Cancellation Holidays.
Whilst looking for a cheap holiday for the family a few years ago, I came across the concept of Cancellation Holidays. I was blown away by what I found. Not only do cancellation holidays enable you to go on holiday for rock bottom prices, they offer you the ability to travel to some exotic locations that perhaps you may not have been able to afford if the holiday was full price.
My quest to get a great holiday at bargain prices took me on all sorts of routes from research to different contacts and even some insider knowledge picked up along the way.
This website is my little resource on the web that details everything I know about cancellation holidays. I detail the cancellation holiday resources I have found during my research, useful contact information, the best places to look for cancellation and bargain holidays and the real lowdown on cancellation holidays. Usually everything that appears to good to be true, is. To an extent that is true of cancellation holidays too. But if you approach your research in the correct way and use the resources I list on this website and you are flexible, then cancellation holidays can be great way to see the world at low cost.
What is a cancellation holiday?
A cancellation holiday is simply a holiday that another person, couple, or family have booked and for whatever reason can no longer make. This could be due to illness, bereavement, work commitments, broken bones - anything really that would prevent a person from going on holiday and/or flying.
When a cancellation of a holiday occurs a couple of things happen:
- The holiday is 'returned' to the travel agent so they are able to re-sell the vacancy. Clearly the travel company wants to re-sell the holiday as quickly as possible to recover their costs (if they are unable to cancel with the airline and hotel etc.).
- Sometimes, dependant on terms and conditions and how near the cancellation is to the travel date, the travel insurance company will re-emburse the traveller (usually minus a deposit).
It is important to note that no one involved in the whole chain of providing a holiday wants the cancelled holiday to remain vacant. The travel agent may have block booked seats and accommodation so they want to recoup as much of their costs as they can. The airline does not want to fly with empty seats. The hotel does not want empty rooms. So it is clearly better to send someone on that holiday even if they pay only a portion of the original holiday costs.
The benefits of cancellation holidays.
Cancellation holidays provide many benefits, the main one being - they are very cheap in comparison to the original cost of the holiday. Other benefits may include - great hotels at bed and breakfast rates, possible airline upgrades, quick and easy to book, the surprise element (could also be a drawback - see below), you get to enjoy a break when ordinarily you would stayed home.
The drawbacks cancellation holidays.
Clearly not everything about cancellation holidays is a bed of roses. There are many drawbacks, but dependant on your attitude toward those drawbacks I think you will find the positives of cancellation holidays far outweigh the negatives.
Some things to keep in mind about cancellation holidays before you start your research:
- You must be flexible. Many cancellation holidays are cancelled by the original holidaymaker at the last minute and therefore the holiday needs to be re-sold very quickly. You therefore must be prepared to travel at VERY short notice.
- You must be prepared for a surprise or two. If you were to book a normal holiday you would spend quite a lot of time choosing your destination, hotel etc. This is not possible with a cancellation holiday. You simply have to go where you are offered and be comfortable with the original travellers accommodation, flights, times etc.
- It is quite rare to be able to get a cancellation holiday during peak holiday season. Usually the holiday companies have more people wanting to go on holiday than there is availability during those times. They can therefore sell cancellations at near full price. It is simple supply and demand. You are best off choosing to try and travel in off peak holiday season.
- You usually have to pay for the cancellation holiday immediately. There are usually no arrangements to pay a deposit and then the balance before x date, as you will almost certainly be travelling within a few days of booking the cancellation holiday, if not the same day!
I have found that the drawbacks of cancellation holidays are all about your attitude. If you go into it thinking adventure, new places, and an opportunity to travel at low cost, and don't set your expectations too high, then usually you are pleasantly surprised. On the other hand set your expectations too high, and expect what you would on your usual holiday then you will surely be disappointed.
What types of cancellation holidays are available?
If you are patient you can get cancellation holidays to almost any destination across the world. I say patient because clearly there are more cancellations of holidays to popular tourist destinations. This is purely because more holidays are booked to those destinations than anywhere else and therefore there will be more cancellations.
I have come across people or read about people that have been on cancellation holidays to Spain, Portugal, Turkey, the USA, The Caribbean, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China and even Russia.
All types of holidays are available from the usual 'summer in the sun' to adventure and sport holidays. Couples holidays , gay holidays, and group holidays can all become available by way of cancellation. Accommodation can be hotel, guest house, villa, apartment and even caravan.
Really if you think of any type of holiday that can be booked, there are usually cancellations available. Admittedly some are very rare, but patience is a virtue. We even read about one lucky couple who had been on no less than three cancellation cruises.
Where to find cancellation holidays.
So the section you have all been waiting for. Where do you go to find your cancellation holiday?
Below I am simply going to list a set of websites where I know you can pick up cancellation holidays. But, be creative. I don't promise to have covered all resources (if you come across a new one then please contact me and I will add to the resource list) on cancellation holidays, so feel free to do your own searches on Google and other search engines or use one of the main travel portals to help you and also don't discount just walking down your local high street and speaking to the travel agents. Explain your situation, your flexibility and that you are looking for cancellation holidays. Remember it is in their interest to sell off spare holiday inventory.
Keep these things in mind when looking for your bargain holiday.
- Be flexible. The best deals go to the most flexible.
- Set a budget be be realistic. There are other people looking for cancellation holidays too so if you want £5000 holiday for £100 you are probably not going to get it. So be realistic with your expectations.
- Attitude is key. Be adventurous. Don't expect the best and you won't be disappointed.
- Try to focus on more popular holiday destinations. There is simply more likelihood of cancellation holidays becoming available.
- Be patient. If you go into a travel agent this weekend with the expectation of bagging a bargain cancellation holiday, you will be disappointed. Sometimes it takes months to find and grab a cancellation holiday.
Popular cancellation holiday destinations.
As I mentioned above, cancellation holidays are available to many destinations, but from the UK the more popular destinations to pick up via cancellation are - Spain, Turkey and more recently the Caribbean. With more holiday makers travelling further in recent years, more distant destinations will increase in popularity.
Holiday insurance and cancellations.
If you landed at this website looking for holiday insurance advice about cancellations then we are sorry that is not our main topic area. We can however point you to the following resources that may be able to help.