Everybody wants to know when is best to book their travel, and we understand why! There are many theories out there about flying on Tuesdays to save on flights or booking trips mid-week, and you never want to feel like you missed out on a great deal.
While the best time to book your travel can be different every time, there are some specific tips you need to know when booking your next tour.
Booking tours last minute Vs booking tours in advance
What are the pros of booking in advance?
Booking in advance has a lot of advantages; not least because you can get in first with your annual leave request before your colleagues at work! It also gives you something to look forward to, and avoids last-minute stress.
If you’re able to book 9 to 12 months in advance, you’re going to want to look out for early bird deals. The early bird catches the worm, and you’ll often find great deals, particularly from August to October, for travel the following year. Many operators offer prices from 10% to 30% cheaper than the highest price they will reach in the weeks before the tour departs. The best part is, once your dates are locked in, you have the freedom to decide when you book your flights, and so the hunt for a great deal begins again. If you’re unsure of where to visit, take a look at this artilce about the cheapest places to fly from London.
It makes perfect sense that the most popular tours on the most popular departure dates will sell out quickly, so if you’re not in a position to be flexible, booking early is definitely an advantage to ensure you get the tour and the date that you want. Naturally, once a tour is sold out, you’ll need to consider alternative tours or alternative dates. So, if you like getting what you want, book early and do a little happy dance that your next vacation will be exactly what you imagined.
What are the cons of booking in advance?
Despite all of the good things about booking in advance, there are some other things worth considering if you prefer to plan ahead. While many tour operators guarantee that all of their advertised tour departures will operate, some will withdraw tours up to six weeks before departure if minimum numbers are not met. This means if you have booked early, you’d be wise to hold off booking your flights until you’re sure the tour is going to depart, or booking flights that can be changed for a small additional cost. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position that your booked tour has been withdrawn from operation, you’ll need to consider other options. The helpful Travel Expert team at TourRadar are always ready to help you with alternatives, but if you’ve got your flights locked in already, you’ll need to be prepared to be flexible – with your tour choice, or your flights.
The other side of the coin is the unfortunate situation where something comes up in your world which stops you from travelling. Perhaps you fall ill, or an unforeseen commitment or emergency arises, which you simply cannot avoid. If you need to cancel or change your tour booking, you need to be aware of the fees involved. This is also a great reason to purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy just after you book your tour, as a good policy will also cover interruptions out of your control which prevents you from travel.
You should also consider if the tour you are booking is with an operator who offers a transferable deposit. In this case, if you cancel your tour early enough, you may be able to apply your paid deposit to another tour with that operator in the future! This is not offered by all operators though, so ask before you book if you think your plans may change.
Another thing to consider is that sales can pop up as unexpectedly as a sunny day in the depths of winter, so you may find that the tour you’ve booked last month has dropped in price. This is the nature of the game my friends, and while cancelling and booking again might seem like a good solution, it very rarely offers a financial advantage after you consider the cancellation fees involved.
What are the pros of booking a tour last-minute?
Not all of us like to plan ahead. In, fact, sometimes being spontaneous leads to your favourite travel memories. For our purposes, “last-minute” means booking a tour within at least one month of that tour’s departure.
Last minute deals can offer huge savings with deals up to 60% off the brochure price of a tour. Operators often reduce the prices of upcoming tour departures which need to be filled to reach minimum numbers or fill places to reach full capacity, which means for the flexible traveller, there is a lot of money to be saved! We love flying by the seat of our pants, so if you’re the same and you like to make spur of the moment plans, last minute deals are your ticket to cheap travel!
Then we come to your flights. It’s wise to coordinate your flight search with your choice of tour, so you ensure the cheapest trip possible – last minute tour and last minute flight deals. Keep in mind though, you should always wait for your tour booking confirmation before you book your flights.
What are the cons of booking last minute?
Booking a tour within a week of travel can be great for the wallet, but not so great for the nerves. It’s not for the faint of heart!
If you’re looking for a last minute option, you need to expect to have limited choices compared to what you would if you book well ahead of time. You also need to be prepared for your tour to be ‘On Request’ if you’re not booking an Instant Book tour. When your tour is “On Request,” it means the operator is waiting to confirm all the components of your tour, from the day you submit your payment. This can take 2-3 business days. Tours are complex, built from a combination of services offered by hotels, guides, entries to sites, and a number of other activities that need to be booked in advance by your operator. Should one of those suppliers not be able to confirm your place on that activity or in that hotel, the operator will not be able to confirm your booking request, as tours are sold as complete packages.
If your tour of choice is almost full, or in high demand, it may take a while to confirm, or if you’re really unlucky, it may no longer be available. If that’s the case, you’ll get your money back, but you’ll have even less time to find another trip. For this reason, we strongly recommend you book your tour first, then your flights.
You may also find that, after waiting for your last-minute tour booking to be confirmed, your flight prices have increased. We recommend you consider other available flight dates, to arrive earlier or depart later, or even look for flights in and out of nearby airports if you’re a confident traveller.
The moral of the story is that whether booking early or booking last minute, there are huge savings to be had. With some help from us here at TourRadar and some research on your part, you’ll be booking tours like a pro in no time and saving more money to spend in the destination – or on your next trip!
Would you rather book in advance, or last minute? Share with us in the comments below!
