About lastminute.com
lastminute.com is a European online travel agency (OTA) founded in London in 1998 that sells flights, hotels, flight-plus-hotel packages, beach holidays, city breaks, car hire, activities, and cruise deals. The business operates as BravoNext S.A. (Chiasso, Switzerland), is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker: LMN), and has served European travellers for over 26 years. Core markets are the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands, with prices displayed in local currency (GBP, EUR). The site is built around last-minute inventory and dynamic holiday packages: you can bundle a flight and hotel at a combined price, and for bookings placed at least eight days before departure, a deposit option is available at no extra interest. Flight-inclusive holidays are ATOL-protected (licence 11082, issued to BravoNext S.A. by the UK Civil Aviation Authority). The platform also sells theatre tickets via its TheatreNow subsidiary and offers travel insurance.
What are alternatives for lastminute.com
Pros of using lastminute.com
- ATOL-protected (licence 11082): flight-inclusive holidays are covered by the UK Civil Aviation Authority's financial protection scheme
- Deposit booking option for holidays booked at least eight days before departure, at no extra cost
- Klarna accepted in Ireland and selected EU markets for split payments on qualifying bookings
- Open banking (Pay by Bank via TrueLayer) supported in addition to standard card payments
- Wide product range: flights, hotels, packages, car hire, activities, theatre tickets, and cruise deals in a single booking flow
Cons of using lastminute.com
- Trustpilot score of 3.8/5 reflects persistent complaints about fees added after the initial price is displayed
- Refund handling is a documented weak point: customers frequently report receiving vouchers rather than cash refunds, particularly after flight cancellations
- Left ABTA and switched financial bonding to ABTOT for non-flight packages, a level of protection some consumer advocates consider lower
- Customer service response times are slow; live chat and phone lines are available but wait times increase significantly during travel disruptions
- Prices shown on comparison sites sometimes exclude baggage fees, which appear only at the confirmation stage
