 Poster: A snowHead
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Before covid we have skied the French alps every January for about 10 years.
It's been 3 years now with no skiing and I'm desperate to get back to the alps next January but prices seem to have gone crazy. All the usual travel agents (crystal, Ingham etc.) Are so expensive this winter.
Is there a cheap way to get there by car/train or by plane and private transfer which actually works out cheaper?
Every way I've looked at, booking everything separately works out just as expensive as the big companies once everything is included
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I guess a lot of this will depend on how many of you are in the party and what sort of resort do you want to go to?
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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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Midweek flight Lon/Geneva £50 return
Cheap transfer bus to Chamonix £40 return
Cheap apartment or hostel £25/person/night, maybe less if there's more of you
Ski pass bought online in advance c. £25/day
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| Timmycb5 wrote: |
| I guess a lot of this will depend on how many of you are in the party and what sort of resort do you want to go to? |
Thank you it would be just 2 of us travelling from South Wales to any of the medium/large resorts in France austria or Italy. Which ever can be done cheaply really
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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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Our eldest has booked first week in January before university goes back & even I had to question it but he’s managed door to door for £80 return.
Granted he doesn’t have accommodation or kit hire costs but £80 for a week is amazing
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Flights still seem to be good value but everything else has gone up. Car hire and private transfers through the roof and accommodation is definitely more as hotels are struggling to get staff hence higher wages and electricity costs for heating are going up four fold I understand. Have you tried Sunweb, they offer full packages including lift passes and still have some reasonable deals.
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What's your budget? In total for flights, transfer, accommodation, lift passes and ski hire?
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@Tomwestcott1, welcome to the forum.
I see the same answer as @snowdave. Flights can be cheap if you avoid the busy weekends, and the Arve valley has some pretty economic transfers. Add to that - stay somewhere less convenient but still OK for the snow to get inexpensive accommodation..
For example Le Fayet (outpost of St Gervais down in the valley) has easy transfers by train or bus, and has a free ski bus connection up to the main gondola. There are also service buses (not expensive) that would take you to Les Contamines or to Combloux/Megeve if you didn't want to ski over. Plus to the Chamonix valley.
Not sure that you can make big savings on ski pass prices, but the advance booking discount helps.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Tomwestcott1, have train tickets for the usually quiet third week of January and many of hotels/hol accommodation no longer have availability. Called a couple of my favourite places and all were surprised by January bookings and requests.
What economic crisis?
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Or you could chance it and book a last minute deal with a tour operator 2 days before you leave. Last minute deals are usually under half the list price.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@snowdave, The only problem with your suggestion is the start from London bit. This can be expensive, but I suppose Megabus offers an way to get there.
The midweek flight idea is a good one, however. Just before Covid hit we flew from Birmingham to Geneva and caught the train to Bourg st Maurice. The return trip cost £125 with luggage (not much more than getting the train to London), but not skis. The basecamp lodge in the old barracks costs IIRC about £800 for a double room for a week in January, but a self caterering studio in Bourg or 1600 will be a lot less.
Getting the bus looked like a good idea, but snowcoach doesn't seem to offer independent travel and Snow Express is £170 return to Les Arcs. You have to get to London or Folkstone to catch it so it will actually cost a lot more
Having said that I'll be driving. If I had to drive to Folkestone to catch the bus I might as well just keep going having already broken the back of the journey.
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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're driving to Leys Sybelles, some good deals with Sunweb and Snowtrex for accommodation and lift pass if you don't mind / like the drive or want to book your travel independently. Also better deals in the smaller French resorts.
Prices currently from £179pp for 7 nights accommodation and lift pass on Sunweb = bargin!!!
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You know it makes sense.
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| snowdave wrote: |
Midweek flight Lon/Geneva £50 return
Cheap transfer bus to Chamonix £40 return
Cheap apartment or hostel £25/person/night, maybe less if there's more of you
Ski pass bought online in advance c. £25/day |
Where can you get a 25 quid ski pass nowadays? 
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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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^all of those prices sound a bit light to me.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Bergmeister, That's the online pricing for cham passes bought in advance under the dynamic pricing regime. €26-36, averaging out at £25 over 7 days.
https://www.montblancnaturalresort.com/en/chamskideal
Flixbus is £35 return which is a little less than I'd indicated in my "budget"
@rogg which prices seem light?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| snowdave wrote: |
Midweek flight Lon/Geneva £50 return
Cheap transfer bus to Chamonix £40 return
Cheap apartment or hostel £25/person/night, maybe less if there's more of you
Ski pass bought online in advance c. £25/day |
do these prices also include your time machine travel to 1976???
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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 n netty, as for @rogg, which price is wrong?
Swiss has flights for £39
Flixbus is £35
Ski pass as I've shown is c.£25
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@snowdave, pretty sure these are all "from" prices - I've, out of interest, just looked and on the 7th back on the 14th Jan your looking at "from" £80, without luggage etc, arriving at 10 at night.
again cham day passes are "from" 26 euros with 2 day prices showing at 90odd - so again "from" prices
If your super flexible and book as soon as the prices are released you might be able to jump on one or more of these prices but its unlikely that it'll work out that way for most people.
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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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Look at Sunweb, they offer both self drive accommodation and packages including flights. Lift passes are included in all of their deals. Some of their hotels are a bit further out, but you can find bargains with them even during the high season, especially if you're prepared to drive or book your own flights. They also offer arrivals any day, which is a big plus for us as flights are often cheaper mid-week.
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@andy n netty, gotta love Snowheads.
Somebody asks "cheapest". Someone posts the cheapest options they know of with links to show they are actually available.
Someone else posts "yep, but I can find stuff that's more expensive". 
P.S. top tip for cham visitors... 2x 1 day passes can be cheaper than 1x 2 day pass.
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Have been looking at car hire costs, the prices I'm seeing for Geneva in late jan seem crazy, was always pretty reasonable before, anybody think there's any chance they will come down a bit closer to the date of hire? (26 jan)
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I have used sunweb in the past their flight packages used to include transfers. Not anymore, 190 per person extra now. There are always hidden costs
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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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@Tomwestcott1,
UCPA
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@Tomwestcott1, Often there are local buses or trains you can take that offer good value. The local bus we are going to take from Salzburg airport to the Zell am See area only costs €13.50 per person (Regionalbus 260)!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It's been discussed on other threads but hire car prices are higher than before, some SHs (including me) have had luck booking in advance for safety, with a free cancellation option. A few days before departure check again on sites like Auto Europe and you may find cheaper rates. As you say, rates seem really high that week.
As others have said, staying outisde of the resorts is a great way to save money if you don't mind driving or ski bus. I think Austria works better for that option if you're driving but France has some brilliant options for "backdoors" to resorts. Maybe somewhere like Orelle or Bride Le Bain (?) might work if you wanted access to a big area on the cheap.
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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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@Tomwestcott1, no travel once there, walk out onto snow, passes included, very good area to ski with matcing food choices in terms of budget at great quality.
I've only driven there, but that's relatively easy one for access and no cost to park etc. Plenty to ski and added local areas to explore if needed, bus/car access for this.
This area is a really good balance of cost and facilities for a very good week's skiing.
Edit;- took link out as it abandoned choices I'd selected.
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Mon 7-11-22 16:15; edited 1 time in total
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Ignore that link as their "saved link" has bumped my original choice 
But it was 2 peeps, 14 January, one week, Val Cenis location to illustrate. It makes me put choices in each visit.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Jonny996 wrote: |
Our eldest has booked first week in January before university goes back & even I had to question it but he’s managed door to door for £80 return.
Granted he doesn’t have accommodation or kit hire costs but £80 for a week is amazing |
So that £80 is just travel? And to which resort?
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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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Cheap flight mid week with Wizz from Cardiff to Milan Malpensa, train from Milan to Tirano, public bus from Tirano to Bormio. Budget hotel/apt in Bormio. Can be done cheaply enough if you don't mind public transport.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Car hire and transfers all seem to have become far more expensive than 3 or 4 years ago. With just two people, and if you're flexible in January, I think I'd hang on for a last minute (which means last minute, not three weeks previously.....) deal and be super-flexible about where to go and what sort of accommodation.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've done some cheap trips going to Chamonix on cheap midweek flights, Easybus transfer, staying at Chamonix Lodge dorm room and there are cooking facilities.
It's not a super cheap deal that you can get with Sunweb but I find those are often hard to get to without spending more money on private transfer or car hire.
If you can find a good deal then Portes du Soleil have black Friday lift pass for €159 for 6 days released on the 25th but I often struggle to find cheap accommodation there.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Fly to Turin & train to anywhere west near a ski resort.
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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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Not a bad idea, but Italian accommodation isn't the cheapest.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@swskier, thanks looks an absolute steal
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@BenW_86, For the PDS a good selection of accommodation can be found at the resort tourist offices booking service.
I've used both of these very successfully.
For Chatel https://en.chatelreservation.com/ , they also offer a lift pass discount with your booking
For Les Gets https://booking.lesgets.com/ , 20% lift pass discount on certain dates.
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It's still possible to do a DIY week in a decent ski area for ~£500pp, including everything except food, based on 2 people going. That should be your target price if you are really keen to keep costs to an absolute minimum without compromising on quality of skiing.
Inflation / Covid has made hitting the target trickier, but there are still good deals to be found. It takes a bit of searching to get a convenient combination of prices (often there is one element that pushes up the cost significantly - this time it's car hire). Here are the expected costs for my trip (2 people) to the Portes du Soleil in January 2023:
Flights Edinburgh to Geneva incl. baggage: £160
7 day car hire: £292
Fuel (tolls are avoidable): £45
Accommodation in St Jean d'Aulps (next to local slopes, short drive from main PdS via Ardent / Morzine): £216
6 day full Portes du Soleil lift pass: £276
6 day ski & boot hire: £109
Total = £1098, or £549 per person
That's not far off the £500 target. By using public transport to resort I bet you could get it under £500. I should mention that we are going for a slightly longer trip, so have reduced the figures proportionally, but it shouldn't make that much difference provided you are going for a full week.
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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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I'd have thought you need to look at somewhere that is a relatively short transfer from airports with good public transport links - for one or two of you the costs of car hire / door to door transfer are rarely going to stack up eg Portes de Soleil Grand Massif or St Gervais.
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Check sunweb small print. Lots of apartments have hidden extras. Beddling, final cleaning, etc.
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