1) Match last minute buyers with last minute sellers!

Imagine that a plane is three days away from departure to New York, but 40 of the seats haven't been sold. Because we can match those seats with spontaneous people who want to sit in them, the airline will offer our customers a big reduction on the seats - otherwise, they would just go to waste.

2) Use the internet to do it!

Because we reach out to people through our web site and ask them to book online, we don't have huge staff and office costs to pass on to our customers.

3) Be the best!

We are committed to being astonishingly good at what we do. High quality suppliers recognise this, so they have given us exclusive deals that we can pass on to our customers. But in return, they say to us...

4) Don't tell the customers who the supplier is!

If we told you the name of the airline, hotel group or holiday company that the booking was with, it could embarrass the supplier and make them look as if they were not selling enough of their availability. The truth is that from time to time, all high quality suppliers find themselves with last minute availability. We do them the courtesy of not revealing their name to the general public, only to the individual customer after the booking has been made. And we do you the courtesy of promising that we only work with the highest quality suppliers. When you book with lastminute.com, you are getting a genuine bargain - a top-quality product that, through an accident of fate, you are getting at an unbeatable price!

5) Don't tell the customers how big the reduction is!

Our suppliers have agreed to give us the lowest prices on the market. But since we work with top brands, we have to protect them. This means that our discounts can go as deep as 70% but our suppliers are sometimes keen that not everybody knows how much you are saving!

6) Give the customers a price promise!

Our price promise puts our money where our mouth is! If you buy a hotel or airline product on our site and then find the same product on the same day cheaper somewhere else - we will refund the difference. We hope that this promise will make more customers come to rely on us - and the more customers we have, the better prices the suppliers will offer us to pass on to the customers... see how it works?

7) Employ people who care!

We only employ people who get excited about offering spontaneity, romance and adventure to our users. From accountants and business development people to computer programmers and industry specialists, any of us will drop everything at a moment's notice to make a customer's dream come true.

So, that's the recipe. If you like the sound of it, we look forward to the chance to cater for all your last minute needs. We strongly encourage you to tell your friends and colleagues about us. But we would like to discourage our customers from upsetting fellow passengers and holidaymakers by telling them how much less you paid!

Any questions? Take a look at our Help section.