By Linda Thompkins

Many savvy travelers take advantage of last minute deals by scheduling their vacation time as normal, and within a two week period of their travel date start looking for their perfect budget vacation. All of the most popular destinations have hotel rooms that have not been filled, and many air flights are not fully booked. These deals come when hotels realize they still have inventory, and airline seats are still available within two weeks of any travel date, or less. At this point, both hotels and airlines are willing to offer deep discounts for those who can take advantage.

Let’s say you have your vacation time scheduled, are on a tight budget, but want a fabulous beach vacation somewhere in the sunny Caribbean. Your vacation is just two weeks away, and when you start looking through the last minute vacation offerings, your main dilemma may be choosing from the vast array of vacation choices.

If you have your heart set on a particular destination, last minute vacations may not deliver what you desire. However, occasionally you can hit the jackpot and get your desired vacation, along with a great savings. Last minute deals offer at least 60 or more vacations from any major departure city for deals in the Caribbean, U.S. along with many international destinations. Most deals come packaged with roundtrip airfare, hotel and include all taxes - so the price you see is the price you will pay. Many travelers have found great destinations at the final hour they would not have chosen otherwise.

Scheduling your vacation time, and waiting to within two weeks of travel to find the best deal is not for the faint of heart, or the hard core vacation planners. If you are the type that has to know exactly where you are going, and which particular hotel you will be staying, last minute trips are obviously not for you. However for the more adventuresome and budget minded, just viewing all the available trips you can take can be quite exciting.

A young couple recently had tentative plans of a vacation in Toronto, Canada, and ended up in Paris, France for the same amount of money they had originally planned to spend. Another group of friends thought Mexico would be the perfect destination, but ended up saving over $350 per person on a great vacation in Aruba. Two longtime friends had their limited budgets set on Jamaica, and one week before they were scheduled to go on vacation, the lucked out and found the perfect Jamaican hideaway.

Another target group for last minute vacations are the people that love last minute vacations. Many of the vacation time frames fit perfectly into a long weekend, and getting away at the spur of the moment with a great savings is quite an attractive proposal. It’s refreshing to take Thursday and Friday off from work, and spend three or four days on a mini vacation, and come back to work completely refreshed the following Monday. Other vacationers save all year long, and take three or four mini last minute vacations within a year. These travelers know the value of a dollar, and they stretch what some travelers pay for a typical one week vacation into three or four mini vacations, all in exciting destinations.

Other great excuses for last minute trips are job stress, just plain boredom, or Spring has not arrived soon enough for those who have endured the snow and ice. Others take off right before the holidays with extra days off from work, providing the perfect opportunity for a mini vacation.

So while there are many reasons last minute trips are popular with travelers, they all share one common goal - savings up to 70% on their vacations.

Linda Thompkins is a Caribbean travel consultant, and owner of Travel 2 the Caribbean online agency. Linda has traveled extensively throughout the Caribbean, and has been in business for over eight years. Travel 2 the Caribbean offers last minute vacations, custom vacations, resorts, cruises, along with being an information site about the islands of the Caribbean.

Visit the site at: http://www.travel2thecaribbean.com

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