Last Minute Air Travel Booking Options
Traveling the skies means that you will have to become quite savvy in learning how to book last minute air travel. Whether you are flexible in planning a vacation getaway or you have to travel for business with just a day or two notice you can still get great deals - if you know where to look. While you may have to pay higher than normal prices for some last minute air travel, you still have options for snagging better rates.
Where and When to Go
Most airlines consider any flights booked less than 14 days in advance as last minute air travel and will start to drop their fares on certain flights that they do not feel will fill up in time. You can benefit from this by subscribing to email newsletters from travel agencies as well as the airlines themselves to learn of low rates and flight availability.
If you just want to get away to a sunny location and originally thought Jamaica sounded good but discovered that last minute air travel to Mexico was more affordable, you can book it! Flexibility in this instance is important and if you are willing to shift your priorities a bit, you can get some great deals in this fashion.
How to Find the Deals
Travel aggregate websites that search the internet for the best last minute air travel deals will likely be your best bet in snagging a flight. Sometimes, going to the airline website will not produce any seats on the flight you want but an aggregate travel site may because some of them pre-purchase blocks of seats on flights in the hopes of re-selling them.
Sometimes, your credit card company offers travel services to customers and can often find flights and deals that you would not normally find on your own search. The credit card company has connections that you do not have and they may even get better rates, especially if you have accumulated points on your credit card you have not used.
Don't discount regular old travel agencies in your hometown when trying to book last minute air travel deals. As agents, they have access to flight information you could not pull up yourself and can even find regional air carriers to get you to your destination more quickly and cheaply too.
You have one final option for finding a last minute air travel deal and that is visiting auction sites for available tickets people may have up for sale that they cannot use. Of course, you plug in your travel parameters and you make a bid for your tickets. You will not have much say in what airline it is that you will be traveling or even the number of layovers you might have. However, these auction sites will likely have the last minute air travel deals you need to get you from point A to point B - you just may not like the exact itinerary you get.
When the internet is your primary source for searching for last minute air travel, be sure to pull up several different quotes for your travel plans. That way you can compare not only the price but the options you receive along with the deal.
