Last minute deals for 1 adult and 1 15 year old?

Hi,

I'm doing a bit of research with a ski holiday (well, snowboard) in mind for NEXT YEAR. But I'm trying to look now to see what kind of thing is available last minute, or if we'd be better booking in advance.

Only 2 of us going out, and we don't really care where we go. Have been to France / Spain in the past. Needs to be self catering due to diet. I don't drink alcohol (weird, eh?) so not bothered about apres. In fact would prefer somewhere that I can sleep without noisy (British) drunk people shouting all night. I'd rather get to bed early and be out on the slopes after breakfast.

So, are there decent last minute deals to be found anywhere? Or would we be better off booking something well in advance?

Haven't considered joining a party, but that's an option as well. But I guess these would normally be catered, and might not be able to cope with our Gluten Free / Dairy Free diet.

Somewhere with a Jacuzzi would be nice too, but that would just be a bonus.

sbutton wrote:what kind of thing is available last minute, or if we'd be better booking in advance.

The essential questions are "when ?", and "package or DIY"?

There are pretty much always last-minute options in off-peak weeks (especially pre-Xmas, early January and late March).

Package deals at those times can be good, and there are often decent "early bird" offers around (Easter's a good time to look for these) as the Tour Operators know they'll struggle to fill some of those weeks.

If there's poor snow leading up to a peak week then you can also find cracking deals if you leave it really late; a surprising number of people cancel last minute too.

If you're happy to DIY it, then bag the flights as soon as you know your dates (easyJet, in particular, often start flights very low for early bookings) and pick your resort/accommodation nearer the time.

Hotels can drop room rates quite spectacularly at the last minute too.

... but, as always... it depends! 8)

When? Don't care. My kids are homeschooled. So, probably NOT half term or Christmas (as it's so ridiculously £xp£nsiv£) Package or DIY? Again, don't care. If a decent package deal is available then I'd take it, but don't these tend to be hotels? Also, happy to put something together myself as that's what we've always done apart from a couple of times.

But where do you find these deals? Do you have to scan all the individual tour operators? (Like Crystal, etc.) or is there a central point (like lastminute.com) where you can search for them? I had a quick look this morning, for a theoretical trip going out this weekend and I got lost very quickly. Everything seemed to be geared for 4 or 5 people+

Google is your friend, if you have access.

Brucie wrote:Google is your friend, if you have access.

Thanks for your helpful advice Brucie. I did already try The Google though, and came up with ... well too much really. I tried "last minute ski holidays 2019" and none of the links I clicked gave anything useful. So, I was hoping for some more specific suggestions.

I guess if someone stops you in the street and asks for directions, you would helpfully suggest "Have you tried looking at a map?"

Here's some advice, from YOUR sig. "Better to remain reticent and have people think one is an idiot, than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt"

Touchy touchy! Google really is a useful tool for arranging ski holidays.
(As are maps for finding ones way around)

sbutton wrote:But where do you find these deals?

We rarely use Tour Operators, so this is what works for us :-

EasyJet fly out of 3 airports we can get to easily so we can usually find some wallet-friendly flights by being flexible with travel days/times; search for a hire car on rentalcars.com and then look for accommodation on Booking.com.

Three websites and done on a good day.

Sometimes have to add BA and Swiss to the search if EJ are short of seats or expensive, and Tourist Office websites are often good for looking for accommodation too.