Poster: A snowHead
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I've just had a holiday to Nepal cancelled, departing 18th March due to violence going on.
Although I've booked one last minute holiday a few years ago it wasn't skiing so essentially I've no experience of it.
Anyone booked last minute recently either through bricks-and-mortar or online?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A month before departure isn't really last minute is it? Give Iglu or BookableSki a bell, they'll sort you out.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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flicksta, are you looking to go skiing, or another type of trip?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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For the 18th of March, it's not high season, so I would leave it to the last couple of days, especially if you're travelling from London.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Cheers everyone.
magriggs, There is a load of other stuff going on which means we won't be in a position to book for a while.
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flicksta, I've booked my last five ski trips as late deals and got some good bargins. In december we paid £250 for flights, transfers and half board food in a 4* hotel, plus free lift passes for the group.
A trip to Nepal sounds expensive so if you've got loads of cash to spend you probably don't need my student finance advice!
I've found a couple of good tricks to bag the best deal. Firstly, group size is important. The larger the group the more difficult it is to find a cheap package deal.
If its just two of you going wait as long as you can, regularly check the web and watch the price plummet. For larger groups (say 5) you might want to book a couple of weeks before you go.
In my experience in low season tour operators often expect to run out of plane seats before they run out of accommodation. I've never been on an empty plane, but I've often been in a less than full hotel.
Therefore, if you can be flexible about where you fly from in the UK you stand a better chance of getting a bargin. Bizarrely, flights from Newcastle aiport often have empty seats, but Newcastle is a hassel if you're from London. There are normally flights from London available but often these come at a supplement (this can be upto £150)
A good trick to find the best late deal is to use www.worldski.com, this excellent website allows you to find cheap package deals with several of the big operators. The best thing about worldski though is it tells you which operator each hol is with. So once you found the right deal you can go to the website of the big tour operator and book it there. You get a £25 pound discount per person for booking online with Thomson and Crystal (not sure about the other operators).
Most of all be flexible about where you want to go and what type of accommodation you fancy. For instance, I quite like half board hotels as you can eat when you like but you don't have to make it yourself. But if a self catering hol is £200 cheaper you could probably eat out all the time with the money saved (as long as your not in Courchevel).
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flicksta, last minute for ski TOs really does mean last minute. If they've got spare seats on a plane, and a bed going free, they'll be willing to flog it right up till the moment the boarding gate closes.
Of course it's up to you to run the risk that the only remaining available bed is above the noisiest bar in the Alps (and hence the fact that it's still available).
But for that kind of last minute, ignore high streets and on-line - go straight to the phone. The call centre will almost always receive the most reliable and complete information about their TO's last-minute availablity. And they're in a position to bargain...unlike websites and high street dollies.
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