Booking last minute flights

Booking last minute flights

We all know the scenario of booking a last minute flight these days. It can be stressful, often involves staying up into the early hours of the morning, screaming at a laptop, swearing we will never fly with a budget airline again, and then drinking so much coffee or wine that we can hardly read our credit card details at the crunch moment. And while we don’t book flights at Responsible Travel, we’ve all been last minute travellers ourselves – and we’ve collected our tried-and-tested recommendations on how to book a last minute flight.

See all our Last minute Holidays

Give us a call

Our Last minute Holidays

Last minute flight booking tips

Check with your tour operator first to see if they can help you book. They know the destination, which days the flights are on, times, and so on. Many holiday companies can help organise your flights. Decide when you and your travelling companions want to fly and have those details to hand before you go searching online. If you have to phone a friend just before you book, you might lose a good price. Try to be as flexible as possible. Compare flight prices on Skyscanner or Google Flights. It’s hard to get proof, but there’s a school of thought that airlines know when you have just searched for a price, and put the price up when you do a second search. There’s a chance you might avoid this by deleting your browser cookies or using two devices with different email addresses. All a bit Sherlock Homesian, we know. There are some tried and tested ways to get a better flight price. Travel midweek or book midmonth (there’s a high demand for flights after pay day, so fewer bargains). Allegedly, most low airfares are advertised between a Sunday and Monday evening. If those don’t sell, they come back onto the system just after midnight – Tuesday 1am, so airline insiders say – at a lower price. Book. But not the extras. Agents don’t make much money on flights, and so they’ll try to sell you the room, the car and the parking. Don’t buy any of these if you can be bothered to look around for better prices. Plus, they might already be included in the price of your holiday. And now – only now – open the wine.

Travel Team

If you'd like to chat about Last minute or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help.

01273 823 700

Calling us from outside the UK?

rosy@responsibletravel.com

01273 823 700

Calling us from outside the UK?

rosy@responsibletravel.com

More about Last minute

Last minute travel guide

Booking last minute holidays can be hard work – so we've written up a guide with destination inspiration, late flight booking how-tos and vaccination tips, along with a ton of other handy advice.

Last minute holiday destinations

Read this last minute destinations guide to discover where to see whales right now, where the best sea kayaking is next week, and where the beaches are gorgeous but the monsoon next month.

How to book a last minute holiday

Being fonts of knowledge, our Travel Team recommends reading these tips on how to book a last minute holiday before trying to create that dream holiday in your lunch hour.

Last minute holiday vaccinations

There’s one big issue that people often bury their head in the sand about, especially when booking a holiday at the last minute. Nope, not passport expiration dates – pricks.

Last minute family holidays

Last minute family holidays can make or break a family, as there are so many boxes to tick and different needs to be met. That’s where our Travel Team steps in.

Written by Catherine Mack

Booking last minute flights

Booking last minute flights

Our Last minute Holidays

Last minute flight booking tips

More about Last minute

Holidays

Why book

Activism

History

Other stuff

Get in touch

Booking last minute flights

Booking last minute flights

Our Last minute Holidays

Last minute flight booking tips

Our top Last minute Holiday

More about Last minute

Holidays

Why book

Activism

History

Other stuff