 Poster: A snowHead
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Dear Snowheads,
Please can I have your advice. Is it worth hiring a minibus for seven of us to travel to the alps (at Feb half term) or would it be cheaper going in two cars? I have had a quote from Vans for Bands and it looks too expensive to make it worth while. Has anybody done this recently? Is it worth the faff or even a saving. We have snow chains for our cars and we have done this in cars plenty of times before. Do you think it is worth it for the seven of us?
Thank you for your time and thoughts.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Some friends tried this, but when they were over in France they discovered their minibus was limited to 65mph 
Their other problem was someone was always needed a wee, so they kept stopping.
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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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| HilbertSpace wrote: |
| Their other problem was someone was always needed a wee, so they kept stopping. |
What were they all? Twelve?
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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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My first question would be do Vans for Bands supply minibuses with winter tyres.
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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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| flangesax wrote: |
| My first question would be do Vans for Bands supply minibuses with winter tyres. |
According to their post in this thread yes they do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| ster wrote: |
| HilbertSpace wrote: |
| Their other problem was someone was always needed a wee, so they kept stopping. |
What were they all? Twelve? |
more likely pensioners with poor bladder control!
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Yes, the "vans for bands" promotion for Snowheads (fully equipped van for 10 days for £750) is a very good buy.
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I used Vans For Bands for a Feb. Half Term ski trip in 2023 and:
1) Is it going to be cheaper with 2 cars? And the answer is, Yes. Taking into account hire cost/fuel/tolls taking 2 (or in our case 3) cars worked out cheaper than hiring a van.
But
2) It's a MUCH more sociable way to travel, with a group in the van rather than 2 isolated 'boxes' of people.
3) There's communal entertainment, be that adult of child - but critically not people watching different things in isolation and the driver being isolated from everything/everyone.
4) You only need 2 drivers to share the work in 1 van, not 4 drivers spread across 2 cars.
5) If driving through the night (and assuming 2 families with children) the 'off duty' driver can get some kit, leaving it to one of the 'freeloading' adults to keep the driver awake.
6) Having done it I would 100% do it again in a heartbeat if we had a group that size and were driving.
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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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| Quote: |
but when they were over in France they discovered their minibus was limited to 65mph
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The vehicles rented by Vans for Bands are not speed-limited, so I think the minibus rental you refer to must've been through another company.
As for whether or not a van rental is cheaper than the overall cost of two cars, probably not. Where it may be of interest is for people who don't want to put the mileage on their own cars or set them up for a trip to the Alps, or for people who would prefer to travel as a large group and share the driving between 3 or 4 of them and, maybe, enjoy a bit more of a sociable trip on the way down. Also, for when flights become expensive for peak dates and the vans can then provide a more economical means of travel to the Alps for a group. For an idea of overall costings, please see the link below from the ski flight free website.
https://skiflightfree.org/uk-french-alps-luxury-splitter-van/
The 'basic' vans are the best option for price, These vehicles are between 3 and 4 years old and have around 30k to 40k miles on them, standard bench seats and none of the extras that the 'next generation' touring vans come with (these are also newer vans, typically less than two years old). As a price example, it's possible to hire a 'basic' van for £1056 for 8 days' hire in February, this would allow a Saturday to Saturday rental and 5 days' skiing at half-term.
I realise this isn't the recent customer feedback that the OP requested, but thought it worth posting. Hope it helps. Thank you.
Edit: The seats on the 'basic' vans are actually much better than I have been describing, not standard bench seats but individual seats that should be plenty comfortable when driving to the Alps. Details of 'basic' vans on link below.
https://www.vansforbands.co.uk/splitters/9-seat-basic-splitter
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Fri 6-12-24 17:20; edited 2 times in total
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If you have reluctant drivers a van also makes sense. My son in law did 90% of the driving back and forth to the Alps last Christmas. I'm not insured to drive it, and dozed in the back. With sensible stops 1 driver can easily drive to ski resorts, I've done it myself lots of times.
A van is also easier than most cars to fling skis in if you have to move people between accommodation and lifts.
I like driving vans - I find that good ones have seats which are more suited for long hours driving than many cars. More ergonomic, maybe. And I like looking down at cars. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Vans For Bands, Just a word of warning! Mention of "milage on their own cars" is like stepping on a landmine here. Absolutely no-one here, as far as I can tell, includes the mileage and resultant maintenance/depreciation costs when using their car to drive to the alps. Instead they imagine that the car was acquired for free and therefore cannot have any depreciation as a result of usage. You of course run a commercial business, so know full well that both time and miles cost in terms of maintenance and depreciation. You do not have the luxury of fooling yourself that it does not.
I wonder how the actual true costs would compare if this was factored in, using HMRC allowances for milage for example? I suspect the only comparison that has been done is on the basis of fuel, tunnel and toll costs. Probably not also including the cost of winter tyres and chains which many would not choose to have unless they drove to the alps each year.
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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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| Quote: |
Just a word of warning! Mention of "milage on their own cars" is like stepping on a landmine here
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Thanks. I'll try and stay clear. But in terms of van rental prices, the mileage of a return trip to the Alps is an important factor along with, of course, rental duration. In terms of private cars, I get the point that a reasonably old car with a lot of miles on it already will not depreciate with an extra trip to the Alps. I suppose I'm daring to suggest that a very new car, maybe on some sort of finance plan, might not wish to drive it to the Alps, maybe? Don't know, and I get you point! Thank you.
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| zikomo wrote: |
| Probably not also including the cost of winter tyres and chains which many would not choose to have unless they drove to the alps each year. |
The OP indicated they had chains, which if being legal is only consideration, is fine. If your driving "up the hill a bit" or expecting falling snow en-route (look into your crystal ball), then winter tyres are a much more convenient option, particularly if you are not used to fitting chains (and dare I say safer option as stopping distances are considerable better on winters in the cold and wet).
Hence if you think you want snow tyres, and you don't have them on the "alternative" 2 or 3 vehicles, then suddenly a mini bus looks like a decent deal vs the cost of forking out for 8 or 12 snow tyres.
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You know it makes sense.
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Plus the actual cost of the milage in the two cars......
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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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| zikomo wrote: |
| Plus the actual cost of the milage in the two cars...... |
Depends on the cars, of course, but overall very true. On the other hand, sat-sat rent isn't worth much - too much road time for too little ski time. What you want - and using your own car would do -, is going out friday, arriving saturday in time for a little afternoon ski, skiing the empty slopes of the last saturday, then do some roadmiles and arrive home sunday evening. If you rent a van, this might require going thursday-monday (=12days), which will most certainly provide you with a different quote than the above. Furthermore, basic 9-seater (Crafter, Boxer, Master, Sprinter, etc.) benches aren't comfortable and there is no heating in rows two and three. Believe me, I did some long miles in'em going for cycling and yachting trips. In those cases we got them for free, as they belonged to our club, which weighed in quite heavily on one side of the equasion... 
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Poster: A snowHead
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@JayDub, I would prefer to drive my own car irrespective of cost. I’m used to driving it which feels safer and it has a few luxuries like heated seats and steering wheel. Having once driven into a height restricted carpark forgetting I had the roofbox on I am wary of driving higher vehicles!  . You would also not fit into some of the underground carparks in ski residences.
Are you one large family or two? Rather than take two cars I’d take five in a car and send two on the train.
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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 always add in the depreciation costs of my car when I fly to the alps because they are steadily depreciating all the time I'm away with three vehicles it makes flying look quite expensive.
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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 do take account of mileage and wear and tear when driving but we change cars every three to four years so most of the time the car is under warranty and we are about to use our winter tyres for the fifth winter season as luckily this car has the same tyre size as the previous one.
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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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@T Bar, 
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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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Dear All,
Thank you all for your time and advice on my original post it is much appreciated. We have now opted for two cars the cost and faffage associated with trying to get a minibus is not worth it for me. Trying to get the bus on the Thursday/Friday and everything else would just be too much for me to deal with. It also means we can leave later on the Saturday and hopefully have a wonderful morning skiing with my family. Thank again folks.
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