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Traveling at the Last Minute
Access Magazine · February 6, 2000

Sarah Murphy doesn't consider herself a spontaneous person. The Miami financial analyst likes to plan everything, including her vacations, with time to spare. She booked her last getaway, a seven-day cruise to the Western Caribbean ports of Grand Cayman and Cozumel, half a year in advance through a travel agent. It cost her more than $1,000.

But Murphy suspected she could do better on shorter notice after seeing an ad for icruise.com, a Web site specializing in last-minute sailings. "I had some vacation days left over, and I thought going on a cruise would be a good way to spend time before the busy holidays," she says. "I was interested in getting the best deal."

A deal is exactly what she got. For a seven-day voyage on Premier Cruise Lines' Rembrandt to the Eastern Caribbean ports of Nassau, San Juan, St. John and St. Thomas, she snagged a rate of $239 online a month before her scheduled departure. Then, when she called icruise.com to confirm the reservation, the cyberagency unexpectedly cut its rate to $189. "I couldn't believe it," Murphy says.

She got a bargain rate, but not on a bargain-basement boat. "The cruise was actually better than I anticipated," she reports. "Great ports, food and people. And don't forget the pi-a coladas. For the price, I don't think that there is a better deal out there for a seven-day cruise."

As Murphy's experience shows, it pays to be spontaneous when you're booking travel on the Internet. Oftentimes, the closer to your departure date you can book a ticket, the bigger the savings. That's because as the travel dates draw closer, airlines, hotels and car rental agencies are faced with the possibility that their seats, rooms or autos will go unused. The cheapest and most effective way to sell this so-called distressed inventory is on the Internet.

Where can you find these last-minute bargains? "They're everywhere," says David Kirby, editor of the Interactive Travel Report newsletter and author of Kirby's Korner, a weekly Internet column about online travel. "From airline Web sites to last-minute travel sites, the Web is fast becoming one of the most attractive places to shop for travel."

Airline sites are a good place to start hunting for bargains. Just ask Alex Rhodes, a management consultant in Chicago who used American Airlines Net SAAver fares to save more than $10,000 last year.

"I try to see my family in New York as often as possible," Rhodes says. "But the cost of flying from Chicago to New York on a moment's notice can be as high as $1,500. A lot of times I can get on the same flight for $119 with the online fares."

American Airlines lets you customize its Web site so that when you log on, it points you to last-minute bargains from your closest airport. But look before you book: The specials come with all kinds of restrictions, such as weekend-only travel or trips only to less popular destinations. Plus, as with most travel-booking sites, you have to be willing to type in your credit card number.

Often you can snag a great deal on a particular destination. United Airlines recently offered discounts of up to 25 percent off the lowest selling fare to Honolulu booked at the 11th hour. From Los Angeles, the round-trip fare was as low as $279, from Denver it was $449 and from Washington, D.C., it was $649. The sale prices, called E-Fares, were online exclusives through United's Web site. They were nonrefundable and required a Saturday night stay and an immediate purchase by credit card. To take advantage of this type of offer, you have to be impulsive and decisive.

Looking for a steal on a hotel? Often, the longer you wait, the bigger the potential savings. That's what Darius Adams, a New York accountant, discovered when he shopped for a reasonable rate on a hotel in San Francisco. A month before leaving for a three-night visit in October, he managed to find a pretty good price through a Ramada frequent-stayer program. Then, about two weeks before traveling, he decided to check out Expedia.com's Hotel Price Matcher. The service matches the price you're willing to pay with a hotel willing to accept that price. "I just wanted to see if I could do better," he says.

Surprise, surprise: Adams scored a room rate of $70 a night at the Sheraton at Fisherman's Wharf. Normally that room would have sold for about $150 a night. (He also received a $25 rebate from Expedia for using Price Matcher.) He promptly canceled his first reservation.

Like Adams, you can get a great room rate this way. But Expedia requires a few things some people might not like. Once the system finds a hotel that matches your price, your credit card is automatically charged. Like the airline specials, there's generally no refund. Also, Expedia does not tell you in advance the names of participating hotels.

It pays to bid. Sometimes it really pays. David Olsen, executive director of the chamber of commerce in Jefferson, Wis., wanted to get out of cold Wisconsin for a few days to celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary. He stumbled upon Bid1travel.com. A few weeks before his planned departure date, he placed a bid on a six-night stay at the all-inclusive Pineapple Beach Club in Antigua and won on the second try.

He's still pinching himself about the price: $118 a night, versus the going rate of $290 a night. "When I called a travel agent to book the flights, she couldn't believe the rate. She said it was too good to be true," he adds.

But Bid1travel is the real thing. After registering with the site, you can make an offer on anything from a one-week Caribbean cruise for two on the Crown Dynasty to a three-day cultural tour of Iceland. There's also an e-mail newsletter that lists new vacations and trips on which you can bid. Best of all, there's no specified minimum bid.

Getting a Bargain

When it comes to travel, the Internet is one of the few places in life where time is on your side-if you have time to do all the hunting and clicking that online searching can require.

If you can't get the price you want on a vacation, just wait. Shop around some more. As your trip draws closer, the hotels, airlines and cruise lines are under pressure to slash prices.

Play it cool and then play the Internet card when the time is right. Bargain hunting as far as a month in advance can pay off.

If you want to get out of town but don't know where you want to go, visit LastMinuteTravel.com and use the Instant Search feature; for destination, choose "Anywhere." The site will turn up a list of flights to a variety of cities, many of them at considerable savings.

If you're the impulsive type, sign up for the e-mail newsletters sent out by airlines and dot-com travel companies. You never know when that $289 round-trip fare to Amsterdam might pop up on your screen.

Even if you don't like waiting until the last minute to make travel arrangements, you can still shop on the Internet and find some great deals.

US Airways E-Savers offer discounts for last-minute weekend travel. The airline sometimes offers additional discounts on already reduced fares when you order online.

TWA's Dot Com Deals feature special rates each week to various locations around the world. You can subscribe to an e-mail list to receive a weekly notification of all TWA discounted fares.

Southwest Airlines' Click 'n Save E-mail Updates give you the lowdown on Internet specials. As an added bonus, Southwest's recently redesigned Web site is among the easiest to use.

Continental Airlines offers extended-weekend getaways for lucky travelers who can depart on Saturday and return Monday or Tuesday. Check out the CO.O.L Travel Specials in the Vacations & Specials section.

Delta posts its SkyLinks Web Fares every Wednesday morning. The airline also offers Internet-only vacation specials. Sign up for e-mail notification.

Click-It! Weekends from TravelWeb offer big discounts on rooms that would otherwise go unused. TravelWeb's prices can be checked without putting in a formal bid or being tied to a given itinerary. In addition to domestic savings, it also offers deals on rooms abroad, from Bangalore to Brussels, with especially good savings in England.

A rich resource for travelers who wait until the 11th hour to make plans, LastMinuteTravel.com is one of the only major travel retailers that offer deals at bed-and-breakfasts. Terms vary depending on the product. You can also book flights, cruises, rental cars and package deals here. A procrastinator's paradise.

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.