Survey By lastminute.com Confirms Men May Never Break Last Minute Planning Habits, and Uncovers Possible Surprises about Women

Overall, the survey reinforced that men are in fact romanticallychallenged, with 78 percent admitting that at least once they havewaited until the day of or day before to make plans or buy a gift.Only one in four feel truly confident that they can break this badhabit. But, possibly more interesting is the fact that women revealedsome challenges of their own, with nearly half saying that theytypically make plans a week or less ahead of the occasion. And, onlyone in three women felt they could definitely break their last minutehabits.

"Men clearly have more issues with advance planning, but in allfairness, this survey also shows that both men and women have a toughtime coming up with the right idea on how to surprise their loved one.lastminute.com is looking to inspire people to plan an exceptionalevening out or weekend away, even if you have just a few days, orhours, to plan," said Jeff Varhol, general manager of lastminute.comin North America.

Varhol also wonders whether or not it's the increasing pace ofsociety that's leading to Americans in general becoming more and morelast minute planners. The survey showed that women and men foundthemselves in a similar debacle when asked what causes them to be solast-minute, with nearly 8 of 10 respondents (78 percent of women and79 percent of men) blaming not having enough time or ideas.

Survey Results:
-- Fifty-four percent of women describe themselves as true
romantics, while only 39 percent of men defined themselves as
such.

-- While women plan slightly better than men, the fact that
almost half of the women surveyed don't make plans or a
purchase until within one week of the occasion, certainly
challenges the stereotype.

-- Sixty-one percent of men still plan/purchase a week or less
ahead of time versus 49 percent for women.

-- Only one in four men and one in three women felt that they
could "definitely" break their self-proclaimed last-minute
planning habits.

-- Fifty-six percent of men say they either sometimes or
frequently catch heat from their significant other for their
last minute planning habits (26 percent of women make the same
claim).

"Clearly last minute planning is not going to change, so why notcelebrate the spirit of spontaneity," added Varhol.

The lastminute.com U.S. site is the progeny of lastminute.com, oneof the most popular European travel and lifestyle Web sites, andTravelocity, which bought the company in June of 2005. Going beyondwhat's currently offered in the online travel realm, lastminute.com isfocused on the last minute planner and offers a wide range oflifestyle and travel activities, whether for going out of town, or outON the town.

lastminute.com: Inspiration for Going Out, Staying In or GoingAway

Going beyond just last minute travel, lastminute.com offers ideasfor "Going Out" on the town, such as planning an adventurous eveningor day out at the last minute - a cool hotel in the city, dinner andmovie, concert or show. Last minute planning also can include "StayingIn," such as the latest DVD rentals and shopping for gifts, includingwine and flowers. Some of the areas offered on the site include:

-- Hotel for any time - last minute or advance

-- Fun and unusual activities -- Helicopter tours, wine tours, city adventures, Napa Valley hot air balloon ride, swimming with the dolphins in Cancun, tickets to the Minnesota high school hockey tournament, Washington's Sasquatch Festival

-- Tickets -- Concerts, sports, shows, movies

-- Restaurant reservations

-- Gifts/wine

lastminute.com also offers inspiration for "Going Away," such asplanning a surprise getaway for the weekend with great deals on lastminute travel packages within two weeks, and up to three hours beforetravel. It offers ideas on fun and unusual activities - tickets toconcerts/major sporting events around the country and world and more.The site also provides travelers with creative options and great dealson advance travel for those who do have plenty of time to plan.

Survey Details

The purpose of the survey was to understand last-minute planninghabits for special occasions for both men and women. Data wascollected January 26 - February 2, 2006 among 1,524 Travelocitymembers who shopped for / booked travel in the last 12 months.

lastminute.com USA can be found at http://us.lastminute.com.Travelocity is at http://www.travelocity.com.

About Travelocity

Travelocity is committed to being the traveler's champion -before, during and after the trip and guarantees everything about acustomer's booking will be right. If it's not, Travelocity will workwith its partners to make it right, right away. This customer-drivenfocus, backed by live 24/7 phone support, great prices and powerfulshopping technology has made Travelocity the fifth largest travelagency in the U.S. - booking $7.4 billion in travel worldwide in 2005.Based in Southlake, Texas, Travelocity also owns and operatesTravelocity Business(SM) and GetThere for corporate travelers,lastminute.com, a leader in European online travel and ZUJI, a leaderin Asia-Pacific online travel. Travelocity is owned by Sabre HoldingsCorporation (NYSE:TSG), a world leader in travel commerce.