 Poster: A snowHead
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After being messed about with dates by work we haven't managed to book anything yet. Ideally departing 1/2 Feb but 8/9 is also a possibility (avoiding France).
What would you do at this stage - book ASAP to get something in the bag, or wait til really last minute to see what the weather conditions look like? Will book a package for minimum fuss and flexible on London/Midlands airports.
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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’d always book as early as possible to give more choice of accomodation and potentially cheaper flights.
An exception might be when choosing a low altitude resort in the Western Alps?
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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 think we're probably beyond earliness making any difference though 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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1st Feb is less than 10 days away and that should be your best bet of getting a deal so I would just starting looking now.
Back in the day (cough, 25 years ago) when I did last minute TO deals this would be when I would really start to look.
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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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When I'm doing "last minute" I start with the flights - then look for the accomodation. If you stick to Sat-Sat you'll have more choice - but the flights can be a lot cheaper if you do Thu/Fri/Sun starts - the issue then becomes transfers.
Just back from a week in catered chalet in Peisey Nancroix booking about a week in advance - 4 of us had a 15 person chalet to ourselves with hot tub and sauna. Flew to Geneva Fri-Fri (we had no choice as we had to be in UK on the Sat) - the flights were £160 each return from Luton inc hold baggage - the transfer was £104 each return!
A package may have been easier but very few offered a Friday start.
I've just started looking for the same dates as you - the availability is there, but prices are obviously significantly higher than mid Jan was, so not sure if we'll go or not.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Theres an abundance of snow end of next week - so get on crystal & book - it's last minute!
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Where do people find best for last minute (say 1 week away) ski holiday bookings?
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| Gored wrote: |
| Theres an abundance of snow end of next week - so get on crystal & book - it's last minute! |
Any particular regions to look for?
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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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| horgand wrote: |
| Where do people find best for last minute (say 1 week away) ski holiday bookings? |
Not my area of expertise but Crystal and Heidi are two mentioned a lot.
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Happily be flamed, but it feels that the limiting factors are the flights. I’ve looked at last minute (albeit peak times) with TOs and often there simply weren’t any flights.
If it’s not quite peak then I’d be booking a flight to somewhere convenient and last minute accommodation separately. But be mindful of transfers if you aren’t booking a hire car.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| VodkaSorbet wrote: |
| Gored wrote: |
| Theres an abundance of snow end of next week - so get on crystal & book - it's last minute! |
Any particular regions to look for? |
Most of Savoie France is getting a good dump especially the usual snow sure resorts.
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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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Definitely booking a package, no time to piece individual bits together. Might self-organise in March if conditions are worth it.
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@Badbobby, when I used to do it, flights could definitely be a problem.
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You know it makes sense.
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In the days of lastimute.com it seemed that last minute flights were cheaper, now they are really expensive. Just spent the last week looking for a last minute trip and the TO option was by far the easiest and very cheap compared with booking separately, but choice became very limited at sensible budgets the closer we got to the deadline.
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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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@VodkaSorbet, sort the flights out first, (BA using Avios), check booking.com for price drops about 6/7 days prior, be prepared to change accommodation to 3/4 nights, car hire book same time as flights but make sure you can cancel. By using BA you can cancel up to a day before if things don't get put together.
I've just checked-in this morning for my flights tomorrow.
Booked yesterday the 4 Star accommodation in Gressoney (4 days), then Courmayeur (3 days) both with 30% off as late deals.
Flights (2 passengers) £70 per person including ski baggage, £170 medium car hire, £700 total pretty decent accommodation, one with private in-room sauna.
The benefit of a DIY ski trip is that you can tailor make to what you want. For £650 per person we have an interesting Fly-ski-drive holiday rather than a baah-baah-baah sheep holiday.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| skimastaaah wrote: |
@VodkaSorbet, sort the flights out first, (BA using Avios), check booking.com for price drops about 6/7 days prior, be prepared to change accommodation to 3/4 nights, car hire book same time as flights but make sure you can cancel. By using BA you can cancel up to a day before if things don't get put together.
I've just checked-in this morning for my flights tomorrow.
Booked yesterday the 4 Star accommodation in Gressoney (4 days), then Courmayeur (3 days) both with 30% off as late deals.
Flights (2 passengers) £70 per person including ski baggage, £170 medium car hire, £700 total pretty decent accommodation, one with private in-room sauna.
The benefit of a DIY ski trip is that you can tailor make to what you want. For £650 per person we have an interesting Fly-ski-drive holiday rather than a baah-baah-baah sheep holiday. |
@ skimastaaah
That's some holiday you're putting together last minute - well done.
Tbh I always find it hard/near impossible to find last minute discounts but maybe I'm just not trying hard enough!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@skimastaaah, @horgand, Very good value flights! Presume avios makes the difference? I wish I had ability to drive confidently abroad, it would open up so many more options...
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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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At this stage in the game, just package it. Austria is getting a good dump this week, it's also a week with few countries having school holidays so the slopes should be quieter.
As Peter Kay said: "Saw it, booked it, f****d off!"
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Dubmuffin, BA do great off-season sales where flights can be less than £50 each way (not even using Avios) and a car hire combo heavily discounted. Decided to use BA as I had some Avios left over from my summer trip, in the past they have been great value. FWIW the included Hold allowance is 23kg, cabin bag 23kg, and incredibly the laptop allowance is 23kg.
@horgand, I'm skiing in Monterosa then Courmayeur where conditions are set to improve with some new snow forecast.
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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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@VodkaSorbet, snow conditions will be best next week up high in France and Italy. Austria not great at the moment. But has to be high as risk of rain below about 1500m over next week.
Consider Cervinia and La Thuile in Italy. Presumably the usual suspects (Tignes, Val Thorens, Les Deux Alpes, La Plagne, Les Arcs) in France.
I always do DIY no problem but if you can't face the hassle there are a couple of ski travel agents which pop up repeatedly in my feeds. I've never used them but did browse once or twice and they do seem to allow you a lot of flexibility in terms of your inputs and put together a package for you with transfer. One is called Heidi, can't remember the name of the other one.
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| Quote: |
sort the flights out first
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Or drive!
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| Origen wrote: |
| Quote: |
sort the flights out first
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Or drive! |
I can never see this being a cheaper option?
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| Quote: |
Origen wrote:
Quote:
sort the flights out first
Or drive!
I can never see this being a cheaper option?
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it depends on the numbers of travellers, and time of the season, even flights either side of school holidays can be eyewatering expensive.
with transfers/car hire etc, even for two people it could work out cheaper if you drive, you then have a car with you in resort if you need one.
but TBH i am biased as i prefer to drive
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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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| horgand wrote: |
| Where do people find best for last minute (say 1 week away) ski holiday bookings? |
A good starting point are the specialist ski travel agents such as Alpine Answers, Iglu and Heidi.
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| skimastaaah wrote: |
@VodkaSorbet, sort the flights out first, (BA using Avios), check booking.com for price drops about 6/7 days prior, be prepared to change accommodation to 3/4 nights, car hire book same time as flights but make sure you can cancel. By using BA you can cancel up to a day before if things don't get put together.
I've just checked-in this morning for my flights tomorrow.
Booked yesterday the 4 Star accommodation in Gressoney (4 days), then Courmayeur (3 days) both with 30% off as late deals.
Flights (2 passengers) £70 per person including ski baggage, £170 medium car hire, £700 total pretty decent accommodation, one with private in-room sauna.
The benefit of a DIY ski trip is that you can tailor make to what you want. For £650 per person we have an interesting Fly-ski-drive holiday rather than a baah-baah-baah sheep holiday. |
A mate rang me on Friday wondering if I'm up for a short break ski trip   So, I'm trying to figure out some options. How easy do you find it to find rooms for irregular days? non sat-sat?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Symboh,
tignes.co.uk have non weekend to weekend apartments.
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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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| Kenzie wrote: |
@Symboh,
tignes.co.uk have non weekend to weekend apartments. |
Interesting, thanks!
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@Symboh, I tend to use booking.com, but search for places or accommodations I know.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Symboh I have used booking.com quite a lot for non-weekend dates but also gone direct to the accommodation when I've stayed there before. Usually I am able to tailor my dates to their availability though. I had a look at the start of January when I was thinking of DIY and there were quite a few e.g. Fri-Tues options.
Booked a package to Sestriere in the end as the clock was ticking and it fitted in perfectly with timings and airport location (and budget  ). We're both flat out with work, interviews and moving house so something easy was the order of the day. Been to the area lots of times but always stayed in Sauze. Conditions will be what they will be!
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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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Sunweb.... you can pick number of days and start day too. Also includes ski pass in the prices. Can be a bit remote though
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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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I generally watch the forecast and identify the area with the best snow, 2 - 3 days in advance, then the flights, then look at the map on booking and either choose the best located cheap place, ski in and beside a lift, or failing that a nice place with Spa on site and a courtesy bus to the lifts. If you are looking to save you can usually pay into a good spa for €20 and still stay in cheap place. Rent a car two days in advance and its usually dirt cheap.
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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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I got a very good deal with Neilsons departing on Sunday to Andorra, booked yesterday. The big operators all seem to have deals for this weekend.
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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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When people compare driving versus flying costs they often overlook transfers, which will often cost more than flights.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Origen wrote: |
| When people compare driving versus flying costs they often overlook transfers, which will often cost more than flights. |
I agree. Ever since I moved to Berlin I've mostly driven to resorts. The total travel time is frequently shorter than flying and it's far less hassle.
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@Symboh, last day of my DIY trip to the Aosta valley. Great skiing, great snow, great car hire (upgrade to Mercedes SUV), lovely hotels, food and service.
I couldn't have the same value from a TO, nor the same flexibility, standard, freedom, plus BA flights.
Apart from Milan Linate Airport issues everything has been rather good.
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FAQ
