Late booking trends may increase spends this Christmas, says Explore - Book early or you'll regret it, warns adventure holiday specialist. For the best holiday deals and value for money this Christmas, travellers should shun the ever-expanding late-booking trend and secure their winter break by late October - according to leading small-group adventure company Explore.

Consumers may be unaware that during the popular Christmas holiday season, flights rise considerably in cost. Additional flight supplements and a lack of seat availability mean prices increase as the lead-in times decrease.

Major tour operators, such as Explore, are able to secure seat allocations at competitive prices in advance with airlines before the Christmas rush. Once these allocations expire or become filled however, passengers must pay additional and unavoidable supplements, imposed by airlines. When the money-guzzling supplements take over, a great value-for-money holiday suddenly becomes hundreds or even thousands of pounds more expensive.

Explore’s Business Performance Manager, James Eustace, says: “A third of all our current passenger bookings are for travel this year, compared with just a quarter this time last year. In fact, sales of tours departing within the next six weeks have doubled by comparison with 2008. This reveals a massive shift to the late booking market, which may prove challenging to those travelling over Christmas”.