 Poster: A snowHead
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our group of 9 people this year staying in 150 metres, 5 bedroom 5* apartment 50-70 metres from ski in ski out in a quiet hamlet in serre che.
cost flights £45pp, accomodation 2250 euros, transfers 720 euros return (on 32 seater mini coach) total cost in pounds say £2800 . 6 adults 2 children 1 baby.
ended up being slightly more expensive than planned due to exchange rate, albeit we could have been stiffed by a TO too.
Costed against tour operator when booked with a headline price of £360 pp without under occupancy supplements for a 3 bed apartment
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The big advantage of using a TO is that great big bucket at the departure airport where you can deposit your brain and any common sense. Never quite worked out how they managed to give you your own brain back again as you arrive home, but hey, isn't travel marvellous.
But seriously, if you (inter alia) don't travel often, just want a "packaged" holiday of whatever flavour, get a cracking deal, don't care too much where you're going, like having (most) things handled for you and are happy to deal with packages maybe not suiting dates/times/hotels/etc that you'd ideally want...why would you go through the hassle of doing it yourself. I don't think that there's a huge cost arbitrage floating around (or the market would have changed).
We travel a lot, know how to find the sorts of hotels we want, almost invariably hire a car, know the sharp end of a snow chain from the other one and almost always DIY. That said I can easily see instances where we would go package if it was a holiday or subject that we didn't know much about. the big problem with packages is a certain sacrifice on flexibility. I don't see us ever doing the chalet thing again as wended up eating our with mates almost more than eating the (very fine, it has to be said) chalet food.
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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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| Madbaz wrote: |
With all this talk of airport transfers and hire cars, doesn't anyone consider using their own car? I'm planning to drive to Austria next Feb half-term using my (by then) 11 years old car. I'll be using the shuttle and having an overnight stop just over half-way down Germany.
Any comments? |
Absolutely! I admit you do swop one set of problems (airports, parking, transfers, luggage etc.) for another (fuel and ferry costs) but having your mobile luggage wagon with you all the time is soooooooo much better!
Mind you, Carcassonne to Caen on a skinny spare at up to 80mph (slapped wrists) was an adventure I hadn't made allowance for!! (Anyone want to try finding a tyre for a ZT-T for a sensible price in France!!? - In fact, try finding a tyre for a ZT-T at all!!!!)
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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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Independent ski hols require almost no effort. Getting from UK to somewhere up a mountain in Europe or N.America isn't exactly pushing back the frontiers. Cost apart, avoiding dealing with the lame brains who take reservations at TO's offices, irritating reps and TO transfers makes DIY infinitely more desirable than using a TO.
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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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Since taking up skiing again 5 years ago I've done 5 TO trips and 6 DIY.
Both have their benefits, and I look at both for every trip. In general I'll look first at TOs for late availability and full weeks, DIY for anything other than full weeks, and probably for peak season if I need to travel then (a joy soon to come now I have a young 'un).
I've never had anything other than an excellent TO experience. Many TO criticisms seem levelled at extras like reps and ski pack add-ons that you wouldn't get DIY - so why not just ignore them? In particular, full TO prices - flights, transfers, accomodation - have come out cheaper for a couple of my trips than just accommodation if booked with the hotel directly.
Apart from a direct comparison with prices and flexibility there are a few DIY things I really enjoy:
- I hate, hate, hate, London airport on a Saturday charter flight check in. 2 trips this year. First trip - Gatwick on a saturday charter, took nearly 2 hours of pure stress from checkin queue to departure lounge. Second trip - Heathrow, scheduled on a Friday - 15 minutes. Similarly whole coaches unloading into checkin queues at once on a return.
- I also really enjoy the research and personal-holiday-tailoring, perhaps that's my geeky side.
- total flexibility, even on the fly. 2 weeks ago i changed hotels on the morning of departure on the advice of friends who were already in resort. then armed with a car, we ended up skiing completely different resorts based on snow and local knowledge, than we would have planned back in England.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I also really enjoy the research and personal-holiday-tailoring, perhaps that's my geeky side
me too  they guys said it was the best trip ever. here is where we stayed http://www.serrechevalier-appartements.com/ a tad better than TO apartments IMHO
My big beef with TO DIY trip is what they offer as the product. Even when they are offering a 4star product it tends to be far more expensive than what you can arrange a similar trip. Eg in Serre Chevalier the equivalent trip with a tour operator would have been more expensive and we'd have had 2 less bedrooms 50% of the space if we stayed in one apartment. I also get p--ssed off with the free child palce and then massive under occupancy supplement that the child is counted at.
We didn't self drive and arranged a transfer. nothing could have been easier walked out the departure gate at Turin there was the CSA taxi desk. Mini coach outside.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Wed 16-04-08 16:33; edited 1 time in total
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| richmond wrote: |
Independent ski hols require almost no effort.
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They require a lot more effort than TO, although that effort can be fun, particularly if you are the type (like me) who will thoroughly research the resort whether going DIY or TO.
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Getting from UK to somewhere up a mountain in Europe or N.America isn't exactly pushing back the frontiers.
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Well no, but it is the finding of accommodation, matching it to flights, and finding a way of getting from airport to accommodation that takes the time & effort. Once organised, it shoud be very little more effort to actually do it.
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Cost apart, avoiding dealing with the lame brains who take reservations at TO's offices, irritating reps and TO transfers makes DIY infinitely more desirable than using a TO. |
The only one of those I would accept as having any basis in reality is the last. Although I have always used the website to book, rather than anybody in the TO office, there was one occasiojn when the website failed me, and on that occasion the reservations guy on the telephone was great.
And while I am sure tere are plenty of irritating reps, I have been lucky enough never to have met any I find irritating.
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alex_heney, I spoke (or wrote) as I find, as I'm sure you do.
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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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FAQ
This saved a fortune on flights alone - by flying on non-TO days, we got returns to Vancouver for ~£300 as opposed to ~£700 if going on a TO day. Hotel savings weren't great, but as we wanted 12 nights rather than 10 or 14, DIY was the only option.
