IN Soviet time good workers received vouchers to sanatoriums from trade unions. And when a hard worker for some reason refused a ticket, and even at the last moment, they said that it was “on fire.” The expression “last minute trip” has taken hold and migrated to the modern tourism industry.

Nowadays last-minute tickets are those that are sold a few days before departure and at very low prices. There are especially many such offers during the low season. For beach tours- this is early spring and late autumn, and for skiers - summer.

Due to the reduction in charter traffic, there are not many last-minute tours now. Tour operators try to make commitments in accordance with forecast demand. The hottest offers are at the beginning of the season, when demand is lower and charter flights have already begun.

Veniamin Bondarev

Where do last minute deals come from?

Before the start of the tourist season, tour operators buy or book air tickets and hotel rooms in advance. The formed tours are implemented travel agencies. But it is impossible to predict exactly how many tickets will be sold.

When they talk about a last-minute ticket, they usually mean a trip that has a very close departure date. In this regard, it needs to be sold urgently. The price goes down because you need to fill the remaining space on the plane and hotel and earn at least something.

In order not to lose the money spent on bookings, tour operators and travel agencies have to sell tours almost at cost. Yes, they will not receive the planned dividends, but they will not remain in the red.

For a tourist, this option is beneficial if he is willing to take risks and wait until the last minute for the sake of a low price or, for example, if free time for the trip appeared suddenly.

Ilya Otkalo

According to Ilya Otkalo, the law does not have the concept of a “last minute tour,” so by and large, a “last minute tour” is just a marketing ploy so that a tourist can highlight offers whose price is lower than the market price. At the same time, by selling cheap tours, travel agencies receive grateful, loyal customers.

Another reason why a trip becomes last minute is the cancellation of already purchased tours. For example, a person was planning a vacation, booked a trip in advance, but literally a week before departure he got sick and canceled the trip. To prevent seats on the plane and hotel rooms from becoming empty, travel agencies reduce the cost of travel packages and try to resell them quickly.

Finally, sometimes last-minute tours appear on the market due to force majeure events in the host country. If the political situation in a country has worsened or a natural disaster has occurred, the demand for tours to this country drops sharply. Tourists can only be lured by a significant reduction in prices so that the desire to save money prevails over safety considerations.

Features of last minute travel packages

• A trip to visa-free countries usually becomes available 2-5 days before departure, and to countries where a visa is required to travel - 7-10 days. This means that time is running out for everything. In just a couple of days you need to pay for the tour and arrange everything Required documents and pack your things.
• You need to be prepared for “low-season” service. On the one hand, there will be few tourists around, which is a plus for many. But on the other hand, there is also less entertainment and attention from the staff. Don't be surprised if many shops and restaurants are closed and hotel guide will offer only a couple of excursions.
• Travel agencies do not book last-minute travel packages without full payment from the client. If, when purchasing a regular tour, you first pay part of the amount, and give the remaining money later, receiving tickets and a voucher, then in the case of a last-minute tour, you will have to pay it immediately and in full. This money is not refundable.

Thus, a last-minute ticket is an excellent solution for a person who is easy-going but has limited funds. This kind of tour is suitable for you if you don’t care (as long as there is sea, mountains...), and you can adjust your vacation to the trip (and not vice versa).

But you shouldn’t agree to the first “hot” offer you come across. Not every trip that is called last minute is such.

How to find out a real last minute ticket

When the soul and heart require rest, it is difficult to remain calm when faced with sentences that begin with the words “Super promotion!” or “The most low prices season."

But a tempting price tag does not guarantee that this is a really last-minute ticket. Perhaps the price did not fall, but simply became normal. Travel agencies sometimes deliberately inflate the cost of tours in order to later attract customers with discounts. In order not to become a victim of the “attraction of unprecedented generosity,” study the prices on the market and find out how much the package of services offered to you costs in other companies without any discounts.

Many travel agencies, in order to stimulate sales, can pass off regular tours as last-minute tours. They simply take tours with the lowest price and present them as last minute.

Ilya Otkalo

Also, the most ordinary tours with very, very cheap hotels. For example, it could be a hotel that has just opened and has not yet earned a reputation, or a hotel located far from the sea.

Be sure to look at TopHotels.ru or TripAdvisor.ru and find out what kind of hotel they offer you.

You may not be satisfied with the level of comfort, even if the tour is completely free.

You can recognize pseudo-hot tours by other indirect signs.

• Accommodation prices in expensive hotels, belonging to some large network, are usually stable and do not decrease depending on the tourist season. If you are offered an inexpensive trip with accommodation in such a hotel, there is a high probability that the travel agency has cut down on the package of services somewhere and is disguising the tour as a last minute one.
• During national holidays, vacations and vacations, there are very few last-minute offers. If you manage to snag a ticket that was turned down, you're in luck. If a travel agency offers a large assortment of last-minute tours during peak season, be careful.
• It is almost impossible to visit any large-scale foreign event, such as a cool music festival or sports tournament, on a last-minute ticket. Flights and hotels for these dates are booked many months in advance. And you should be very careful if a travel agency suddenly makes a “tasty” offer.

You are really offered a last minute tour if:
- less than two weeks left before departure (the closer the departure, the lower the price);
- This is a charter flight;
- accommodation is offered not in a city hotel, but in a popular beach hotel, where tour operators book blocks of places.

Veniamin Bondarev

What you need to pay attention to when buying a last minute ticket

Package of services

In this regard, a last-minute ticket should be no different from one booked in advance. Flight, transfer, meals, accommodation, insurance, excursions - everything is the same as on a regular tour in this country V given time. If you are offered a reduced package of services, then, most likely, they are trying to disguise the trip as a last-minute one.

You need to understand that a last-minute offer may be last-minute because no one simply bought it in advance. The hotel may be lousy, the flight may be inconvenient, the food may be unsatisfactory. Therefore, carefully study the contract and the composition of the offer and, of course, look at the reviews about the proposed hotel.

Ilya Otkalo

Be sure to ask about the reason for reducing the cost of the tour. And in general, do not hesitate to ask the travel agent questions - time is short, and it is better to immediately clarify all unclear points.

Advice: read the contract carefully. Pay attention to the legal details of the tour operator and travel agency, information about the license to carry out tourism activities, dates of flights, check-in and check-out. Study the conditions for changing and terminating the agreement, as well as the procedure for filing claims.

Travel agency reputation

Almost all travel companies offer last minute deals. After all, they all enter into contracts with large tour operators and use their databases. But not all travel agencies fulfill their duties conscientiously, and some sometimes openly cheat.

In order to find out whether the price is really reduced, you can compare tours for upcoming dates using online tour search engines.

Veniamin Bondarev

To buy a cheap last minute tour, and not just a cheap tour with disgusting conditions, contact trusted companies that have been working in the market for a long time. It is best to choose an agency whose services you or your friends have already used. It is also worth looking for reviews on travel forums.

Advice: if you have any doubts, check the tour operator according to the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators, and the travel agency according to the register of travel agencies.

Visa

Last minute tours are usually tours to popular tourist destinations. This is because a ticket receives last minute status 7–10 days before departure. It is difficult to obtain a visa during this time.

Yes, travel agencies usually have already established work with consulates. But difficulties with documents can always arise: the wrong certificate, the application form filled out incorrectly, and so on. And then the client will be denied a visa, he will not fly anywhere and his money will simply be burned.

Advice: To fly to Europe on a last-minute trip, apply for a Schengen visa in advance yourself.

About what last-minute tours there are and when to look for them. And the main thing is how not to get burned on them. Practical articles on “Subtleties of Tourism”.

Last minute tours is a phrase that is mandatory on the website of any travel agency. A kind of decoy password for a tourist, “Googling” and “Yandexing” the vast expanses of the domestic Internet in search of cheap trip to the south. You can work with one direction or another, or not, but last-minute tours are an obligatory must-have, without which a business is not a business, but a so-so, frivolous activity for one’s own pleasure.

What is there to hide, the way human consciousness works is that when identifying an opportunity to save money, it immediately sends a signal: stop! You can pay less and still get what others paid a lot of money for. Arguments of logic about a possibly low-quality product and reminders of reason that the stingy pays twice, alas, often recede into the background - and we rush to give our hard-earned money for all sorts of “today only” and “don’t miss out.”

Well, then, as a rule, the hour of reckoning for greed comes: products and services turn out to be second-rate, and what we so readily accepted as profit turns out to be just a shiny tinsel on the rotten essence of the object.

So with last-minute tours, things don’t always work out as beautifully as the advertising slogans promise. And the accommodation on site will be far from ideal, and the walk to the beach is half a kilometer in the heat, and the beach itself will not be too different in cleanliness from the shore of the capital's reservoir... However, we will not deny if your goal is inexpensive holiday without any special requirements for the hotel and other amenities, and in addition you are ready to immediately take off and rush to “abroad”, last minute trips are what you need. In a word, as in any enterprise, there are pros and cons, undercurrents and sharp stones, strategy and tactics of behavior. But first things first.

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What it is

Generally speaking, a last-minute tour is tourist trip, which, due to the approaching departure dates, risks remaining unsold and thereby causing a loss to the tour operator. Like most market goods, tour packages have their own “best before...” index, and they are only good until the start date of the trip. Accordingly, by reducing the price as much as possible in anticipation of the “burnout”, you can attract clients looking for opportunities to save money, and thus not lose the funds invested in the tour (buying out a hotel room, chairs on a charter, etc.)

In this case, it is unlikely that we will have to talk about profits, but at least “recovering” the costs or, in extreme cases, going into a small minus is quite possible.

As you know, the main price components of a tour package are the cost of accommodation plus the cost of flights. We won’t count little things like transfer costs and wages for accompanying personnel. Therefore, one of two things is almost guaranteed to fall under the “burning” factor: either there are a lot of unsold seats on the charter, or the hotel seats are not sold. The first can happen if the forecasts for the tourist flow in this direction were too optimistic, too many charters were offered, after which the harsh reality put everything in its place. “Well, they don’t love you, they don’t believe you,” as the classic wrote. As a result, Boeings and Airbuses fly empty, while, as we understand, consuming the same amount of fuel - and therefore costing the flight consolidator the same price - whether there are at least 300 or 80 people on board.

The second also falls into the realm of unfulfilled dreams, consistent with the unsupported optimism regarding charters. If a charter Boeing crashes onto southern lands there are half as many tourists, which means that this same half will check into the hotel. The remaining rooms will be empty, or rather, purchased by the tour operator, only not populated with “living goods”.

There is only one way out of both situations: to lure a potential buyer browsing the Internet or running past the window of a travel agency with capital letters: BURNING TOUR, departure tomorrow/day after tomorrow/Saturday, etc. As they say, give what you want, just buy it.

Another reason for the “burnout” of the tour, this time depending not on the domestic clientele, but on overseas hoteliers - a large number of free places in the hotel. Since the hotel is designed not only for tourists from Russia, its occupancy rate is subject to fluctuations in the tourism market of other countries. And here, as you know, you can’t predict anything in advance: where the next crisis will break out in Europe, and where the volcano will start spitting. In a word, the Spanish or English tourist community is sitting at home, the rooms intended for them are not filled, and hoteliers are trying to fill the empty rooms with tourists from more fortunate countries: they set attractive prices and “ask” to send at least anyone. Typically these are mid-price hotels and hotels designed for mass tourism- luxury establishments are less hysterical in terms of occupancy, since their clients are more unsinkable in everyday storms.

When do they happen?

Contrary to the fact that many crazy travel agencies convince us all year round of the availability of last-minute tours in almost all directions, these birds of the tourist market have their own migration season, at the end of which everything that is offered under the tag “last minute” is nothing more than the desire of a travel agent to attract a buyer who is greedy for tempting benefits. In other words, there is no need to look for a really last minute tour in the segment of high-demand offers at this time of year. For example, at the height of the “winter heat” season, you should not count on a last-minute “super special offer” to Thailand or the UAE - these countries already have no end to tourists who want to have a quality rest on an exotic beach in the middle of the Russian winter. It’s a completely different matter - the same Emirates at the end of September: the start of the season, the summer heat has not yet completely given way, hotel rooms have already been purchased, and supply may be greater than demand...

Another example: April (and often June) Tunisia. The flight program begins at the end of March, with several airlines taking off at once - at least four flights per week are provided. Resort hotels They are also far from full: the sea has not yet warmed up, and only those who like Epiphany bathing and burly men dare to go there. All the prerequisites for “burning” are present - and in April, a week-long last-minute vacation in Sousse or Hammamet can cost only 200 USD per person. In addition, many hoteliers issue special offers such as “thalassotherapy included in the stay” or “children under 2 years of age free of charge” - thus, a last-minute trip can be doubly profitable: it will cost less and Additional services no need to pay.

Another, so to speak, symmetrical period of distribution of last-minute tours is the end of the season in this direction. The number of flights per week is not decreasing as rapidly as demand, and hotels are no longer packed to capacity due to the “whisper of the weather”: the cooling of the sea or the approach of the rainy season. The result is a reduction in prices for upcoming flights and a great opportunity to pay less for your vacation (unless, of course, other factors scare you).

The sea is affordable

When they never happen

In addition to high and low seasons tourist destinations, there are times in the year when the very concept of a last-minute tour is absurd. It's about O national holidays(of which we have a lot, but New Year’s and May are especially popular in terms of tourism) and the traditional holiday season in July-August. It is clear that at this time almost the entire population of, if not our vast country, then its major cities definitely storms the offices of travel agencies and crashes the servers of Internet sites in search of trips to the south. In this blessed period from the point of view of tourism industry players, everything is for sale: expensive “fives” with their own helipads, and penny “kopeck piece” apartments with a view of the wasteland. The question in this case is “how to fly away?”, and not “how to fly away cheaply?” Accordingly, 99% of special offers with the “last minute” tag will be just another piece of cheese in a mousetrap: the tourist will either be moved to another hotel, or, under the guise of “crazy discounts,” they will sell the tour at the general market price, no lower than that of competitors, or, in the worst case, , they will pocket the money for themselves in a shell company and will not send it anywhere at all. In isolated cases, tours may burn out high season, if, say, a trip is canceled - a single trip or an entire conference - then they will try to sell such a tour package through word of mouth - partner agencies, social networks, online stores of last-minute travel packages.

Pros...

What’s good about last-minute tours is clear without explanation - the opportunity to relax for less (and sometimes just ridiculous) money with the same amenities and the same range of services as compatriots living in your hotel, but who purchased a ticket in advance. The difference between the initial and “burn-through” cost of the tour is from 30 to 50%, sometimes discounts reach 70%. Of course, the principle “who doesn’t take risks, doesn’t drink champagne” has not yet been canceled: if you purposefully catch a last-minute ticket, you may not get one - everything will be sorted out before you.

Another, less obvious, but for many the most “juicy” plus is the adventurism of the enterprise. Agree, there is something alluringly free and spy-pirate about this: just like that, without preparing and without even having time to tell your friends, you can leave your things in your suitcase and lie on the beach somewhere in a banana republic tomorrow.

... and cons

The disadvantages of last-minute tours are a carriage and a small cart. First: lack of confidence in the success of the enterprise. If, contrary to your forecasts, tours to, say, Antalya in April will be in high demand, there is a risk, waiting for prices to fall, to remain “on the beans”, not to fly anywhere at all and thoroughly spoil your vacation. Second: there are no guarantees that you will get into the right place the right hotel: If the hotel is popular among tourists, it is likely that there will be no availability. In addition, there is a risk that you will have to check into an unknown hotel: the tour operator may not have time to confirm the one announced on the tour so little time before departure, and in some cases, unscrupulous travel agencies will even check into an obviously different hotel. “What did you want - a last minute tour, and they moved you to a hotel of the same category!” - there will be a standard answer, which is legally impossible to find fault with. Another nuance is associated with last-minute tours to visa countries. It makes sense to focus on them if you have a valid visa to a given country - otherwise you may not have time to settle visa formalities before the departure date. Finally, let’s mention travel cancellation insurance, which can be issued no later than 10 days before the start of the trip. In the absence of one and if the tour does not take place for one reason or another, the tourist may lose almost the entire cost of the trip - so in this case it is not difficult to get confused in the jungle of benefits and risks and outsmart himself.

Behavior strategy

Finally, some advice to those daredevils who, despite the risk and danger, want to go on vacation without fail on a last-minute ticket. Firstly, if you are at all dependent on your work schedule and not every 365 days of the year are ideal to start traveling, do not wait until the last day. Yes, it’s possible that prices will really drop incredibly and a vacation will cost mere pennies, but it’s still wiser to maintain a balance between the cheapness of the enterprise and the reality of its implementation.

In other words, it is better to overpay 200 USD and leave than not to overpay and not leave.

Secondly, you shouldn’t scrupulously search among a dozen similar offers for a tour at a mega-low price, and even one offered by an unknown company.” Cheap holiday"- there is a high probability of fraud. They will charge you money, that’s indisputable, but they won’t give you travel documents, and when you visit a travel agency office in person, you run the risk of running into a “closed” sign. Thirdly, when going on a last-minute vacation, keep your packed suitcase ready - it is quite possible that you will have to fly out tomorrow, and being late to the airport because of a swimsuit that did not want to be there is a sad ending for such a lucrative offer.

And finally, the last thing - stock up on optimism and aim for a good mood, no matter what. Whether you will have to enjoy the hiss of jacuzzi bubbles in a five-star hotel room for the price of three rubles or struggle with the air conditioning system in a more than modest hotel in 40-degree heat - only fortune knows. And if so, then boldly look her in the face, fate loves the brave! And “no pasaran”!

Sun, sea, beach... how wonderful it is! Especially if you managed to save a lot on your trip! My first “last minute” purchase was very spontaneous and exciting. And since the ticket was purchased 1.5 days before departure, I received the documents on the way to the airport. This made me very worried. I was very lucky, the travel agency was responsible and everything was fine! :) But, unfortunately, this does not always happen.

"Last minute tour" - what is it

In simple words, "Last minute tour" is a tourist package, which, closer to the departure date, risks remaining unsold, which means causing a loss to the tour operator. And in order to minimize their losses, tour operators are ready to sell such tours, just to at least recoup their costs on them, and sometimes at a loss. But very often the phrase “Last minute tour” is used as marketing ploy, and under these tours they sell an ordinary tour at the average market price. After all, it is not always possible to meet a real “Last Minute Tour”.
When usuallyThere are “Last minute tours”:

• at the beginning/end of the tourist season;
  
• in the off-season.

When there are no:

• at the height of the season;
• during holidays (New Year's, May, etc.), vacations (July - August).

Of course, there are exceptions. Special offers also appear during the season, but this is rather rare.

What to consider when purchasing a Last Minute Tour

The issue of saving is sometimes beyond common sense for us. And yet, I advise you to think carefully about everything before purchasing such a tour. risks. After all, you must admit, it’s better to fly away on vacation for a little more money than not fly anywhere at all...
The main disadvantages of last-minute tours:

1. Lack of confidence that a special offer will appear for the period you need. This is especially dangerous if the vacation period is strictly regulated.
2. There is a possibility of checking into another hotel. I had to face this situation. Part of our group was accommodated in another hotel; we were lucky that it turned out to be even better than planned! But often the opposite is true.
3. It is better to purchase last-minute tours to visa countries with a valid visa, otherwise there is a risk of not having time to complete it.
4. Lack of travel insurance(for registration you need at least 10 days before departure). The risk of losing a large cost of the trip in an insured event.
5. Danger of running into scammers. The most unpleasant of risks, but often encountered.

Therefore, if you decide to purchase a Last Minute Tour, weigh all the pros and cons. Give preference to a trusted tour operator and try to understand why such a special offer appeared. And the possibility of relaxing in a 5* hotel for the price of 3* always exists! The main thing is to believe in it! ;)

Rubles. These are real examples of cheap travel packages that I have found for Last year. Find out where and how to find such last-minute tours.

This guide is already three years old. Being an avid traveler and hunter of cheap tours, I outlined my experience and knowledge of searching inexpensive travel packages. Learn how to relax without extra costs!

Rules for searching and purchasing the cheapest tours:

I vacationed in Turkey in June/July 2019 on a last-minute tour for 33,500 rubles for two. Great!

1. Buy tours online

Travel agencies on the street sell tours at a higher price than online tour search engines. The last time I bought a ticket at a travel agency office was back in 2012. Then convenient and reliable online tour search services appeared - now I only use them. I no longer go to the offices of greedy travel agencies - it’s more convenient and profitable to buy tours on the Internet.

Why are travel agencies more expensive? The reason is the human factor - cunning managers in travel agencies by all possible ways they encourage the client to buy a more expensive tour package. They fundamentally do not want to sell tours for 5, 10, 20 thousand - the percentage from such transactions is not enough for them, they need more gold!

Where to look for cheap tours online? I use three search engines: , and . All three are reliable and very comfortable. Choose which one you like best.

Install the mobile application. Travelata has an excellent app: download it for or and use the current promotional code when purchasing a tour AF600MOBmake-trip- you will receive a discount of 600 rubles on any tours costing over 50,000 rubles.

How do tour search engines work? They compare prices among 130 popular tour operators and find the cheapest tours. Finding and booking a tour yourself is easy. You see complete information on the package: hotel, flight, meals, tourist reviews, and so on. You choose the tour that you like. Do you have any questions? Ask them to a consultant via chat or phone. Secure online payment by bank card. The tour can also be purchased in installments.

Offices and consultants. All three search engines have offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and others major cities. There is also a hotline support line. So it's easy to interact with them.

Pros of buying tours online:

1. Big choice. Compare prices from all tour operators to find the best one cheap tour. Compare - save!
2. Convenient and fast. There is no need to go to travel agency offices, waste time on travel, waiting and communication. You can find and book a tour in 15-30 minutes at home or at work. When buying last-minute tours, speed is especially important: if you find a cheap tour, buy it in a couple of clicks before it disappears.
3. Safely. Search engines work only with reliable tour operators. Payment takes place using a secure protocol. There is a 24/7 support service.
4. Independence. I recommend searching and purchasing tours on your own. It’s more reliable this way - you know better than anyone what exactly you need and at what price. No interference from others - no opportunity to confuse you. In offices, managers are often cunning or simply incompetent.
5. Documents - immediately. When purchasing a tour online, all reservations and confirmations will be sent by email immediately after payment. In a regular agency, employees like to delay the issuance of documents - they did it, we know.
6. Reliable. I trust large online search engines, and with a large customer base and a well-known name. Travel agencies with motley names like “Cactus”, “Sea of ​​Dreams” or “Marina Travel” scattered along the streets of Russian cities - no.

Our holiday in Greece on the island of Rhodes in June 2019 on a last-minute tour for 27,000 rubles for two. It was possible to take a tour for 21,000, but we chose a cool and cozy hotel a little more expensive. We really enjoyed:)

2. Be flexible with deadlines and dates.

We often have many restrictions: strictly fixed vacation days, personal matters and obligations. However, try to achieve as much freedom as possible in choosing dates - this will save money.

See different departure days. Your vacation starts on Monday and you found a tour for that day for 50 thousand? Check flights on Tuesday or Wednesday - maybe there will be tours for 30 thousand. I encounter this regularly.

Change the length of rest. Often (not sometimes, but often!) 7-night tours are cheaper than 5-night tours, 10-night tours are cheaper than 8-night tours, and so on. Don't limit yourself - check out all the options!

Take a look at the site's price calendar. Often, 7-night packages are cheaper than 3-night packages:

I'm sailing along Indian Ocean. Photos from my trip to the Maldives in spring 2019. On paradise islands We had a super cheap vacation - for the price of a trip to Crimea!

3. Be flexible in your choice of resort

If you are a monogamous person who prefers to go on vacation to the same place every year, then choosing a destination is not a question for you. I recommend everyone else consider different resorts - your chances of buying a cheap tour will increase.

How does direction affect price?

1. Eat traditionally expensive destinations( , ). There are cheap destinations (,).
2. Seasonality plays an important role: it is cheaper to fly to some resorts in the summer, to others in the winter, and to others in the spring or autumn.
3. Random factors also work. For example, a tour operator sold few tours to one of the destinations and decided to reduce prices - last-minute tours appear.

Do you want to buy the cheapest tour? Look at as many destinations as possible. Compare not only countries, but also individual resorts within the same country.

Our holiday in the Maldives, Thoddoo Island. The beaches there are luxurious!

4. Buy tours from Moscow

It is for flights from Moscow that you can find the cheapest tours. Competition and a developed air transportation system are driving prices down. Sometimes the difference in price compared to other cities is colossal.

What should a non-capital tourist do?

First, check if you can find a cheap tour from your city. Found it? Great - let's take it! If not, then it is worth expanding the geography of departure cities.

See if there are cheap tours from neighboring cities or from Moscow. You can get to the departure point yourself: by bus, train or plane. Pobeda flies to Moscow from many Russian cities - tickets cost from 1000 rubles. I myself live in the provinces, and fly from Moscow on vacation.

Every situation is different - there is no one solution. Compare prices and decide what is better for you: pay more and fly from your city or save money but spend time traveling to another city.

Look at the examples below. I compared the cost of trips to Cyprus from Moscow and Yekaterinburg. A tour from the capital can be bought much cheaper. If you fly to Moscow on your own, you can save a lot of money.

We are flying on a charter trip to Turkey. We ourselves live in Perm, but in 90% of cases we buy tours and tickets from Moscow - it’s much cheaper, even taking into account the cost of traveling to the capital.

5. Use Smart Search

(Photo © Unique Properties (UP) / flickr.com / Licensed CC BY-NC 2.0.)

7. Book in advance

Buy a tour in advance or catch last minute? This question is asked by many tourists. AND early booking, and buying a tour at the last minute provides an opportunity to save money. Each option has its pros and cons.

Early booking. Minus: discounts are usually not as big as when buying last-minute tours. Plus: you can choose any hotel to your taste, relax beautifully and pleasantly. This is a winning option in terms of price-quality ratio.

Last minute tours. Buying a tour at the last minute is often very profitable. Pros: big discounts, sometimes trips are even sold for pennies. There are two minuses. Firstly, there is no guarantee that a cheap last minute tour will appear for your destination on the dates you need. At the last moment, prices can either decrease or jump significantly. This game is quite gambling. The second drawback is that at the height of the season everything best hotels will already be booked, you will have to choose from second-rate options.

Conclusion. If you need a tour anywhere and as cheaply as possible, grab last-minute tours just before departure. If the quality of your vacation is a priority, then buy a tour in advance (optimally - 2-3 months in advance). You will receive both a discount for early booking and a wide selection of hotels.

Friends, I travel a lot and willingly share my experience and knowledge with anyone who needs it. Join

In this post:

How to find a cheap tour - search services

I, like any other traveler, understand that a competent approach to choosing a tour, hotel and air tickets directly affects the overall quality of your vacation and its final cost. To travel a lot, you need to learn how to choose travel packages correctly. And this is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. You just need to know where to look for them and what to look for when choosing. This will be discussed below.

Criteria for choosing a cheap tour

When planning a trip again, I always try to consider several options, and independent tourism and purchasing a voucher. There are a lot of nuances and features here. The travel option largely depends on your region of residence. For example, tours are more suitable for Siberians, since they are the easiest way to get to the right place. Yes, and much cheaper.

When purchasing a tour, I personally do not trust the agent to choose certain parameters. Namely: country, hotel and resort. I consider all the options on my own, and this saves me from many unpleasant situations while traveling.

To save time on finding the sites I needed, I bookmarked them in advance. From some sites I periodically receive mailings from different offers. Moreover, even in mobile phone There is a special application. And as soon as a vacation trip appears in my plans, I carefully begin to prepare for it. I look through absolutely all resources, this helps to find the best option.

Services for selecting available tours

Travelata.ru (the best, first, in my ranking)

One of my favorite resources. You can go to it using the link. Excellent search portal best offers with 120 operators. I've used it several times and I'm happy with it. Information comes almost at lightning speed. The customer consultation center is open 24 hours a day. And you can choose tours with a time interval of “plus” or “minus” three days. Thanks to this, the most optimal prices are selected. Another unique feature of the portal is the presence of a separate page for travelers with children. Here you can choose the ideal option based on your preferences. For example, babysitting services, availability and quality of entertainment for children, and so on.

Level.travel (excellent search engine, have used it more than once)

These two services can be successfully used as search engines, but not only. They are convenient for online ordering and payment (by card). Enough for a modern person important point, enormous time savings, and ease of use make these portals quite popular. And I have them in my bookmarks. If you are still afraid to buy a tour on the site, just use it as a search resource.

Popular, inexpensive destinations from Level.travel

Onlinetours (I use it often)

Quite a popular portal for purchasing tours online. Works exclusively with trusted tour operators. It's very convenient system search for a trip, On this portal you can even rent a go pro camera. A special service department monitors the quality of your holiday and guarantees 100% results. By visiting the “Relaxation Ideas” page you can get a lot useful information. Including weather, entertainment on the beaches, visa-free countries and much more. Overall, the portal is amazing – I definitely recommend bookmarking it.

TourBazaar (a great option to spend a cheap weekend)

This option is ideal for people who want to have a great time in Russia. Great resource to purchase promotional tour in the form of an auction. What’s most interesting is that the minimum price per lot is only 1 ruble. Therefore, you can rest for practically nothing. More than 40 regions of the Russian Federation are offered to travelers.

Misto Travel (departure from Ukraine)

“Misto Travel” is a portal for selecting tours from all travel agencies departing from Ukraine. Convenient online booking saves a lot of time. The tourist himself chooses the desired destination and the best offers. Departure from Kyiv to any selected country. Be it Türkiye or Greece, Spain or Italy and many other countries. Thanks to the service, it is possible to choose a last-minute tour without visiting an agency. It is not only convenient and fast, but also the most profitable. Current prices, maximum discounts.

Tu-tu.ru

A simple, convenient, reliable service for selecting and booking tours. 16 years on the Internet market. There is a smart search bar on the main page. The system asks several questions and selects the most suitable option for you. It is possible to pay for the tour in installments. A line with last minute tours from major operators at the most popular destinations. The service’s partners are large travel companies with an impeccable reputation. All payments are securely protected. If necessary, from the travel package search page you can go to search and purchase railway and air tickets. According to reviews from numerous tourists, this is one of the best search engine sites.

Dreamlines (sea and river cruises)

This portal is most suitable for those tourists who prefer sea ​​tours. There are a lot of them here. Russian-language website that provides the opportunity to book river or sea ​​cruises. It is possible to choose the most suitable not only the liner, but even the cabin number. Thanks to this resource, you can choose your own air ticket and place of accommodation for the start and end of the cruise. And even excursion programs. And the most interesting thing is that you can buy not only the cruise itself, but also other tourist services on credit. On the portal you can order a variety of cruises from popular resorts, for example, Sochi, St. Petersburg and so on. The cheapest tours can be found on the special page “ Popular tours at affordable prices."

Tourdom

This is a professional travel portal. I have it in my bookmarks, I even visited it several times. But I didn’t really use it. Basically, data on last minute offers, canceled tours, tickets for charter flights. By the way, the latter option has a unique feature - tickets can be purchased directly on the website, without paying the hotel in advance.

Triphunter.club (Instagram)

This resource is especially useful for Instagram users. There is a lot of useful information and interesting offers. As for me, this one resource is quite capable of replacing all of the above portals. Here you can find the cheapest travel packages and plane tickets. True, they are mainly for Moscow and St. Petersburg, but still...

Instagram Uletimru

This is a blog of sorts run by avid travelers. Every day they view various offers on different resources and post them on their page. There are not many tours here, mostly air tickets. But, there are interesting offers for travel packages.

Application Sletat.ru

An excellent option for people who are constantly on the go; there is no need to put off finding the right tour. That is, wait until you get to the computer. I once booked a luxury hotel in Rhodes on this site for a fairly reasonable price. The application is quite convenient. You can put filters on the number of stars in the hotel and operators, on the hotel rating, and so on. There are also reviews, people who have already visited this or that place, and much more. It even happens that the price of a tour (already purchased) is reduced. In this case, the client receives an SMS notification on his phone. By the way, our friends therefore changed their hotel to a more expensive option. True, the operator had to be persuaded, but still. Website sletat.ru or download the application

Piratesru.com

The resource is especially popular among independent travelers, almost all of them subscribe to it. On this portal, information is updated not just daily, but several times throughout the day. For example, I am pleased with their offers for air travel from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Special attention should be paid to the “Tours” section. Here you can find a lot a good option. True, as a rule, proposals are mainly laid out for Moscow. But if you look here often, you can find options for other settlements.

Rules for choosing a good last minute tour

1. Subscribe to all mailings, even if the departure date is not yet known, the travel budget has not been planned and there is no idea of ​​the duration of the vacation.
2. Don't cling to one country. Believe me, you can have a great time anywhere. Try to look through all offers.
3. You are considering different options for the duration of your stay in a particular state. Sometimes you come across offers where the cost of a tour for 13–15 days is significantly lower than for 10.
4. If from your settlement There are no cheap tours for this period - look in neighboring regions. For example, you live in Omsk, but there is no suitable option, but it could be Novosibirsk and so on.
5. Hotel ratings are an important point and there are several features here. Not always enough good hotel has an excellent rating. But the whole point may be in his “youth”. When the rating has not yet been developed, but you need to attract tourists. Such establishments will do everything possible and even more to ensure that the client is satisfied and recommends this place to his friends. Hotel reviews are not always true. This also applies to negative reviews. Therefore, look through them on different sites. Believe me, on a purely intuitive level you can understand how much truth there is in a particular review.
6. When looking for a suitable option, pay attention not only to “ All inclusive”, consider both “FB” (three meals a day) and “HB” (that is, breakfast and dinner). If the price difference is significant, this option may be simply ideal. In addition, if you are traveling to Europe, you should know: not all hotels operate on an all-inclusive basis.
7. Do not discard the “Fortune” options, that is, when a tourist can be sent to any hotel with a certain number of stars. But it’s not really worth the risk, especially if the difference in price is noticeable. And one more thing - you should only go on a trip under this offer with a tour operator that has been on the market for a long time and has an excellent reputation. In my opinion, this option is ideal for people who do not plan most spend time on the hotel premises.
8. In general, tourism operators are a rather serious question. You should not contact operators that few people know in certain circles. Especially if they offer very tempting prices. Believe me, I know this for sure.
9. In some situations, you can do this - buy the cheapest tour, choose a hotel yourself, but be sure to notify the travel agency about your decision.
10. The season of departure for travel also greatly affects the cost of tours. Typically, the most affordable options are in mid to late spring and fall. During the high season, the cost naturally increases significantly.
11. Last minute deals - one more great option savings on tours. Take care of your Schengen visa in advance and keep an eye on the offers that appear on the relevant market. There are also subtleties here. For example, if you are going on a Schengen trip for the first time, you only need to go to the country that issued the permit. And if you are interested in a free and fast visa option, use the Cyprus multiple visa, which gives you the opportunity to visit Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania.

P.S. Well, that’s basically all I wanted to tell you today. Of course, everyone has their own taste, this or that resource that I like may not be to your liking. And at the same time, every person has the right to choose. Look, decide, choose the ideal option for yourself.