Best TO?

A snowHead

Hi Guys

I've only ever done DIY or booked through Crystal. I've seen the best and worst of Crystal and know they are a bit of a Marmite company.

I'd love to hear some success stories people have had with other TO's.

A snowHead

I mainly do DIY holidays or snowHeads bashes these days, but over the years I have used the likes of Crystal, Inghams, Neilsons etc. I've always found Inghams to be good, and their reps are often a bit more experienced and knowledgeable about the resort than some other TOs in my view.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I haven’t used a TO since I moved somewhere with easily booked flights. Actually, I think I stopped using a TO some years before that.

So probably no experience since around 1996.

I don’t know what the advantage is.

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In our village the Inghams reps are certainly a cut above the others. Having said that when we get visitors they usually seem to book with Crystal as they’re a bit cheaper.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

It's an almost impossible question to answer. Regarding booking and customer service I don't think there's much between them as they all work from a very similar business model and once in resort you get good and bad staff in every company.

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It's an almost impossible question to answer. Regarding booking and customer service I don't think there's much between them as they all work from a very similar business model and once in resort you get good and bad staff in every company.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Europe I haven't used a TO in almost 30 years, and that was only cos I won a quiz in a travel agents getting me 80 quid voucher when I was a student. That was Neilson and they were fine. I skied with the then Ski host / rep all week as there were very few other guests in Tignes as it was early season, we had a great time guiding each other around.

Oh, just thought, does Sunweb count? They arranged appt, chunnel and passes?? The passes was a problem as when I took the voucher to collect them the lift company said they hadn't been paid. Took half an hour of phonecalls and begging before we got them.

Sons GF worked for Crystal for a season, it's unlikely she would holiday with them.

For our Whistler trip in Jan we are using Ski Safari as they have done me the exact package I wanted for cheaper than I can find myself, been very helpful and clearly know the resort. We need no help when there as son and GF lived there for 2 years.

After all it is free

I don't TO either these days. I've used the biggies - Crystal, Skiworld - many moons ago plus some of the smaller companies. Something like Skival who have been going for 40 years so must be doing something right. Most people seem to rave about Esprit for family holidays. Not sure it's easy to ascertain what is the best TO's. It really depends what you are after, what your budget is etc. Any chalet holiday is going to be heavily depend on who is running the chalet on a day to day basis. But of course the best companies hire the best staff and make sure standards are upheld. There is still scope for better or worse though.

I think it depends what type of holiday you want and how much contact you want with the rep. I've booked a few times with Crystal when I first started skiing, I used them because they were cheap and I was going self catering. I don't look for a lot from the rep, effectively I want to be collected from airport, given a lift pass, shown to a room and left alone for a week until it's time to collect me and take me back to the airport in time for my flight. Crystal did that both times that I went with them and Direct Ski did it when I went with them. I've never bothered with joining up with any of the things that they organise, nor have I asked many questions. Mostly when I'm visiting a new resort I like to do the research myself and then maybe double check a simple question like "does x lift open at y time" or "which shop do I get skis from".

I can't speak about either Crystal or Direct Ski in terms of chalets or more rep input, but if you're low maintenance then Crystal seem fine to me.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Before we had children we preferred Inghams over Crystal but that was when they still did catered chalets.

Since having children we really like a Esprit and preferred them to Mark Warner.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Well it all depends what you mean by "best" is it not simply the cheepest?

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I'm the opposite way round and doing my first DIY trip this year having previously used TOs.

Our past two trips have been with Neislon. Chalet Alexandre in L2A and Chalet Chaberton in Montgenevre. Both have been outstanding. Smooth flights and transfers, great accommodation, superb hosts both times.

We have also been on 3 of their summer holidays and haven't got a bad word to say about them.

You know it makes sense.

Loved Yse, last 2 trips Crystal not great for different reasons, used Skiworld Lots, Total, Mark Warner all good.

Down to the staff on the ground mainly but Companies must know who they are employing and if this fails have resort managers fit for purpose.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Diy this year Feb half term.

A snowHead

@SnoodlesMcFlude, I generally use Crystal in exactly the same way. I usually get a decent offer and have had few complaints with how they do that....though I recently went to a Chalet with them (as opposed to my usual hotel)...and that was considerably more chaotic. There is undoubtedly better TOs for Chalets, but I think you generally get what you pay for.

A snowHead

@KennyEverett, of the larger TOs, those I've been most impressed with over 30+ years of skiing are (in no particular order) Mark Warner, Ski Olympic and Ski Esprit. Certainly not the cheapest, but IMO a good balance between price and quality.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

The only TO we’ve had to make a complaint with was Skiworld but that was more to do with their chalet host being useless (end of season and he’d given up) and the rep being completely ineffective. The resort manager did his best of trying to sort it out.

All the others have been perfectly fine.

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I wonder what we should expect from TOs - or, more specifically, their in-resort reps?

I have used Crystal a couple of times - perfectly happy with them. They got me deals I couldn't get myself and they have direct flights from my local regional airport, which is excellent (I regard Heathrow, Gatwick etc as outstations of hell, to be avoided by all means). I hardly ever see the reps - I don't need to. They seem friendly enough and make themselves known, but my wife and I are adults and as such perfectly capable of looking after ourselves in the resort.

I also organise my own trips and accommodation a couple of times a season but, as I say, I cannot match the TO's deals (I have researched going direct - not a chance, adding in flights, transfer, food etc). It's just that we like a few shorter trips to various places on very specific dates, we don't use catered chalets and we often prefer private transfers. We organise these shorter trips ourselves, but the cost per day is far higher than the standard 7-day TO package.

So, I'm curious; what, exactly, do you need an in-resort rep for?

And if you do need them, how much would you expect to pay for their service, in addition to flights/transfer/accom/half board?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

If you haven't got kids and don't have to go at peak times then use a TO. Otherwise don't touch them with a bargepole.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Ski Verbier Exclusive.

After all it is free

Fair enough. (And I recall a rep helping somebody when we were in Austria who had slipped and injured herself on an icy road while walking).

So, how much would you pay for this sort of service?

This from a few years back as I roll my own now.

I liked SkiWorld, their reps and chalet staff were often young and sometimes their inexperience showed but they tried hard. Their web site was kept up to date as to late offers and availability.

Crystal on the other hand ran their late offers as a blatant ' bait and switch ' operation. Twice I made a late booking TOD arrived at the airport, no ticket, arrived in the resort once to find my room triple booked, the other time the rep was like Manuel " I know nothing ".

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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Let's not go off topic. The OP was asking which one's are best not the reasons for using them or not - of which there are many on both counts and have been discussed many times.

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Back to the old days of "quality" initiatives in industry, it's how you define quality.
The amount of features your TO offers or the lack of failures.
If I pay Silverski £500 for a week including flight and transfer I know that the accommodation and food will be basic but as long as the food is well prepared, there is hot water in the shower and I can get a decent night sleep, then it's a quality product.

@Layne, snowHeads going off topic? Surely not. How very dare you! wink

You know it makes sense.

Some good answers and suggestions here so thank you all.

The reason I think we are definitely gonna need a TO this time is I plan on booking less than a week in advance for Xmas week depending on where the snow is. We could fly to any number of different airports so just for ease, a TO is the way to go.

I've had a scout about on some of the sites suggested and found deals comparable to what Crystal are offering here and there now we have many more options. Goal achieved. Very Happy

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

The last few times we've been with Alpine Elements and found them excellent (good food and decent portions).

We tend to book last minute (within a week of going) but in January.

You can tell how many rooms they have left on their site which is good to know if booking last minute.

A snowHead

I've looked at Alpine Elements as I've used their sister company IGOSKI for the lads weekend trips but they are only doing flights on the 20th and we can't do that due to the ball and chain working in a school.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

KennyEverett ......

As TOs go, Crystal aren't bad, and they have the backing (of TUI), so not usually many surprises ....... As I've only used them as a mechanism to provide the framework, not the whole deal, I guess that's why I've never felt shortchanged. From the conversations I've had mostly over the years the only people I've met who were disappointed were the ones who cheaped out, and were expecting the moon on a stick, for a bargain basement tariff .......

As regards maybe further afield Balkan Holidays, at their price point, are very professional ....... make a lot of the others look very amateur.

Your results, as always, may vary.

Of course you could book it all yourself, get it monumentally wrong, and never have to admit to the reality of it all ........

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If you have done DIY before, why would you go back to using a TO? DIY is cheaper, more fun to book and you have a better choice of accommodation. I guess if you have the luxury of being able to book on short notice there are sometimes some stonking deals available from TO's with spare accommodation that they need to sell quickly, otherwise stick to DIY all the way!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@chriswg, depends heavily on where/when/who. If you’re on you’re own, going to France and not in peak time then TO is regularly around the same price that you can do DIY for.

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I have used Crystal, Neilson, Inghams, Total Ski, Tignes chalet company and many more with good experiences. MoutainSun Ltd always a good experience and able to book your own regional flights if they link with their transfers (sometimes a most expensive aspect of a DIY for a single or couple). I like to mix and match with TO offering and DIYs for different holiday mixed in with ClubMed and Ski Club FreshTracks.

This year I am Clubmed'ding, using posh hotels with Inghams, Snowhead bashing & linking up with a Greek mate in Geneva to go on a MoutainSun Ltd midweeker.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

@chriswg, exactly the reason you state. We are waiting until a few days before so we know we are getting the best conditions possible. Hopefully get a really cheap deal too but the main thing is somewhere with enough snow, a pool for the kids (and us if truth be known) and not have to worry about arranging transfers at short notice.

Help!!

Best TO?

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