Last Minute Traveling

Susan, As you "hate cold weather", I'd suggest looking for somewhere in the southern parts of Europe. Have a look at the south of Spain, the Algarve in Portugal or the southern parts of Italy. It would help to know which parts of Europe you've already "travelled quite extensively" to?

From Miami try Costa Rica. It will not be cold. I know it is not in Europe but it would fit your bill and the airline would be cheaper than Europe.

Good luck finding "cheap last minute flights" to anywhere that won't be cold. Give us an idea of where you have been, though, and we can make some suggestions.

It's probably easier to tell you where we haven't been, at least both of us. We've never traveled in Eastern Europe, Portugal, Scandinavia. We've been to Austria, but not Vienna. We've been to Spain, but not since the early 1980s when we were backpacking. We wouldn't mind repeating a destination if we traveled in a different way. For the past 10-15 years, we've rented cars, had a home base and done day trips. It might be fun to travel by train again.

Check out Southern Spain, Southern Italy, Greece, Turkey, Malta, etc. Not sure if any will have a cheap flight. I have a theory (because of the way airlines now price and book) that you can find better deals last minute than by booking well ahead. Of course you have to be hugely flexible (usually retired) to jump on those. Let me know if it rings true, or not, in your case.

I've always been happy in mid January on the Cote d'Azur and Monaco. Not hot, but certainly not cold. At the moment, 11pm local time in Monaco, its 48F, 9C. Compared to Milan at 1C. By British January standards its absolutely toasty. Nice walks, look at but stay clear of the water, hang out, eat socca.

I'm a last minute traveller myself (rarely more than a few weeks out) and manage to find deals almost every time. This is where having an AMEX pays off. Call their concierge and have them check on what airlines are going where for your points. Just give them a rough schedule and area (western Europe, South America, etc). If you aren't getting anywhere, hang up and call again. It's amazing how much it changes from person to person. If you have a frequent flier account that you can convert your AMEX miles to, check with them as well. If none of that works, check out Atlanta's best kept secret clarkhoward.com and look under his daily international travel deals. They are based out of Atlanta, but Tampa is probably close in $ as most flights I get from his advice have all been through JFK, not direct. I usually just find a sale somewhere and then figure out what there is to see/do before I get there. There's plenty to do in the big capitals in January too. I just got back from London and the cold/rain didn't make any difference on the fun factor. I just checked and it looks like Buenos Aries is on sale right now. I might snag that one myself. Good luck!

Very helpful. Thanks!!