 Poster: A snowHead
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Is it me or is this practically impossible in Austria?
Just starting to look for start of Feb 2015 and not a lot there, France seems to have started doing more >7 day bookings but the rest of Europe are yet to catch on.
Does anyone have any experience to the contrary?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Traditionally they are looking for a Saturday to Saturday full week booking but I regularly book shorter periods directly via tourist board website or directly with a hotel.
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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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j4meseaton, are you looking at TO sites or more generally? There are some exceptions but on the whole France is fairly wedded to Sat/Sat bookings, with the occasional very adventurous Sun/Sun.
If you change your thread title to reflect more precisely what you want, you will probably get some helpful suggestions. But certainly in France at the moment a lot of people who have been flat out all winter are now away on holiday - most agencies etc won't be thinking much about 2014/15 bookings for a couple of months yet. Austria might well be similar.
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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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I've done it. Just book directly, or contact Flangesax here (he has a very nice place in Radstadt).
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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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j4meseaton, if you travel independently then book your accommodation independently as well. I think it's highly unlikely you will find a package for less than 7 days..a few "weekend" specialists do 5 days, that's all I know of.
Our letting agent in France always asks us to commit to when we want to be in our own place by 15 September, to open bookings end of September. If you are not travelling in school holidays there's no hurry.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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yes have done loads traveling independently, booked through local tourist info site or booking.com
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j4meseaton, Try looking at www.tiscover.com . You can often book accommodation through that site for periods of a few days upwards.
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I never found it to be a problem. I think that is probably due to independent travel and not using travel agents. If you go direct, and sometimes just turn up and ask at the tourist office you will find vacancies (particularly in Austria and Switzerland). Often the vacancies will be for when you want for as long as you want. (they will be empty when you ask, and will take your booking until they cannot fulfil it)
You need to be more flexible with what accommodation you will accept. If you are prepared to sleep in the bank lobby, or police waiting room for a night or two for free, then the world is your oyster. Most people have slept a night in an airport!
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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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I just book what I want, so I guess yes, I have a different experience. Perhaps you are trying to use a tour operator - they obviously need to deal with everyone as a herd so they'll restrict what you can do. It's no different to anywhere else, really, it's just over there.
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i've always found austria much easier than france, lots of independent b&b and hotel accommodation online and through tourist boards. We go quite often for long weekends.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've often booked < 7 days in France (for apartments) and never found it a problem. But.....late bookings through local agencies. I don't think they want to accept short bookings much in advance.
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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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Thanks for the replies, it may be me just not looking hard enough. I'll try some of the suggestions above.
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philwig, try booking Chamonix anywhere not Sat-Sat in high winter season.
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You know it makes sense.
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under a new name, which part of Austria is that in, precisely?
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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 have done it twice, but we always book DIY
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Poster: A snowHead
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If anything, Austria is one of the easier places to ski for periods that differ from sat-sat.
Indeed every single ski trip (bar one) that I've done there in the last decade has been a weekend or long weekend. It's only the main hotels that tour ops use that are tied to sat-sat changeovers. The small ones sell rooms pppn, and in low season sell packages with pretty much everything bundled for quite reasonable prices.
Tiscover linked above is a good place to start.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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philwig, you (I appreciate the OP did) didn't say anything about Austria...
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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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philwig, the OP suggested it was easier to do non-standard periods in France. under a new name and my post earlier were just pointing out that that isn't always the case! Untwist knickers. 
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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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I've never had a problem booking unusual DIY holidays in Austria or Switzerland. I've not done it in Italy yet so must try harder 
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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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musher, A friend does an annual 10 day jaunt to Italy, driving and booking hotel independently. So it's possible there too.
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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've found it harder to book long weekends for Austria than either France or Switzerland. It can be done though.
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j4meseaton, what are you actually looking for? A long weekend will obviously be more difficult than a short week, as you are cutting into two separate "full" weeks. musher, I'd imagine you could get some good deals in Italy if you don't need weekend accommodation, given the number of "weekend skiers" from cities like Milan and Turin.
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I normally do a week plus - 8 or 9 days to get cheaper flights when booking peak times, not the usual Saturday to Saturday. I suppose hotels are probably more likely to accommodate this than a long[ish] weekend, but I have never had any issues when I have inquired before.
I have just booked Christmas in Austria today as Wednesday to Wednesday, with the only comment being "do you want your usual apartment?". I don't think we get preferential treatment in this hotel because we are repeat offenders as we have always messed them around 
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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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I have never had any problems booking any odd lengths, be it less than a week or more than a week in France, Switzerland Austria or Italy. The key is to deal direct and not try and work against the business plan of UK based Tour Operators.
I start by looking at the Tourist Office web site (used to be brochures) and then I start going through the various Trip Advisor type sites and places like Booking.com. I always contact the accommodation directly, if I don't get a reply it usually means that that owner may not speak English (I do not speak Italian), so I do not wait hoping for a reply I try another. For France, Switzerland and Austria I can communicate in the appropriate language, so lack of response usually means lack of interest or they are booked out. I'm not tied to flights, so I do try to be flexible when I approach the accommodation; if x and y dates are not suitable, anything close to it. But I stress that the number of days is fixed. Once there is a contact I find the cost of a telephone call to the hotel or owner pays dividends and the accommodation is usually booked during this call and confirmed in writing by email.
I do have more flexibility than most of you based in the UK but I also used this approach when I lived in the UK. I avoid the peak season periods, not because it may be more difficult (when teaching in the UK I had no choice), but mainly because it is much easier to negotiate when the owners are not hoping to sell complete weeks.
If you want it all on a plate done for you, then there are smaller TOs offering short breaks. I don't know if Ski Weekends still operate, but I'm sure their business model is not dead.
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Ski weekends do still operate, as does Snowcoach even after the bad press.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Also skiweekender and I have used mountainsun ltd twice with good effect
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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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We have skied in Austria for the past two years (and love the place) we stay in this hotel just outside of Kufstein www.wilderkaiser.de/en/
We hire a vehicle and it is only a 25 minute journey up to SkiWelt www.skiwelt.at/en/skiwelt-wilder-kaiser-brixental.html
Alternatively, the hotel is run by a family that also owns the local coach company and they can organise daily transport to the slopes.
EDIT: the hotel also offers half board basis, which we have found to suit our needs perfectly.
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