Last minute travel is usually not an option for most people. Work schedules, school schedules, extracurricular schedules and household obligations make it all but impossible for the vast majority of families or individuals to simply pick up and leave on some last minute travel plans whenever the mood strikes. In fact, quite the opposite. Travel plans usually must be in place weeks or even months in advance. Which is unfortunate, given that last minute travel is often a very good way to travel dirt cheap!

It has long been known that flying standby is a great way to save money. If you are looking to go somewhere and someone else does not show up to take their seat on a flight, the airlines are putting that plane in the air whether or not there is an empty seat. So, in cases like these, they can often reward last minute travel and unconfirmed travel plans with a slashed fare. After all, a seat at half price is still better than an empty seat, right?

Now, with the huge boom in booking travel plans online, most of the time you do not even have to wait around in an airport all day hoping for a standby fare. A quick visit to the most popular online travel sites or a quick browse through Google for last minute travel deals is enough to tell you that hot deals on last minute travel are all over the place online.

Feel like getting away for the weekend on short notice? Get a few unexpected days off? Forced to use your vacation time or lose it? Try hitting the online travel sites a few days ahead of time and checking out their last minute travel deals. In many cases, these sites have negotiated package vacations with vacation companies and airlines, and are anxious to sell out as the closing dates approach, so they are willing to give unbelievable rates on last minute travel, knowing that for the most part, their clients cannot simply pick up and leave on a moment’s notice.

But as you are making last minute travel plans, it is important not to let your excitement get the best of you in your rush to get on the road or in the air. It is always very important to ensure you have travel insurance every time you travel. Should you get sick or injured on vacation, the last thing you want to remember your vacation by is a hefty bill from a foreign hospital instead of photographs of you and your family having fun. If you are thinking of taking advantage of some of these last minute travel deals at some point in the future, it is helpful always to have your passport and other documents up to date and handy so you are already prepared to jump on those last minute travel opportunities and hit the ground running!