to get a decent deal on Skiing?
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As long as you're flexible (e.g. don't mind sharing a shower with another chalet room, unless you want to pay more) you will find a big resort with space. E.g. Got flights, transport, and a chalet room (full board), in Les Arc for £480pp one month before leaving. Les Menuires for £443pp booked on 21st December and left on 24th December. Ended up with the whole chalet to ourselves that week.

Try all of the standard agents - iglu, skiweekend, skiline, etc. One told me three weeks before is the best time to book. I've seen families do the same but wouldn't recommend it as it can be difficult to get more than one room by that point.
 
I would have a play around with prices against dates for September before you commit to something truly last minute. I usually find that 4-6 weeks before departure is the sweet spot for cheap flights. I often find, particularly with 'budget' airlines that go to holiday destinations that the prices go up in the final few weeks. No idea what happens the day before though?

I went with some friends to a 4* All Inc in Marmaris in April for £400/wk (Flights and hotel). We only booked 2.5 weeks in advance, yet a couple we met there booking 4 weeks in advance got it for <£300. Crazy price, and id expect similar in October.
 
Did this years ago when Ceefax last minute holidays were still a thing - very nice week in Tunisia for not much money at all.

Damn I'm old.
 
Did it with a Holiday to Greece with Olympic Holidays before we had kids.
Was very cheap for a week with accommodation, no food included.
We had no specific plan, just a date, and it worked out very well. Even managed to get flight delay compensation that actually covered the whole cost of the holiday after we had a 12 hour delay IN THE AIRPORT in Greece..
 
I used to fly in and out of Düsseldorf, and Hannover a lot when my elder son first moved over there.
As you walked through, on the way to departures, particularly in Düsseldorf, you’d see half a dozen travel agents, with flights and package deals plastered over their windows.
There seemed to be a surfeit of flights to Turkish destinations, no doubt due to the amount of Turkish immigrant families that lived around the city, or descendants of the first gastarbeiters, (guest workers), that came there in the 50s and 60s.
I guess that if they had a long weekend, or maybe a week off, they could grab a cheap flight back to the old country.
 
Vanquish-Storm said:
Who are Ceefax?
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If only there was some kind of media that is accessible to most, if not all. Upon this system one could place information regarding various items, services, topics, anything. This could then be accessed by anyone connected to this media. You could even have certain services use keyword based search facilities in order to find data which you seek. You could look up almost anything you want, any day of the year, any time of day.

That would be wonderful wouldn't it? What would you call such a system though?
 
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