School SKi Trip Organisers - Cost

A snowHead

If there are others out there who run school ski trips....

I try to keep our costs as low as I can without compromising quality. For the 2026-27 season, my school trip will be £1500 for 6 days full board, coach via Dover. Nice hotel, but 30 mins to either Ischgl, St Anton or may try Serfaus.
We break up early for Christmas, so go the week before most schools can which, even is the snow is poor is not too much of an issue at Ischgl.

I am slightly worried that in reaching the £1500 mark, the might psychologically put people off.

My question is, how much are your school trips if you are trying to keep them rreasonably priced?

Many thanks in advance.

A snowHead

I have always been surprised at the cost of a school ski trip and always wondered what the cost breakdown was.... 45+ kids is a decent number to look for some deals, isn't it? Is the instruction a big cost? £200 travel, £300 accommodation, £300 lift pass, £300 Instruction, £100 ski hire.....?? Or is it a package from someone like Erna Low? I'm intrigued!

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Does the above £1,500 include a lift pass as it doesn’t say? If not then its getting too pricey for school, but then are we talking Eton or the local high school?

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Yes, wondering the same as @Klamm Franzer here.
There are cheaper weeks than that in the season but not many.
If the hotel is 30mins from the skiing, it ought to be cheap as chips, surely?
Is a lot going into instructors/guardians?
Let's see a breakdown of what you're getting for £1500 and see if the snowHiveMind can't find room for improvement Wink

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@ster, its been a couple of years since we were getting emails from my girls secondary school, regarding ski trips, but the advertised price was all in, apart from spending money for the pupils, and they always advised, but not compulsory obviously, a certain amount for that as well.

fortunately, my girls were not interested in going on the school trips, and we could normally get a trip for a family of four, with at least 7 days skiing (albeit a S/C apartment and driving) for the cost of 2 of them on a school trip, they were always around £1500 for trips to Italy, but once was about £2k for a trip to north america for 5 days skiing!!!

i have said on here a few times, that i understand it makes sense if you come from a non skiing family, and one of your kids want to go with the school, but not so if you are a family who normally go on ski trips together, unless of course you do not have to worry about it financially.

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My son refused point blank to go on school ski trips - "Dad, they won't let you ski on your own and they only let you have an instructor in the mornings. I'm NOT going all that way to just ski in the mornings."
I suggested we team up with parents of other adept skiers to hire someone for the afternoons but he was adamant that if they couldn't see how ridiculous it was to only be skiing half days, the trip was bound to be awful.

I mean fair enough, he was born a snowHead, after all

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Daughter went to LDA last year at the end of March. £1800 all in, including flights, transfers, full board and 5 hours of lessons for 6 days.

After all it is free

I do one every two years. 55-60 children in total, 6 staff, five hours a day with instructors (usually 6 of them as the small number of beginners need one to themselves). Usually go the week before Christmas week (private school so we break up a bit earlier). Full board hotel which are either ski in/out or very close to it.
Have done Tignes, Les Menuires, La Plagne since Covid by air-cost has come in at around £1600-1650 per student. Using Skibound or Equity Ski.
I'd never consider going half term because of the cost and busyness. First week of Easter is also quite a good option as long as it doesn't back onto Easter weekend but some families might get twitchy with public exams looming.

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Our secondary is running a ski trip to West Tirol, Austria at Easter. This was the email we got (some parts removed):

The trip is open to current Year groups 9, 10, 11 and 12, they will be in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 when travelling. The total cost of the trip is £1480.03; however, if your child will be 18 at the time of departure, this will increase to £1530.03, due to the additional cost required for an adult ski pass. The cost will include the following:

Return executive coach travel
6 nights’ full board accommodation
Channel ferry crossing
6-day lift pass
6 days’ hire of quality skis, boots, poles and helmet
6 × 5 hours of ski tuition
Snow guarantee
Student insurance

There are also a variety of evening activities included. Students will only need spending money for snacks and souvenirs. Evening activities may include ice skating, bowling, a pizza night, curling or a cinema trip.

The hotel is modern, yet traditional with spacious and bright rooms and is around 20 minutes from St Anton, Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis and Ischgl.

Eldest is eligible for it, but not only did he not want to go (he'll not be in anywhere near the same lessons as his peers), but the trip arrives back the day we arrive on our family ski trip in France.

There was quite a kerfuffle on the parents FB group about the cost, so I did go on and break the costs down, which people appreciated.
I can't see where you would bring it in much less than £1500 tbh and it sounds like yours is very similar.
I had a stint as PTA Chair when the kids were at primary. The thing that surprised me the most was the cost of coach hire. Once a year we would hire a coach to take Y4 to London and back to watch a show at the West End. The coach alone used to cost around £500.

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I had to stop doing mine as it got too costly for the parents.

The key is small resorts.

It's generally cheaper for private schools as teachers can lead the students in skiing. Something which I used to do

Most schools, though a academies, adopt local authority school trips policies which prevent teachers leading groups of students by- hence, they're with an instructor all the time.

joining with another school and sharing a larger double decker helps

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@cameronphillips2000, I teach in a private school and no way are we allowed to lead groups any more. My school probably continued for longer than most, but that was stopped 3 or 4 years ago. It means we need more instructors, but also fewer supervising staff as they are now mainly needed for supervision and activities. This can balance out the extra instructor cost a bit.

Ours has been limited to 40 participants, and I do think they'll fill the spaces, but it'll be the same faces who can afford to pay when these trips are released.

In Year 8, pupils have the option to go to Malaga as part of their Spanish teaching. This is the email we recently received for that for 4 nights in term time, but over a weekend:

During our stay we will explore Málaga’s past and present, get a taste of Spanish food, visit the markets as well as the high street, visit a Spanish school and see modern Spanish art. We will also go on a day trip to explore Spanish history and see the historic city of Ronda and its famous Puente Nuevo and finish the day on the coast in Marbella. We will be staying in the Interjuven Hostel in Torremolinos.

The cost of the trip includes:

ü Return coach journey to Bristol Airport

ü Return flights from Bristol to Malága

ü All transport in Andalusia (including airport transfers)

ü Tour director accompanying the group in all activities

ü Full board (breakfast, lunch and dinner)

ü 4 nights’ accommodation in Inturjoven Torremolinos

ü Comprehensive insurance

ü 24-hour assistance during our stay

ü All entry tickets

ü Visit to a traditional market

ü Tapas tasting lunch

ü Historical tour in Malaga and entry tickets to the Cathedral and the Alcazaba

ü Chocolate con churros tasting

ü Full day excursion to Ronda and Marbella

ü Visit to a Spanish school

ü Visit to the Pompidou Centre and Contemporary Arts Centre, CAC Malaga

ü Flamenco Workshop

There are 40 places available, and the cost will be approximately £753.30; the final cost will depend on flight prices.

From talking to other parents, I've found that in my area there's generally three categories of families -
Those that do take these trips up do so to give their children the opportunity to do something that they would struggle to afford for the whole family.
Those that can't afford it at all.
Those that can afford it, but already do these things as a family.

We fall into the third category. We generally give them the option of going, but each time, they've said no. We'd also rather not take a place from someone who might not have the opportunity otherwise. I think most places are taken up by those in category one, with a few from category two with the help of extended family members (that was me as a teen with international trips with the Guides).

I think travel with schools has become more expensive as health and safety has increased. My school didn't offer a ski trip back in the 90s, but from speaking to people who did do school ski trips in the 80s and 90s, you didn't have anywhere near the level of supervision you have now. Same with this Spanish trip. I went to both the Czech Republic and Spain in the 90s with the Guides. We did day trips to Prague and Barcelona. Each time we got off our coach, were told to sort ourselves into the groups we wanted to spend the day with, and then be back a X meeting point at Y time. And off we went. Completely unsupervised. Small's Spanish trip comes with a full time tour director!

You know it makes sense.

2 daughters’ trips about 3-4 years ago had lessons in morning and afternoon. I thought the price was reasonable for 30 hours tuition.

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In 2018 my son’s school went to Folgarida and stayed in a pretty decent hotel call Luna. Full board, 3 hours tuition and flights etc etc. £1,000 in Dec pre Xmas. Ithought at the time it was decent value. With inflation I assume it would be over 1500 now. Very good place for a school trip btw.

A snowHead

Thanks for all the replies.
I still think we have a good deal and being a state boarding school, I think that many parents are happy, if they can afford it, to send their kids away with their mates.

My first trip when I was in charge in about 2007 cost £470 for 9 days skiing in Switzerland!

No way can we lead children nowadays. I did back then. (Unless the instructor has to go with a serious unjury. We can lead them back to base.

Last year the instructors, who we had had the previous year insisted we did not even ski with the children, which was amazing. Having near perfect conditions in Lech with hardly anyone on the piste was not a bad thing when not having to follow around children!

A snowHead

From Dubai, going to Les Elfes in La Tzoumatz, schools are asking about 2500 GBP. 800 to 1000 of that will go on Emirates return flight to GVA.

If you live in Dubai flights are far more expensive to book than the other way round. An opposite direction return can be in the region of less than half the price....

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Interesting to read that 'free ski' is no longer allowed. That'll be the final nail in the coffin for interest for mine, then.

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I don’t know that to be the case, however I do ask the instructors to let them get the miles in as well as the skills/drills.
Never had any complaints. Our instructors in the last few years have been wonderful.

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@Owlette, my understanding (from my kids school, and from a friend who runs his school trips) is that free skiing hasn’t been allowed for about a decade, and nor have teachers been allowed to lead, there must be an instructor present at all times. Not sure if this was partly a result of the les deux alpes tragedy.

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My daughter did one in 2016 at age 10 and definitely no free skiing then (although instructor did take them off piste and other such fun). It was a good time as by the time she went again around 14 the girls weren’t happy to go back to the hotel for lunch and other such and all had fancy habits from family trips! My younger daughter is doing the same trip with ski bound in April to Les Menuires and it’s £2000. They are flying but still it’s quite a lot for a basic hotel and Les Men only ski pass. She’s excited to go with her good friends though and there will be plenty of good skiers going so happy for her to have the experience. Older daughter is now doing the varsity trip which is definitely more keenly priced although you have to self book the flight.

After all it is free

The level of supervision required on all school trips has escalated out of all proportion. My 82 year old friend, a retired languages teacher, did a school trip to Paris when she was in the Sixth Form. She recalls that as one of the "seniors" she was in charge and had all the tickets, passports, etc for the little group. No teachers went. They all went and stayed with families in Paris - she stayed in touch with the matriarch of the family she stayed with until the old lady died (a lady of such refinement that she and her husband called each other "vous" till death). They were supposed to go to school, but she found it very boring and the old lady said she could off and around Paris on her own instead, provided she was home for dinner. As a languages teacher she took many groups of kids to Germany and France, subsequently. The most anxious moment was on a trip where some girls had gone off one afternoon in their free time and fraternised with some American GIs. One of the girls, who had confided in the teacher, came weeping with relief on the homeward journey, because her period had started.....

Things have changed.

Varsity trips will be cheaper because parents are not paying for child care to stop their offspring fornicating and getting rat-arsed.

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For a fit youngster skiing all day need not rule out either of the other activities.... wink

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@Origen, Totally agree with your last post. Very Happy

@boggyjo, I think the price is fair given the hours of tuition. My daughter has just started at sixth form and they have offered £1250 for the 12-18 Dec in Sestriere. So 5 days skiing, not 6, and 4 hours tuition each day. Full board and evening activities included and I think it's good value. I do agree on the £1500 cap mentality. I think you have done extremely well with budgeting and obviously are conscientious enough to be worried.

My daughter falls into the same mentality as admin's son: the tuition won't be at her level and she likes to ski longer than 4 hours. Quote from daughter "Couldn't we both go on those dates for the same cost as the school trip?"....so here I am looking at our options for a quick pre-Christmas jaunt Very Happy

You know it makes sense.

My son is now 11 years old and does not want to go on his school trip as "they won't let me go off piste, do black runs or have fun like you do".

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@Hurdy, Skibidee toilet, no cap....?

A snowHead

I organised school ski trips from 1990 to 2010. I tried to see the costs but only have that it in 1990 it was £210 for the week's package by coach from Edinburgh to Alpe d'Huez including ski pass, instruction and equipment. We always had enough qualified Ski Leaders who could take the pupils before and after their official lessons but they never skied on their own. All our pupils could already ski as we taught them on the local plastic slope (Hillend in Edinburgh) each week and we never took beginners abroad. I think by 2010 it was in the region of £700 and by then we were using Interski. Interski don't put their current costs on their website so don't know what it is. We always found their packages to cover everything we needed including evening activities so pupils were just wanting to go to bed when we returned about 10pm!

I have never understood schools taking pupils to USA or other distant resorts. Europe is much cheaper and our pupils just watched vidoes on the coach journey which also reduced costs. We used the coach to go out every evening somewhere and skied them hard during the day. Our top group raced competitively or competed in freestyle. The instructors enjoyed the formal lessons as they had much better skiers than normal.

After I retired there were no more school trips and sadly they seem to be a thing of the past in all local schools now.

A snowHead

I was looking at accom options in Les Carroz (for a family trip) when I came accross Les Flocon Verts which seems to be set up for school trips with lots of dorm room space - that in turn lead me to this website which seems to specialise in school trips - it has some indicative pricing for comparison: https://www.skibound.co.uk/school-ski-offers/

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

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

@ster, no cap brah!

After all it is free

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