How much?! Where to book these days?

A snowHead

Having a season off this year due to multiple reasons but just checking prices for January 2024 and shocked how expensive skiing has become? Usually use Crystalski but also booked independent before too.

Are these prices just down to energy costs to run resorts? Or am I doing something wrong when searching?

We’re looking at Austria, Ischgl or somewhere similar. Looking for a decent apres but also high altitude/good snow. Prices have more than doubled since I went to Ischgl 4 years ago. Being quoted around £1100-1200 PP for just flight, hotel & coach at the moment. Similar via booking independent. And a massive lack of hotels available too?

Can anybody give any suggestions/advice on best place to book these days? Been told Sunweb is pretty decent?

A snowHead

It possible that a lot of accommodations haven’t released their availability for 2024 yet - and many may hold off until the energy cost increases are clearer. By way of example, electricity costs are (from what I’ve seen/heard in Austria) increasing from between 300-400% from Jan ‘23. Fuel for heating has already doubled at a minimum and will, in all likelihood, increase further.

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

Yes, operators and hotels will be building in some slack now for bookings so far ahead - they need to hedge. January is low season. I can't see any compelling reason to book so far ahead and if expensive resorts cost too much, there are plenty of others, many of them not featured in any of the tour operators brochures. Be ready to pounce on the easyJet schedules as soon as they are realised, then wait before booking accommodation.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Booked Ischgl (Galtur) pre covid (finally going in 5 weeks!) With Crystal for £950 including lift pass included, so given energy costs may be about right?

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If I search Ischgl Jan 14th - 21st 2023 on Crystal the cheapest option is £955

If I search Ischgl Jan 13th - 20th 2024 on Crystal the cheapest option is £868

That is flying from a London airport - and for B&B - the latter is £1207 for full board.

Sunweb effectively puts together self catering and lift pass offers. Good prices but bear in mind sometimes the rooms are the runt of the litter - so for example might furthest from reception or the most basic version. But a lot of people are happy with the what they get for the price. Personally I've never found them cheaper than booking direct with a local agency but that could be where I am going to. Either way it's very easy to do. But they don't have 2024 on sale at the moment. Not sure there is a need to book so early anyway as Jan is low season.

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

Igluski have the week of Jan 14th 2023 in the Val Sinestra in Ischgl for £868pp based on 2 sharing, including flights, transfers, and accomodation - which feels about the same ball part it has been for years (and allowing for inflation).

After all it is free

[quote="mountainaddict"]

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Most resort websites will have details of accommodation available. The easyJet flights up to November 2023 are available now. Need to keep an eye on their website. But flights for low-season weeks should be at reasonable prices for some time after the schedules are released. Relax!

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Always worth trying the local Tourist Office. We've done that in Schladming, Zermatt, Les Contamines etc and this year, Les Saisies. Usually cheaper than Airbnb, though sometimes the booking and payment processes aren't quite as slick. And there's always the option of a real (local) person on the phone or email to help with any queries.

snow reports

Snowtrex (https://www.snowtrex.co.uk/) usually has some good deals for accommodation including lift passes. I see all their Ischgl hotels are pretty expensive, but there are some good deals on other places with decent apres, e.g. Mayrhofen, Saalbach. Mayrhofen in particular has good public transport access from Innsbruck or Munich.

BA flights are on sale about 51 weeks before.
Easyjet last few years have been announced at different times - However, they have only just put Autumn schedule live.

You know it makes sense.

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

A snowHead

A snowHead

We booked our accommodation for Jan23 about a month ago, before that the hotels hadn't put up their availability and the only accom showing as bookable on such as booking.com was the odd private apartment. As it was a winter rest that had been closed to overseas tourists for go know how long I think they we very slow to update their web booking engines. price was very similar to Jan 2020 pre pandemic visit

defo too early to be thinking about Jan 24 accommodation.

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

@nba2005uk It sounds like you've not booked DIY before - there are some differences in the optimal strategy for DIY transportation and accommodation, which may be different to TO/Independent.

A. Self-drive or Flying?

At the moment, with DIY what you're after is first choosing self-drive or flying. If it's self-drive then you can choose any resort because you've got the transportation (i.e. go directly to 'C'). With flying the last couple of years have underlined that it won't be the flights that are the problem - it'll be the transfers (just look at the number of threads on SnowHeads discussing transfer options, or lack of them). Be careful about 'hybrid' trips (where some people go in the car but others fly out/back) because the car owner can often end up being a taxi service for people whov'e booked flights without any thought to transfers, assuming that the driver will do that, which is a bit unfair.

Self-catering

With self-catering you'll get an apartment that's much larger than any hotel room with the flexibility of just buying your own beer/wine rather than spending a fortune in the hotel bar. And you won't be limited by the meal schedule of the hotel. Of course for food, you either have to cook, get catered meals (an increasing option in many resorts), or go out.

B. Flying: 1. Choose a specific airport and 2. Resort(s) accessible by public transport

For flying, choose one or more candidate resorts that are accessible by public transport from a specific airport. This gives you the greatest flexibility and choice of transfer options: car rental, train/télépherique/bus, or transfer bus. Make an assumption about what airport you want to use (e.g. GVA) or your choice will be too wide. If it's a group where people are travelling on separate flights, then the public transport option also means that someone can be badly delayed and it doesn't affect the others: they just press on ahead.

C. Peruse Target Resort Rental Agency websites & email Tourism Office

Then just go to the Tourist Office and Rental Agencies in your candidate resorts and see what they have. You should quickly get an idea of costs and trade-offs (e.g. space vs nearness to lifts etc.).

D. Wait 'till flight schedules appear. then parallel book

Then when the flights for your airport appear you turn to the accommodation sites and in parallel you book flights and accommodation and the transfer option (car rental, train, bus, or transfer company). Don't get me wrong - I'm not dissing the package solution, just that if it's proving a problem for you then perhaps take a look at DIY as an alternative. The problem usually comes in terms of their respective pros and cons not being the same i.e. choosing which is best can sometimes be an apples-to-oranges decision.

It may sound a lot more hassle than booking with a TO but in reality, the upsides often greatly outweigh the downsides.

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We've done DIY for years when the kids were smaller and we filled a car, effectively we got two weeks for the price of one when compared to a TO deal.

Now it's just two of us, sometimes with parents its easier to go with crystal.

What does annoy me is a lack of customer appreciation, no incentives to re book with the TO as there isn't a customer log in. No option to save passports etc. We probably spend around 4-5k each year with them with nothing back. We do get the occasional half price lift pass but have also found they charge higher than the resorts anyway.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Don’t forget if you go down the diy route and decide a self catered apartment is the right choice, look for fri - fri weeks. We just started offering ours fri - Fri and I’m amazed that it’s almost completely sold out for this season. You’ll save some money on flights AND you’ll have your first skiing day when the vast majority of people are leaving on the standard sat - sat changeover.

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Travelling to St Anton next month for a Snoworks off-piste week. Using the St Anton TB website by far the cheapest for a single person.

Folk are correct about the transfers. So important to book a resort with easy/economical transfers particularly if only 1-2 skiers.

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

Thanks for the replies all.

Think we have settled on Saalbach for 2024, just need to decide Jan or March now. Will wait til around April and check what deals are out there or go the diy route. Sunweb seem to offer the best deals if one were to go this coming season.

After all it is free

There’s no getting away that winter sports holidays get ever more expensive, in my opinion over the last 20 years way above general inflation in the UK or EU. Part of this is down to the 1.45 exchange rate then, now more like 1.15. But that’s only part of it.

Skiing in the late 90’s in Italy and Austria, ski rental seemed to be circa £50 for 6 days, a lift pass £100. We’re now paying many times that, even when booking ahead. A taxi transfer Salzburg Airport to Schladming was €100 in Dec 19, last Saturday it was €150 with the same local company. I wonder if businesses are openly recouping from the pandemic winters?

For a family of 4, it’s easy to spend eye watering sums.

With the wealthy and not quite so wealthy of UK/Belgium/Netherlands/Germany/Sweden fixated on winter sports in a relatively thin geographical arc from Alpes-Maritime to Styria over 16 weeks or so, the demand will always be there. We’re addicted. Prices can therefore march on apace.

A few things have gone up in price in the last few years: parking, Eurotunnel, fuel, some ski passes. But otherwise it seems to me prices have only risen in line with inflation.

Help!!

How much?! Where to book these days?

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