Well for years I used to be the person who left things to the very last minute and to be honest did very well at booking holidays or flights (normally at a good rate). Since then booking holidays and especially holiday villas or appartments last minute has become increasingly hard.
Firstly there is the problem of booking flights for peak dates, leave this last minute and you might not get the flights at all (as happened to us last year), or pay through the nose for the privilege for the last remaining seats onboard. Secondly there is always more demand than supply at these dates, so finding the appartments or villas you want can be very hard.
I for one am now totally converted to forward planning and this in my view is time well spent. Book early and you are more likely to get the appartments or villas you are looking for and when you are paying a lot of money this is in my view paramount. Ask me a few years ago whether I would have booked a holiday home 1 year in advance and I would have told you no way, but now it has become the norm.
What are the advantages of booking early, well you can spend more time looking at various appartements or villas, get a short list and from there decide which one you are going to book. The earlier you book the more vacancies the owners will have, you can arrange hire cars and park tickets with the villa booking and pay only a small deposit to reserve them. Lastly the main airlines will have more spaces on the flights, thus prices will not be so high.
No longer do villa owners or travel companies discount last minute, so this way of thinking will only leave you with either a more expensive flight to find (maybe one that goes all around the houses to get you there) and 9/10 the appt or villa you want to book will be full and you end up with your 6/7th choice.
If I could give anyone any advice it would be to book early, save the worry and stress of wondering if you are going to get anywhere in peak season and book at least 1 year in advance. It is really worth the effort.
Firstly there is the problem of booking flights for peak dates, leave this last minute and you might not get the flights at all (as happened to us last year), or pay through the nose for the privilege for the last remaining seats onboard. Secondly there is always more demand than supply at these dates, so finding the appartments or villas you want can be very hard.
I for one am now totally converted to forward planning and this in my view is time well spent. Book early and you are more likely to get the appartments or villas you are looking for and when you are paying a lot of money this is in my view paramount. Ask me a few years ago whether I would have booked a holiday home 1 year in advance and I would have told you no way, but now it has become the norm.
What are the advantages of booking early, well you can spend more time looking at various appartements or villas, get a short list and from there decide which one you are going to book. The earlier you book the more vacancies the owners will have, you can arrange hire cars and park tickets with the villa booking and pay only a small deposit to reserve them. Lastly the main airlines will have more spaces on the flights, thus prices will not be so high.
No longer do villa owners or travel companies discount last minute, so this way of thinking will only leave you with either a more expensive flight to find (maybe one that goes all around the houses to get you there) and 9/10 the appt or villa you want to book will be full and you end up with your 6/7th choice.
If I could give anyone any advice it would be to book early, save the worry and stress of wondering if you are going to get anywhere in peak season and book at least 1 year in advance. It is really worth the effort.