You’ve probably heard this story, and if time is no problem for you (perhaps you’re a student, living a flex-time life) it’s a good way to get free air fare. A young friend of ours actually went for a stand-by and received a free round-trip airfare to anyplace. A tried and true formula, but you have to be in the niche (age and marital status) to put up with this inconvenience.
There are other ways of getting airfare on the cheap (if not free), but these tickets are for last minute air travel deals. You have to be ready to fly soon and be flexible (extremely so) in your destination. These last minute air travel deals are the best if you are spontaneous and adventurous.
Those of us who don’t normally use conventional, store-front travel agents rely on the big internet web sites for booking our travel: Expedia, Travelocity, and Hotwire. These can be great: simply compare last minute air travel deals from site to site and select the one that fits you. If you need a car, include that in your selection process and save more.
The great advantage of using the traditional online travel outlets is flexibility. Departure times, connecting flights, and the whole deal are listed among others for you to select. The down-side is that you may be limited. Be flexible enough to accept connecting flights—this brings down your cost, too.
Virgin does not list its bargains or last minute air travel deals on some of these sites. It’s a great idea, then, to check the airlines for their listed last minute air travel deals.
One “break out” site worth checking is lastminute.com. It carries last minute air travel deals for 2 weeks from “today.” As a subsidiary of Travelocity, it lists even better deals and combos (airfare plus car) since it wants to fill those remaining seats. Remember that every empty seat on a flight is a loser for the airlines.
Be sure to sign up for the weekly newsletters at the travel sites for quick deals and hop right on them. You could realize air, hotel, and car for less than you’ve ever dreamed. You may visit a place that you’ve never considered under other circumstances and expand your travel horizons.
If you are looking for last minute air travel deals to a specific place, check the sights multiple times each day, as fares change during the day. (Exceptions to this would be summer months to some places and the holidays in November and December. You should book these in advance to be assured a ticket: airlines have cut down on the number of flights they make, even on these holidays.)
The great lesson here is that you can become your own travel agent, in a sense, and find last minute air travel deals that make you into a frequent flyer. Be diligent; do your homework; and have your suitcase packed to make the most of last minute airline travel deals.
