Last-minute summer vacation: It will be possible to book a trip during the school holidays on the spur of the moment – as long as you are flexible and give up the idea of saving a lot of money.
“The big last-minute bargains are not to be expected for the summer of 2023,” predicts the German Travel Association (DRV), which represents tour operators and travel agencies.
Conversely, this does not mean that there are no more last-minute holidays at a reasonable price.
The price-performance ratio is right here
Provider Alltours reports that the very high flight prices of the past few weeks are falling again. “We can therefore also offer attractive conditions again in the last-minute area.” Flight contingents to popular regions such as the Turkish Riviera, Mallorca and the Canary Islands have again been significantly increased.
The Munich tour operator FTI has registered a significant increase in holiday demand, especially in the past two weeks. Hotel contingents were increased at an early stage with foresight. “However, there can be bottlenecks in the flight connections on popular dates,” says Ralph Schiller, head of the FTI Group. With the now high demand, the scarce supply has an impact on possible bargains.
According to Schiller, anyone who is not quite certain about the destination or period of the trip will still find offers with a good price-performance ratio at a later date – he mentions Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia as well as vacations with self-travel.
According to product manager Sven Schikarsky, Dertour and its sister brands ITS and Meiers Weltreisen particularly score points for Bulgaria, Egypt, Tunisia and Thailand this summer with a “very good price-performance ratio”.
According to the company, anyone looking for attractively priced offers from Germany’s largest tour operator Tui should consider the Greek island of Corfu, the Spanish mainland or the Canary Islands. Destinations with stable prices are the Polish Baltic Sea coast, Albania and Morocco.
Book at the last minute – that’s a risk
Waiting until shortly before booking in order to pick up trips canceled at short notice by other holidaymakers at low prices – that is not advisable, at least according to Tui.
“The often suspected cancellations due to flex tariffs up to 14 days before departure are not an option, since the cancellation volume is extremely low,” said a spokesman for Tui Germany on request. People wanted to travel and secured early bird prices at the beginning of the year. There are no returns.
It definitely makes more sense to book now, as there are still significantly more short-term bookings than before the pandemic, the Tui spokesman continued. Alltours also reports that the demand for holiday trips in the last-minute phase is still very high. “We therefore advise making a decision as quickly as possible.”
Save money with flexibility
If you have decided on a very specific holiday destination, a very specific hotel category and a very specific travel period, spontaneous bookings are often much more expensive – if anything is still available. In fact, the following applies here: next time, book early and take the corresponding discounts with you.
According to the travel portal Urlaubsguru, the greatest chance of a “fair offer” is when the departure date, time, travel duration and holiday destination are not yet fixed.
Also worthwhile: Compare prices for different types of food. If all-inclusive only costs a little more than the half-board option, it may be worth it because it saves you having to go to the local restaurant for lunch.
Another savings tip: Since not all federal states have summer holidays at the same time, it is worth taking a look at airports in countries where the holiday season is already over. The flight search engine Skyscanner has calculated an example: If a family of four fly from Bremen instead of Hamburg to Mallorca from August 17th to 24th, they save around 260 euros. School has already started again in Bremen during the week, while there are still holidays in Hamburg.
You have to see the search for a trip as a triangle, describes Laura Lindsay from Skyscanner. The three corners are the questions: when do you travel, where do you travel and how do you travel – for example: with which airline and from which airport? “If you’re flexible on one of the three corners, you can get a good deal,” she says.
Don’t turn off your mind
If you find a fantastic and also very cheap offer when searching for a summer trip on the net, you shouldn’t switch off your mind despite all the euphoria.
Not only is it important to take a close look at the offer. There may be a catch – for example, that the transfer from the airport to the hotel and back is not included at the destination. Depending on the distance, this can result in hefty additional costs.
Above all, you should also carefully check whether the provider is trustworthy. Consumer advocates recently warned again about fraud with holiday offers before the upcoming peak travel season.
If the travel deal seems too good to be true, it usually isn’t. Similar to fake shops, remarkably low prices are often a warning signal on the travel market, according to the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center.
Caution should be exercised, in particular, with offers in social networks. Links from there often lead to fake booking sites, some of which are very similar to those of well-known providers. It is dubious if bookings are to be processed via messenger services. Then the rule is: keep your hands off and keep looking.
On June 22nd, North Rhine-Westphalia is the first federal state to start the summer holidays. The other 15 federal states will gradually follow in the course of July.