NOT Available on the High Street !!!! (lateescapes.com)

Member Name: Redhillmum

Product:	lateescapes.com
Date:	06/08/01 (763 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant prices, Reputable company, ABTA & ATOL registered

Disadvantages: Mostly Limited to 2 seats

How/where would you go to book a last minute holiday?

Your local Travel Agent? Look on Ceefax? Look in the Sunday papers?

I think that I would have used my local travel agent before I found this site.
No, not anymore though. I will bookmark this site for future use as we have a small child who I think is too young at the moment to travel abroad, I don’t think it would be fair on her.

However, if I was single or without kids then this would be ideal.

I say without kids because most of the holidays for sale are sold in pairs, you don’t see many for 3 people except the ones in mobile homes etc on the continent, which are self-drive holidays.

Ok, well what is lateescapes.com?

It is the trading name for Going Places Leisure Travel Ltd which is a member of the Airtours group, so no ‘Tinpot’ company here, everyone has heard of if not used one of these companies and it is ATO and ABTA backed (which you should always check – NEVER book a holiday that isn’t backed by these).

Basically this is a holiday auction site. Don’t be put off by that though, it doesn’t look at all daunting.

Their aim is to become the largest holiday auction site in the UK and they provide thousands of holidays each day, so there is always plenty of choice.

When you first enter the site you are presented with a list on the left of the screen displaying different categories of holidays and the sub-categories are shown in brackets.

These main categories include:

Deals from £1
Beach Holidays
Cruise
Lakes & Mountains
Florida & Las Vegas
Far & Away
Buy it now August Holidays
School Holiday Specials
Long Stay Holidays
Escapades – Young & Lively
Continental Campsites
Brazil
First Bid Wins

Click on one of these to be taken to a sub menu displaying the destinations available for auction.

Yo
u must be at least 18 to bid and book a holiday on the site and at least one person travelling must be 18 years of more.

If you bid for a holiday and are successful then if you don’t honour your bid price then you will be charged a non-refundable £50 (which will be debited from your credit card) (or the bid price, whichever is the cheaper).

So be careful, don’t get carried away and think ‘hey I’m not sure which one of these that I want, they are only £…… so I’ll book both just in case’ you may end up paying more than you intended to.

You do need to have insurance but unlike some firms, you don’t need to take out theirs, just provide them with the details of your insurer and you will be ok.

Details are provided regarding which countries require visas etc, along with contact phone numbers for visa offices which is quite helpful.

Your holiday itself doesn’t include Arrival and Departure taxes so make sure that you allow for this when planning your budget (estimated amounts are listed but can be subject to change).

Another good idea on the site is the Advanced Search option.

To save trawling through the many lists just type in your preferred departure airport, number of nights, flight times etc and you will be given a list of your preferences.

The price shown don’t forget is for the ‘total’ number of people quoted in brackets not each.

For example at the minute, 14 nights self catering for 2 in Crete costs £199 but remember that is only £99.50 each!!!!! Don’t forget that this is a mega expensive period (school hols etc) so you are saving £519!!!!!!!!!

The only things you have to pay extra for are Arrival/Departure taxes and resort transfers (£10 per person).

With quite a few of these holidays you do not know the resort itself until you arrive there and speaking from past experience with
late bookings a lot of unsold holidays tend to be in quieter resorts with excellent accommodation.

When the holidays are posted for auction there is an asking price ie £220 and you bid in £20 increments. Now, to be honest, you could start bidding from a stupid price and hope to get the holiday for less than the asking price, but come on, if you could buy a fortnight somewhere for £99.50 each in peak season what on earth is the point of risking losing such a good deal?

I would just bid the asking price and be secure in the knowledge that I was going on a holiday for a few hundred pounds less than most of the people who will be at the same hotel/apartments.

Don’t worry if you are bidding for a really short notice hol, you will be able to pick your tickets up at the airport.

If it’s a bargain holiday you are after then pay this site a visit I’m sure you will find what you are searching for.

Have a nice holiday!

Summary: