7 Genius Hacks for Booking Cheap Last Minute Flights

Nothing sounds more appealing than gathering the family (or a big bunch of mates) and booking some last minute flights to basically anywhere with guaranteed sun, right? With that said, we're not all made of money, which is why you might need these genius hacks for finding cheap flights last minute.

1. Book really late

If you're looking to bag a seriously cheap flight, you need to be ballsy about how late you leave it - because it's when airlines are trying to fill the plane to capacity that they flog tickets on the cheap. If you have a hotel in place and all you need are flights, check how many they are and bide your time with how late you leave it.

2. Use flight comparison sites

​Although it's tempting to go straight to EasyJet's app or similar, use price comparison sites such as SkyScanner or Opodo to compare all the different options in one handy place. It might mean you fly at a ​slightly ​different time to when you hoped and end up flying home with a different airline to who you went out with, but it's worth it for a cheaper holibob.

3.  Be flexible with dates

If you can be flexible with the dates you take off, it's often cheaper to fly midweek to midweek rather than at the weekend, because it's deemed unsociable. Tbh, if it means two short weeks ​and ​a week in the sun? We're keen. 

4. Be flexible about where you go 

The best way about doing this is booking a week off work but not massively minding where you go. That way? You can bag a last minute hotel and flight deal, have a fab holiday and save loads of cash for not being fussy in the process.

5. Consider the added extras

While the 4am flight might be by far the cheapest, you need to consider how you're going to get to the airport, if you need a taxi and whether all together it would be cheaper to get a bus/tube during normal hours. Also, a flight might say it costs 60 quid and you're already celebrating, but added baggage, hang luggage and the weight of your stuff is worth considering, too.

6. Try not to book when your friends do

The more clicks on a flight website, the most the price goes up – so try to be savvy when booking in a group and avoid your internet history and browsing tracker costing you your cash. Depending on how many flights are left, book a few hours apart, so the website doesn't see loads of IP addresses clicking at once and send the prices shooting up. If one person is buying all the tickets, though, this isn't a problem.

7. Use any discounts you can

Specific credit cards can help with your air miles and even signing up to airline email alerts could mean the difference between paying big bucks and saving your moolah. 

​Via