Last minute deals beach vacation
We know you’re busy, and that’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best last-minute vacation deals around. Whether it’s a quick getaway or a longer trip, we’ve got something for everyone—from the family-friendly to the romantic.
If you’re looking for something new and exciting, check out our list of new destinations! If you’re looking for something more familiar and relaxing, come back home to your favorite vacation spot.
Whatever your taste, we’ve got the perfect place to go.
Where to Find Last Minute Hotel Deals
1. Hotel Tonight
A perennial favorite app among SmarterTravel editors, HotelTonight has been finding travelers’ deep hotel discounts since 2010. The app allows travelers to book same-day accommodations across the globe at discounts of up to 50 percent. If you don’t want to leave things until the literal last minute, though, the app also lets you book dates a little further out. The well-designed booking engine serves up clever recommendations and insider info—plus those remarkable markdowns. Keep an eye out for the Daily Drop, the biggest discount of the day (which you only have 15 minutes to book).
2. Groupon
The site is known for discounted restaurant meals, fitness classes, and beauty services also has a last minute deals section that typically includes discounted hotel and resort stays. On the day I checked, options ranged from a $69 hotel near Niagara Falls to a four-star Times Square hotel for $77 a night.
3. Trip.com
Trip.com is your basic hotel booking site, and is great for finding a last minute deal. While they feature hotels all around the world, it’s particularly great for deals on hotels in Asia, so when you grab an amazing last minute flight to somewhere in Asia, head to trip.com to book your hotel!
4. Last Minute Travel
As its name suggests, Last Minute Travel is dedicated solely to last minute travel deals. This wide-ranging site offers bargains on hotels, car rentals, cruises, transfers, and activities. Their hotel deals are amazing. In a sample search, I found top-rated hotels in Paris from just $54 per night for a trip about two weeks out. The site has a Last Minute Travel Club for deeper discounts and rewards points to use toward free hotel stays. Membership is $50 per year.
Affordable Last Minute All Inclusive Deals
1. Sandals Resorts
Sandals resorts has great deals for last minute travel. You often can get one night free, and when you start the booking process, have the option of booking your flight as well. You may even find availability for travel within the week.
2. Club Med
When it comes to all-inclusive, Club Med usually comes to mind. Like Sandals, they often have fantastic last minute deals for when you are looking to book without much time to plan. Club Med has locations all over the world, including Florida, perfect for a cheap getaway.
3. Travelzoo
This venerable travel site offers last minute deals on just about everything, but their all-inclusive search is one of the best as far as the bigger sites go. When I searched, I found a package for an all-inclusive stay in Cabo, including airfare, for $499, for travel next week.
4. Hotwire
Believe it or not, some of the bigger travel sites have all-inclusive deals available to book, and Hotwire is no different. Hotwire breaks down deals by the hottest all-inclusive locations, including Cancun, Punta Cana, and Cabo. Search via top destinations, 5-Star Hotels, top beach destinations and more. If you aren’t picky, you can book before knowing what resort you are staying at for super low prices, some starting as low as $23/night!
Best Websites for Last Minute Flights
1. Google Flights
One fun way to find last minute flights is to plug your departure city and travel dates into Google Flights, leaving your destination blank. The resulting map shows you the lowest available prices to cities all over the world, letting you find deals in places you might not have ever thought to go.
2. Kayak
Kayak’s Explore feature is a similar tool. You can enter exact travel dates or a certain month, then see which fares are available from your home gateway.
3. Secret Flying
You can get alerts when fares go down when you sign up at Secret Flying, or, use their search tool to find great last minute deals on flights. Simply input your departure city, keep the arrival as “anywhere” and put the current month as the time you are looking to fly. Perfect for when you just want to get away, but you don’t care where to. Secret Flying also finds “mistake” fares, so be sure to sign up to get notifications so you can book them before they are gone!
How to Find Great Deals on Last Minute Tours
If you prefer having an itinerary made for you, and, let’s face it, if you are taking a last minute trip, it might be nice to not have to plan the entire trip, there are some great sites to book a last minute tour on.
1. TourRadar
Book a tour of your destination as well as accommodations through TourRadar. There are several ways to search, including destination, type of tour (adventure, cultural, safari etc..), and date. Search for tours for travel in the next two weeks, up to sixty days in advance.
2. G Adventures
From Iceland to Turkey, G Adventures has tours to inspire and excite. They have available dates for travel throughout the year, but most are available to book for tours within a week or two. They have themed tours like the Northern Lights in Iceland, and Hiking the Azores—whatever, wherever you want to go. I found a seven day hiking tour of Cyprus for $764 for travel in two weeks.
3. Contiki
Contiki has a wide variety of tours to choose from, and the site has a handy last minute trips option to find a tour when you need one. When I searched, there was an Egypt and the Nile tour for $1409, starting in just two days from when I searched! Most tours include accommodation, meals, transportation, admission to sites, and tour guides.
Popular Getaway Deal Destinations
Europe Deals
Lastminute.com
Netherlands-based LastMinute.com also covers a range of last minute trip options, including flights, hotels, Eurostar train tickets, vacation packages, car rentals, theater tickets, and experiences. A Paris search turned up hotel rates from about $74 per night at press time. This site also allows you to filter by hotels that offer free cancellation, a great perk if your travel plans change last minute. LastMinute.com also has “top-secret hotels” available for opaque booking, though in my Paris search they were actually a bit more expensive than the named hotels in my results.
Caribbean Vacations
Beaches
While we love Sandals, we also love their sister company, Beaches. Beaches features two resorts in Jamaica and one in Turks and Caicos. Their last minute travel deals are similar to Sandals, where you can get one free night, and are able to book with just a couple of days in advance.
Trips to New York
TKTS
Chances are, if you are heading to NYC, you are going to want to see a Broadway show. Your best option for great last minute seats is TKTS. Download the app for your phone to see that days discounted tickets, and you can decide whether it is worth making the trek to the booth. Beats running out early in the morning to wait in line, and you are sure to get some deeply discounted tickets.