Cheaper skiing holidays

tomstickland

Every year I spend a few evenings looking at ski offers. I thought I'd share some of my findings.

There are a lotof big name operators who offer package holidays. Packages generally include flights, transfers from airport, accomodation and food.

To find packages go to google. Big names include:
http://www.inghams.co.uk/
http://www.igluski.com/
http://www.thomsonski.co.uk/
http://www.crystalski.co.uk
http://www.alpineanswers.co.uk/

Prices can be very volatile - as soon as you see something you like then phone the operator. Beware of price escalation. Common traps are airport changes, flight changes, supplements for bathrooms etc. Don't commit until you have the full price.

Quality can vary - many operators block book chalets and employ a range of gap year students who exist on low pay and live in cramped accomodation. I've stayed in some really good chalets and also a few poor ones, all with similar companies.

Once you have the name of a chalet or hotel then look for reviews on tripadvisor. http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/

Ski passes are normally extra - find out the prices on the internet from the resort web page. You're normally looking at £150-£250 for a week pass.

Ski/snowboard hire is usualy extra. There are a lot of offers available online. For example, try Ski-Set. Hire is between £80 and £150 per week.

Insurance is usually extra too. I tend to use snowcard. Some bank accounts offer free travel insurance. Check that they cover "high risk" activities. Many do. Stand alone insurance usually costs £30-50.

If you have a catered chalet then your other costs on top of the above will be food and drink. If you want to cut costs then buy bread and cheese from supermarkets and have a piste-picnic. Also stuff yourself with as much of the chalet food as is possible.

If you want a better chance of a good chalet for a similar price then consider making your own holiday.

You can normally book a chalet for £300-600 per person per week. Add onto that travel costs and you'll be back to what a package offers.

There's lots of budget flights, but the transfer from the airport to the chalet is the problem then.

Driving from the UK is viable and can gain you another day of skiing. It takes about 9 hours to drive from the channel, plus a few hours on the UK side. Norfolk line do crossings for £15 each way. Road tolls will add another £60 or so to the price.
You can break the drive in half by staying at a budget hotel. I paid £35ish for a basic hotel in Auxerre found via: http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/booking/map-search.shtml

I reckon it costs about £300 to drive there and back, so if you divide that by a few people then it's quite cheap. It's not actually much slower (if at all) from flying on door to door times.

To find chalets I tend to use Chalets Direct: http://www.chaletsdirect.com/

They also have the "solutions room" where you list your requirements and operators will reply with offers.
http://www.chaletsdirect.com/forum/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=1