Taking advantage of last-minute travel bargains

Question: A reader writes that she and her husband are retired, older than 70 and want to travel. They can leave at a moment's notice, so they want to know whether they can take advantage of last-minute deals and, if so, where. For security reasons, we are not using their names, which are unusual and could make them a target of thieves.Answer: Travel industry providers have trained us to expect to pay a premium for last-minute travel, except when it's to their benefit, such as moving unsold inventory that will otherwise go unused. Then we are their new BFFs.It's a twisted relationship, but if you're like the letter writer, you can put up with a lot to save a lot. First, look for package discounts that bine a hotel stay or cruise with airfare, for example. That's the advice of Sarah Gavin, an Expedia travel expert. Not doing so, she says, is the No. 1 travel mistake. You'll save at least 10% on average, she says, and often more if you're traveling to a big vacation market such as the Caribbean or Hawaii.Second, she says, social media are your friend. Airlines will send email blasts with last-minute deals, but you'll find excellent "flash sales" on social media especially Twitter.Which leads to her third tip: Hold the phone. As people b e increasingly fortable booking on their smartphones, it's wise to keep yours at hand. About half the public has a smartphone these days, and this puts you in the thick of the bargain hunt. Not that there's a lack of places to find bargains. On Monday, I found a four-night Monday-Friday package to San José del Cabo, Mexico, that included flight and hotel for $617 per person, double occupancy. The hotel was Melia Cabo Real All-Inclusive Beach Golf Resort, which generally gets very good marks on TripAdvisor. There was a $25-a-night double-occupancy deal for the Malika d'Angkor Boutique Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia includes transfers and the use of a bicycle, which gets good to very good marks on TripAdvisor. Because the deals change according to the need of the travel property, they may have disappeared, but new ones will be in their stead.It gave me a $2,023-per-person six-night trip to London, which included airfare, based on double occupancy, and a double room at the Best Western near Paddington Station for an April 10-17 trip.