Early booking or last minute deals: which is more profitable? Early booking pros and cons. How to save and not lose

In Soviet times, good workers received vouchers from trade unions to sanatoriums. And when the hard worker for some reason refused the voucher, and even at the last moment, they said that it was “on fire”. The expression "last minute" has become entrenched and migrated to the modern tourism industry.

Now the last minute is the vouchers that are sold a few days before departure and at very low prices. There are especially many such offers during low season... For beach tours- this is early spring and late autumn, and for skiing - summer.

Due to the reduction in the volume of charter traffic, there are now not many last minute tours. Tour operators try to make commitments in accordance with the forecasted demand. The hottest offers are at the beginning of the season, when demand is lower and charter flights have already begun.

Veniamin Bondarev

Where do the last minute tickets come from?

Tour operators before starting tourist season redeem or book air tickets and hotel rooms in advance. The formed tours are implemented by travel agencies. But it is impossible to predict exactly how many vouchers will be sold.

When they talk about a burning ticket, they mean, as a rule, the ticket for which the departure date is very close. In this regard, it must be sold urgently. The price goes down because you need to fill the remaining space on the plane and the hotel and at least earn something.

In order not to lose the money spent on booking, tour operators and travel agencies have to sell vouchers almost at cost. Yes, they will not receive the planned dividends, but they will not remain in the red.

For a tourist, this option is beneficial if he is willing to take risks and wait until the last for the sake of a low price, or, for example, if free time for the trip appears suddenly.

Ilya Otkalo

According to Ilya Otkalo, there is no concept of "hot tour" in the law, so by and large a "hot ticket" is just a marketing ploy so that a tourist can highlight offers, the price of which is lower than the market one. At the same time, by selling cheap tours, travel agencies receive grateful loyal customers.

Another reason why the voucher becomes burning is the rejection of already purchased tours. For example, a person was planning a vacation, booked a ticket in advance, but literally a week before departure he fell ill and refused to travel. So that the seat on the plane and the hotel room are not empty, travel agencies reduce the cost of the ticket and try to quickly resell it.

Finally, sometimes last minute tours appear on the market due to force majeure events in the host country. If the political situation in the state has worsened or a natural disaster has occurred, the demand for tours to this country drops sharply. Tourists can only be attracted by a significant reduction in prices, so that the desire to save money prevails over safety considerations.

Features of last minute vouchers

A voucher to visa-free countries usually becomes lit 2–5 days before departure, and to countries for travel to which you need to apply for a visa - 7–10 days. This means that there is not enough time for everything. In just a couple of days you need to have time to pay for the tour, arrange everything Required documents and .
You need to be ready for a "low season" service. On the one hand, there will be few tourists around, which is a plus for many. But on the other hand, there is also less entertainment and attention from the staff. Don't be surprised if many shops and restaurants are closed while hotel guide will offer just a couple of excursions.
Travel agencies do not book last minute tickets without full payment of the client. If, when buying a regular tour, you first pay a part of the amount, and give the rest of the money later, receiving tickets and a voucher, then in the case of a last minute ticket, you will have to pay it immediately and in full. This money is not refundable.

Thus, a burning ticket is an excellent solution for a person who is easy-going, but on a budget. Such a tour will suit you if it is unprincipled for you (if only there was sea, mountains ...), and you can tailor your vacation to the trip (and not vice versa).

But you shouldn't settle for the first hot offer that comes along. Not every ticket that is called burning is such.

How to find out a real last minute ticket

When the soul and heart require rest, it is difficult to remain cool at the sight of sentences starting with the words "Super Action!" or "Most low prices season ".

But a tempting price tag does not guarantee that you have a really burning ticket in front of you. Perhaps the price did not fall, but simply became normal. Travel agencies sometimes deliberately inflate the cost of tours in order to attract customers with discounts later. In order not to become a victim of the "attraction of unprecedented generosity", study the prices on the market and find out how much the package of services offered to you in other companies costs without any discounts.

Many travel agencies, in order to stimulate sales, may pass off regular tours as last minute. They just take the tours with the lowest price and present them as last minute.

Ilya Otkalo

Also, the most ordinary tours with very, very cheap hotels... For example, it can only be a newly opened hotel that has not yet earned a reputation, or a hotel located far from the sea.

Be sure to look at TopHotels.ru or TripAdvisor.ru and find out what kind of hotel you are offered.

You may not be satisfied with the level of comfort, even if the voucher is generally free.

It is possible to recognize pseudo-burning tours by other indirect signs.

Prices for accommodation in expensive hotels belonging to some large chain are usually stable and do not decrease depending on the tourist season. If you are offered inexpensive voucher with checking into such a hotel, it is highly likely that the travel agency somewhere has cut the package of services and disguises the tour as a burning one.
During national holidays, during vacations and vacations, there are very few last minute deals. If you manage to catch a ticket that was turned down, you're in luck. If the travel agency offers a wide range of last minute tours during peak season, be careful.
It is almost impossible to visit any large-scale foreign event, for example, a cool music festival or a sports tournament, with a burning ticket. Flights and hotels for these dates are booked many months in advance. And you should be very careful if a travel agency suddenly makes a "tasty" offer.

You are indeed offered a last minute tour if:
- less than two weeks are left before departure (the closer the departure, the lower the price);
- this is a charter flight;
- accommodation is offered not in a city hotel, but in a popular beach hotel where tour operators reserve blocks of seats.

Veniamin Bondarev

What you need to pay attention to when buying a burning ticket

Package of services

In this, the burning voucher should not differ in any way from the one booked in advance. Flight, transfer, meals, accommodation, insurance, excursions - everything is as in a regular tour to a given country in the given time... If you are offered a reduced package of services, then, most likely, they are trying to disguise the voucher as a burning one.

It should be understood that a burning offer may be burning because no one just bought it in advance. The hotel can be lousy, the flight inconvenient, and the food inadequate. Therefore, carefully study the contract and the composition of the offer and, of course, see reviews of the proposed hotel.

Ilya Otkalo

Be sure to ask about the reason for the decline in the cost of the tour. And in general, do not hesitate to ask the travel agent questions - there is little time, and it is better to immediately clarify all the incomprehensible points.

Advice: read the contract carefully. Pay attention to the legal details of the tour operator and travel agency, data on the license to carry out tourism activities, dates of flights, check-in and check-out. Review the terms for amendment and termination of the agreement, as well as the procedure for filing claims.

Travel agency reputation

Almost all travel companies offer last minute deals. After all, they all conclude contracts with major tour operators and use their databases. But not all travel agencies faithfully fulfill their duties, and some of them openly cheat at times.

In order to find out if the price has really been reduced, you can compare tours for the coming dates using the online tour search systems.

Veniamin Bondarev

To buy a cheap last minute tour, and not just a cheap tour with disgusting conditions, contact trusted companies that have been working on the market for a long time. It is best to choose an agency that you or your friends have already used. It is also worth looking for reviews on travel forums.

Advice: if in doubt, check the tour operator in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators, and the travel agency in the register of travel agencies.

Visa

Last minute tours are usually tours to popular travel destinations. This is because the voucher receives the burning status 7-10 days before departure. It is difficult to get a visa during this time.

Yes, travel agencies usually work with consulates already. But difficulties with documents can always arise: the wrong certificate, the questionnaire is filled out incorrectly, and so on. And then the client will be denied a visa, he will not fly anywhere and his money will simply burn.

Advice: to fly to Europe on a burning ticket, apply for a Schengen visa in advance yourself.

Planning a vacation abroad, but prices are good propositions- to say the least, bite? Especially for you, we have prepared several tricks to reduce the final bill by tourist voucher... Something that travel agents won't tell you for sure.

Only proven tricks to save your hard earned money.

The article is relevant when choosing popular, "all inclusive" destinations: Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Dominican Republic, etc. And for those who are used to buying complex vouchers containing: transfer, hotel, flight and insurance.

An all-inclusive package is cheaper than usual - how to save money when buying

A complex approach

Oddly enough, but a vacation in hot countries for a couple of weeks - it is much more profitable to buy a "package" through a travel agency. Independent, step-by-step: booking air tickets, a hotel for accommodation, buying insurance and a transfer - justifies itself only for long trips, for a period of one month or more. Why is that?

The fact is that the tour operator gets decent discounts for the wholesale "purchase" of hotels and tickets for air transportation of passengers. Of course, in order for tourists to turn to him, and not embark on a "free voyage", he shares a part of the discount with you.

Can you see everyone?

To save on a trip to hot countries, we do not recommend focusing on one tour operator. It is much more logical to look for package tours in travel agencies-aggregators, where offers from all popular travel operators are presented. Every round. the operator sets his own prices. The difference in the cost of a tour that includes the same items can be up to 30%.

A travel operator is one who organizes tours: establishes contacts with representatives of hotels, air carriers. Most popular examples: TezTour, Biblio Globus, Anex Tour, Pegast touristic.

A travel company is an organization that offers ready-made tours for sale from tour operators. Has its own prize for sold tours to the end consumer.

Advance = cheaper

To reduce the cost of a voucher for popular destinations, pay attention to early booking. As a rule, a pre-planned purchase helps to save up to 40% of the cost of the tour + gives a head start in the choice of hotels and rooms.

Early booking- a program that runs from January to April. You buy strongly in advance, in the first months of the year, and hotels in return offer up to 40% discount on the cost of tours scheduled for May-April. Interestingly, tour operators allow you to pay for such tours in installments, without interest and overpayments.

Famous place is more expensive

Chain hotels are much more expensive than local ones. Want to save on an all-inclusive package? Study the websites of small hotels, read reviews on them and make a choice in favor of such accommodation.

Overpayment "for the name" can reach 10-30% under equal conditions of residence and provision of services.

Right time

Holidays are just as awesome, but much cheaper if the dates are right. The beginning and end of the season: May and September - will always be 20-30% cheaper than in the midst of holidays and school holidays.

Do you want to do well? Do it yourself!

But, you should make some correction: before going to the manager, we advise you to look through the various hotels to choose from on your own. And to do this through a resource in which all tour operators are offered. For example, fly.

The travel agent is not interested in saving you. Perhaps you will find something better?

Any such search engines have a rating system. All chain or popular hotels will be located higher than non-advanced, low-cost alternatives. Sometimes, not rated, but very successful offers do not "throw out" in general search at all. In this case, you need to check the box for specific hotels.

Of course, by finding them in advance on the Internet. This trick will allow you not only to save money on the purchase of a ticket, but also to choose an excellent offer that is not on sale in the tridoroga.

Every day counts

If you have already started an independent preliminary search for a hotel, "play around" with the dates. Very often, vouchers can differ by 2% -5% in value only from the day earlier or later you will fly out.

Travel agents are too lazy to do such "brute force". And you can win a couple of extra thousand by pressing a couple of buttons.

Dollar $ and its value

Pay attention to the dollar rate. All trips to hot countries are tied to this currency. If today you will pay 57.600 rubles for a ticket worth $ 1000, then tomorrow, in case of a possible fall, you will have to pay only 56.300 rubles. A trifle, but nice, right?

The exchange rate for tomorrow is set after lunch. Is the dollar rising? Buy today? Falling down? Pay for your ticket tomorrow.

And bargain?

Few people know, but you can bargain with the managers in the travel agency. Of course, not like on the market in Egypt, but throwing off a couple of thousand rubles from every thousand dollars is quite possible.

They have their own margin on the value you paid. If the manager is interested in the client and does not want to let him go, he will offer you a discount. They are less willing to bargain during early booking - their profit is much lower, there is less cheat on the tour.

Back to hot

If you missed the possibility of early booking, and you want to save on your vacation, turn your attention towards last minute deals. By the way, the most profitable offer can be found in groups social networks major travel agencies in your city.

Unlike typical sites for the sale of vacations, they post "gratuitous" abandoned tours or really "burned out" vouchers with departure tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

We hope these tricks will help you save a small but pleasant amount of money when buying a ticket to a hot country. Do you know any more tricks? Perhaps you have found other ways to save money? Share your opinions and stories in the comments!

I go on vacation on last minute deals for several years in a row, one might say, this is my principle, I prefer to spend the money saved on vacation. I can not say anything about Europe and the Schengen area in particular. I saw a bunch of ads about burning Spain, Italy, etc. But the thought of papers and visas is keeping me at a respectful distance from these directions.
The real hot destinations for me are Crimea (I don’t consider our south in principle) and visa-free countries. Indeed, it sometimes turns out to be one and a half to two times cheaper (this year a two-week tour to Tunisia cost me 1.6 times cheaper than a regular tour bought in advance).

How I do it. Since I live next to St. Petersburg, I have to focus on St. Petersburg travel agencies, although Moscow ones offer much more attractive options. I prefer to search for tours using a computer, although my friend usually does this by simply calling all the companies she is interested in in a row.
I carefully and regularly (several times a day) monitor information on the Internet, focusing on the largest operators. It seems to me that the larger the operator, the more significant the price difference can be. The main thing is to be clear about when you want to leave. For example, this year I had a departure date of June 3-6, so I wanted. Numbers on May 26 began to carefully look at the relevant sites. Here it is important not to rush, but also not to miss. From my experience, I can say that a really burning ticket appears 5-1 days before departure. It happens that if the offer is really tempting, these last-minute tours dissolve within 24 hours. For example, if on May 28 I found the offer I was looking for on the Neva website (Neva often gives really low prices in these cases) and rushed to get a ticket (and saw a queue, like in Soviet times for sausage, if anyone else remembers that), then, early in the morning of May 30, these proposals were no longer (not a single hotel practically!), I don't know about May 29, I didn't go online on that day. This is a specific example from this year.

Last year, I acted in about the same scenario, I rested in the Crimea, in Evpatoria (mainly because of the child). The tour cost half as much as usual. I took a voucher 2.5 days before departure, I don't remember the company anymore (there were several options), one of the largest operators in Crimea in St. Petersburg.

I select the relevant sites and portals in advance, go to the relevant forums, look at the price dynamics in order to know which offers are really hot, and which, excuse me, are just bullshit.

For me it’s just such a summer kind of "sport", in principle I don’t go to rest, ordering a tour three months in advance ...

Now the last minute is the vouchers that are sold a few days before departure and at very low prices. There are especially many such offers during the low season. For beach tours, this is early spring and late autumn, and for ski tours, summer.

Veniamin Bondarev

Where do the last minute tickets come from?

Tour operators, before the start of the tourist season, redeem or book air tickets and hotel rooms in advance. The formed tours are implemented by travel agencies. But it is impossible to predict exactly how many vouchers will be sold.

For a tourist, this option is beneficial if he is willing to take risks and wait until the last for the sake of a low price, or, for example, if free time for the trip appears suddenly.

Ilya Otkalo

Features of last minute vouchers

A voucher to visa-free countries usually becomes valid 2–5 days before departure, and to countries where a visa is required to travel to, - 7–10 days. This means that there is not enough time for everything. In just a couple of days, you need to manage to pay for the tour, complete all the necessary documents, etc.
You need to be ready for a "low season" service. On the one hand, there will be few tourists around, which is a plus for many. But on the other hand, there is also less entertainment and attention from the staff. Don't be surprised if many shops and restaurants are closed and your hotel guide only offers a couple of excursions.
Travel agencies do not book last minute tickets without full payment of the client. If, when buying a regular tour, you first pay a part of the amount, and give the rest of the money later, receiving tickets and a voucher, then in the case of a last minute ticket, you will have to pay it immediately and in full. This money is not refundable.

But you shouldn't settle for the first hot offer that comes along. Not every ticket that is called burning is such.

How to find out a real last minute ticket

When the soul and heart require rest, it is difficult to remain cool at the sight of sentences starting with the words "Super Action!" or "Lowest prices of the season".

Many travel agencies, in order to stimulate sales, may pass off regular tours as last minute. They just take the tours with the lowest price and present them as last minute.

Ilya Otkalo

Also, the most ordinary tours with very, very cheap hotels are sometimes disguised as last minute tickets. For example, it can only be a newly opened hotel that has not yet earned a reputation, or a hotel located far from the sea.

Be sure to look at TopHotels.ru or TripAdvisor.ru and find out what kind of hotel you are offered.

You may not be satisfied with the level of comfort, even if the voucher is generally free.

It is possible to recognize pseudo-burning tours by other indirect signs.

Prices for accommodation in expensive hotels belonging to some large chain are usually stable and do not decrease depending on the tourist season. If you are offered an inexpensive ticket with check-in at such a hotel, it is highly likely that the travel agency has cut the package of services somewhere and disguises the tour as a last minute one.
During national holidays, during vacations and vacations, there are very few last minute deals. If you manage to catch a ticket that was turned down, you're in luck. If the travel agency offers a wide range of last minute tours during peak season, be careful.
It is almost impossible to visit any large-scale foreign event, for example, a cool music festival or a sports tournament, with a burning ticket. Flights and hotels for these dates are booked many months in advance. And you should be very careful if a travel agency suddenly makes a "tasty" offer.

Veniamin Bondarev

What you need to pay attention to when buying a burning ticket

Package of services

In this, the burning voucher should not differ in any way from the one booked in advance. Flight, transfer, meals, accommodation, insurance, excursions - everything is like in a regular tour to a given country at this time. If you are offered a reduced package of services, then, most likely, they are trying to disguise the voucher as a burning one.

Ilya Otkalo

Travel agency reputation

In order to find out if the price has really been reduced, you can compare tours for the coming dates using the online tour search systems.

Veniamin Bondarev

Advice: if in doubt, check the tour operator in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators, and the travel agency in the register of travel agencies.

Visa

Last minute tours are usually tours to popular travel destinations. This is because the voucher receives the burning status 7-10 days before departure. It is difficult to get a visa during this time.

Advice: to fly to Europe on a burning ticket, apply for a Schengen visa in advance yourself.

In order to save money, many resort to early booking of vouchers, while others rely on "last minute" vouchers. All travel companies now offer both options for saving, but "last-minute" tours are in great demand, since most vacationers, for various reasons, find it difficult to look far into the future in order to redeem tours at more favorable prices six months before the trip.

Early booking is more beneficial for both parties to the transaction, especially when you are planning a vacation during the peak tourist season.

When early booking is beneficial

Hotels want to know in advance how many people will be staying with them during the high season, therefore, at the end of autumn, tour operators are provided with solid discounts on wholesale room reservations.

Advantages

savings from 20 to 40% of the cost;
the possibility of an installment plan;
wide selection of hotels;
wide range of dates;

Flaws

Prepayment (from 20 to 50% of the package cost);
The inability to cancel the transaction without financial losses (but you can buy insurance against cancellation due to illness);

Agencies are less willing to advertise advance bookings because they earn 8-15% of the whole tour. Accordingly, the less you pay, the less commission they will earn. In addition, the more such vouchers they sell ahead of schedule, the less they will be able to sell in the high season, when the demand for them is higher and the client will be psychologically ready to pay more.

If you have the opportunity to adjust your work schedule to any check-out date during the summer, then early booking is a better option for you.

Many are afraid of getting sick or changing plans, so they cannot decide to pay for vacation six months before departure. In this case, you can buy trips due to:

sudden illness of the insured or a close relative with hospitalization
injuries that occurred no earlier than 21 days before the start of the trip
an infectious disease of the insured or a child that arose no earlier than 15 days before the start of the trip
significant damage or destruction of property, for example, a house, a summer residence, etc.

"Last minute deals"

Last minute deals are the sale of the remaining free seats on the plane with a choice of hotels on a leftover basis. Real specials are offered in the last week. All that "burns" a month or more before departure is pure marketing.

Advantages

savings of up to 20% despite the peak season

Flaws

there is no possibility of a wide choice of resorts and hotels;
there may be problems with obtaining a visa;
the likelihood of inconsistencies (no places in the specified hotel, wrong food, bad rooms, etc.);
urgency of fees and minimum preparation time;

It is profitable for travel agencies to sell hot tours. If you read the terms of the contract carefully, you will notice that in case of cancellation in less than 21 days, you lose 30 to 90% of the entire tour price. Nobody will return this money, but the tour operator can and will certainly do it to resell your tour.

Early booking is beneficial only for departure dates during peak season;
Advance booking gives advantages in the form of comfortable conditions and guarantees the timely departure, but saving money (up to 30% of the usual package) directly depends on the timeliness of the request - the earlier the booking, the higher the discount (it is advisable to redeem the first part before March 1). In addition, when buying a tour six months or more before departure (subject to timely payment), it includes the cost of the entire package and there is no need for additional payment and price recalculation.

Last minute deals during peak season are less profitable, because high-quality and comfortable conditions are offered only out of season and at a lower price.

Summary

If you are planning to relax at the height of the tourist season and you know the dates of your vacation six months or more in advance, then it is better to book the tour in advance. In this case, you get a large selection of hotels and the lowest possible prices. We also usually recommend using the early redemption options of tours for family tourists, because family rooms and places in good children's hotels run out very quickly.

Otherwise, for the sake of economy, it makes sense to wait for offers until the last week. But be prepared for the fact that the choice of hotels will be very limited.

If you are in doubt which option is best for you, let us know in the comments:

desired direction
planned travel date
composition of the group

We will answer you as soon as possible - free of charge!