Where do you get your late deals?

A snowHead

Hi all,

Hoping to book a late deal with a friend in February (not half-term week). France or Austria. Somewhere with good snow and lots of pistes.

Just wondering where you recommend for late deals?

One awkward issue: He is travelling from Dublin, and I am travelling from London.

Merci, Thankews.

A snowHead

Best to wait until about three weeks beforehand as there will be plenty of availability outside of half term.
Mayrhofen in Austria a good bet. Snowsure and big ski area with decent après ski. If you want the full on après ski scene, Ischgl also fits the bill and always lots of snow.

The Dublin- London thing should not be an issue but probably means you need to book via Crystal who operate from both. Neilson, Thompsons and Inghams no longer operate from Dublin.
They should be able to put you in same hotel/chalet if you're travelling on same day. Will need to talk directly to an agent where departure point is different as their online system can't facilitate this type of booking (or at least it didn't do a few years ago).

Alternatively, book flights to Munich, Salzburg or Geneva and meet up there, booking your own transfers and accommodation. Not sure if there are direct flights from Dublin to Lyon or Chambery.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks for the reply Paul100.

Looking into a few options now.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@gaffmaster, when I did a couple of late deals (but a few days before, not 3 weeks) it was through the tour operators own website.

Be aware that the French half term is 4 weeks from this Saturday (7 Feb - 7 March) and the Paris weeks are 14 - 28 February and it'd be particularly good to avoid French resorts that week. If you want to go to France, the week beginning 7 March would be better, unless you specially like busy pistes and lift queues. wink

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@gaffmaster,

1. Late package deals are going to be set up for 2 people sharing room and travelling on the same flight, your set-up with different departure airports is unlikely to fit, unless you follow Paul100's suggestion of Crystal. The other option would be for your mate to get a flight to UK from Dublin. Cheap deals are usually Gatwick or Manchester. DIY is the other option.

2. Late means just days, not weeks, before departure for the biggest discounts, I aim for 50% off brochure price, you need complete flexibility for this, but there may be worthwhile discounts around now if you want to sort it sooner.

3. Feb is High Season, there will be less late availability than low season like Early Jan or late Mar, so if you see something tasty, book it. Bear in mind Pam's advice re French resorts rammed from 7 Feb- 7 Mar, Italy & Austria outside half-term week will be quieter.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Hi @gaffmaster,

Have you thought about doing the flights and transfers yourselves?

Flying from Dublin and London you should be able to get flights which arrive into eg Geneva at the same sort of time, and then travel onto resort together.

We still have February availability (details via the link below) in the Paradiski area and I'm sure there are many other companies with spaces too.

Happy planning!
Heather

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

Tried Crystal but they didn't seem particularly helpful and their deals weren't anything special either.

So, now I think we're looking at booking flights for 28 Feb - 7 Mar. Then we'll see what we can get closer to the date. I realise this is at the tail end of the school holidays but I'm hoping most will be done by then. Am I delusional in thinking that?

After all it is free

I think Directski fly from Dublin and Gatwick to Andorra and Austria. Have used them once and would recommend and use again at the right price
.

Help!!

Where do you get your late deals?

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