Smart Buying

Last-Minute Connections

Five ways to save hundreds of dollars on airfare, top-notch hotels and luxury cruises.

By Sean O'Neill

From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, November 2005

Talk about a killer commute. San Franciscan Cindy Teasdale has been in a long-distance relationship with Bill McGowan of St. Louis since February, and the two get together twice a month. Cindy, who has become the couple's travel planner, has learned how to game the system so that making last-minute travel plans actually saves them hundreds of dollars versus booking well in advance. Her latest coup: a luxury-hotel-and-dinner package for one-third off the regular price.

Now is a good time to brush up your own vacation-booking skills. Late autumn is prime time for 11th-hour bargains because, at most locales, it's between the peak and low seasons. Last-minute discounts are plentiful, so it's worth your while to do a little searching online. For this story, we define "last minute" as within two weeks of departure for most destinations or up to a month before a cruise sets sail. (The typical weekend vacation is booked seven weeks in advance.)

In July, Cindy, 29, invited Bill, 34, to join her at her parents' cottage in Charlevoix, Mich., for a mini reunion with her siblings and their families. She also wanted to spend one night of the trip at the Grand Hotel, on nearby Mackinac Island. But she didn't want to pay full price. Since February, Cindy had kept an eye out for special rates posted on the hotel's Web site. But as the date approached, rates remained stubbornly high.

Undeterred, Cindy called the hotel the morning of the day she was scheduled to arrive. Because of late cancellations, the rate had dropped by a third. She and Bill stayed in a corner room with a view of Lake Huron through the bay window -- and enjoyed a five-course meal for two (including steak, escargot and tuna tartare) -- for $297. The best rate available before their arrival day was an Internet special for $440.

That evening, the couple sat on the hotel's front porch -- billed as the world's longest -- and sipped kir royales (champagne and creme de cassis). Says Cindy, "It was well worth waiting for, and we felt we got so much more bang for our buck."

You, too, can find a great bargain if you use the following strategies for booking spur-of-the-moment trips for business and leisure.

Package deals

Airlines hike fares a week or two before most weekday flights depart. They figure that many business travelers will pay through the nose to fly on short notice.

But there is a way around the high prices: Buy a vacation package that includes a hotel and rental car along with your flights. Airlines discount unbooked seats at the last minute by bundling them into packages, which don't list the fare reduction separately.

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