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Organising a cheap skiing holiday

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I'm sure this has been asked a lot of times before, but what's the best way to organise a skiing holiday for as little money as possible?

Like many, I'm conscious that skiing is generally perceived as an expensive activity, but I can't afford to spend thousands on a single holiday. This year, the skiing holiday (for two people) cost the following:

Flights, transfers, accomodation, breakfast: £718
Lift passes: £299
Ski hire: £108
TOTAL FOR TWO: £1125

Package through Crystal included flights from Glasgow to Salzburg, transfer to Soll, accommodation at Pension Scherntanner. Lift passes were buy one, get one half price, through Crystal in advance. Ski hire was 30% off via Ski Set, online in advance. This was 8th-15th February, and was booked a few months in advance. We were very happy with all aspects of the trip.

Obviously that doesn't include eating out on the mountain or in resort, but was this a good deal? I feel like it was, but I'd be interested in advice on how to reduce this further - possibly to less than £1000 - for next year. Is it best to book everything separately? Or a package holiday at the last minute? And it would be interesting to hear about any amazing bargains people succeeded in getting this year, and how they found them.

Criteria are: flights from Scotland or N. England; a resort with 150km+ of slopes; not much else.

P.S. before anyone suggests skiing in Scotland... we already do that as well, but the Continent offers a different experience.
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I wouldn't feel that is too bad through a tour operator - I normally budget on c. £1k all in...
however I did go with a group of others last year to Chamrousse - self-catering and the cost for 11 of us:
- lessons for three children
- ski hire for all
- boots for a couple
- 3 x apartments (7 adults / 4 children)
- ski passes for all
total under £2,500
not inc. driving down / food
driving down was prob. c. £1,500 for us all
food was sub £1,000 for us all (lots of pasta!)

so under £500 each

Alasdair
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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?
denfinella, You got a very good price on the lift passes and ski hire but the flights and beds could have a little bit shaved off. I saw this morning that Ifyouski were selling a catered chalet in Val Thorens for Easter week for £305 per person, but you would have to add in the extra cost of getting to the south of england to make use of it. And that will be a lot of money.
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I think the deal you got was pretty good.

If you want to get the absolute cheapest package deal, book a few days before you travel. If it's just two of you, going out of school holidays and you're flexible about where you want to go, this could work well. The downsides are not knowing what you'll be doing until a few days before, and not having the same choice of destinations or regional airports as you would booking months in advance.

If you want to start booking things separately, then you need to be ready to book flights/trains etc. as soon as they go on sale.
ski holidays
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I doubt you'd ever get it much cheaper than you paid this year. I usually budget around £1k for a ski trip to include flights, transfers, single room in half board hotel, lift pass, spending money, airport parking, cattery. If there are two of you it might be possible to take advantage of last minute TO deals, but I find they are mostly Gatwick or Manchester flights. If you pick a less 'peak week' (i.e. not February) you might get a slight reduction. I think with only two people the DIY route is unlikely to save you much, unless you can find really cheap flights and transfers.

Skiing holidays are pretty good value for money in my book, who wants to pay £600+ to spend a week risking skin cancer and eating sand? Better to pay an extra £2-300 for a proper holiday doing something fun and energetic, eating lovely food and taking in stunning surroundings. Worth every penny.
ski holidays
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Finding the perfect deal is a bit like the moon, Earth and Sun aligning.
DIY can be good if you find mega cheap flights, with cheap transfers and a deal on lift passes. Cheap accommodation can be found in most places.

If you are happy to wait it out then good deals can be found with tour ops too.

I'd say your deal was pretty good. We've just got flights, transfers, half board chalet, lift passes and ski hire for 3 of us for just under £2k which is reasonably good for school holidays.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
denfinella, when I used to DIY out of London (pre 2006) I reckoned that £100 per day all in was pretty good going. I was usually pretty canny with flight bookings. So I think you did at least OK.

Your big constraint is getting flights from Glasgow (or Edinburgh) ((you could, I suppose, go via Amsterdam from Aberdeen but that's DIY)).
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
went to mayrhofen from Edinburgh during the 2nd week in march this year.........package booked with crystal a week before departure

flights, transfers, accomidation and half board.....(strass snow homes) accomidation was ok food was good as it was taken in the main hotel 350 pp

lift passes 180 pp

double bag ski carrage 50

total not including spends for a week for two folk....£1110........so £555 per person........very good value in my book
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Thanks everybody. Sounds like it wasn't a bad deal then. akirk, that's a real steal Smile although a larger group of people always helps with per person costs. enduroaid, the Mayrhofen trip sounds similar to ours - although half board must have been an welcome bonus.

So it sounds like there are two ways to do it even cheaper: 1. Independently: book flights early and accommodation last-minute, or 2. Package: booking last minute.

For the latter, does anybody have experience in being able to get last-minute deals which include flights *from Scotland/N. England*, or do they tend to be from down south?
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
denfinella, nothing to do with the size of the group - I took my godson and we had an apartment - two other families each booked theirs - we all booked separately, but had apartments in the same building...
just that if you are prepared to have it there is the option of cheap skiing out there...

Driving (e.g. with a full 7-seater) will often be cheaper than flying 7 people down
Self-catering will be cheaper
a less well known resort will be cheaper
self-catering your lunches rather than eating at on-mountain prices will be cheaper
looking for all of that and combinign ferry / tunnel / accomodation with sales opportunities will also be cheaper

it is possible to ski cheaply - just that what most want from a holiday is a bit more than just the skiing - the actual skiing is a relatively cheap part of the holiday - e.g. £1,000 per person for a week might be 25% lift pass / 10-15% ski hire - the rest is transport / accomodation / food...

Alasdair
ski holidays
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I think thats a good price - I normally think that £1k per person gives you an OK holiday including lunch on the mountain and a little bit of Apres.
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