Hot answers tagged short-notice
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Go to the Ardennes in Belgium. Since it is almost our backgarden, we go there often as a last minute decision. It is a large area and there are really a lot of outdoor activities. There are really a lot of kayaking being offered around the different rivers. Good starting points for exploring are Dinant, La Roche-en-ardenne, or Yvoir.
A disadvantage might ...
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Most airlines provide what's called Bereavement Fares which allows according to the site from 10 to 75% discount off the full fare. You can take a look at different airlines for the definitions. Some of them:
Delta
American Airlines
BankRate's List
EDIT
I've tried looking at possible similar fares for the European Airlines (major ones) and I've not ...
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When this question was originally asked (September 21st 2012), it was not possible to make a last-minute reservation on the Deutsche Bahn site. However I have just checked again (8th January 2013), and it is now possible.
It should also be possible to book a CNL train three days in advance or less at Voyages-SNCF.com. I have just tried for a date in three ...
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I don't believe they will get any cheaper in the last minute, because they can always bet on walk-in guests who just arrived from the airport.
Hostels next to convention centers are always more expensive, and if you book further away you just give the money you saved to the taxi driver instead.
I went to a convention in vegas a few years ago and did ...
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For last minute bookings buy opaque tickets online! There are a few sites for this like hotwire.com and priceline.com
For what I know, airlines don't sell tickets at cheaper prices at the airport right before flights as they did years ago, because that would encourage the passengers to have this behavior. But selling opaque is a win-win situation: it fills ...
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As far as I know there is no such website or app that allows to book last-minute cheap flights. So you have to use any of the well-known services. In particular, the flight trip between Barcelona and Madrid (or viceversa) is known as "puente aereo" (literally "aerial bridge") and in general the cheapest company that operates this route is Vueling (13 flights ...
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While I can't find one off-hand, this feels very much like other accommodation questions. You're after last minute accommodation with a destination and number of people.
I'd recommend trying Expedia, AirBnb, and consider booking.com and hostelbookers (they do sometimes have guesthouses or private rooms - it won't necessarily be in a dorm).
You could also ...
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Oh online! I mean, it depends how much time you have, but even when I flew into Dusseldorf last year, I trained to Cologne, hopped on a net cafe terminal and found a cheap flight from Cologne to London for that evening.
I've heard of upgrades at the airport, and certainly you can buy and change tickets, but I've yet to hear of anyone claim that they're ...
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Despite the multitude of currently existing online services, you might want to do it the old fashion way, which is asking around in the village where you want to stay over. For us, so far it worked always . You want to ask for the "Chambre d'hotes" (Sjambre dotes), which is french for Bed & breakfast. Another option is to ask for selfcatering ...
4
August is the month where most French are on vacations in ... southern France. So it's really busy in Montpellier, Toulouse ...
In Paris, I can tell there is some hostel rooms left. July/August is actually when Parisians leave Paris.
Nonetheless, I suggest you save hostels contact before hand.
There are some alternatives as cheap as hostels :
AirBnB
...
4
This answer assumes that you are a US Citizen.
The current processing time for a new/replacement passport is 2-3 weeks for expedited service. I just applied for a passport with expedited service and overnight delivery both ways and I received my passport exactly one week after it was mailed at the post office (week of May 13th). So, you should still have ...
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I might contribute some inside knowledge since I am working for a company which contributed the software for a major cheap-flight company.
Generally the prices are determined by offer and the demand BUT there is another major variable (in fact several) in the game for short-booking. Statistics show that most (80%) last-minute bookers are in an important ...
3
You bring up a good point. Cancellation penalties are so different by property that its hard to really get a cancellation system going that would then allow you to fill rooms at the last minute. With that said though, there are sites like laterooms.com and lastminutetravel.com that you could check.
In my travels, I've found that there is always a room ...
3
As Karlson mentions, Bereavement fares exist at some airlines, and you might be able to take advantage of them. If you know in advance which friends and family might need a sudden visit, and you know that certain airlines are likely the ones you will have to use, research their bereavement policies in advance.
As gagravarr suggests, frequent flier miles ...
3
Well presuming you're ok with hostels, there are plenty of hostels available in Sydney - although you may have to call them when you get there to confirm the availability of beds for a last minute booking.
In addition, like in the US, Lastminute exists for Australia too.
Finally the one I'd recommend is booking.com - it can do same-day bookings and has the ...
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Most tickets sold from bahn.de are print at home tickets (called Online-Tickets by the German Railways) and can be bought until shortly before departure.
The Online-Tickets are however not accepted in all trains, especially international trains, e.g. the CityNightLine trains to France. If you want to order a ticket on bahn.de for an itinerary with at least ...
3
Hotels, like most travel services, work very much on a supply-and-demand basis.
If the demand is high, then prices will go up, and eventually hotels will sell out even at the higher prices. If the demand is low, prices do sometimes come down over time - although frequently the hotels themselves will not want to drop their prices below a certain level, ...
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HotWire etc target travellers who are booking late, but are still sort-of booking in advance. Another new service that is geared towards even more last minute bookings is Hotel Tonight, which I've heard from online reviews (n.b. no personal experience or recommendations) gives even better discoutns because it's targetting that niche and hotels are happy to ...
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Emergency passport can be issued within 2 to 3 hours in any US consulate outside the United States. If you lose the passport inside the U.S. you can have a priority process that will take about 8 days - showing travel documents, hotel reservation and purpose of the trip (documented) will make it. But to be honest over the last few years they try to stop ...
3
Upon Vince's suggestion I am posting my comment as an answer, this is just from personal experience and I have no facts to back it up with. The last time I tried this was in 2010 while traveling through Europe by rail for a month.
Did you try calling the booking service? Since the international trains can easily be booked from almost any EU country I've had ...
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On French railways website, it says international travels could not be booked, and also that the next trains (until Tuesday) are full. But SNCF is not very good with international travels.
EDIT: trying to book again, apparently the availability is random. For some trips it works, but not all.
I tried also on loco2 and they show some trains. It is probably ...
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If you don't find any hostels, try using AirBnB. They have a service of last-minute apartment booking. You don't have to book the whole apartment (even though sometimes it might be cheaper than booking a hostel), you might try a room in an apartment.
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We did find a last minute camping offering family accommodation afterwards, only to find out that we don't need to have bothered. It is perfectly okay to just go there without any reservation. The place is flooded with b&b and self catering options.
Every host seems to be part of some informal network in case they are complete. They just call around and ...
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In the future if you want to get involved in outdoor activities, Factivities is the UK’s original and largest online directory of outdoor activities, outdoor pursuits and Activity Centres. With over 16,000 activities located throughout the UK, you are bound to find, or mix n' match activities and locations for whatever is the duration of your stay.
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