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Great Getaway Deals
Access Magazine · December 10, 2000

You just found out you can get away for a few days around the holidays but fear it's too late to plan an exciting, affordable trip. Don't worry. Several Web sites can help you plan a getaway at the last minute.

These sites, which specialize in booking trips at the 11th hour, buy airline tickets and hotel rooms that would have gone unused - known as "distressed inventory" in the travel business. You could end up getting the best price possible.

Site59.com offers packages that include airfare, hotel and some activities. For example, a weekend trip to Los Angeles from Washington, D.C., with a two-night stay at Maison 140, a Beverly Hills boutique inn, and reservations at the trendy Asia de Cuba restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, recently sold for $541 per person. If you tried doing that offline a month in advance, you could easily spend twice as much.

Travelon.com doesn't offer the theme packages you'll find at Site59.com, but it does present some good deals in its Travel Specials section. For instance, a seven-day Alaskan cruise along the Inside Passage recently sold for $1,070, double occupancy, for an outer cabin. That's a savings of almost $900 off the standard price.

LastMinuteTravel.com is one of the original and most extensive ports for people who haven't had time to plan. It sells airline tickets, cruises and packages (you'll find some packages put together by Site59.com). A recent search found flights from Boston to Las Vegas for as low as $248, round trip.

If you still haven't found what you're looking for, check out one of the airline vacation sites, such as American Airlines Vacations. You can book directly from the Web site and choose from a wide variety of destinations and hotels. Keep in mind, though, that most airlines require a two-week advance purchase and a Saturday stay-over for the cheapest tickets. That doesn't work as well for impulsive travelers.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. Inside Interactive Travel appears biweekly on this site and on Gomez Advisors' GomezPro site.