10 best last-minute travel websites

With two bank holidays coming up and summer just on the horizon, many will be starting the search for suitably affordable last-minute trips abroad. 

From spontaneous couples’ getaways to last-minute holidays with friends and family, organising such trips is often easier said than done. After all the excitement of researching a destination can quickly dissipate after visiting every single travel agent, airline and tour operator website to compare flights and accommodation costs on different days for different destinations.

However, whether you want to jump across the Channel to see the Eiffel Tower or head long-haul to the beaches of Cancun, there are hundreds of online options for quickly finding the best deals for booking transport, places to stay and other extras.

Instead of trawling through dozens of sites, check out this list we’ve compiled of some of the best to save you time on the research and money on the holiday.

Your next trip could be just a few clicks away

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Holiday Pirates 

This travel deals site manually searches for the best holiday offers daily, finding a range of big discounts and emailing them to subscribers. At the moment you can book a two-night trip to Rome for under £70pp. Other destinations with deals range from as close as Crete to as far away as Mexico.

holidaypirates.com

Jack’s Flight Club

Sign up – for free – to the club and get emailed the cheapest flights from the UK and Ireland including discounts, hidden offers and error fares – think UK to Asia for around £250. Many are last-minute deals, but remember, with prices like this it’s fastest finger first.

jacksflightclub.co.uk

Google Flights

As you’d expect from the algorithm masterminds, this helps compare and track fares to get the best deal. But it also has features for the last-minute traveller, such as an option to search for flights in any number of cities for a specific date – so you can see if it’s cheaper to go to Paris or Berlin this weekend.

google.co.uk/flights

Hotel Tonight

This app offers last-minute deals if you need a place to stay tonight, tomorrow or within the next seven days. While some deals – especially in the US – are not so good, it can deliver deep discounts in Europe and the UK while also saving you time browsing the best deals.

hoteltonight.com

Long-haul getaways may be more accessible than you think

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Kayak 

On the “Explore” section of Kayak you can enter your budget, trip length, travel time and dates and the site will come up with a range of options for you to choose from. The easy-to-use map feature is a great way to compare locations and prices for a last minute trip.

kayak.co.uk/explore

BA Holidays

No, it’s not a discount specialist, but BA Holidays – the package wing of British Airways – can offer deep discounts for last-minute trips, pairing unsold flight inventory with empty hotel rooms. In fact, the deals can be so good that a city break with hotel included can work out cheaper than the flights alone, and a week’s car hire in Europe can be close to free.

baholidays.com

Travelzoo

With more than 26 million subscribers worldwide, Travelzoo features a host of deals ranging from trips abroad to day-long activities. A sign-up is required to enter the site, but it seems worth it for potential deals such as four nights and return flights to Ibiza for £149pp in May.

travelzoo.zo.uk

Secret Escapes

You’ll find discounts of up to 70 per cent at Secret Escapes, which follows a similar model to Voyage Privé and Condé Nast Secret Traveller, offering flash sales to registered members. It’s a great place to scout high-end discount holidays and the customer service of the site has been praised as excellent.

secretescapes.com

European city breaks can be especially cheap if booking at the right time

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Best at Travel

This company’s central London call centre means someone is always on hand to help you out. It’s a “normal” tour operator but has a last-minute deals section on the website, which can offer good discounts on upmarket breaks. Deals at the time of writing included five nights’ B&B and flights in the Algarve for £685pp, and the same deal in a resort in the United Arab Emirates for just £688pp.

bestattravel.co.uk

Travel Republic

With about two million customers using the site to book holidays, Travel Republic is bound to have some good deals, and there’s a vast amount to choose from, since it shifts flights, all-inclusives, tickets for attractions, and traditional package holidays. For its top destinations, such as a weekend in Mallorca, you could find holidays for as little as £400pp just two weeks in advance. The site also features a lowest-price guarantee, should you spot a better offer.

travelrepublic.co.uk

Skyscanner

Perhaps the most well-known site on this list, Skyscanner currently claims to have over 100 million users per month. The site provides you the cheapest, fastest and ‘best’ option for flights. Available in over 30 languages and offering a quick comparison for flights, hotels and car hire, the chances are that you’ve used it before and will use it again.

skyscanner.net