If, like the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, you are always late to book flights (the next big holiday is Memorial Day), don’t glance at your watch and have a nervous breakdown.
Yes, the flights are going to be expensive (one travel agent estimates that virtually every single destination within the U.S. will cost you at least $400 and up per person right now. A few clicks on the popular airline portals will confirm this sad truth).
So what can you do?
- Visit www.lastminute.com and look at their fares to places like San Francisco (think Wine Country weekend). Fares start at $472.33 per person inclusive of car rental. The downside? You have a stopover in some god forsaken town, and leave at the crack of dawn on Monday morning, May 26th.
- www.lastminutetravel.com gives you fares to warm weather starting at $485 per person (we checked out California, Las Vegas, NV and Miami, FL among others. Miami is the most expensive destination to get to right now of the three options).
- Visit Craigslist to see if there is a housing swap during Memorial Day weekend. Chances are you might just snag that cosy bedroom in Paris or Florence in return for giving up your digs.
- Travelocity is offering a last minute $150 off packages to Hawaii. Enter HAWLMD150 at checkout.
- www.Kayak.com is the best site for airfare. Period.
If traveling last minute is totally out of the question, here are some fun, creative things you can do in your own hometown:
- Take an inspired, unusual cooking class or a challenging pottery class and make something worth keeping on your mantle.
- Engage in a walking or history tour of your city. How well do you know your own backyard?
- Invite friends over for a potluck dinner or lunch and enjoy the long weekend sipping margaritas and catching up.
- Take that money you would have spent on airfare and get couples massages for you and your loved one.
Above all, carpe weekend.