 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Feck that's a stupid thing for their Senior Press Officer to say so it must be real. Kiss goodbye to any future bookings and almost inevitably means that punters who've already booked are high and dry (because surely resorts/countries will have to be pulled before departure date).
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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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I was supposed to pay them for a January trip to St Anton for an off-piste week on Saturday gone. Was wobbling last week and asked for an extension for payment (2 weeks). Apparently can take the £100 deposit over to 21/22 ... The off-piste company were great about transferring to a date in the future.
Think I will hold off planning any more trips. Have to get my head into a mindset of no skiing perhaps 
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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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Just out of curiosity I checked the price of my last years Crystal holiday against the same holiday for 2021 (Flaine, January)
£200 pounds dearer !! (a near 25% increase on last year..)
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| albob wrote: |
Just out of curiosity I checked the price of my last years Crystal holiday against the same holiday for 2021 (Flaine, January)
£200 pounds dearer !! (a near 25% increase on last year..) |
I've noticed too that the first week of January (usually when we go, for the cheap deals!) is more expensive this time round.
Might be worth finding a DIY option after all...
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@Dave of the Marmottes, Indeed.
I can imagine it is hard for companies like Crystal to wait till the last minute to decide whether to run ski holidays as they need to make decisions in advance as to whether to hire resort staff and charter planes. It must be even worse for the companies with chalets or childcare as their clientele may have more hesitation over travelling (due to sharing accommodation with other families) and those companies will need to decide in advance whether to hire chalet staff and nannies etc.
Whereas the self drive TOs will not need to hire resort staff or charter transport and they tend to sell self catering holidays where households can be self contained. Whilst some of their customers may cancel if travel restrictions are still in place there will be some who are prepared to travel, particularly if the quarantine is reduced between now and the start of the ski season.
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I was told a week ago that tour operators cancelled their chalet contracts with 40 accommodation houses in St Anton.
I imagine that accommodation that involves shared spaces for unrelated guests may struggle to operate in a covid-safe (whatever that means), and still provide good customer experience. In Australia, many chose to not operate this past winter.
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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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| Bergmeister wrote: |
Hopefully Scotland will be feasible, subject to wee Jimmy Krankie's permission... Fingers crossed!  |
Wee Jimmy krankie?
Really?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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I mean if there is 14 days quarantine on return, it's likely going to be a non-starter for most people. I can't take 3 weeks holiday for a 1 week skiing trip. So it makes sense to just shut up shop and not bother with those countries.
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I've sort of resigned myself to the fact it isn't going to happen this year. MrsHD will no doubt want to go somewhere after the end of the tax return season (131st Jan) so I suspect it'll be winter sun and if I'm lucky we might take the bikes.
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You know it makes sense.
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I’m still hopeful - Shapps now making positive noises about shorter quarantine from 1 December (even though his reasoning for quarantine originally has gone - apparently there was no point in the spring because levels of infection were high...), and Sunak seems to be gaining a bit of ground in the “economy v lockdown” debate.
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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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I suppose the question is - do governments care that much about the ski industry or are they willing to leave quarantines in place over winter and then renegotiate quarantine periods in summer when most people go on holiday? The summer route has the advantage of you don't have to do anything difficult now and can look 'tough' over winter with quarantines. Let's face it, not many people holiday over winter.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Also - this from Crystal's own FAQ section...
"What happens if the UK introduces a quarantine period for arrivals from my holiday destination?
We’ll be following FCDO advice and won’t be taking our customers to destinations where they’ll need to self-isolate or quarantine on arrival in the destination or on their return home."
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Pastorius, Quarantine was in place most of last summer. We lost our summer holiday as a result. Ski holidays aren't the only holidays people take in the winter months. People do city breaks or medium to long haul holidays for some sunshine. I think the question is more why are the government making so many excuses to stop people travelling? Other European countries allowed far more travel without quarantine last summer.
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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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| andy from embsay wrote: |
| I’m still hopeful - Shapps now making positive noises about shorter quarantine from 1 December (even though his reasoning for quarantine originally has gone - apparently there was no point in the spring because levels of infection were high...), and Sunak seems to be gaining a bit of ground in the “economy v lockdown” debate. |
Excellent! Following the science!!
Errr .... but ...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| snowymum wrote: |
| @Pastorius, Quarantine was in place most of last summer. We lost our summer holiday as a result. Ski holidays aren't the only holidays people take in the winter months. People do city breaks or medium to long haul holidays for some sunshine. I think the question is more why are the government making so many excuses to stop people travelling? Other European countries allowed far more travel without quarantine last summer. |
And it’s not just holidays, is it? Loads of businesses will want to be getting in and out of Europe to set up their post-Brexit trading arrangements.
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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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| snowymum wrote: |
| @Pastorius, Quarantine was in place most of last summer. We lost our summer holiday as a result. Ski holidays aren't the only holidays people take in the winter months. People do city breaks or medium to long haul holidays for some sunshine. I think the question is more why are the government making so many excuses to stop people travelling? Other European countries allowed far more travel without quarantine last summer. |
This is true but that was in the immediate response to Covid. Although I did manage to get on a summer holiday in mid August which was lucky.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Bergmeister wrote: |
| hawkesbaynz wrote: |
| Have to get my head into a mindset of no skiing perhaps |
I've already got into that mindset for 20/21. |
Me too. Going to use the time to get a new hip in time for 21/22!
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| homers double wrote: |
| MrsHD will no doubt want to go somewhere after the end of the tax return season (131st Jan) |
Is that an indication of how long January will feel if we can't go skiing? 
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Thanks for the share. I think the best we can hope for is that quarantine comes down to 5-7 days. That means no holidays from Crystal and other ABTA members, such as Inghams/Hotelplan, but if you can find insurance and are prepared to quarantine (and ski resorts don't close again), skiing will be possible
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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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@iainm, As far as I'm aware Crystal are the only ABTA member who have indicated they will cancel holidays if travel restrictions are still in place.
Clearly ABTA membership means that refunds must be offered as an option if travel restrictions are in place, but that does not mean that customers are obliged to cancel holidays that are still possible if they are willing to quarantine etc. Eg. We have booked with an ABTA bonded self drive TO and if quarantine is reduced and we can find insurance we will certainly consider travelling. Eurotunnel is still running and we have booked an apartment for our own household so are not dependent on other families being willing to travel and any rules like the "rule of six" would not apply to our holiday. We have our own skis etc and the children are beyond the age of needing lessons. We will obviously also consider the case levels in the UK and France nearer the time before making a final decision.
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Just checked the crystal Web site and I'm still looking at going to Italy end of january.. Fingers crossed.. Otherwise I'm driving out.. As long as the resort and lifts are open
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@snowymum,
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As far as I'm aware Crystal are the only ABTA member who have indicated they will cancel holidays if travel restrictions are still in place.
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We have a trip to Tignes booked with Inghams but through an agent. I wrote to them to check if Inghams will be offering the same as Crystal regarding the restrictions.(I actually quoted from The Crystal website) I have a written reply (see below)
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I've heard back from your operator Inghams regarding your query about quarantine restrictions effecting your booking.
They have said: 'If there are quarantine requirements on arrival or on their return to the UK we won’t expect them to travel.
They can either have a refund or transfer their booking to the following season depending on availability.'
———————————-—
So I guess Inghams have the same policy on this as Crystal.
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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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we've been told the same, i have one trip with inghams and one with crystel...both agents have siad to expect full cancellation shortly, as even flights are now been cancelled
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Regarding early Jan looking expensive this year (Flaine), it could be because the French Govt had provisionally set the State of Medical Emergency until year-end, so the expectation may have been that that's when demand would go up again.
However on Friday, the end date is now pushed back to Feb 16th 2021.
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You know it makes sense.
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When would Crystal have to announce they're shutting up shop for the season if they do go that way? I'm keeping an eye on them for any deals they might run.
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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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| snowymum wrote: |
| .... why are the government making so many excuses to stop people travelling? |
A sensible tactic to minimise infections is to restrict all unnecessary travel and visits. If a country sees travel internally as a problem (e.g. a son in Paris visiting his parents in Besançon for the Weekend and dropping-in to his sister's in Troyes en route) then it will certainly want to limit people from the UK arriving for a holiday. Even more so if a holiday destination has fairly limited healthcare resources to deal with an influx of foreign patients. A common restriction in the First Wave was to stop Alpine owners of résidence secondaires from using their holiday homes - on the basis that this would just have shifted the infections from urban areas with high healthcare capacity to Alpine villages without any. In which case, again, the authorities aren't going to want foreigners adding to the problems.
Of course, this is bad news for our holidays and very bad news for resort businesses. The former is irrelevant, but the latter is of course a factor. But authorities now have a better idea of what an infection event looks like and if anything, I'd say that the epidemiological factors now weigh higher than they did back in March-April.
Positing this as a 'health vs economy' issue is too simplistic and is arguably a false alternative. It's not a zero-sum-game in which 25% spent on covid restrictions allows 75% of the economy to flourish, whereas taking 75% of the covid actions needed reduces the economy to 25% of it's performance. You can take draconian health measures and minimise the economic impact at the same time, but you've got to have the right strategy, good compliance, political honesty, and organisational competence. Our problem is that we have the wrong strategies, degrading compliance, dishonest politics and incompetence.
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Poster: A snowHead
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It's pretty much the same here. Greed and stupidity will have many resorts open but it's not just number restrictions that will make it a no go for me. This administration is going for the screw it let them die approach and there are Millions here who are quite happy with this and have completely stopped any form of protective behaviour. So if you come here, you may get some skiing but you will also be swimming in what is effectively a plague pit for all other activities.
My only plan now is to carry my skis in the truck and if I see a nice empty hill, to skin up and slide down . . . better for my waistline 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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Felt wierd over the weekend putting the clocks back and not having anything to look forward to this winter......normally it's a yay not long now kinda feeling, yesterday it was a jeez its a long time until next summer to potentially get back into the mountains kinda feeling. It'll be the first winter for probably 30 years we've no skiing booked. I feel sorry for the TO's, or more specifically their staff both here and in resort........but even more so for those with small standalone businesses in the Alps who have their own money and lively-hoods invested, hope they can bridge to next summer/ winter. Tough times.
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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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| Quote: |
Felt weird over the weekend putting the clocks back
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I'll echo that, it's been a few years since the first clock I moved back wasn't my kitchen clock in Chamonix. Half term holiday in the UK, very strange.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Markymark29 wrote: |
| Felt wierd over the weekend putting the clocks back and not having anything to look forward to this winter...... Tough times. |
I'm resigned to similar - gonna have to keep a mind on my mental health without anything majorly positive to pull me through the crap.
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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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@Dave of the Marmottes, yep. I have flights to Salzburg over the Christmas period (rearranged from the ones I had for the EoSB) and Turdy is booked on for the PreBB, but I'm growing increasingly pessimistic that I'll get real snow this season. Going to have to find some other expensive hobby to take up my time and bank balance. I'm thinking hookers and drugs....or maybe I'll just start mountain biking again
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@SnoodlesMcFlude, hookers and drugs probably a cheaper pastime than mountainbiking....less chance of getting damaged too I’d think (talking from experience from a biking perspective not the other!)
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@Dave of the Marmottes, Gonna buy me a geeetar methinks, no idea how to play one but should wile away a few frustrating hours and nights!
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| Pastorius wrote: |
| When would Crystal have to announce they're shutting up shop for the season if they do go that way? I'm keeping an eye on them for any deals they might run. |
That's entirely up to Crystal.
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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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@Markymark29, I do already have the bike, it's just in desperate need of a service. I also don't have the same level of 'gear acquisition syndrome' which affects me with skiing.
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@SnoodlesMcFlude, Check out the Santa Cruz, Orange, Yeti and similar websites.....that should FIFY.........shiny magpiey things on there.
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