 Poster: A snowHead
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@Pieandrun, when we have driven out last couple of trips to the 3valleys, myself and my two daughters, we have always tried to stay overnight on the Friday in Albertville, in fact i have both xmas 22 and Easter 23 trips booked with overnight accommodation already sorted.
this way, we can do a shop in Albertville on the Friday evening for essentials (beer and wine etc  )
then leave around 7:30ish sat morning after having breakfast in the B&B, and changing into ski gear, get up to resort, park up by the apartment for the week and go skiing for the day.
you can then miss the peak transfer times to resort
can you do similar, staying in Bourg-st-M or anywhere en-route?
as a solo traveller, or within a group of others who are also paying there own way (ie not my kids  ), i would be quite happy to get the train from London, but sadly you cannot seem to plan more than 3-4 months ahead for this at the moment.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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That's a good plan, @terrygasson, but Christmas and Easter are a lot less problem with traffic than half term.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@pam w, yes, as you say christmas and easter traffic can be less frantic, but the above plan is what we have used for the last couple of trips at feb half term to the 3v, so we are just sticking to the same format for our trips next season.
the other thing i would advise @Pieandrun, if they are going down the same route, is to book the accommodation as early as possible. in my experience, the hotel rooms/apartment's that are closer to resorts get booked up really quickly. even if you are unsure at the moment, you can always book rooms with booking.com etc with a free cancellation policy.
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Just out of interest, why was there a 10 hour crawl? That sounds awful but we’ve never experienced that. We get to Lyon on Friday or further. This year we stayed In chambery on Friday, had a pizza, left at 9.30 next morning, in Bourg at 11, shopped, drove up the mountain, bought passes, collected skis and were skiing by 2. Super lucky we could get in the apartment too.
I think the key to the drive is stay overnight near resort or aim to arrive late on Saturday. Of course weather can ruin everything. As we left the resort there was talk of the road being closed for chunks of Saturday as there was a lot of snow.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We always base our holidays around the cheapest flights .. usually end up to Geneva .. then hire a car .. this time we did Monday to Tuesday in les arcs and got lucky with the late snow! Flights + hire car came in well under £800 this time - though it was a squeeze in a seat Ibiza
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just on the shuttle having set of from les arcs at 9.45 this morning. Oddly the drive to Calais took 9 hours 45 minutes including a picnic lunch, a stop to swap drivers and a refuelling stop. Very fast (Another 1 hour 30) crossing of the channel and we are on our way again. Should make a total journey time of about 14:30 hour a to the Midlands. But the worst part of the drive is to come.
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@Choppertoo49, Is the £800 the total for 2,3,4 or more people?
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The last 4 drives for us as a family of 4 from south London to Tarentaise / Mont Blanc areas have ranged between £181 and £245 pp, averaging £210pp. The big variables seem to be Eurotunnel costs (booked late so had to flexiplus once) and amount of food consumed en route, leaving early evening means a car picnic vs a meal out AND hotels both ways. Given this last trip we were carrying 3 pairs of skis and 4 snowboards, can't see how flying would be cheaper in the slightest!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thanks all for the enthusiastic and detailed responses to my original post.
As next year we're down to three in a car, instead of four, this puts car and rail in the same cost ballpark per person. Twice we've been caught out by the Saturday traffic crawl into the resort so next year our plan is: Friday train to Bourg St Maurice; hotel in Bourg; up to the resort early Saturday for an extra half day of skiing.
Excited already!
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@Pieandrun, I previously tried to plan a trip that would have involved a 1 night stay in BSM but struggled to find a hotel without a 2 night minimum stay so I would want to check that you can do that before booking train travel
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Pieandrun wrote: |
| Twice we've been caught out by the Saturday traffic crawl into the resort |
What time of the year was this, what time were you driving into resort and which resort.
Reason for asking is because I am surprised and wonder if it there are other factors here. I don't normally go at HT but we did this year and we were driving into Les Coches Saturday morning. It was a bit stop start but not catastrophic. Maybe added an hour to normal. When we drove out the next Saturday (early evening - 5/5:30) the traffic was really bad. And in my experience that is the norm. The other question is which resort. Some resorts like Val T or Tignes are a really schlep but if you go to lower down stations that have good links into the system you can save at least some of that. Just a thought, don't particularly want to discourage you from using the train which is a great way to travel.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Does anyone know if SNCF use demand-led pricing, so prices go up as more ticket are sold for a particular service? That could mean that train to say EoSB is relatively cheap, but for half-term is more expensive (given that not everyone can be first in the booking queue).
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| ecureuil wrote: |
| Does anyone know if SNCF use demand-led pricing, so prices go up as more ticket are sold for a particular service? That could mean that train to say EoSB is relatively cheap, but for half-term is more expensive (given that not everyone can be first in the booking queue). |
Yes, but if you have an SNCF Advantage Card the fares are capped to 3 prices based on journey length:
https://www.sncf.com/en/passenger-offer/mainline-cards-fares/avantage-senior-card
The Advantage Card gives discounts to both the holder and the person traveling with them, so you quickly make back the €49 (which is even cheaper if you purchase via topcashback and get cashback).
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You know it makes sense.
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[quote="sugarmoma666"]
| ecureuil wrote: |
| Does anyone know if SNCF use demand-led pricing, so prices go up as more ticket are sold for a particular service? That could mean that train to say EoSB is relatively cheap, but for half-term is more expensive (given that not everyone can be first in the booking queue). |
Yes, but if you have an SNCF Advantage Card the fares are capped to 3 prices based on journey length:
https://www.sncf.com/en/passenger-offer/mainline-cards-fares/avantage-senior-card
The Advantage Card gives discounts to both the holder and the person traveling with them, so you quickly make back the €49 (which is even cheaper if you purchase via topcashback and get cashback).
Are the prices capped for a return ticket or capped for single journeys….ie a trip over 3 hours is capped at €79 is that one way or return?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@rambotion, Base Camp Lodge (avowed enthusiast here). We've arrived late on Friday, with no chains (looong story - see various posts...) booked-in on spec for one night to avoid dark, snowy climb up the mountain: 4 weeks ago, friends got a Friday night train and pre-booked, stayed there before joining us on the slopes mid morning.
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Poster: A snowHead
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This looks rather good - albeit I cant see on the linked site any things about 'holder+1' - is that still an option this year do you think / have you experience ?
TIA
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Arctic Roll wrote: |
This looks rather good - albeit I cant see on the linked site any things about 'holder+1' - is that still an option this year do you think / have you experience ?
TIA |
Interesting, the link above is to the Senior rather than Adult card. I'd been wondering what the difference in benefits was, but it looks like this is one of them. The info on the Adult card refers to the discount being valid for accompanying adults, which seemed to be the case when I looked at booking tickets for 2:
https://www.sncf.com/en/passenger-offer/mainline-cards-fares/avantage-adulte-card
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Arctic Roll wrote: |
| This looks rather good - albeit I cant see on the linked site any things about 'holder+1' |
Does anyone know what the actual position is?
I spotted that too, then found the non-senior version which is worded to imply it possibly doesn't apply every day of the week. These cards sound like good things to have, but one would want to be confident they are valid when you want to use them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks @sugarmoma666, sounds as if my wife and I would need a card each. So needs as 100 euro saving to break even.
Probably worth it taking the train from Paris (presumably Eurostar isn't included) but the local trains from Geneva to St Gervais that we have taken several times wouldn't justify the expense (less than 20 euros a trip).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@sugarmoma666, @j b, thanks - after posting, did further searching and found the standard card (then also disappeared down the rabbit hole of UK equivalents... jeez neither country makes it easy to determine 'best fit for purpose ' do they?!)
So my reading is:
French "standard" only applies to 2nd class, at weekend, but allows for a companion. Unless you have a child with you, in which case you can get discounts on weekday travel.
"Senior" give 1st and 2nd class discounts, any time, but only one person.
Both give 30% discounts on full price standard fares in including INOUI, but not including OUIGO
Also both cap the price paid no matter how late you book.
And some other discounts, such as 15% on onboard catering (exclusions apply...)
It's that full price thing and the Quigo exclusions that may tip the balance back to just booking well in advance.
In the UK, OMG, the subtle differences between 'Family and Friends', Senior, 'Network Rail' and 'Two Together' cards make your head spin.
And you need to get the Eurostar Club membership for ANY chance of a discount on their prices. No cards from either side of the channel cover that one.
But worth exploring the options (and dismissing them!) that's for sure.
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| Pieandrun wrote: |
Our last couple of trips have been by car to the Alps: Petrol, Eurotunnel, overnight Airbnbs, peage all in £720 in 2022. Great value with four in the car but the long slow drive into the resort on Saturday is a killer; we drove 70% of the way on Friday this year but Saturday's journey, predicted to be four hours by Google, turned into a 10 hour crawl.
Two questions:
What car solutions have worked for you to avoid the Saturday slog. (Our chalet for 2023 is booked and has a Saturday 4pm changeover so we can't change this.)
The alternative we're considering is the train from London St Pancras to Bourg St Maurice; much more expensive but surely a joy in comparison to the Saturday traffic!
[Flying is out for us as it's already clear that the snow is melting.]
Thanks all for any top-tips or DIY travel experience. |
I have used the train multiple times to get to Les Arcs. It is by far the easiest way to travel there. My latest review is on Iain's website here: http://skiflightfree.org/travelski-express-review/
You get the bonus of an extra days skiing. You travel in comfort and its not that much more than paying to drive but with much less hassle and no 10 hour traffic jam.
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Thanks @Arctic Roll. I had to google to discover what INOUI and OUIGO were - from this side of the channel they are both thought of as TGV. Does that mean that half the TGV trains aren't covered, and when you plan a journey how do you know whether the card works or not?
And yes, UK cards are just as complicated. Though to be fair the student version our daughter has seems to work well.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Arctic Roll, Dilbert has a good word for this type of enterprise a "confusopoly" a load of tariffs, discounts and offers that the customer cann't figure out which is the best and buys the wrong one.
As I've said before I really like the idea of travelling by train but the cost and the fun and games of crossing London and Paris on the metro with lots of luggage and skis puts me off (changes in Chambery and Bourg st Maurice are no problem. It is probably less of a problem if you live in London but trains to London are not cheep.
We drove down for our skiing trip in March/April. There was no problem at the tunnel either way (well a slight hiccup on the way back when we arrived 26 hours before our crossing due to me reading the calander wrong - it cost £44 extra  ). The roads were quiet with few Belgians travelling midweek. My wife's car, a Skoda Superb estate, is very comfortable to travel in with huge leg room. When it was my wife's turn to drive I forced our neice sit up front while I laid across the back seats and slept. Adaptive cruise control, lane following and an almost 700 mile range made the journey, fast, comfortable and relaxing. We drove without an overnight stop mainly during daylight hours.
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@johnE, lol love it!
First time ever coming back at Easter we got a taxi across Paris - Mrs Roll being on crutches. €15 , and quick. OK, so we jumped the queue because of aforementioned crutches - but travel time was well within spec. and the queue was moving at pace even if we hadn't been able to get priority. May consider in future.
Do agree that travel to London, can be an additional cost and time issue for those further out.
Nevertheless, Maidenhead our local station does a 'Eurostar connect' special price, just show your E-star tickets when purchasing, which reduces the pain ( and of course there's always the Senior / 2 together / network rail discount-card options!)
I quite like, when travelling to the Frozen North, using Seat Frog. Buy a 2nd class ticket, then 'bid' to upgrade to 1st right up until the day of travel. Can be cheap (£10-£20 will often be enough), gets lounge access which makes for a considerably better day (cf Airport lounges) and overall consider it a perk worth punting on to make decent quality travel part of the holiday experience.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Arctic Roll, Where are these lounges you mention? On my last train journey I had a first class ticket to liverpool. The seats etc are exactly the same just that you stand a better chance of getting a seat. They only cost a couple pound more. The London Northwestern trains don't have seat reservations.
Your idea of getting a taxi across Paris sounds inviting. I take it there was no problem getting the crutches and ski gear in.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@johnE, 1st class lounges I've used: Euston, Manchester, Paddington.
LNER says :
These luxurious lounges can be found at Edinburgh Waverley, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Darlington, Newcastle, Leeds, Wakefield Westgate, Doncaster, London King’s Cross and York.
On top of those mentioned about above, GWR also has : Cardiff, Penzance, Truro
Avanti also has Birmingham (international and New Street), Liverpool, Crewe, Glasgow
And I'm sure there are others!
No problem getting the gear in the taxi (Prius) Mrs R leg finding it tricky to bend maybe more of an issue...
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