What has been your experience booking late

you'll be fine. I used to book everything really early too, but now I am finding that even when I look later there are still many options available at the same prices.

I feel more comfortable booking early, but that is me. I am a planner! I am looking at rental apartments near Nice in October and some places are rented, the ones with many good reviews.

I've always been a last minute planner and have never had problems with mileage awards with AA or lodging. In fact, for one night stays, I book when I'm there, often times the night before. For longer stays, I will try to secure something before I leave the States. For September, you should be fine. Enjoy!

Sharon,

All my trips to Europe have been in mid-late September - beginning of October and we have not had any problems getting tickets with miles (AA) or finding accommodations.
When in September do you plan to travel?
You may have more options by Mid-late September once the crowds have left & the students have returned to school.

I just planned a last minute trip this past September to Italy & only had 3 weeks to plan!

I must admit, it was a bit stressful, but you will have months to plan, so you should be fine.

I hope your family's health issues improve or resolve so you will be able to go on your trip...

September is a very big month for trade shows and conferences in Paris, so there's a lot more demand for hotel rooms then. If you have dates for Paris, you could start now and not feel guilty if you cancel a booking in a month or two. Just make sure there are no cancellation fees!

Paris hotel occupancy is very high in September. Its still high tourist season,, and worse.. its trade show season and fashion weeks.. so if planning on Paris in September I would book something now.. something that you could cancel if you change your mind at least..
You can always find someplace.. but getting a room in a central location, at a good price.. is a lot harder then.. many good places get booked very early for reasons I mentioned above.

London would not be quite so bad in September.

I usually book far in advance, but with booking.com or other booking services, you should be able to find something up to the last minute, sometimes with special deal alerts. I would not want to spend time looking for a hotel upon arrival, though.

Thanks so much for all your responses. Your perspective is helpful to me. What's typical for me is that when we return from a trip, I start planning the next one. This time I haven't been able to do that, and it feels like a big loss to not have a trip in place. So, I should know within the next couple of weeks whether we can go or not and, if yes, will start working on it. I would like to go early enough in September so I can be back for my mother's birthday on 9/25 - she will be 92 so this is important. Thanks again!

I plan early, too, but I don't think it's really "last minute" for September, at this point. I would probably get the airfare situation sorted first, then work on housing. In the UK, I wouldn't think you would have any problem just booking as you go. I've don't that in Ireland several times with no problem.

For lodging you can always book now if they have a free cancellation policy. That way you won't be stressed out later if you prefer early booking. London and Paris are both very busy in September.

I usually book early, but one year, when I thought work commitments that I thought would keep me from traveling were cancelled, I was very surprised at the price I found for my flight and the ease with which I was able to book hotels. I too have a strong "planning gene" and so was please to learn that I could do this at the last moment. Last moment is defined as within three weeks.

Pam

Agreed that it will come together when you are really ready to book. A few months in advance is still a long lead time for hotels. You have the option to change most hotel reservations and other people's plans also change, meaning that availability changes, not always for the worse.

If you're able to start your bookings in late March, that's still almost 6 months out. I would certainly not consider that 'late' booking. My two most recent trips to Europe were in June, July, Aug and I booked my airfare in Feb and then started booking hotels in April & May and had no problems finding good places at reasonable prices. The only caveat I would say is if you end up going to Paris in Sept, book those as soon as you know dates, even if you have to cancel them later.

I typically only book my first and last stay. First, so I don't have to worry about it while jet-lagged and last, because my schedule is fixed with the flight home so I don't gain flexibility by waiting.

Other than that I prepare a list of potential places and normally have no problem finding a room, 90 percent of the time at the first place I call - and often at a lower rate because the room would go empty if I hadn't shown up.

The caveat here is don't go to a major festival expecting to show up and find lodging easily. I made that mistake one Oktoberfest. Ultimately I found a nice pension on a bus route from the fest for the normal (non-festival) rate. But that wasn't until I'd made about 20 calls and seriously thought I might end up homeless.

I've decided that (if we are able to go) I'll schedule London/countryside for this trip. We'll try to pick up Paris next year. Thanks so much for all your input.

I think you need to start with the airline tickets. That way you aren't trying to book and research hotels in 2 different locations. UA/Star alliance has phenomenal award space (my opinion) and you should be able to get your tickets lined up - with a little flexibility. I was able to get some friends 5 tkts to Vienna, returning from Paris a couple of months ago - this was for Jun travel. And I'll add at that time, almost every single day was available for 5 award tickets (in economy) across the pond. Things may have changed, but you should still be able to get awards especially since you are going after the summer holidays.

Also keep in mind, that UA releases a lot of awards very close to departure (may not hold for peak season)- but this requires a lot of flexibility and probably increased booking fees.