Cheap Warm Last Minute - Sound Like Your Kinda Vacation?

When you work at a travel website, and you try to stay in touch with old friends, pretty often you get an email, txt, FB message, tweet or skype like this one from Steve, my NYC neighbor with 2 adorable girls.

"Any advice for a last minute getaway somewhere fun and sunny, but reasonable. We are so last minute…J"

Of course, I ignore all deadlines and I try to find him a deal, because that's what friends do, . And there are great ones out there now, since Christmas travel is looking at little wan...

I tell Steve and I will tell anyone out there who's interested:

There are tons of discounted fares to Orlando now. I just did a search on the FTF site's booking engine for vacation packages -- click on Advanced Search and put in MCO, the main airport as your destination, and you'll see lots of offer. (By the way, the booking engine is operated by EAN/Expedia, and if you use it to book, we get a whopping $2 commission!!)

We love Orlando for its value, so I remind Steve: "You can fly to Orlando, the 4 of you, and stay 3 nights in a condo hotel, for about $255 each. You don’t have to go to the themeparks, there are lots of other things to do there like an airboat ride in the Everglades  – weather should be pretty good. All you need is a rental car."

If you’re going to go to the themeparks, splurge to stay at one of the Universal Resort hotels and go to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – everyone says it’s amazing and a day there, without any other parks, is plenty.

But Steve really wanted to get outside the United States with his family, and if you're like him, you can benefit from these other travel bargains I've recently seen.

Try CheapO Air – lots of good flights -- and they are more reliable than some of the other steep airfare discounters.

If you keep in mind that Hogwarts is outside the United States, you can look at CheapO's great value deal to Orlando, where you can save up to 42% Universal Orlando Resort and experience The World of Harry Potter!.

Last but not least, because I really do have to finish up some work, is an unusual deal from Priceline. Blind auction sites are not my family's favorites, but they sometimes offer up great deals with enough detail that I think I know what I'm getting. 

Priceline's deal is soooo Cheap Warm Last Minute and it's valid for travel through the spring. Go to the Priceline site, and remember it has to be booked soon. But, you'll see after you login (skip the login if you're not a regular user) that you can get a $300 - $400 air credit per room booked towards a cheap Bahamas vacation.

I remind Steve and you, "You can choose a cheap resort, then take the girls to Atlantis / Paradise Island for the day, costs about $100 for a day pass but it’s amazing… Or, pay more up front at Priceline and stay at the Atlantis for yourself…"

And here's the travel professional's standard wisdom: If you want to go closer to Xmas, book the week before, flying  home the 25th for the best rates….

Now, please leave your comments and I'll get back to you after I've met my deadline....