Airline Travel Deals

• Airlines often offer special deals for last-minute travel. Fares for these flights are low, and the flights usually include a specific departure date and a specific return date. These flights are usually on weekends; leaving on Friday or Saturday and returning on Monday. Delta Air Lines (delta.com), for example, offers such reduced-fare last-minute weekend deals from Saturday to Monday in the continental United States.
  
  

Limit Your Destination

• Air fares and hotel prices all go up when attempting to make reservations at the last minute. To avoid this, choose last-minute travel destinations that are closer to home and low-key. Drive in order to avoid flying; if you keep your distance low, you will end up paying far less for gas than you would for a plane ticket. If you can stay with someone at your destination, this will also help.
  
  

Open-Ended Tickets

• Sometimes last-minute travel must be paid for in advance. An open-ended airline ticket will allow you the freedom to travel when you want and where you want, to almost anywhere in the world. Not every airline will sell open-ended tickets, however, and they must be purchased in person or over the phone. So choose your destination, find an airline that offers flights there and call the airline to inquire.
  
  

Last Minute Packages

• Sometimes, travel websites will offer last-minute packages. Such sites offer these packages, as long as travelers book their tickets, hotels and cars starting within three weeks of the departure date. Last-minute travelers can book their tickets within days of their departure date as well.
  
  

Make Do

• When traveling last minute, sometimes you do not always have a lot of flexibility. In such a case, you might have to make do with the cheapest deals available. For example, stay in a hostel or cheaper hotel instead of an upscale place. Choose the cheapest rooms in that hostel or hotel; for example, the Petra hostel in the Old City of Jerusalem offers the cheapest prices if travelers sleep on mats on the roof.
  
  

Hotel Upgrades

• Join a hotel group's rewards program; joining is free and will get you cheaper rates on hotel rooms within that hotel group. Check in as late in the evening as possible, so that the hotel knows which rooms will be vacant that night; you might get a better room for a cheaper rate.