Last-minute flyers benefitting from bargain fares

Just as Warren Buffet famously argued that you should buy shares when everyone else is selling and sell when everyone else is buying, so too could it be wise to jet off on holiday when most people are saving their money and staying at home.

It seems that 2009 has been dubbed 'the year of the staycation', with Blackpool and Torquay likely to trump Hong Kong and Barcelona as the top holiday choices for cash-strapped Britons.

New research carried out by the RAC found that 60 per cent of the UK population plan to stay put over the next few months, with many not even going away at all, due largely to economic worries.

And, just as this news is likely to be welcomed by the nation's B&B owners, so too can savvy jet travellers benefit from favourable market conditions and land themselves a bargain.

According to London's Evening Standard newspaper, the city's major airports are set to handle around two million passengers over the course of the Easter weekend.

While this may seem pretty standard for such a peak travel time, the notable thing is that many people have booked right at the last minute, having seen the prices on offer and opted to throw caution to the wind with their hard-earned money.

For example, a wealth of cheap fares have made destinations such as New York and Dubai among the most sought-after destinations this Easter, with last-minute flights to the Big Apple from Heathrow reported to be as low as £250 return, all inclusive - or around the same travellers would be forced to fork out should they turn up at St Pancras and demand a ticket to Paris.

Explaining the last-minute surge in bookings, Mark Tanzer, chief executive of the Association of British Travel Agents, said: "It appears consumer confidence is rising, and people feel they have enough money in their pocket or just simply have had enough of worrying and have made the decision to go on holiday."

The good news is that this trend looks set to continue for the remainder of the year, with savvy online shoppers in particular likely to benefit the most from airlines looking to fill empty seats.