When did "last minute" lose it's meaning?

so i decided this morning that i wanted to take a little trip this weekend with DH.  i've had my eye on dublin, ireland for a while...but just haven't went.  so, this mornig, i started hunting.

now....i know it was last minute, but there are all kinds of websites that specialize in offering travel arrangements for people who just decide on a whim that they wanna go somewhere.  so....my first stop was ryanair.  they wanted 236GBP for a flight leaving tomorrow and returning on sunday!!  that's a far cry from rates that i have found on their website in the past...so i decided to continue hunting.

i tried virgin trains, priceline.co.uk, yahoo farechaser (which i might add had the best deal...but still not cheap enough.... $252 per person), first great western trains, lastminute.com, cheapflights.co.uk, orbitz.com....you name it...i tried it.  i was trying to think of any possible way we could get to dublin....i even considered driving there! 

the whole reason why i'm posting this is because i'm a little bothered by the fact that "last minute" doesn't mean last minute with these websites...it means more like "in the next 3 days".  granted...that might be last minute for some people....but i'm thinking "last minute....that means i can go on their website, and book a flight that leaves today and still get a good price".  of all the websites i checked for flights, there was only one that would allow me to buy anything that departed today....all the rest gave me errors or said select a valid date.

i have a feeling that i will be in this situation in the future.  i generally like to plan things...but since i've arrived in UK i've been kinda "by the seat of my pants".  so does anyone have any suggestions?  where can i seriously buy a ticket last minute at a low price? 

am i out in left field thinking that if these people advertise "last minute" that you should be able to buy something that day and leave that day?  i find it hard to believe (especiallly since it's winter time) that all flights are full....especially for a short ride to dublin. 

I TOTALLY agree! and you know what a last minute person I am!  Glad to see you are using yahoo farechase, cool huh?

I'm not generally a last minute kind of person and book flights and things sometimes up to 7 or 8 months in advance...right now, I still can't find cheap fares!  We just paid $1,800 for 2 tickets to fly to Boston in 5 months!  It's got to do with the price of fuel or something.  It's really frustrating.  I can't even imagine what last minute fares would look like.  I'd never go anywhere

Aer Lingus has flights to Dublin for £1 each way (tax not included) from some UK airports
http://www.aerlingus.com/cgi-bin/obel01im1/bookonline/index.jsp

*putting on travel agents hat*

last minute...opodo..places like that are consolidators..they are allocated so many seats...once they run out at the cheap cheap prices they start going up..and then they have to start asking the airline for more seats which run into the higher price bracket

same with airlines the cheapest seats go first...there may only be about 10 at the most at the "cheapeast" seat...there can be as many as 8 different economy fares with airlines....

website lure you in with a ridiculously low price..but once you start going thru and trying to book something bits and pieces get added..the price they put on the ad is the seat/ticket price...doesn't include all airline charges and taxes and landing fee..blah blah blah...


you may get a good deal on a accomodation....latebeds.com is great we use it alot....what about the ferry from Liverpool?

if anyone ever gets a good seat price at the last minute...consider yourself lucky and the gods favoured you...but hey I am just a travel agent what do I know?? 

Last minute.com has cheap travel but you must be extremely flexible with your destinations. Most cheap plane tickets sell out way in advance, and Dublin is a busy route for weekend travel. You should try calling one of their branches and see if they can put together a deal for the weekend.

I've also used www.11thhour.com in the past and have gotten great vacation deals! I once went to the Bahamas for next to nothing! It's been a while since I used that site, though, so I don't know if it's still any good. But, yes, there are great last minute deals out there if you're willing to be flexible!

ok...i have officially given up....although i did find a train ride for two leaving tonight at 745pm going to paris for 298GBP for two people...not too bad...but not enough time to get to london in time to make the train.

thanks for everyone's suggestions.  i tried 11thour.com and it looks like it's just for travel within the US.  i did check the aerlingus.com site...and they do have some good deals...just none leaving this weekend.  i'll definitely keep them in mind in the future.

so....i have resorted to renting a car and driving somewhere.  i'm in the southwest....anyone have any suggestions for a good place to go that's not to far to drive to (no more than 3 hours each way)?  i've already been to cardiff and london...so mark those off the list.  i'm thinking we'll leave tomorrow night and stay at a hotel and spend all of sunday wherever we decide to go. 

any ideas anyone?

Three hours from where? Where are you starting from??

the southwest region....i'm a weirdo about putting my exact location on the internet....sorry .  i'm in wiltshire if that helps you.

the southwest region....i'm a weirdo about putting my exact location on the internet....sorry .  i'm in wiltshire if that helps you.

That's OK. I can work with Wiltshire.

What sort of things are you into? If you like second-hand books, I'd recommend a trip to Hay-on-Wye. The scenery in that part of the country is pretty spectacular, as well! I think that should be within 3 hours of Wiltshire.

I'm sure you've already been to Bath. If not, go now!

Try Avebury! It's amazing! Way better than Stonehenge!

Oxford?

Anyone else?

What sort of things are you into? If you like second-hand books, I'd recommend a trip to Hay-on-Wye. The scenery in that part of the country is pretty spectacular, as well! I think that should be within 3 hours of Wiltshire.

I'm sure you've already been to Bath. If not, go now!

Try Avebury! It's amazing! Way better than Stonehenge!

Oxford?

Anyone else?

i've suggested avebury and stonehenge to DH and he's not all that thrilled with it.  he doesn't see much point in driving all that way to look at some rocks and that's it (i'll end up going by myself someday tho...i think rocks are cool). 

i'm going to end up going to bath by myself as well....DH has been there a million times so it's lost it's fun factor for him. 

i was thinking brighton...i dunno why.  i've seen it on TV and it looked kinda cool...by the water...lots of people, etc....kinda reminded me of home.  but i don't know what there is to do there....i'll have to check out the city website. 

as for what i'm interested in....it varies really.  i like all the old buildings, castles, statues, etc.  i'm not all that interested in art museums.....there are some really, really talented artist that have come and gone.....and i can appreciate the painting for what it is....but that's about as far as i can go.  i think overall i will find something interesting no matter where i go in this country.  even tho i've been a couple places already...there is still so much that is new and exciting to me. 

Er, supply and demand.

Brighton is a favourite of mine.  It's just fun to be there.   Too bad you didn't know before hand, Mamma Cherrie's has great American Soul Food, but it's always booked up.

Brighton wouldn't be my pick, but I guess that's because I've already been there. If I hadn't, I'd probably want to go and check it out! Go for it!