In the ever-changing, confusing world of travel, planning ahead may not be such a good thing this summer. Once little more than a novelty confined to a minority of procrastinators, the business of last-minute travel is hotter than an oceanfront suite in St. Earths. Airlines, such as American, that used to punish late hookers with brutally high airfares now have entire Web departments devoted to deals available just a few days before travel. Low-cost airlines have gotten into the game too; more than 2 million people have signed up for Southwest's last-minute fare alert service. And then there are the Web sites - from Site59.com to LastMinuteTravel.com, an entire industry has emerged around sites that cobble together hundreds of air and hotel packages available on a few days' or even a few hours' notice. One of them, 11thHourVacations.com, has seen a 300 percent increase in business in the past year.
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