 Poster: A snowHead
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So I'm in the midst of planning a ski holiday to Sauze d'Ooulx in January and have noticed using package holiday companies (such as Crystal Ski) is very popular.
I don't quite understand why, as I can't seem to find any deals that are cheaper than my diy plan.
Details:
We have to go between 24th to 31st Jan (uni half term)
Flying to Turin
Arranging transfers via Sauze tourist website
Accommo self catering apartment via airBnB
I am looking at around £440 per person for 7 nights, and 6 days lift pass and equipment hire (skis only, no boots).
Probably looking at 5 people
I can't find anything on Crystal Ski that's of a comparable price.
What gives? Is there some service/extra feature available from a package holidat that I'm just not aware of? Are my dates the problem? Or is it just too soon to be looking at deals?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| STyler wrote: |
| Or is it just too soon to be looking at deals? |
This.
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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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aaaaah! When's the right time for a January trip?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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January?
Actually, always best to leave as late as poss and wait for the snow. Its not a peak time, so there shouldn't be too much of a problem getting availability. That said, who knows what inventory the TOs are holding...so there is a bit of a "gamble" element, I suppose.
That £440 you mention - including your ski pass/equipment hire?
FWIW, I've managed quite a few TO deals from £300 - £500 for flights, transfers and HB accommodation (hotel or CC) in non-peak weeks over the years when taking a late booking (within 2-6 weeks of departure). If you have the nerve, as some do here, then one could leave it until as late as a week before you intend leaving.
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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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| Quote: |
When's the right time for a January trip?
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there is no right time
if you want to get the apartment you want, in the place you want, with the transfers you want - now is the right time
if you're flexible about requirements - the day before you go is the right time
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
That £440 you mention - including your ski pass/equipment hire?
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Yeah, including both.
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if you're flexible about requirements - the day before you go is the right time
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Eh, we're not all that flexible. The dates are totally non-negotiable, and the group will be of mixed ability (at least 1 total beginner) so we want somewhere big, with variety - and familiar would also be helpful (which is why Sauze).
We're a group of 30 somethings, so would like somewhere a bit lively for a drink and meal but not mad (like all of the apres I've researched in Austria - so no Mayerhofen/Ishgl etc).
We'd like to do it as cheaply as possible too, so we can hopefully get 2 trips in this year 
Another thing that concerns me about the package deals is ... how do you all know what you're really going to get when you get off the coach? Are Crystal Ski generally trustworthy?
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STyler, how do you know what you are getting? Look on TripAdvisor at the accommodation. Are Crystal Ski trustworthy? They've been great for me, but others may disagree. Depends on the rep to some degree. With the TOs you'll get a bit more "security", if that's the right word, and everything is taken care of. For example, if your flight is delayed the transfer bus will wait (dunno if this is the case for independent transfers) and if the transfer is late getting to the airport on return, there's probably more chance of the plane being held until you arrive. But if you are a seasoned skier, DIY may be the way to go. If you do book with Crystal, make sure that you don't book passes and ski hire when booking your holiday - they'll be a big mark-up on (i) organising that yourself and (ii) organising that through the Crystal rep on the transfer bus.
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| STyler wrote: |
| Quote: |
That £440 you mention - including your ski pass/equipment hire?
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Yeah, including both. |
OK, doesn't sound bad, even then factoring in food costs.
| STyler wrote: |
| Another thing that concerns me about the package deals is ... how do you all know what you're really going to get when you get off the coach? Are Crystal Ski generally trustworthy? |
On a personal level, I've never experienced any issues with TO accommodation - OK, one or two smallish rooms, perhaps and the odd flight delay, but nothing onerous. From my POV, its about the skiing first. Stunning conditions and mediocre accommodation is perfectly acceptable. Crap conditions and stunning accommodation is not acceptable. So I would take my chances and wait for the snow. It is, though, a purely personal thing and I accept that waiting isn't a luxury everyone can or will take.
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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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STyler, you have a PM
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You seem organised and the price is good. Book it.
TO just handle everything for you so you can sit back and relax.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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For a last minute January deal, 48 hours before beforehand.
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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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Where do you look for a last minute deal? Is 48 hours before really necessary? Would the deals with, say 2 or 3 weeks to go be that much worse?
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Sometimes, faithsdaddy, they can be absurdly low - one just has to have an open mind about where they may go. I'm sure I've seen people here mention deals of under £200 for F, T and HB.
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You know it makes sense.
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In 2005/2006 Mrs A and I booked on the Thursday to fly out on New Years Eve to Tignes Lac. Flights, transfers and half board for £200. T'was the weirdest 'chalet' we've ever stayed in - ground floor in a block of apartments!
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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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| faithsdaddy wrote: |
| Where do you look for a last minute deal? Is 48 hours before really necessary? Would the deals with, say 2 or 3 weeks to go be that much worse? |
The best deals are by holding your nerve until day before or even day of departure. 2-3 weeks out the stock isn't distressed.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Are you talking £50 a head, or like.... half price?
Just been looking at Crystal Ski. They have 241 on passes and planks, which totted up to a bit over £1200 all in for Ischgl. The deals should only get better. Listen to me, I ALMOST sound like I know what Iºm talking about 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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| faithsdaddy wrote: |
Are you talking £50 a head, or like.... half price?
Just been looking at Crystal Ski. They have 241 on passes and planks, which totted up to a bit over £1200 all in for Ischgl. The deals should only get better. Listen to me, I ALMOST sound like I know what Iºm talking about |
Not necessarily. They know people are bored in October and November and when they've had a few drinks on a Saturday night whilst watching the drivel on the TV they get mouse happy
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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You do have to have nerves of steel to book late! I've planned to do it so many times and caved the month before 
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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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Gosh that's me. Nerves of steel. Always book late. Never had any issues doing so. Haven't used a TO in 20 years. Might feel differently if I was booking for a family.
| Quote: |
| Stunning conditions and mediocre accommodation is perfectly acceptable. Crap conditions and stunning accommodation is not acceptable. |
Exactly. Look, I'm a bloke. So long as I'm not next door to Scandanavian-24-hour-party-people I don't that much care about the accommodation. Bed, bathroom, what else do you need?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| dogwatch wrote: |
| Bed, bathroom, what else do you need? |
A wife who doesn't complain 
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kiteman69, LOL
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A wife who doesn't complain. Sorry, I don't quite grasp that concept. How would us men know what we are doing wrong without a wife to tell us?
No my wife doesn't come skiing and it's fair to say she wouldn't like poky French ski apartments that I find just fine. When I go skiing, she has friends to stay. It all works out.
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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 like the idea of waiting til the last minute, but in practice, I don't think it's gonna work. Organising people to get to book stuff is like herding cats. These people anyway, heh.
None of us are particularly precious about accommo, like you say, a bed and a bathroom is all that's really needed - who goes on holiday to stay in their accommo? That said, if we go self catering, I guess amenities become a bit more important. We do care about the location of the accommo as one package (booked via Groupon) had us staying in one of the Olympic hotels - which was nice, but in the middle of nowhere for apres.
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It depends on what you're looking for. We've used Espritski since my daughter was born. We always get what we expect. The childcare is awesome and leaves us free to ski all day. They have some pretty good early discounts. I tried booking late (2 weeks before) a couple of years back and they only had one suitable trip available and that wasn't discounted! That was scary and I haven't had the nerve since.
DIY is appealing and I've always done that for non-skiing holidays (well, back in the pre-child days when we could afford more than one holiday). It can save money and you can tailor it to exactly what you need. It is also fun to do and builds the excitement. Years ago, when I looked at DIY skiing the transfers were the killer and I never found a better deal than the TOs could offer because there was always a huge cost involved in getting from the airport to the resort.
I tried to price up a holiday the year before last, borrowing a friends chalet (small fee) and driving there. I still couldn't get near STyler's £440. There was only 4 of us though. I guess you're getting some discounts on passes for buying so many.
So my method, Cacciatore, is to book in January for a January trip. I booked in January 2014 for a January 2015 trip! Then I pray daily that there will be snow.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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STyler, £440 all in isn't bad at all though does that include transfers? I think booking very late wouldn't be for you in your circumstances though i came across this yesterday when looking at old posts:-
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=31051&highlight=
Those deals came out at the end of October so you never quite know - i'm pretty sure they weren't just for xmas week but that was the week we were looking for - First Choice no longer do ski holidays but i'm guessing Thomson and Crystal have taken up their accommodation as all part of the same group.
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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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Yeah, that includes transfers and perhaps discounts.... I've used http://www.sauzeonline.com/ for the transfers, equipment hire and passes prices.
They state approx 70 Euros per person return transfers
€130.00 for 6 days lift pass (low season)
€69.75 for 6 days ski hire (no boots)
I plan on scouting around for different equipment hire options, but that price looks good to me. I need to find the location of the shop, though... don't want to be lugging them around 
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Oh, just saw this!
"sauzeonline has teamed up with Ski Center Clotes to bring you a 25% discount on your ski hire. The shop is ideally located at the bottom of the Clotes chair lift."
So, there's that
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You know it makes sense.
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STyler, if those prices are coming off your £440, you're accommodation cost isn't far off my mortgage. I could rent the house out and ski all winter!
Probably wouldn't work as a short term thing, but we bought our skis off eBay last year. 2 or 3 years old so less used than rentals. And only £25 for carriage. A bit dearer than renting last year but pretty much free this year. And next year, and so on til they break.
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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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Hehe. I've got £120 for the week accommo (based on 5 sharing) but I think we'll go more than that for a bit more space, prob up to about £160.
Then there's flights for £115
Actually, it's £445 not £440. That's the absolute lowest I can manage, anyway though yeah, I think we might chuck in an extra £20 or so for bigger accommo. It all depends how many people are coming, until everyone confirms, it's all a bit... theoretical. hehe!
I've considered buying skis, but not sure how easy/hard they are to maintain. Definitely sounds worth it for cost reasons, though. Do they take much upkeep?
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Poster: A snowHead
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STyler, before buying you skis should consider (i) carriage costs; (ii) upkeep costs and (iii) whether you are going to progress beyond the skis you buy...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Dobby makes a good point. Ours cost £20 each to service and £25 carriage (for 2 pairs). And, of course, once you have your own it changes how you feel about renting. And I've used mine a lot on dryslopes this year so I've sort of gained added value.
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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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So for 2 pairs you're looking at a £65 yearly cost.... not bad.. I mean, some equipment hire is rubbish/expensive but I do intend to learn LOADS in the next few months, so maybe the time isn't right. I really hate having to carry skis about, though! Silly, but I so much prefer just having to worry about boots...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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So most deals obviously include food. There may be cheaper operators in resort than Crystal -- e.g. use Iglu Ski, then Google the property that comes up cheapest to see which tour op it is and look at their site in case of better deals. I doubt you'll find a large self catering apartment through an operator though -- it's more likely to be two studio flats.
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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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Ah true, there is the food. We tried to do a comparison with an estimate for food if we were self catering, and I still can't seem to find a cheaper package. I'll try again when everyone is ready to book and see what is available, then....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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If you are not fussy on accommodation and resort then holding your nerve for late deals is cheapest.
One question - Half term at UNI!!! When did this start ya lazy swine. Your only back at uni for 4 weeks form xmas break.
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Hahaha, tell me about it! Tis not me at Uni, but my husband, who has jacked in his job to get his degree. He gets so much bloody time off I can't tell you! I think it's an exam break or something, I dunno. Also, Wednesdays off, just for a little mid-week rest.
Hehehehehe! Layabout!
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Mike-H, he must be reading some humanities subject....
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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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nope!
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STyler I did that too. Back to Uni in my late 30s to do what I wanted to do. Instead of 20 years doing something I hated and was rubbish at. It might seem like he has loads of time off but there's a lot of pressure too. We had a baby half way through and we nearly split up but we're happier now than before we started.
And Dobby careful there . . .
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FAQ
