Travel

(Photo: backpacker image by Galyna Andrushko from Fotolia )

For those willing to look for them, there are plenty of travel bargains to be found. From deeply discounted cruises to cheap flights, generally all you need to do is keep an eye out. However, truly exceptional deals often come at the last moment, and to find those deals you have to look a little harder.

Step 1

Pack a bag. The more quickly you are able to leave the better, so pack a travel bag with a few changes of clothes, your bathing suit, and some paperbacks. When you re ready to leave, add final essentials like toiletries and medications and you re ready to hit the road.

Step 2

Plan your schedule. To take advantage of a last-minute travel deal you will need house sitters, vacation time and any other necessities lined up in advance. No, you won t be able to take the time off until your trip is booked, but you can certainly make sure everyone expects that you will be leaving on short notice.

Step 3

Decide what you re looking for. If all you want is to get out of town for a week, the bargains available to you will be plentiful. If, however, you have a particular destination in mind, be it the Caribbean or Barcelona, this will give your bargain hunt focus.

Step 4

Decide what you re willing to spend. A week-long tropical cruise on just three days notice can give you impressive savings, until you factor in the cost of booking a flight just 72 hours in advance. The costs may well balance out or even be greater than for a vacation booked in a more conventional way. Once you have a budget established, stick to it to avoid such circumstances.

Step 5

Build a network. Your best bet for finding cheap last-minute travel is with a package tour. Whether on a cruise or a group trip, a cancellation can leave a travel agent scrambling to fill an empty slot that will cost her money. Visit a few local agents and let them know what you re looking for. They can be your eyes and ears in the travel community as you search for your elusive last-minute deal. If an agent hears of a cancellation and you are able to join a group tour to Europe on short notice, the money you save will easily allow you to pay the agent s fee.

Join a community. Search for an online community dedicated to your kind of travel. These are useful for finding travel information in general, and being part of a community that is on the lookout and in the know about bargains can help you secure a last-minute deal of your own.

Be open to the unexpected. If you re truly just looking to get away from it all, be open to what comes along. It may not be the destination you had in mind, but the more specific the travel deal you re looking for is, the harder it will be to come by. Perhaps four nights out of town at a posh bed and breakfast (for the cost of only two nights) isn t what you had in mind when you started bargain hunting, but your bag is packed, the house sitter is on call, and you have time off coming. Why not take advantage of what s bound to be a good time, even if it isn t exactly what you were looking for?