 Poster: A snowHead
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I did a couple of school ski trips back in the 1980's. They were by no means "cheap" but I think its fair to say that it was a more affordable way for my parents to send me (and my brother) on a ski holiday. They could never have afforded for us all to go on a family ski trip, which in those days was quite an elite thing, but with a bit of sacrifice a school trip was just about affordable as the school got a group discount, travelled by coach and kids slept in dorms etc. And I'll always be grateful my parents made that sacrifice as it introduced me to an activity I've really enjoyed in all the years since.
I think the thing that many people find frustrating and surprising is that while the general cost of ski holidays has fallen in the last couple of decades the cost of school ski trips has for some reason escalated. A family ski trip is no longer the elitist upper class holiday it once was. With a bit of research online you can find some quite reasonable deals which include flights, transfers, half board, en-suite private rooms etc. Whereas school ski trips (and other school trips for that matter) now seem to be disproportionately expensive even though they still seem to be doing it on the cheap and travel by coach, room in dorms and go to smaller resorts.
Why has the cost of school ski trips become more expensive when private/family trips have become relatively cheaper?
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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 school trips I'm aware of (and been on) have all flown, rather than go by coach, so I guess that pushes the price up.
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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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I've worked with many school ski trips in the past, although not for a few years and mostly at Feb half term. For those trips the cost included transport, 6 hours on-slope instruction (local or UK qualified instructors, not school staff), full board, equipment hire, lift pass, insurance and apres-ski every night (sledging, bum-boarding, pizza night, swimming, bowling, ice-skating etc).
In order to compare value you have to know what the price includes. There may be differences between school trips to the same resort in the same week. I did go to the USA a few times but that was only ever with fee-paying schools. State schools were usually Italy & Austria by coach. 30-50 students + staff pretty much fills many European resort hotels (and some won't accept UK school groups). Skiing is never a cheap holiday but even with the relative fall in cost of family skiing I think it would be tough to find a fully inclusive deal for much less than a school price for peak weeks like Easter and Feb HT. Yes the school staff get to "ski for free" but they are loco parentis 24x7 and more often than not by the middle of the week are required to accompany the injured to medical centres or sit in cafe's all day with any walking wounded. It's definitely a very different experience than family skiing for resort staff, school staff and students but I loved every minute of it and the kids did as well. IIRC back then the prices were around £800 so I guess the OP's numbers seem reasonable given 5 years or so of inflation.
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@SlipnSlide
Put together a trip for a private individual with the following spec in peak ski holiday week to prove your point and I will find your argument worth looking at.
Resort: let us say something high and quality - equivalent to ADH maybe?
6 days skiing with 5 hours quality group instruction per day.
Comprehensive insurance package (snow, rescue, repat, kit etc)
6 days skis, boot, helmets hire
6 days full board (rooms of 4)
Flying and transfers
6 day and 24 hours a day entertainment/reassurance/motivator on-site trip managers who will ensure your satisfaction
And you don't have to do any of the paperwork, but let's give that as a freebie.
And then, the company you are doing all this for is entitled to a profit wouldn't you say? So add a percentage on. Not sure what a fair margin would be but someone here will know.
Knock yourself out
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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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Oh, and don't forget full area lift passes, because those are really cheap 
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@Flandiddly, 👍
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A quick look at Crystal for next season shows that 7 nights B&B in a reasonable resort for half term is near £800 (with early booking discount), then add 7 days lunches, an area lift pass, equipment hire, instruction, insurance and the cost of a school trip looks reasonable. Yes there are cheaper options, book direct, self cater, drive or buy cheap flights but the cost of a half term ski holiday for a family ends up looking comparable per person.
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£2k for Rainboy's school ski trip, to Vermont. Good value? Possibly, given distance etc. Expensive? Absolutely. I'd have loved him to go on the school trip, but quite why it has to be to the States, rather than to Europe is beyond me. It certainly prices many people out of it, including us, unless we want to sacrifice the family ski trip for him.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Eldest (12) off on first school trip this year. Flying to Slovenia and transfer to Zell am See, full board with hot lunch and exclusive use of hotel. 5hrs tuition per day, lift pass, kit hire inc helmets etc etc etc. 4 hours dry slope lessons before going. £938 which I think is alot of money but reasonable for what we're getting.
I have told him he must not experiment with alcohol and vomit on his teacher which is certainly not (*) what I did on my first school skiing holiday.
* OK, I did
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Bergmeister wrote: |
AllyK,
We were allowed to go the following year (1978) on the school trip to Paris, however. 3 nights away, a coach trip & £68 pp I recall. That trip is one of life's great memories!
Funny how you remember odd things though. |
My first ski holiday was in 1972 and a school trip. IIRC It cost 80 Irish Punts (equal to Sterling then) and was from Dublin to Saas Fee via 2 Ferrys, Train and Couchette right into the resort train station.
The travel alone was quite an adventure.
We stayed at the Hotel Allalin (still going strong, I see) and it was so long ago, there were 10 Swiss Francs to the Pound!!
I've never returned, but it's on my bucket list to make a pilgrimage back and retrace my steps, now I can ski a little better....we had just covered the "Stem Christie" on the very last lesson under the watchful eye of our Instructor, Peter Lomatter. Amazingly, when I Googled his name, there is still a Peter Lomatter working there as a Mountain Guide Ski Instructor.....it must be his son, surely?
EDIT: After a bit of Google stalking, I think the Peter Lomatter who taught me, was born in 1921 and passed away in Oct 2011...I remember him very fondly. One of our group was called Harry and was the spit of the comic character "Billy Bunter"....and with the same athletic prowess. He was always last (by some margin) and was encouraged down the hill with a shout of "Hurry Harry, Hurry Harry, Hurry Harry!"
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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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[Evening fellow snowheads, I have just recently read through an email from my eldest daughters school, it is a weekly bulletin type of thing. Anyway, near the bottom it mentions that the ski trip to Wengen for Easter 2018 which sold out in November (didn't even though it was on offer!!) has secured an extra few spaces, now 55 spaces instead of the original 40.
The cost of this trip is £990, this Easter they are going to Italy for a similar cost and last year they went to Canada for £1600
does anyone else think that these are ridiculous prices for a school trip, or are these about the going rate nowadays? - [b]in short they are the going rate. I happen to know as I got a quote for Wengen for my own school trip there
Even though they don't seem to have any trouble selling out, its a well off school, I am sure they could find more affordable resorts to go to and open it up to more students, or do the organisers not fancy a small Austrian resort if they do not have to pay for it??[/b] - there are cheaper resorts at Easter (you can run a trip for about £850 by coach) but there are always compromises to be made. The resort will be further away by coach (this is definitely a coach price at £990), it will be smaller, perhaps more isolated... they will have chosen Wnegen for a number of reasons. One of which is that the company they are using will be taking British Ski instructors which can be a real advantage.
would like to hear if trips are done a lot cheaper, or if there are more expensive ones out there.[/quote] - as above, they can be cheaper but usually with compromises. They certainly can be more expensive too - a coach trip to a big French resort at Feb half term would be around £1050 to £1150. A flight trip to USA Canada would be amazing to come in below £1500 for 2018.
[b]As a party leader you have lots to take into account - the range of experience of the skiers, the age of the pupils, the quality of instruction, distance from Calais etc etc.....
I hope this helps (and having spent a night sleeping in a hospital corridor having accompanied an injured pupil it certainly is no freebie!)
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@skiteacheratschool, So you have worked out colour and bold...might be better to focus on getting the quotes right. Doesn't make much sense otherwise. HTH
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You know it makes sense.
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Which of these prices quoted do you think incorrect?
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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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I mean when you quote other peoples posts.
Welcome to snowHeads. You will have a ball here.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Years back I took a total of 17 school ski trips spaced out over 20 years from mid 1980's to early 2000's. Must have been 400 to 500 pupils aged 13 to 18 in that time. I even got "free" preliminary ski visits for most of those 17 trips due to the incentives on offer from the TO. I must be a baddy-teacher then? Despite the personal non-paid holiday time given up for a "freebie" ski looking after other peoples' less than perfect youngsters.
A few years back I bumped into ex-pupil who became a GB team member for freestyle. There's other staff who still ski with pupils 25 years later on. I bet there's a few Snowheads I took skiing.........
Teachers do this "school ski holiday" stuff not for freebies, but for how a ski holiday can change peoples' lives.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 29-04-17 22:31; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Oh!!!!!
Taking other peoples children skiing is no freebie.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sun 30-04-17 8:45; edited 1 time in total
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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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| skimastaaah wrote: |
Taking other peoples children skiing is no freebie. |
What would be the average cash cost for a teacher?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Thornyhill, working out the professional cost of being "in loco parentis" for 24 hours per day on an 8 day ski trip at £30 per hour that's about 5 and a half grand for the week!
If any parent wants to quibble that amount ..... go join your kids school ski trip and see first hand just what the staff do. The teenagers of today still do the same sex, drugs, and rock and roll of their parents' generation. I stopped taking ski trips because being responsible for other peoples youngsters became not worth the risks, and certainly not worth a cheap ski holiday taken in my own "holiday" time. Such a pity, as for myself I have great recollections of many great times with some damn decent young skiers enjoying a rather superb sport.
To answer your question, ....... about a grand all in on todays money.
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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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I have been on school ski trips as a Tour Operator Rep and also as a parent (one child has a major heart condition and school wanted a parent to go along "just in case").
From first hand personal experience I can give you my opinion. It may not coincide with everbody's but..
Teachers work on ski trips. But it is still worth it for them. Things do go wrong. Accidents and incidents. Injuries and trips to casualty. Friction with the local lads and lasses. Property lost, property stolen.
But if it wasn't worthwhile for the teachers to go, then the teachers wouldn't go. And then there would be no school ski trips.
So accept that there is a benefit to the teacher. Which in turn gives a benefit to the child.
The trips are not compulsory. If you don't want to pay for it, then arrange a trip yourself and take your children yourself.
Remember that the overall cost will (generally) include the services of a rep who will have the job of arranging evening entertainment, swimming trips, bowling, quiz night, disco.....
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| terrygasson wrote: |
Evening fellow snowheads, I have just recently read through an email from my eldest daughters school, it is a weekly bulletin type of thing. Anyway, near the bottom it mentions that the ski trip to Wengen for Easter 2018 which sold out in November (didn't even though it was on offer!!) has secured an extra few spaces, now 55 spaces instead of the original 40.
The cost of this trip is £990, this Easter they are going to Italy for a similar cost and last year they went to Canada for £1600.
does anyone else think that these are ridiculous prices for a school trip, or are these about the going rate nowadays?
I certainly wouldn't be sending my kids at those prices, or at all to be honest, as we would probably need to choose between a school trip or family one.
Even though they don't seem to have any trouble selling out, its a well off school, I am sure they could find more affordable resorts to go to and open it up to more students, or do the organisers not fancy a small Austrian resort if they do not have to pay for it??
would like to hear if trips are done a lot cheaper, or if there are more expensive ones out there. |
The Pound is worth little more than toilet paper against the mighty Swiss Franc, these days.
GBP 950 for a week all-in is good.
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1.28 actually
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Took 51 to Les Deux Alpes a few weeks ago, and had a great trip. Booked next year's trip for the first week in April, by air, staying full board in Tignes (Val Claret), with equipment, lessons from ESF, insurance, transfers, evening ents, an Espace Killy lift pass - and a hoody (!) for £1190. This is the list price from the operator (i.e. no contingency fund factored in). I think you'd be hard pressed to beat this price.
In return I get a free place. I enjoy the trip (the days leading up to, and the first couple of days are stressful) and it's rewarding. Before next year's trip I have to renew my BASP first aid (2 days, a couple of hundred quid, a hotel for 1 night), and am renewing my ASCL qualification (could do this in the U.K., but have opted to do a week residential in Italy - that's in my holiday time, about £900 + beer money). I'll have to do an inspection visit in January, which my school pays for, but it's still 4 days away from my home & family. I think it's all a fair exchange though, and am looking forward to it all!
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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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| daveyladboy wrote: |
Took 51 to Les Deux Alpes a few weeks ago, and had a great trip. Booked next year's trip for the first week in April, by air, staying full board in Tignes (Val Claret), with equipment, lessons from ESF, insurance, transfers, evening ents, an Espace Killy lift pass - and a hoody (!) for £1190. This is the list price from the operator (i.e. no contingency fund factored in). I think you'd be hard pressed to beat this price.
In return I get a free place. I enjoy the trip (the days leading up to, and the first couple of days are stressful) and it's rewarding. Before next year's trip I have to renew my BASP first aid (2 days, a couple of hundred quid, a hotel for 1 night), and am renewing my ASCL qualification (could do this in the U.K., but have opted to do a week residential in Italy - that's in my holiday time, about £900 + beer money). I'll have to do an inspection visit in January, which my school pays for, but it's still 4 days away from my home & family. I think it's all a fair exchange though, and am looking forward to it all! |
Which company is running into Tignes can I ask? I used Skibound for a trip there, but they closed their club hotel the following year. Great premium destination for schools.
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Equity. Generally happy with them too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| daveyladboy wrote: |
| Equity. Generally happy with them too. |
Ah, that's Skibound rebranded I think. Will give them a shout again.
Thanks
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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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No, they are part of TUI, like HTS - they share the same address in Brighton. Although TUI decided to flog them off recently... You may be thinking of SkiPlan, which was part of Equity, but they now operate under the Equity name.
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FAQ
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