hi we have been to goa 5 times and every year at this time i'm trawling the internet for cheap deals i'm becoming obsessed at the moment usually if any htr's find a good deal they post it on here i believe southall travel are good and we booked through ebookers last season good luck
anita

We went to Goa for the first time in January this year, we got 3 weeks B&B for £650 each, which I thought wasn't too bad. Trouble is we are hooked now, so have booked again for next January.

Hi paxrax

I work for a travel company, and I would definitely say hold off for a late deal. I think people who pay brochure prices must have too much money! Unless you're really restricted by dates you can travel, or will only go to one hotel etc of course. Only thing with October is I believe ony Jewel and the Crown operate then? In which case availability may be limited. I'm intend going mid Nov for 3 weeks but will be booking at the last minute and plan to pay less than half of the £700-800 current prices.

How long before travel is considered a late deal ??

For example we can only travel during the easter holidays so from 31/3/07 at the moment a two week holiday is around £700 each.

If its booked at say christmas will late deals be available then or do you have to book it the week before etc. As i dont want to leave it to chance or does goa have a history of having no problems getting late deals even during easter...

Regards

Peter

Hi Peter not sure about November, but we waited last Easter for a last minute and there really was not much around and we had been checking for weeks, we waited for about 10 days before and got a flight only for £320 each, but that was with First Choice and i find them the best, but they don't release their flight only untill most of the packages are sold, so i would say about 4 weeks before travel. Hope you find what your looking for
crystal xx

cheers folks, cheapest ive found so far was £468 without the add ons so probably end up about £550 a piece.

if i can get something all in for less than £500 ill be a happy chappy!

cheers,h.

Hi Peter, I'd probably say within about 8 weeks give or take. With the company I work for, when late deals first go on sale they are usually not that cheap but prices will come down depending on how sales go. Obviously if you're looking for school hols etc it's a bit different, same as any destination, the peak times book up early and there might not be much left, if there's only a few seats left there is no need to reduce the cost as people will pay the price if they want specific dates/hotels.

I'm not sure about First Choice holding back flight only but Mytravel have flight only on sale all the time, although it's not called a flight only, it's called dormhouse accomodation. I'm sure most people know that this is only because tour ops are not allowed to sell flight only and the dormhouse accom doesn't really exist.

As an example price I paid just under £300 for 2 weeks B&B in March this year, booked maybe about 2-3 weeks before.

6 years ago when I could be flexible as to when I could travel (student at the time) I got a last minute (travel next day) 2 week package staying in Arpora for £239 in early December. The following January, a few weeks later, I went back for another fortnight on a return flight for £149.
If you have jabs and visa arranged and if you are travelling alone you will always find last minute deals.

I found a deal for friends travelling on 3rd March 2007 at £430 all in for 14 days Gatwick with Airtours. We tried to get 3 weeks flight only at the same time and this was about £560. How does that work?

just thought id update!

just found prazeres, 14nts, madchester on 2nd nov flying with mytravel on direct holidays website @ £520 each. booked!

i know it has mixed reviews, some very good and others not so good but willing to give it a go and happy with the price as i dont have to drive to london now!!

cracking flight times too, out at 7pm in at 11am. back out at 1pm back in at 6.30 pm. home in time for a pint!!

just so long as they dont change the flights!

we go to goa in november the 5th, thru thomas cook, we got marinha dourada for £620 each for 2 weeks we think this is not too bad as there are only 3 rooms left for that date. hope you manage to find a better deal,

In the past we have waited until the last couple of weeks before booking.
The downside to that is most of the better hotels could be booked up and you could end up with some hotel that leaves a lot to be desired.
We have just booked for 2 weeks in November at the Highland Beach for £493. The agent rang me 2 hours after booking to say that it should have
been £593 but their mistake so they agreed to stand the difference.
Some of the Thomson ones have been coming up at a decent price
but they are often here today and gone tomorrow deals.

Paula