When it comes to booking a holiday, common sense dictates planning everything in advance. Because, what if something goes wrong? What if there are no flight tickets or hotel rooms available. However, this sense of urgency is often misplaced, since there are many benefits to last minute travel planning. Following is a look at the many advantages of being a little spontaneous at the last minute.

Cheaper airfare
This one might seem strange, because the closer you get to departure, the pricier the tickets get. However, you need to know how to look and what to look for. Airlines would rather sell all the tickets on last-minute flights than risk a few seats going empty. Search for early morning or red-eye flights that sell at discounted rates. Travel mid-week as opposed to traveling closer to the weekend. If you are heading out during the holiday season, consider flying on the holiday itself, such as on Christmas day, as opposed to a few days before, to get the cheapest deals.

Affordable hotel stay
Just like the airlines, hotels too do not want their rooms going empty. Instead of booking your stay in advance, consider booking it when you arrive, preferably a little past their check-in time, which is usually noon. By this time, the hotel already knows how many rooms are going vacant and they are more than likely to slash their prices. Apart from finding a cheap hotel, in such a case you may also land an upgrade.

Social media deals
The best part about last minute travel is that social media sites are full of discounts. Scout over Instagram or Facebook accounts of tour companies for last minute deals on the day before departure. You may not only snag a better deal than those who booked months in advance, but you may also earn some extra discount vouchers as a ‘thank you’ gesture for filling up airline seats.

Saving time
Booking a holiday is a time-consuming process. Moreover, booking in advance means spending more time searching for deals as well as changing and/or feeling bad about your booked plans as soon as you spot better offers. This is bound to happen. Alternatively, booking at the last minute always gets you the best deal and leaves you no room for regret for deals at cheaper rates.

Great for gifting
Want to surprise your better half with an amazing holiday on your anniversary? If you book a tour package many months in advance, you will end up spoiling the surprise when the booking details charged to your card show up in the mail. Instead, book a holiday last minute and truly retain the surprise successfully. Not only will you land the best deals on last-minute flights, cruises, and cheap hotels, but you will also manage to keep the entire plan a secret until the very end. It simply does not get better than this!

Get to be spontaneous
When booking your holiday at the last minute, you might not always find the airline or destination you want. However, this is not always a bad thing. If you are an adventurer at heart, this can work wonders for you as you will always end up heading somewhere new, exciting, and most importantly, unexpected. You might snag a fabulous travel deal to an exotic new location you never dreamed of visiting and this will make your spontaneous holiday truly one worth remembering.