Booking a trip without knowing the destination? (Updated)

[GilliC]

I always thought the idea of showing up at the airport and taking the next available flight out sounded like an awesome experience (aside from the cost, and maybe the packing logistics).

Has anyone ever done something like this? Where did you end up going, and what was it like?

Our local Groupon site currently has an offer for a flight and 2 nights hotel stay for under $200/person, so we decided to book it. We'll find out well in advance where we're heading (we should know in about a week), but it's still fun to take the gamble! And most of the places on the list will be new to one of us.

Updated with destination:
Scroll down, or go to pandce.proboards.com/post/9447451/thread

[Deleted]

No, but I really want to do it. It comes up on my local Groupon (for about the same price) all the time too. We've been to most of the destinations that they offer, so it's not quite as exciting.

You find out which destination you got when you actually redeem the voucher, right? Let us know how it goes!

[GilliC]

May 17, 2015 7:51:09 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

You find out which destination you got when you actually redeem the voucher, right? Let us know how it goes!

You find out when the agency makes the booking, so it's within about a week of when you redeem.

[thebulldog]

I would love to do this...let us know how it goes.

Sent from my SM-G900P using proboards

[spankswife]

That's awesome! Let us know where you get!

[rupertpenny]

I have! I lived in Germany for one summer and German Wings ran a special where you could buy surprise flights for 20 euro each way. You could pick a category like "party" "culture" or "beach" but you didn't find out where you'd end up until after you paid.

I did it twice and got Rome and Madrid. The only bad part was that you had zero control over flight times, but overall it was great.

[chicago]

Never, but we've talked about how cool that would be. Can't wait to hear how your experience goes!

[mrs.jacinthe]

What does that come up as under Groupon (company/title of deal/whatever)? We'd love to do it, but I'll have to keep an eye peeled, because I don't see anything in my local area.

[Brit]

runblondie26 did this!

[GilliC]

May 17, 2015 20:30:54 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

What does that come up as under Groupon (company/title of deal/whatever)? We'd love to do it, but I'll have to keep an eye peeled, because I don't see anything in my local area.

It was under the Groupon Travel section, but it seems to be offered by a regional online travel agency.

[GilliC]

I guess I kind of did this once, but it was for work. We were having a team meeting for our distributed team, and instead of all coming to one of the four offices, our boss at the time booked tickets to send everyone to a (cheaper) off-site location for a few days. He didn't tell us where we were going until a few days before when he needed to distribute flight info to everyone. All we knew was that we needed to pack something dressy. It turns out he took us to Prague and we all went to the opera one evening.

...It's too bad that would never happen these days.* Now they just have the meeting by videoconference.


*ETA - At least not in our company, because they squeeze every last penny out of the travel budget. Even when we traveling somewhere else is cheaper, we got shot down, because we needed to "look" like we were saving money.  

[Deleted]

I have! Back in Australia I bought a $99 return flight for me and my then boyfriend. Turned out it was to the Gold Coast, so then I hired a car and went to the beach and a theme park. Was super fun!
I'm going back to Germany in a few weeks' time to go do an unknown activity with my colleagues on the continent. I strongly suspect it is quad biking, but not sure. (So yes, those things do still happen, and ironically our company deploys technology that enables people to collaborate by internet.)

[raangoli]

No, but we often play this game when we're day dreaming about where to go. I often ask MH "Where would you go tomorrow if you just went to the airport and bought the first ticket to anywhere?"

Yesterday's answer was the Amalfi Coast.

[Wanderista]

I would consider doing it but I also like planning out trips where I know where I am going. Also, I like being able to customize based on my interests. I would really like the GermanWings approach where you could categorize the type of trip that you want.

[mdgirl]

Nope, but it sounds like fun! Whenever we're at the airport I always look at all the departures and fantasize about wandering onto the next good one.

[runblondie26]

Yep, this is how we take almost all our vacations. My husband works for the airlines, and we fly standby for free.

We're actually in Switzerland right now, driving from town to town. I have everything from a bathing suit to a wool coat in my suitcase, since we didn't know where we'd end up going when we left for the airport. We took the first international flight with business class seats available (that was my only requirement, my pregnant self needs the space, lol).

Internet access is plentiful these days, and smart phones make it easy to make arrangements on the fly (pun intended). We rented a car online with our phones when we landed at the airport (got a cheaper rate than just walking up to the counter), grabbed some books at the information center, and did some quick Google searches for things to see.

As we go to each town, we either walk up to a hotel and ask for a reservation, or find a cafe with wifi and book something online. We've been doing this for years and have never had a problem finding something.

We go with an open mind and don't set our hearts on a single destination. We've seen so many beautiful places and have never been disappointed.

It's a real rush, definitely try it!

[Brit]

runblondie26 I am so jealous of your travel escapades!

[runblondie26]

Thanks, we're having a really nice time! I take that as a major complement coming from a world traveler like you, Brit.

[Deleted]

I'd totally do that if I was flying Business Class as well! But massive respect for having such an open mind about where you go and not booking every last detail in advance. Very cool.

[marytini]

A friend in high school used to travel like that. Her dad also worked for the airline, so they would pack for say, a warm destination, and show up at the airport and pick the first gate on the left that went to a warm destination. Way back in the days of TWA (remember them?)

I also was just thinking about doing a version of this. Rather than planning picking where we want to go, just go where the deals area (Travelzoo has cheap flights from Chicago to Warsaw/Frankfurt/Moscow on their Top 20 this week).

[GilliC]

May 20, 2015 17:49:38 GMT -5 marytini said:

I also was just thinking about doing a version of this. Rather than planning picking where we want to go, just go where the deals area (Travelzoo has cheap flights from Chicago to Warsaw/Frankfurt/Moscow on their Top 20 this week).

I've definitely done this. When we have holidays or the low-cost airlines have sales, I just find the cheapest destinations and pick one. A lot of times I find something that's on my (long) travel wishlist, but it was the primary reason I've done trips to Luxembourg* and Sardinia.


* Not a real country1

¹ old Nest joke.

[Deleted]

Never done it, but I definitely would if I had the chance.

Other than booking hotels, the trip I'm going on now hasn't been planned out, so clearly I'm not a type A travel planner

[wise_rita]

I have not but I totally would!

We bought an identical deal when we were temporarily living in Norway, but moved to Australia before we could use it. If memory serves they refunded us because we couldn't use it, so A+ customer service!

What airline is it, do you know? Or is it all totally a surprise? What are the parameters for what you could get?

[Moe]

Yes, but it wasn't really as planned.

i was in Mannheim for work, and after the contract, I planned to see and stay with my friend in Oberachern for a few days.  Except the day I was supposed to go take the train over, his daughter got hospital level pneumonia, and while he insisted that I stay with him and his family, I was not going to do that, and my next flight was five days after, leaving from Stuttgart,

I decided that Switzerland sounded nice (and had a friend in Lucerne that I wanted to visit) but suddenly Bale caught my eye.  And without so much as anything planned, not knowing what was there, where to stay, nothing, absolutely nothing, I took a train, and got to a place completely unknown to me.  And had a magnificently magical time. 

Even better, I changed my flight from Stuttgart to Bale (I was going to Barcelona afterwards) and got the change fee refund back from the company.  SCORE!

[definitelyO]

May 17, 2015 6:52:31 GMT -5 GilliC said:

I always thought the idea of showing up at the airport and taking the next available flight out sounded like an awesome experience (aside from the cost, and maybe the packing logistics).

Has anyone ever done something like this? Where did you end up going, and what was it like?

Our local Groupon site currently has an offer for a flight and 2 nights hotel stay for under $200/person, so we decided to book it. We'll find out well in advance where we're heading (we should know in about a week), but it's still fun to take the gamble! And most of the places on the list will be new to one of us.

Did you find out where you're going yet??

[Waffles]

May 21, 2015 6:11:56 GMT -5 GilliC said:

May 20, 2015 17:49:38 GMT -5 marytini said:

I also was just thinking about doing a version of this. Rather than planning picking where we want to go, just go where the deals area (Travelzoo has cheap flights from Chicago to Warsaw/Frankfurt/Moscow on their Top 20 this week).

I've definitely done this. When we have holidays or the low-cost airlines have sales, I just find the cheapest destinations and pick one. A lot of times I find something that's on my (long) travel wishlist, but it was the primary reason I've done trips to Luxemborg* and Sardinia.


* Not a real country1

¹ old Nest joke.

That's become my method for booking short trips: there are too many places I want to go to and I genuinely get flustered searching. So far, this has taken us to Seville, Budapest, Lisbon and Norway (still sorry we didn't get to meet up!). I'm actually looking at deals for August right now.

And LOL at Luxembourg. Totally made up.

[GilliC]

May 26, 2015 18:02:26 GMT -5 definitelyO said:

Did you find out where you're going yet??

I just got the booking information back, and we're going to Warsaw. I'm not so surprised, since Warsaw is probably the easiest destination to find cheap weekend flights, but I've never been! I have a friend from there, and I always assumed I'd end up going for a weekend with her. (We talked about going a few times for cheap laser hair removal!)

The hotel isn't extremely central, but it has good TripAdvisor ratings, and we should be able to get around by public transit or taxi. We didn't opt for the hotel upgrade, so it's definitely an economy hotel, but from the photos/reviews, it seems very nice for a 3-star.

The flight timing is a bit unfortunate, because we have an early flight on Saturday, which means we'll be pretty tired Saturday night. I feel like the bigger draw for Warsaw is nightlife, rather than culture. Our return is Monday morning, so Sunday night will also need to be a bit early.

We'll see how it goes, but I think I might take the gamble again if the offer comes up. Given the likelihood of the destination being Warsaw again, I suspect I'd pay the little extra to exclude it and make sure we went somewhere new.

[wise_rita]

I'd go to Warsaw. Nifty!

[osumelissa]

Have fun in Warsaw!