I got the "willy's" even thinking about it!!!! I'm a travel-planning freak and can't imagine not having it all figured out (yes - including activities and daily attire) at least 30 days in advance. I've known people who are as you describe - "take it as it comes", but I hate traveling with them! Great topic - Thanks!

it can work out ok... but I don't advise it during the peak tourist season when all the hotel rooms are fully booked... and overbooked in some cases. There are some good deals at this time of year, though. Not always at fancy places, but clean enough to sleep in since you'll probably be spending most of your time on the beach or something anyway.

bride and i fly standby out of atl so we always wait till just before leaving to confirm (cloud 9 villas) and pay by cashier check at arrival. also did a last minute with destin stjohn and used credit card to confirm couple days before arrival.

i'm retired so normally flexible as to when we travel - i look for desirable villa at good rates, no tropical storms forecast and lots of vacant seats on flt for possible travel day(s). on each of our 5 trips we've gotten significant discounts at villas we enjoyed.

i also watch airfares for guaranteed travel dates and normally last minute tickets are sky high so any villa saving could be eatenup with increased plane fares on last minute deals. guess you could buy discounted plane tickets out and chance getting good villa at last minute. risky in season but i've noted a lot of good villas available almost every time period during the fall (except thanksgiving). unfortunately the advanced plane ticket dates might conflict with bad weather.

good luck

papabou

Hi Papabou..

Wondering...how can you fly standby? Are you retired Delta people? Seems like every flight we've been on the past few years has been full to oversold and it would seem risky to try to even standby...it used to be the best benefit retired airline people had.

Diane

diane,

sent you a pri mess.

papabou