Last-minute travel deals: 4 tips to get a better price when you book in the 11th hour

20.09.2023 - 10:49 / insider.com

I was feeling restless at 3:15 p.m. on a Friday. "Crazy idea," I said to my husband. "How about we get out of town?" 

I sent to a text to my friend, asking if he could come by a couple times to feed our rabbits. After I confirmed pet care, our weekend getaway was a go… as long as I could find a good price for a hotel room.

I had everything booked within 45 minutes.

Travelers have resources to snag the best deals for last-minute flights and lodging. Here are four ways I've saved thousands of dollars over the years.

I have used online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Expedia, Hotels.com, and HotelTonight to save up to 56% on hotel reservations. 

On a Friday afternoon, my husband and I decided to take a weekend trip to San Diego. I looked on HotelTonight and found a room for the following day at the boutique Porto Vista Hotel in Little Italy for $130 a night. At the time of writing, Porto Vista's website lists the same room's weekend rate as $302.25. 

I also used an OTA to find a room at The Manhattan Club in New York City. The hotel is a five-minute walk from Central Park, generally a popular and expensive area, but I booked a room for the following day for $353 a night. While that sounds high, their website currently lists their room rates beginning at $529 a night. At the very last minute, many hotels provide discounts to fill as many rooms as possible. 

Hotels will often match OTA pricing, and may even negotiate a little lower to sweeten the deal. Call the hotel, mention the quote and source found online, and ask if they can beat the price. 

It's also smart to inquire about discounts or package deals provided directly by the hotel.

Whenever I need to book a flight, the first thing I do is visit Google Flights, which aggregates ticket prices for most major airlines. This gives me a general idea of the average price to get to my destination, as well as fare differences between airlines. If you have a day or two before you need to make your decision, you can always toggle on their "track prices'' setting, and they will email you whenever fares change. 

Sometimes, booking two one-way flights is cheaper than booking a single roundtrip flight, especially if you shop around with airlines. 

One of the major benefits of Google Flights is that you can easily use them to book one-way flights using different airlines. If United Airlines has the best price to Boston, but American Airlines has the cheapest flight back, you can easily book both legs in just a few minutes. 

While Google Flights shows pricing from many carriers, the following are not included in their database: Southwest Airlines, Philippine Airlines, China Eastern, Thai Airways, and Air China.

If I decide to take a vacation in two weeks and I can