The bargain last-minute getaway does still exist — here's how to do it
A report in the industry journal Travel Trade Gazette (TTG) warned that the late bookings market 'is fracturing as value-conscious consumers with unrealistic budgets and expectations clash with higher holiday prices'. Travel agents from all over the UK told TTG that the public seemed unaware that holiday prices had gone up, and that, this summer, they weren't coming down again as the sell-by date approached. That, it says, is leading to shock and disappointment on the high street.
According to Gillian Polyhos, a co-owner of Olive Lounge Travel in Keighley, West Yorkshire, 'There's still a myth around last-minute holidays that prices are always good. That is not the case.'
Holiday prices have indeed gone up — and by a significant amount in some destinations. Data compiled by TravelSupermarket shows that the average price of a seven-night all-inclusive holiday for a family of four has risen by 12 per cent in Greece (up from £926pp in August 2024 to £1,038pp this month), 15 per cent in Turkey (from £874pp to £1,003pp) and 23 per cent in Cyprus (from £950pp to £1,166pp). The UAE is even worse, up by 26 per cent, from an average of £1,210pp last August to £1,525pp.
'British holidaymakers are experiencing year-on-year price increases that reflect the inflationary pressures affecting virtually every sector of the UK economy, ' explains Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the agency consortium Advantage Travel Partnership. 'These increases simply keep pace with the broader cost of doing business and reflect the reality of higher operational costs, from increased energy bills affecting hotels to elevated food costs impacting restaurants and rising wages across the hospitality sector.'
And with prices up so much since last August, any discounted price you find now could still be more than the full price last summer. But I've found out that what's left of the season is nowhere near as gloomy as the trade says, and that there are plenty of late bargains if you know where to look.
First off, just because it isn't sold as a last-minute bargain does not mean a holiday has not been discounted. At the beginning of the year I looked at the prices of package holidays advertised in January for a week in June. Last week I checked how much the same packages were for departures this month, and found that the median cost of a week's all-inclusive in a four or five-star hotel in the Canary Islands had dropped from £1,473pp to £1,223pp.
In January I also recorded the price of a week for a family of four in holiday homes across France. Checking last week I found that the median price had dropped 20 per cent in the Vendée, 22 per cent in the Hérault and 32 per cent in the Var. This suggests that booking a high-season holiday at short notice is cheaper than booking a shoulder-season trip six months in advance, so whatever the trade says, you can still find a great deal if you take it to the wire.
Here's a list of the best deals I've found for departures between this Friday and mid-September.
Get 45 per cent off an all-inclusive seven-night stay in a family suite at the Mirage Bleu in Zante, departing from Gatwick on August 19.
Or you could opt for 38 per cent off a week's B&B at the Iliada Odysseas Hotel on Santorini, down from £1,217pp to £749pp, departing from Stansted on August 17 (jet2.com). On Kos there's 25 per cent off a week's B&B at the Kouros Palace Hotel — now £572pp — departing from Gatwick on September 10 (thomascook.com).
Prefer a better than half-price villa? On Corfu the Olga Apartment, sleeping two and 300 yards from the beach at Aghios Gordios, was £1,438pp and is now £559pp — a saving of 61 per cent including flights — for 14 nights, departing from Gatwick on August 25.
• 18 of the best all-inclusive hotels in Corfu
On Paxos the cost of a 14-night stay at the Agathi apartment at Loggos Mills, also sleeping two but with a pool and car hire, has been halved from £2,025pp to £1,019pp, including flights and departing from Gatwick on August 25 (gicthevillacollection.com).
• Read our full guide to Greece
The cheapest late deal I've found is a week's room-only at the Gazipasa Star Hotel in Side. With bingo, barbecue nights and traditional Turkish entertainment promised, it may not be to all readers' tastes, but you can't deny that it's a bargain at £202pp for seven nights, departing from Bristol on September 1.
The five-star option with EasyJet Holidays is the Anda Barut in Didim near Bodrum, down from £3,308pp to £1,764pp for seven nights' premium all-inclusive, departing from Luton on August 30.
Save £708pp on a seven-night group voyage by yacht down the Amalfi coast, visiting Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii and Ischia on a trip that was £2,429pp and is now £1,721,pp, including some meals, departing August 30 (intrepidtravel.com). Fly to Naples.
Tui has knocked 33 per cent off a week at the four-star Hotel Paradiso Terme Resort & Spa in Ischia, now £832pp for seven nights' B&B, departing from Gatwick on August 15.
And there's a 20 per cent discount on a last-minute week at Archipettoli, a 13th-century Tuscan villa sleeping 12 with a huge pool and a dolce vita dining terrace. From £1,098pp, including flights, departing on August 16.
• Read our full guide to Italy
Don't forget to shop around. EasyJet Holidays' whopping 50 per cent off a week's B&B in late August at the SO/Sotogrande Spa & Golf Resort on the Costa del Sol sounds like a steal — down to £1,142pp from £2,176pp — but BA Holidays can do the same for £1,008pp, which is 53 per cent off. It departs from Gatwick on August 29.
• 19 of the best family hotels in Spain
For last-minute villa deals check Solmar, where the biggest bargain I found was the Villa Jessica in Calpe on the Costa Blanca, sleeping 14 with a pool, and down 33 per cent from £4,097 for the entire property to £2,766, departing on August 23.
• Read our full guide to Spain
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