Holiday destinations almost fully booked despite the delta explosion: where there is still something free

Since the 1980s, the term last-minute travel has gained a firm place in the tourism industry. He promises bargain prices for spontaneous vacationers. In the meantime, Last-Minute has had several little sisters: Super-, Ultra- and Very-Last-Minute are fueling the market segment. The difference between the big and the three small but identical sisters is the advance booking period. That means: How many days before departure is the booking made?

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Super last minute means shorter than ten days

Since the term last-minute travel is neither protected nor clearly defined, it is used differently by the providers. For the German Travel Association, for example, there are no more than two weeks between booking and departure. The booking and review portal HolidayCheck uses the term more generously. Last-minute offers start four weeks before departure. “If the time between booking and departure is less than ten days, we speak of super last-minute,” says Christoph Heinzmann, tourism expert at HolidayCheck.

Many tour operators define super, ultra and very last minute much more narrowly and refer to the start of the holiday three or fewer days after booking. Most of the offers are left over from package tours that have either not yet been sold or from which someone has dropped out. And these are sometimes up to 70 percent cheaper than the “normal” travel price.

Where there are still bargain offers

But are there any super last minute offers in the last summer month of August? At HolidayCheck, for example, there is strong demand for Germany as a travel destination – there are hardly any offers and certainly no more bargains.

Even holiday destinations that were classified as risk areas before August 1, 2021 such as Turkey, Crete, Mallorca or Egypt are among the top search queries. “There are currently good bargains for them Turkey, Mallorca and also Croatia and Greece. Croatia is a destination that can also be easily reached by car. This means that holidaymakers are a little more flexible here if something changes at short notice during the trip, ”explains Christoph Heinzmann.

With the beginning of the corona pandemic, booking behavior has generally changed. The trend is towards shorter advance booking periods. Vacationers wanted to wait for the situation and then book at short notice. This is also shown by the figures from HolidayCheck: Before Corona, an average of 50 days before departure was booked, the time span is currently around 30 days.

You can still find good holiday offers for last-minute travelers here:

For whom the super last minute trips are suitable

Super last minute trips are mainly suitable for singles and couples. And for people who are spontaneous and flexible, who need little time to prepare for a trip, who are in the mood for bargain hunting as well as short and city trips

Families tend to have the disadvantages of this type of travel: Those who have school children are tied to vacation times and have little flexibility in terms of time. For families and larger groups, there are better early bird trips, which also promise price advantages.

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Cancellation insurance and identification documents

As with all travel bookings, it is important to pay attention to travel cancellation insurance and corona packages with the last-minute deals – if these are offered. Often, however, neither cancellations nor cancellation insurance are possible for very short-term trips.

And another tip: If you book at the last minute, you should first check the validity of your identification documents and required vaccinations (especially when traveling long-distance). Because there are currently stricter controls all over the world. And creating a new passport for German authorities often takes more than a few days.

A notice: FOCUS Online belongs to Hubert Burda Media. The company is the main shareholder of HolidayCheck Group AG.