In an ideal, utopian world, we’d all plan our vacations, holidays, and even work trips well in advance, ensuring we get the best prices and enjoy a stress-free travel experience. However, reality is a bit different, and life usually tends to get in the way of everything. Last-minute travel can be exciting, but the excitement usually deflates when we start looking at last-minute flight, hotel, and car rental costs. This is where Trip.com’s last-minute bookings come in handy. Last-minute bookings have a bad rep: they’re potentially expensive, booking them is nerve-wracking, and you need some sort of Houdini-esque, alternate reality knowledge to crack them.
Not with Trip.com. The Singaporean travel agency not only directs travelers to great deals but also tells them the best strategies to book them by equipping them with a little bit of insider knowledge and the right research. In fact, they prove that last-minute travel doesn’t always have to break the bank. Here’s a detailed guide to everything last-minute on Trip.com, and why the website is so spot-on for last-minute deals.
Meanwhile, why don’t you start by reading about the top destinations to book with Trip.com in 2025?
Loyalty Program
We begin with the very backbone of every great service – the loyalty program. One of the best ways to get an advantage when it comes to last-minute reservations is to become a member of Trip.com’s Loyalty Program. Not only do members enjoy priority services and exclusive perks, but also, they also enjoy a whole lot of member-only deals.
Trip.com has five member levels, namely Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Diamond+. All of them come with flight + hotel cancellation guarantees, flight price alerts, hotel deals, and member day offers as well.
When members begin reserving flights, hotels, etc. with Trip.com, they begin earning Trip coins. They’re very useful for redeeming during last-minute bookings, especially if you think the price is a bit out of your budget, but using the coins will bring it within your budget range. Since 100 Trip Coins are equivalent to USD 1, your Trip coins could be worth a lot and will be very useful for last-minute trips!
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Discounts, Promo Codes, and More
When Trip.com means deals, it really does mean deals. Not only do they offer the latest hot deals on flights, hotels, and transportation, but they also offer superb discounts and deals on attractions, sights, tours, and even tickets to popular attractions! If that wasn’t enough, they think about the entire travel experience, offering deals and promo codes for even portable Wi-Fi, SIM, and eSIMs. When you’re planning a last-minute trip, having everything related to your trip all in one place is very useful, as it saves you from having to scour and scramble through different websites to complete every booking aspect of your trip. Check out more details on the deals page.
“The fact that Trip.com gave out discounts, codes, and deals for everything from flights and hotels to transportation, attractions, and even phone SIMs certainly made our last-minute trip planning a breeze!”
WOW Travel
Did you know that you can also save on your first reservation with Trip.com? Yes!
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Trip.com Price Alerts
Finding cheap flight fares, hotel rates, and car rental deals takes a lot of effort and constant checking, as prices can change very quickly and frequently. If you don’t want to spend the last few days before your imagined trip scrambling about the internet, we highly suggest you sign up for Trip.com‘s “Price Alert” feature. All you need to do is head to the “Flights” page on the Trip.com website or mobile app, where you’ll see a “Price Alert” below the search bar, at the bottom of the screen. Once you click on that, you’ll be directed to a settings page, where you need to enter relevant flight details, including origin city, destination, travel dates, and the like.
You can also set your budget range — considering it’s a last-minute trip and you don’t want to pay through the nose — and Trip.com does the rest. Once there’s a drop in price, you’ll receive instant notifications either via the Trip.com mobile app’s push notifications or an email. Thus, you’ll never miss a price drop and a great last-minute deal.
What we especially liked about the price alert feature is that when we used the price slider to set our budget for the trip, Trip.com even showed us the success rate of getting tickets within that specific price range. While green meant higher success rates, yellow meant a medium success rate, and red meant a low success rate of finding tickets in that price range.
P.S.: Just because there’s a drop in price doesn’t mean that it’ll stay that way forever — so check right away and book fast.
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Excellent Customer Support
Last-minute trips come with a lot of panic, and Trip.com means it when it says that it’s your constant travel companion. There are plenty of ways to get in touch with them, starting with the fact that their phone number is clearly displayed on their website. What’s more, they also offer help online, and they can be easily reached via online chat. Furthermore, all options are displayed together on the Support page, which also has a wealth of FAQs if and when travelers have any questions.
Sometimes, travel doesn’t go according to plan, even when you’ve planned stuff beforehand. So, it’s natural for things to sometimes go sideways on a plan that’s been put together at the last minute. Have you encountered last-minute flight cancellations? Have you been stuck at a hotel check-in because your name has been misspelled? Trip.com is ready to take on anything and everything unexpected, with their professional advisors providing 24×7 support. Not only do they specialize in hotel and flight bookings, but also, they’re also fluent in multiple languages.
Finally, getting in touch with travel operators when you’ve encountered an emergency on a last-minute trip can be a nightmare, but not with Trip.com. On their mobile app, they have a free internet call option — yes! All you need to do is choose the VoIP option (Internet call) on their app, allowing you to connect with Trip.com representatives absolutely free of charge!
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Package Deals
Chances are that if you’re going on a last-minute trip, you need to book not only flights, but also stays, car rentals, the whole shebang. One of the best things about Trip.com is that it offers package deals that combine hotel accommodations and flights. Sometimes, and for some hotel options, these packages end up providing additional savings as compared to if you’d have booked flights and hotels separately.
Take the New Delhi to Istanbul search that you see above, where we searched for accommodations for a four-night stay for not more than a week from now. Just below the flights, you see options for flight + hotel packages. For the Yellow Mansion, it results in savings of USD 16, but for the Sheraton Istanbul Atakoy Hotel, the difference is significant: USD 74. This could be due to many reasons, including unsold inventory. However, it provides a unique opportunity for travelers to snag last-minute discounted rates for combined flight and hotel bookings.
Additionally, being flexible with destinations while checking for package deals can also prove to be very beneficial. This is especially helpful when you don’t have any specific destination in mind and are still combing for places and deals. Package deals to off-season destinations, for instance, could offer substantial savings. For instance, August is a rainy month for Phuket. So, as you can see below, when we checked for package deals from Mumbai to Phuket, we found some fantastic last-minute package rates.
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What’s the ticket validity period?
Usually, flight tickets are valid for a year from the date that they’re issued. However, sometimes, some airlines have different rules when it comes to ticket validity periods. So, you need to check the ticket policy to see if you can change or cancel your ticket.
Why do ticket prices fluctuate?
Since a wide range of suppliers sell flight tickets on Trip.com, and there are thousands of other users looking for the same flights simultaneously, the prices change constantly. We recommend completing your booking as quickly as possible.
How do I get promo codes for hotel reservations on Trip.com?
If you’re a Trip.com member, you can receive promo codes by redeeming Trip coins, participating in promotions, or reserving flights or hotels that earn you Trip coins.
Some images in this article are copyrighted by Trip.com.
