Don’t book that Last Minute Beach Vacation or Last Minute Cruise without first doing your homework. There is more to this than meets the eye. The diligent traveller always shops around and considers all the pitfalls.

The CBC is running a few articles of interest in their in depth travel section.

  The ads for last-minute vacations are certainly enticing with their promise of selloffs… The tradeoff in going last-minute is you may have to make a lot of compromises on the destination, the hotel and the kind of room you want.

In fact it can be very rewarding and very risky. Booking last minute cruise deals and vacation packages have leave you wishing you had booked ahead.

For those who want to go the last-minute route, pick the destination first, rather than the date, since being flexible on the day you leave can give you a broader range of alternatives. For example, mid-week vacations are in less demand than weekends, you’ll probably get the best selection of last minute deals if you can travel on a weekday.

I still love to find top rate vacations at discount prices by waiting until the last minute, but I admit it is not for everyone.