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Beat this for Value

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@mini_mo, are there 50 of you going?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
there are loads of warm huts, especially in the kids areas......its very well set up....you need it when it hits -25!!!! snowHead
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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?
@minimo....because we fly scheduled (cheap) we take lots of food with us which is something we wouldnt ordinarily do in any other country. Our mind set we are going to ski and thats the treat, so we dont mind about eating out. However......i would say the supermarket at both Tysil and Hemsedal ski centers is approx 1/3 more expenisive than at home....its akin to a French campsite prices. We take staples such as pasta, sauces, snacks, cheese, ham, rice and then buy a big shop at the coop in the actual towns then top up from the ski supermarket. The only thing we DONT BUY is alcohol as wine is only sold in liquer stores so we bring a box of wine or two!! Beer is not too overpriced.
Eating out......slope side we have only really had waffles/hot choc, mainly because it is easy to go home for lunch. Hot choc £1 in a cardboard cup with mallows and cream!!!! Cheaper than the alpes, thats for sure and the waffles around £4 with cream. Pizzas are fairlyy priced but we have never eaten in a decent resteraunt so i couldnt even begin to guess.
Put it this way, i am a tight arsed Aberdonian and i havent found it too much of a problem!!!!! Smile
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
@pam w, I had a giggle at your response because I realised as soon as I hit the post button I wasn't that clear!

My other half doesn't want to drive all the way, or particularly rent a car. If we rented a car in Italy then we could at least pop to a supermarket but either way we would probably only eat breakfast in the apartment in the morning. So if we were out every night that's at least £100 for 4 per meal and hot drinks and lunch on the slopes, say that's £30 a day easily that comes to £910. It sounds a lot but when we've done catered chalets we always spend £500 and more in a hotel on HB. Unfortunately I cannot access any past costs because they were on an external disk that died. What would most of you allow then on self catering? I'd better not go to Norway then! Husband drinks like a fish!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@warbis66, ha ha! Ok I'm beginning to realise I may not be able to do cheap! We love our food and eating out and husband can drink a lot. I'm impressed that you pack so much stuff in your suitcases... Do you pack any ski gear?!! I guess there are ways of doing a cheap or cheaper ski holiday but with different compromises and as we all have different requirements, I suppose it depends on how far you are prepared to go to make it happen. Very Happy
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
I spend 2500 EUR per week for 3.

Always looking for a bargain, but I always end up between 2000 and 2500 per week for 3, including all meals and coffees, hot chocolate on the mountain...

Last half term, 9 days of skiing (Via Lattea):

Hotel half board: 1300
Lift passes (9) days 750
Airplane tickets 300
Car hire: 200
Extras: 300
First and last hotel nights: 220

This is more than 2,500, but is was 9 days of skiing too.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@mini_mo, my first trip to La Plagne I did on food that I took with me and £100 in cash (still had 5 euros to buy a tacky mug as well). That involved making the most of ski in accommodation and eating lunch back at the room for maybe 3 of the days. Other trips since have probably cost me a bit more, but that's partly just because I've had the money to be able to spend a bit more. If I really needed to be cheap then I could probably take enough basic food (microwave rice, porridge etc) with me and get away with just 50 quid in my pocket...but where's the fun in that?!
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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!
@mini_mo, OK, no problem, you enjoy eating out at lunch and dinner and don't skimp on the drinks. Then no problem spending £1000 but it's most definitely not self catering. Laughing

I once cooked loads of pancakes for an apres ski snack for hungry teenagers who'd had no lunch. We worked out it would have cost nearly €100 if we'd bought that number in the village. Cost me practically nothing. I just bought enough beef for a slow cooked "beef in beer" for 5, in the excellent but very expensive butchers in our ski resort. Cost a fairly outrageous €28 but the rest, including a couple of cans of Newcastle Brown from Tesco cost very little. A good red wine, even in the resort shop, is not expensive. Because of the price of the meat that'll be one of the most expensive meals I cook all season.

I enjoy lunch on the slopes now and then but there's only me to pay for. When we were a family of five there was no way. Kids were instructed to eat a good breakfast in the chalet and given a Mars Bar to see themselves through to chalet tea.. They could spend their own pocket money on a plate of chips if they wanted, but rarely did. Just kept skiing!

With kids, an apartment near the slopes where they can be fed and watered for very little saves a fortune.
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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.
@HeidiAmsterdam,

Good going that's 100 more than me but that's 2 adults and 2 kids.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@mini_mo, pick places with a decent supermarket in resort then you don't necessarily need a car to do a decent shop. That way you don't have to eat out every evening. We like to eat out, but would be 19 stone by the end of a week if we ate out for lunch and dinner!

We tend to have a large lunch on the mountain every day, then in the evening sometimes eat out, but quite often just have something back at the apartment (usually after having a few après beers before we get back). We do this without cooking too much either, the amount of cold meats, cheese, bread and bits we get through in a week is quite impressive. It would make it easier to stick within a food budget.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
pam w wrote:
@mini_mo, OK, no problem, you enjoy eating out at lunch and dinner and don't skimp on the drinks. Then no problem spending £1000 but it's most definitely not self catering. Laughing

I once cooked loads of pancakes for an apres ski snack for hungry teenagers who'd had no lunch. We worked out it would have cost nearly €100 if we'd bought that number in the village. Cost me practically nothing. I just bought enough beef for a slow cooked "beef in beer" for 5, in the excellent but very expensive butchers in our ski resort. Cost a fairly outrageous €28 but the rest, including a couple of cans of Newcastle Brown from Tesco cost very little. A good red wine, even in the resort shop, is not expensive. Because of the price of the meat that'll be one of the most expensive meals I cook all season.

I enjoy lunch on the slopes now and then but there's only me to pay for. When we were a family of five there was no way. Kids were instructed to eat a good breakfast in the chalet and given a Mars Bar to see themselves through to chalet tea.. They could spend their own pocket money on a plate of chips if they wanted, but rarely did. Just kept skiing!

With kids, an apartment near the slopes where they can be fed and watered for very little saves a fortune.


I totally agree with that strategy. Especially skiing France. The on slope, or near to slope apartments will cost more money, but when you take one hot chocolate @ 5 EUR and multiply by the number in your group, your daily rate comes out about the same. And you haven't had a proper meal yet! Being clever means calculating all costs, assigning a value, and getting your own personal 'value' for money.
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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.
Filthyphil30k wrote:
@HeidiAmsterdam,

Good going that's 100 more than me but that's 2 adults and 2 kids.


It was also 9 days of skiing, not 6 NehNeh
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I was shocked to pay €3.50 for a hot chocolate a couple of days ago. It was very good, but nowhere round my way charges €5. Eating out is one of those things where people vary a lot. We rarely ate out at home, either. Cheap food is often not worth eating and unhealthy and fattening into the bargain. . But a special meal at home has always been our main form of family treat and celebration. Those meals are fattening too, often featuring lots of roast potatoes and a pudding (never a part of routine meals) but worth eating and cheaper than a takeaway. I'm always astonished when I read what the average family spends on "eating out" throughout the year.

Resort supermarkets are expensive but not compared to even the cheapest meal in a restaurant. And even buying delicious ready cooked dishes at a "traiteur" and a decent bottle of wine will cost less than half the cost of a restaurant. If money is no object, eating out in a different restaurant every night is lovely (though not if you have small kids) and I'd much prefer that to HB in a hotel but for many families a ski holiday is a big financial stretch. It always was for us.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
O am with Pam W on this one. Even thou I could eat out every night the thought of it does not appeal to me, some times you just want to crash with a pizza & movie
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Not bad, but I raise you......

Feldberg:
I KNOW, it's not what most people would think of as a proper ski resort but if money is your main driver I think it must be the very cheapest place to go at half term.

Drive on tunnel - about 170 quid return
Apartment - about £400 for four. That includes ski passes as there is an arrangement between the tourist board and property owners.

Plus petrol and ski hire.

there are loads of cheaper places you can go; italy is especially good value as often they do cheap or free ski passes until the kids are practically uni students. You can usually do Abetone, for example, at well under £1500 including ski passes.

just don't go to a mega french resort and you're quids in.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Jonny996 wrote:
@DB, Don't know about that, I have a 1 year old Mercedes & it struggled in my UK residential street with 1\4 inch of snow.



Here's the test from YouTube (in German) - watch from 2:57


http://youtube.com/v/6tRofeNXVe8
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
From the title I assume we are meant to beat this?
OK our family ski holiday to whistler cost about CA$500 all in - think that's about £5 at the current exchange rate!? Madeye-Smiley
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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?
@stuarth, Yes, it is almost like my one is bigger than yours. Puzzled
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
@pam w, 5 EUR hot chocolate are Megeve prices. In fact I think they ran about 5,50 there. Topped with loads of whipped cream, we called it the Mount Blanc hot chocolate. In Tignes, some places were 6 EUR Shocked That said, I round two places which had a machine with decent hot chocolate for 2 EUR, and the SPAR supermarket in Le Lac had a machine for 1 EUR. I try to organize the hot chocolate breaks around the cheap places, but it doesn't always work out.

In Italy, pretty much 2 EUR across the board, no matter where you stop.

I could probably write a book, a guide to hot chocolates in ski resorts NehNeh
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
alex_heney wrote:

I note also you don't say whetehr yours is at February half-term or how many of you - is it reasonable to assume those variables were the same?


Yes indeed, half term for four people. I'd taken it as given that anyone with access to Igluski could arrange a cheap ski holiday at some point in the winter. The challenge is to do it at half term.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Quote:
Unfortunately I missed booking the Munich flights for next Feb half term as after we got back from this half term I had a two week business trip - by the time I got home I'd missed the cheap flights. They already seem to be 200-250pp, BA are silly money as usual looking at 300-400 each way for GVA, LYS, TRN etc.


Hopefully I can allay your frustration here.. they never were cheap. In fact I'm still expecting them to come down in price. I did MANMUC this year for about what you paid, and have been searching to similar flights for next year these last months. On Lufthansa.com they went straight from unbookable to overpriced in one fell swoop. They weren't bookable and cheap at any point that I noticed.

I'm holding out for MANFRA, but the return leg is currently stupidly expensive just now. Unless you book it as the outbound leg of a return flight from Germany 1 week later; in which case the damn thing comes down to £45 again.

Blooody Load Management or whatever it's called.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
mini_mo wrote:
@TheGeneralist, I'd be really interested in the specifics costs of your 2 dolomite trips:

We are pricing next half term up in San Cassiano for a family of 4 with teens and are way over. I thought this was still reasonable for half term.

1982 acc HB 3 star
560 flights
309 ski hire
720 ski pass
500 spending
334 transfer
No lessons
—————-
£4405 total

I guess you may have driven and self catered? Where else did you save costs on both occasions?

Thanks
Very Happy


Drive to the alps, from Manc, no chance..
The cheaper trip 4 years ago was just very very very lucky. Had Scotland booked and then found Arabba self catering with Neilson for £243 each. (so cancelled Scotland trip) Really nice appartment. The kids ski passes were free with our passes. Can't recall the rest of the costs, but ski school, food, beer, kids' hire (not literally) and some guiding all came to less than £600 per person.

More realistically, last years trip was to Ortisei. I can't remember all the details, but
Flights to Frankfurt were around £90 each
Car hire was same as usual
Appartment for 5 or 6 nights was around 700 euros I think
Only five days skiing not six
Ski lessons for 5 days for kids.
One free kids ski pass as the other was 9 years old.
So I guess the key difference was accommodation. Our place was pretty basic and up a big hill. But then it had a ski bus and a lift right by the door for evening skiing.

Being honest, the appartment wasn't basic. It was downright crude. One room. But we didn't care. It was quiet and that is almost the only thing we were bothered about. The other thing we were bothered about was skiing, and it sufficed for that as well.

Your transfer looks expensive. Is that really necessary?
Also equipment hire is a fair chunk of your costs. We just Roces the kids. Which makes it wee wee cheap.
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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!
There are warm hut on the slopes in Trysil (last night in the resort as I type this) and I think grills, have certainly smelt cooking from one or two. Supermarket is closer to the Raddison than the Turissenter proper and while more expensive than in the UK not much difference in price to the ones in resort in the Alps, stuff to make lunchtime snacks (on half board so a good breakfast and then decent evening meal keeps me and the kids mostly going) so say a baguette and some jam/cheese etc, fruit and crisps for the kids has probably been around a fiver a day for the 3 of us.
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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.
Oh and there are also several supermarkets about 20 min walk away down the hill from the Turissenter in Innbygda, guess they may be cheaper due to competition. Spend wise, £3K near enough covered half board, flights, transfers, ski passes and ski school for my 12 year old (which was great, off piste, tree skiing, park, half pipe, moguls, you name it they did it!). On top of that I've drawn about £200 worth of NOK out of the cashpoint over the week to cover spend in resort of which I have about £60 left and put maybe £80 or so of stuff like Trysil hoodies for the kids and a swimming costume for my 16 year old (pretty sure she deliberately forgot to pack hers so she didn't get badgered by sister to go to the hotel pool but changed her mind when she saw the pool!) which was no more expensive than the same costume on Amazon UK on my debit card.
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