 Poster: A snowHead
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Do true Last minute ski holidays exist anymore?
I remember booking a holiday (admittedly it was 20 years ago) at 8pm on the Friday night to fly 6am Saturday and bagged flights transfers and a room in a catered chalet for £90 each. (There were others in the chalet who booked even later and got it even cheaper)
Does this sort of deal happen anymore?
If so where would you book it.
I can't remember how I booked that deal (I know it was on the telephone but I don't recall whether it was direct to the package company or an agent.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Those were the days! Watching with interest, although the demise of chalets has done for a lot of the cheap stuff hasn't it?
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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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Do they exist? Yes. Do they exist to the same degree no. The variable costs and so you won't find £90 deals anymore. January 2023 we were with a couple in a catered Chalet who paid less than a quarter of the price the rest of us did as they had booked on with just a few days to go. That was with Inghams.
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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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Five years ago I booked on Friday late afternoon to travel on a 7am flight Saturday to Val D'isere.
£250pp - flights, transfers, catered chalet. About a 1/4 of what everyone else had paid! I would love to find a deal like that again....
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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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| papajc001 wrote: |
| ...I can't remember how I booked that deal (I know it was on the telephone but I don't recall whether it was direct to the package company or an agent. |
Teletext! Booked it, packed it, fooked off 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I was recently looking for a 3 night stay around kronplatz and messaged number of properties to discount the price by 30-40% and was either ignored or got refusal. It was a day before arrival. Finally found a nice deal on booking.com but far from being great.
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| adithorp wrote: |
| papajc001 wrote: |
| ...I can't remember how I booked that deal (I know it was on the telephone but I don't recall whether it was direct to the package company or an agent. |
Teletext! Booked it, packed it, fooked off |
Yeah come to think of it, it was. I'd forgotten about teletext holidays.
Those were the days
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| Legend. wrote: |
| Do they exist? Yes. Do they exist to the same degree no. The variable costs and so you won't find £90 deals anymore. January 2023 we were with a couple in a catered Chalet who paid less than a quarter of the price the rest of us did as they had booked on with just a few days to go. That was with Inghams. |
I don't suppose you know whether they booked via website or telephoned Inghams?
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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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When we were young and poor we used teletext to find cheap last minute deals, and had some great ski holidays. I don't see the sort of bargains available now tbh - we were paying £80 - £99 for an all-in week if I recall correctly.
Once took a gamble on "resort and accommodation allocated on arrival", it was super cheap. Ended up in Macugnaga, with extremely limited skiing and terrible food in the hotel. Attempts were being made to serve more "British" fare, and from the clientele you could tell why! Anyway ate out in the lovely village every night after the first, and made the most of a holiday in the mountains with a little bit of skiing thrown in. Had a great time. But would not want to repeat it!
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I loved the old teletext holidays pages and, armed with a pile of brochures from the travel agent, trying to work which resorts/hotels were on offer!
Also did one of those resort and accommodation allocated on arrival trips. Ended up in a very decent hotel in Valmorel - not too bad all told, at a very reasonable price. The only drag was Chambery airport with its many, well-documented, drawbacks.
PS - do ski brochures still exist? I loved them... 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| snowyc wrote: |
| I was recently looking for a 3 night stay around kronplatz and messaged number of properties to discount the price by 30-40% and was either ignored or got refusal. It was a day before arrival. Finally found a nice deal on booking.com but far from being great. |
In my experience there’s stubborn rigidity across much of The Alps on any stay from the Saturday before Xmas onwards, having to be 7 nights on their changeover day terms. Their call.
Funnily enough this got a mention in the recent BBC’s Great Hotels episode set at a hotel neat Kronplatz. They now insist on 7 days to prevent the constant upheaval of ‘Instagram tourists’ staying one night to tick off a series of hotels for their wannabee influencer career.
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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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£199 to Vail is my all time favourite 
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| LOTA wrote: |
I loved the old teletext holidays pages and, armed with a pile of brochures from the travel agent, trying to work which resorts/hotels were on offer!
Also did one of those resort and accommodation allocated on arrival trips. Ended up in a very decent hotel in Valmorel - not too bad all told, at a very reasonable price. The only drag was Chambery airport with its many, well-documented, drawbacks.
PS - do ski brochures still exist? I loved them... |
I’ve still got a selection of ski brochures from our package holidays 1996 onwards. In that era £250 pp seemed to get you a decent 7 day trip in a snowsure village, we paid £1k per head for 11 days at Chateau Lake Louise over Xmas!
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You know it makes sense.
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Just had a quick look
There are deals out there <£250 self catering in France
Luton flight. Pass etc extra
Wouldn't be my choice but if you had the time to fit in an extra week would probably be ok
Snow permitting
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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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| Garfield wrote: |
Just had a quick look
There are deals out there <£250 self catering in France
Luton flight. Pass etc extra
Wouldn't be my choice but if you had the time to fit in an extra week would probably be ok
Snow permitting |
Can I ask where you looked. Because the websites I'm looking on only have Bansko, Arinsal and Niederau (all appear to currently have little to no snow) as cheap holidays and even them are £350+ for flights and SC accomodation 
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Legend. wrote: |
| Do they exist? Yes. Do they exist to the same degree no. The variable costs and so you won't find £90 deals anymore. January 2023 we were with a couple in a catered Chalet who paid less than a quarter of the price the rest of us did as they had booked on with just a few days to go. That was with Inghams. |
My wife and I have been in that position, though we were polite(?) enough not to mention it...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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2019 we got a last minute deal (not that last minute, 7 days before departure) of flights, transfer, catered chalet for £600pp with a TO to Saalbach. Thought it was a very good deal at the time.
Now days, due to the size of our group and particular demands we book well in advance to get the accommodation type and location we want.
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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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| papajc001 wrote: |
| Garfield wrote: |
Just had a quick look
There are deals out there <£250 self catering in France
Luton flight. Pass etc extra
Wouldn't be my choice but if you had the time to fit in an extra week would probably be ok
Snow permitting |
Can I ask where you looked. Because the websites I'm looking on only have Bansko, Arinsal and Niederau (all appear to currently have little to no snow) as cheap holidays and even them are £350+ for flights and SC accomodation |
That was on the Inghams site
https://www.inghams.co.uk/ski-holidays/search-results?to=[]&resort=[]&when=02/03/2024&nights=7&from=&adults=2&children=&flexibleDate=35&self=true
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Fri 1-03-24 14:04; edited 1 time in total
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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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Leaving this weekend, you can get a week in a hotel in Champoluc for £549 or a hotel in Val D'Isere for £599 - both flying from Gatwick.
Otherwise it's Bansko or Andorra, as mentioned above.
This was on sno.co.uk
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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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To be fair it's currently peak season so less likely to get bargains.
But opening week, January. late March I'd still expect to get good last minute deals.
The big operators like Crystal, Skiworld have the breadth but smaller operators not to be overlooked.
Or use an aggregator like Iglu
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| DidierCouch wrote: |
| Legend. wrote: |
| Do they exist? Yes. Do they exist to the same degree no. The variable costs and so you won't find £90 deals anymore. January 2023 we were with a couple in a catered Chalet who paid less than a quarter of the price the rest of us did as they had booked on with just a few days to go. That was with Inghams. |
My wife and I have been in that position, though we were polite(?) enough not to mention it... |
@DidierCouch, there is no finer way to endear oneself to the other guests than to pi$$ immediately on their chips.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Fri 1-03-24 17:05; edited 1 time in total
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@papajc001,
Currently it's peak season so not too many bargains to be had. After the school half terms across Europe try one of the specialist ski travel agents such as peak retreats, alpine answers or iglu. If you have specific resort(s) in mind then something like the Tignes Seassonaires 2024 group on Facebook.
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I can offer a six bed (3 Austrian Doubles) with ensuite, self catering, apartment in Wagrain next week Sun to Sat for €1200 if anyone's interested? Or, minimum of 3 nights at €300pn if you want to fly midweek. PM me!
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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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One of my favourite ski memories involves the missus waking up and telling me she was feeling sick so wouldn't go out that night and didn't need me to mind kids
So I went to Switzerland
Last minute very possible DIY in the world of booking etc, and also can be very cheap
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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This is actually based on 6 people sharing. Still cheap, but you do need 6 people.
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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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| mikeycharlton wrote: |
This is actually based on 6 people sharing. Still cheap, but you do need 6 people. |
And as I'm on my own it wouldn't be possible.
Plus I was looking at from next weekend not this weekend
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Our best deal - 1998 - fully inclusive chalet in Vail including flights and transfers for £299 each. The deal was "you will fly into Denver and will be told on arrival which resort you will be going to" - I was hoping for Beaver Creek tbh as the lift pass was cheaper, but heyho.
We had got married the year before but I hadn't changed my name on my passport - I just happened to mention to the agent (booked by phone) that I had hadn't changed my name yet - and when we arrived at Denver the rep met us with "ah, the honeymoon couple!" - we didn't like to contradict him and we ended up in the "Honeymoon suite" of a luxury chalet.
The weirdest thing was that there was another couple in the same chalet that we had met on a flotilla holiday in Greece the year before! We felt bad that we had been given the best room when two of the couples were actually on their honeymoon, whereas we'd been to Africa for ours, but a bit like telling people you got a really cheap deal when they've paid full price we just kept schtum.
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You know it makes sense.
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| papajc001 wrote: |
...
And as I'm on my own it wouldn't be possible.
Plus I was looking at from next weekend not this weekend |
Ingham's have some 2 person deals for under £400 each in 2 weeks' time. (Haven't checked if there is snow!). Even if you paid for 2 people it might work out cheaper than many are paying this year.
Getting deals for a single traveller is probably always going to be more difficult.
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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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| ecureuil wrote: |
| papajc001 wrote: |
...
And as I'm on my own it wouldn't be possible.
Plus I was looking at from next weekend not this weekend |
Ingham's have some 2 person deals for under £400 each in 2 weeks' time. (Haven't checked if there is snow!). Even if you paid for 2 people it might work out cheaper than many are paying this year.
Getting deals for a single traveller is probably always going to be more difficult. |
Interesting idea, so has anyone done that, Paid for 2 as a solo traveller?
I assume you'd need a legitimate person's passport number to book but what do you do when they obviously don't travel with you? Do you need to inform anyone, if so who?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
I assume you'd need a legitimate person's passport number to book
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I can't imagine you'd need to have an imaginary friend. There is usually provision to book solo, but with a massive "supplement". Just ask.
For solo travellers the best bet might be to rent a tiny studio and arrange travel separately, going somewhere with reasonable public transport links.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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More insane Vail bargains. 2006, 10 days in a condo with hot tub, lift pass included, £500.
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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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For my first trip to NA in the late 90s my friendly travel agent had offered me 6 days in France for £599 or 10 days in Banff for £599. I phoned them to check there hadn’t been a mistake.
I think that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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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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| papajc001 wrote: |
| Legend. wrote: |
| Do they exist? Yes. Do they exist to the same degree no. The variable costs and so you won't find £90 deals anymore. January 2023 we were with a couple in a catered Chalet who paid less than a quarter of the price the rest of us did as they had booked on with just a few days to go. That was with Inghams. |
I don't suppose you know whether they booked via website or telephoned Inghams? |
Sorry for late reply. They telephoned and negotiated a price. Didn't accept first offer etc and so on until they got what they wanted.
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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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| mikeycharlton wrote: |
This is actually based on 6 people sharing. Still cheap, but you do need 6 people. |
Umm, a bit mis-leading. The first page shows it as £456 for 2 people (it does say 'from' though  )
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FAQ
