 Poster: A snowHead
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My partner and I have finally been able to book a week off work, so this year's skiing holiday is pencilled in for Sat 18 - 25 March. Usually we go in January (and book way in advance over the summer). So it's a bit different this year. The main question I'm putting to the collective wisdom of snowheads is: is it better to book now or wait (presumably until the last minute)? Or variations on the above, e.g. book flights now but nothing else.
A few more details about our requirements, roughly in order of importance:
- a large ski area (happiest on blues / reds, fine with blacks / greens too, but not off-piste). Reluctant to specify a number but probably 150km or 200km+
- flights from Glasgow or nearby
- NOT the Skiwelt, Alpe d'Huez / Les Deux Alpes or Grand Massif as we've been to those areas recently and like to explore new places
- flexible as to country, type of accommodation, transfers
A couple of other questions:
- I know late March isn't exactly late season, but should we avoid the lowest resorts / areas if booking in advance?
- given the exchange rate and change of month compared to last year, is it unrealistic to match prices of the last few years? (£1-1.1k in total for 2 people, for accommodation, flights, transfers, ski passes & equipment hire)
...and anything else we should be aware of...
I'll have a dig around on the forum for similar topics too.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Lots of recent threads on this. In summary :
If you want to go DIY and/or are very specific about where you want/what you want then book now, or at least book the flights/car hire now, as flights tend to go upwards over time.
If you want to get a package then given you seem to be flexible about where you go (and can look last minute for where has good snow), then you're proably be better waiting.
Unless you are very specific with requirements, booking early with a tour op seems to offer little to no benefit, and if you ask those early bookers recently screwed over by Mark Warner with surcharges then you can in fact be worse off.
On pricing. Dunno I reckon if you are not peak you can probably find late deals for 400-500 ish pp ? (its been a while since Ive done a package, Im sure someone else will comment ). Kit hire and pass on top, but again you might find an included deal.
DIY off-peak, if you shop around you should be able to get flights for 100-125 pp, you can probably rent a 1 bed appartment or studio for 400-500, may be less. Car hire 200, maybe less.
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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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Thanks @Gazzza. We're flexible about whether to DIY or go with a tour op - the last two years were DIY, but 2014 was with Crystal (actually ended up the most expensive of the 3, but only just). The overriding factor is price, and (say) £450pp for a last-minute package sounds expensive to me. £900 + ski hire and lift passes would be well over our previous budgets - surely last-minute prices are lower than that? Unless you're talking about chalet prices with meals included, in which case that sounds more reasonable.
Last year's breakdown of costs was as follows (total for 2), for Les Carroz in January 2017:
Self-catering accommodation: £297
Flights & baggage: £172
Transfers (Alps side only): £102
Lift passes (7 days instead of usual 6): £370
Equipment hire: £95
= £1036, so this is what we're trying to come close to!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Yes, sorry for package I was thinking chalet board. Dunno, a quick scout on igluski for packages early Jan start from about 470 pp catered. This is of course three weeks or more away so not really last minute.
I'm sure shopping around and going truly last minute then one could bag something to somewhere decent for the 350-400pp mark. But as I say, I've not done a package for years.
Self catering looks about right. In theory if you paid that last year you might expect an extra 100-150 thanks to exchange rates.
Having said this, our DIY self catering for 4 to Courchevel this year, flying on NYE for 8 nights and 7 days skiing, flights, car hire, fuel, tolls, extra airport hotel overnight on 8th night, with 3v passes and kids ski hire x 2 is coming in at a little over 2800. So equivalent for 2 would be circa 1400. Bearing in mind this is a peak week so if you shop around then getting something out of peak season sounds like it should easily be doable for 1100 or maybe less.
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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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If you are flexible and just two people a last minute (72 hours...) TO package should be good. For maximum cheap book flights now and find accommodation including lift pass, hire if skis. I suspect they don't get much cheaper last minute. Go somewhere no Brit TOs go.
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@Gazzza, think you're right about last minute package prices.
In the end we've decided that this year might be a good time to nab a last minute chalet deal. So we've booked flights but nothing else and will wait until (mid) March to book the rest. I think we'll end up spending a bit more because of the exchange rate - especially lift passes - but hopefully not too much more.
@pam w, last minute TO package was the other option but possibility of a chalet too good to resist 
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The only reason I see to book early is if a) a really top notch deal comes up. Or b) flights from Glasgow to airports close to ski areas are few and far between (especially if you want to go with a TO).
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@denfinella, I am away this week as well. Mr ski buddies are dotted all over England so everyone books their flights to Geneva (this was done a couple of months ago) and then we hold out for a last minute deal on a catered chalet, usually booked the week before we go. This has worked well for us over the last couple of years as we have had some real bargains. But we are flexible so if we cant get a catered chalet we are happy to self cater or even split the group and take a couple of apartments.
Keep everything flexible, hold your nerves and i am sure you will bag a bargain if you are not precious about where you go. If you cant do that then get booked up.
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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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@Sunshine81, holding our nerve will be the trickiest part! But we can be flexible and don't really mind where we end up (within reasonable proximity to Geneva). Will see how it goes...
@hammerite, in the past it's been worth booking early as a DIY trip. Cheap flights at useful times (e.g. a late return flight gives 7 days skiing) in particular. Flights a bit more expensive this time as we haven't booked so far in advance, but will hopefully get a decent chalet deal.
Flights from Glasgow to the Alps are OK, but you're limited in where you can go. Geneva, Grenoble and Milan were the only reasonably-priced offerings this year.
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