Left it too late?! :(

A snowHead

I asked about recommendations for skiing with a beginner child this April a while ago. I haven’t booked yet as there seemed to be a lot left. Except now there isn’t. Damn damn damn.

Ski Esprit charter flights are sold out.

I need flights from Gatwick, ski school, maybe a bit of child entertaining but not all the time, half board, something unski to do in case he hates it, someone else doing the legwork in sorting transfers etc.

Have found just one option which is coming in at £2500 plus lift pass for me.

I am kicking myself for not booking earlier.

Do I just need to suck it up if I want to ski at all? Where might I not have looked? Or do last minute deals exist?

As an alternative I could try and sort bits out myself. But I worry there’d be no other English speaking children in the ski school and it would be incredibly hard work.

Woe is me

A snowHead

There will be last minute deals.

Start looking 7-10 days before you want to go.

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

Have you tried calling Ski Esprit directly and checking with them?

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If you look on the tourist office websites or call there is almost always accomodation. Im currently sking in Austria in one of the busiest weeks of the year and only booked 2 weeks ago. Driving rather than flights makes it easier to find spaces too as you dont need to match up with available flights.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Yes, I called Esprit and their charter flight is full. They have a few spaces in chalets but the supplement for non charter flights is £500 per person

You'll need to Register first of course.

So it isn't just from the North, then (see my own surprise at lack of deals).

Have you tried Inghams, Iglu Ski, Crystal, Neilson etc? Depends how late you want to go, and how much to pay, and if you're that fussy about which country (as long as snow us OK when late season): but they still certainly have some availability and should include transfers, ski schools etc.
Good luck, sure you'll get something, esp. from London area airports (try for Stanstead, LGW and LHR at a minimum).

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

Thanks Grizzler, some new ones on that list, I will look later.

I did wonder if some companies had cut back on holidays available to Brexit-proof themselves a bit in case there really is chaos.

After all it is free

@Mimi, I also wondered about that. But when I looked a few days ago, though for Manchester or more northerly, there were some very attractive prices for 31 March - maybe Brexit, maybe just late season.

Oh, and if you can relax the half board requirement, at least to b&b, it opens up a lot more options. Stay in or near village or town centres and it's little bother (even with child, I would hope) to pop to the next door or nearby restaurant, pizzeria, etc - and often, unless you want full and very hearty 3 course meals, cheaper (at least from my dietary requirements' experiences).

Ski Famille ?

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Could try snowbizz, ski famille, family ski

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

A few years ago I missed a Christmas in the Caribbean for the same reasons. There was hotel availability but no flight seats at all.

Last minute deals do come up for ski trips, as people do cancel (medical reasons etc). The downside is it may not be exactly what you would have chosen and may not be exactly where you wanted to go.

These days, booking early is the best way to get a good price and guarantee getting the holiday you want.

snow reports

Last year we got an amazing deal with Ski Miquel to Montgenevre at Easter. I think they are already sold out but may be worth a call. The ski school Apeak had other British children in the classes and we're excellent.

If the problem is mainly with flight availability you could look at going by train. For the week before Easter you can probably still get return tickets from London to say Moutiers / Bourg St Maurice (for the relatively high resorts of Trois Vallees / Paradiski / Espace Killy) for around £500 for both of you.

A bit more hassle, e.g. getting across Paris and transfer from station to resort, but perhaps more of an adventure. And "self-travel" prices with TOs could be cheap if they have no flight capacity left but still want to fill accommodation. (They might be able to handle the station-resort transfer as well).

You know it makes sense.

Lots of english run ski chalets in the french resorts with creches on site or shared between chalets under the same umbrella. A bit of google should find some of these, but various combinations of "family", "ski", "creche", "Childcare" should chuck up some options. They tend to always have an offer section, often on the front page.

My friends got a very good last minute deal a couple of weeks ago with 2 wks notice and then another friend joined them and paid a good deal less and zero single person supplement.

Most of these deals are the chalet/food only, so need to sort flights and transfers.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Mimi,

Ask (post) on Chalets Direct stating your requirements, you might get lucky.

Here https://www.chaletsdirect.com/forum/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=1

A snowHead

+1 for @orange and @lottster's suggestions. Ring up the companies - with two of you, you'll fit in any room left in any chalet.

A snowHead

Choose a list of resorts you know and like. Contact their Tourist Offices and contact them in sequence, telling them exactly what you're looking for. I'd be very surprised if they can't find you something suitable eventually. Then book Eurotunnel or ferry and drive and when that's done confirm your accommodation. You might want to book accommodation en route as well. A large proportion of families do this by preference. I appreciate it's easy for me to say as I don't have to do it but you may find you end up preferring this approach.

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

@Mimi, https://www.familyskiholidays.com/ are a family specialist that I used many years ago and thought were good.

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One thing to consider would be flying to Barcelona (loads of flights there particularly with EasyJet), v straightforward transfer to Grandvalira and selecting suitable accommodation separately. Excellent ski school for beginners in Soldeu. Is conditional somewhat on them having a decent top up dump
in March but Pyrenees have done well previously in late season.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

The reason there's a shortage of charter flight seats is that in April they start switching the planes to Mediterranean sun holidays, so less capacity. Research scheduled flights, then negotiate on the rest of the holiday, there is loads of spare accommodation in April.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Thank you everyone very much. Chalets direct has already come up with an incredible list of options for much much less than £2500. I will be looking at them all later today. Thank you so much!

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

Look at Sweden. There will be plenty of non-ski stuff going on as well as family-friendly skiing

After all it is free

Ski-2 in Champoluc do ski holiday packages including kid's ski school etc but excluding flights. If you can get a half-sensible price for flights into Geneva, Milan or Turin (Ski-2 do the transfers) then they could work out quite well for you.

I have now had a chance to look through the suggestions made on Chalets Direct and my head is swimming, I haven’t been to most of the resorts, especially late in the season, and feel a bit clueless. When adding costs of everything inc ski school etc quite a few of them are edging closer to £2500 again. Sad

. Long shot,but.... does anyone feel like looking over that thread and offering an educated opinion on what would suit us best? Is now on their page 2, Anywhere considered posted by SulisMinerva....

I am waiting to hear back from Ski 2 also...

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There are exactly 3 places left on the SFaB2019 - might be worth a look?

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@Mimi I have a place on Chalets Direct but can't meet what you're after. So after a quick look (and I haven't gone into the pricing) from my own experience with small children:

Anything you can get at less than £2000 all in is a very good deal!
Those responses with a firm offer rather than "have a look at our website" have probably put a bit of thought into their response as opposed to cut and paste.
I like the look of a couple of places who have made it clear that they have similar families staying. You'll appreciate the company and distraction.
Avoid 3 Valleys and Espace Killy, probably not what you're after.
Morzine always full of Brits and you'll probably meet like minded people on the flight out.
Les Arcs/La Plagne pretty snow sure even late in the season.
Best "smaller" resort on there is probably where Chalet Gove is located. Just depends if you want French or German speaking resort.
Salzburg Airport always much nicer to go through than Geneva, but be aware it closes on 23rd April for runway resurfacing even if it does say there are flights available.

Hope that helps.

snow reports

Don’t be worried about your child being the only English speaking child in their ski class. Mine were surrounded by Dutch kids this week and were perfectly happy.

@Panaga52 that’s great advice, thank you. Gove does look nice as you say. I have only been to France and Italy before

You know it makes sense.

@Mimi, @panaga52's advice is pretty good. Where owners are saying there are other kids staying, ask about ages - 10+ year olds won't be so great for your son, probably.
But also +1 for @admin's suggestion of the Spring Family Bash (disclaimer: I am not unbiased, I'm going on it). Guaranteed to be other kids of similar ages, like-minded parents to ski with and people to help out when needed. You'd need to sort transfers, but depending on what flights you got, there would likely be someone to share a car with.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Thank you all. I am going to pass on the bash this time BUT assuming all goes well we will definitely come another time. I have now booked, affordably, so thank you all very much indeed!

A snowHead

A snowHead

Help!!

Left it too late?! :(

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