Ski Club 2.0 Home
Snow Reports
FAQFAQ

Mail for help.Help!!

Log in to snowHeads to make it MUCH better! Registration's totally free, of course, and makes snowHeads easier to use and to understand, gives better searching, filtering etc. as well as access to 'members only' forums, discounts and deals that U don't even know exist as a 'guest' user. (btw. 50,000+ snowHeads already know all this, making snowHeads the biggest, most active community of snow-heads in the UK, so you'll be in good company)..... When you register, you get our free weekly(-ish) snow report by email. It's rather good and not made up by tourist offices (or people that love the tourist office and want to marry it either)... We don't share your email address with anyone and we never send out any of those cheesy 'message from our partners' emails either. Anyway, snowHeads really is MUCH better when you're logged in - not least because you get to post your own messages complaining about things that annoy you like perhaps this banner which, incidentally, disappears when you log in :-)
Username:-
 Password:
Remember me:
👁 durr, I forgot...
Or: Register
(to be a proper snow-head, all official-like!)

Improving on Sardine Occupancy Pricing

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I think the main problem is that lots of people are lazy or scared to do DIY, as Specialman, says, it is very rewarding doing DIY.

Wayne, As for staples, i never factor the cost of those is as i pince from work, which is where i make any calls from, print any pages and go to the toilet so as not to use the 'full flush' option at home - thus saving money all round Very Happy

But really, TO's are a rip off as, whilst i accept the behind the scenes work, most people with half a braincell (more than most TO staff) can organise it all themselves. TO's are not "hassle free", in fact, they cause more hassle a lot of the time and the Reps are just down right irritating.

TO's keep the prices UP, like a lot of businesses. However, with holidays - i can book DIY unlike other businesses that keep prices high, i can just go and drill my own oil (and i'm not up for being a pirate) so i have to put up and shut up in those circumstances.
snow conditions
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I'm all for TOs too, but let's have an end to misleading pricing. I don't care what markup they have, but if they say a package is £299pp then I expect to compare it to a room-only deal advertised for a nearby hotel at £375. I don't want to subsequently discover that it's only £299pp if one is sharing a quad room with two double beds, that if by two the price is £499pp.
snow report
 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?
Specialman wrote:
everything's done for you and it's hassle-free


Not the last time I went with a TO. They screwed up my ski rental order, and insisted (probably quite correctly under UK sales contract law) that I only have a contract with the travel agency, and not the TO. The agency order form had the correct details, but what was entered into the TO system differed. They suggested I wait till the Monday am and sort it with my travel agency (sod that), or pay the extra in resort and claim back from agency on return. Even though it was TO that almost certainly caused the discrepancy, they would have invoiced the travel agency the same as what was on my incorrect vouchers.
ski holidays
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
pam w, We are creatures of habit and go to the same resort every xmas. It is a P&V appt about 100 mtrs from slope, I have previously looked at booking direct but it is cheaper through Erna Low.
ski holidays
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
crosbie wrote:
alex_heney wrote:
They could, but there is no chance of it ever happening.
TOs operate ina competitive market, in whihc half the battle is getting punters to look at their offerings at all.
Therefore they compete to offer the lowest possible "headline" price, and always will.

Getting a punter in under false or misleading pretences comes back to bite you sooner or later.


Possibly, if it really were misleading.

But it isn't. You see the full price before you can complete a booking.


Quote:

I believe that if a vendor or agency that advertised ski package prices did so on an 'ideal occupancy' basis, they'd soon endear punters for having the decency to respect them rather than the disrespect of attempting to fool them.


I don't think all that many people are bothered. Most people know that they have to take account of any supplements/reductions (not many of the latter shown) and are quite capable of working out the total cost.

Sure it wuld be easier if there were standards for how the prices should be shown, and those standards included whatever occupancy level you personally happen to want, but taht just isn't going to happen.

Nobody is being "fooled" by the headline prices.

Quote:

This includes misleading with prices that exclude non-obvious (aka hidden) supplements such as transfers "Oh, some of our customers like to make their own way by renting cars or using local public transport to help protect the environment - it's £75 for return transfer if you want us to book a shared coach for you - this is detailed in the back of our brochure".


Now there I do agree. Anything which is a required part of the package for the large majority of customers should be shown as part of the standard price.

OTH, I have never come across the particular practice you mention here.

Quote:

What are they trying to sell these days? A package or a con?


I really am not sure why you thinik it a "con" to advertise the package at the price per person it would be for "standard" occupancy. "Standard" occupancy being as many adults as there are adult sized beds (2 per double bed).

I accept that if they are advertising apartments based on (say) 5 adults when the apartment only has 4 adult beds, then this is misleading. I don't know if that happens - apartments via TOs are pointless for me as a solo traveller.
ski holidays
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Sometimes DIY'ers need some serious hand holding too. It's not just grab the money and run for many independent owners.
I recently had an enquiry for Easter, family of 4. We exchanged several emails, I have a Gmail conversation of about 22 I think. Flights, nearest airport, childcare, ski school, you get the picture. OK, I wasn't physically having to make the bookings for extras for her, but it would probably have been easier to do so.
Finally after email no 21, she replied that she had been unable to get leave from work, so wouldn't be going skiing at all this winter.
ski holidays
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Some TO's are their own worst enemy, so I agree with much of what has been in this. Trying to disguise the real cost of a trip with headline grabbing "maybe" costs, and then pumping up the cost each time your click Continue will, after a few years lead to people’s belief that TO's are trying to hide the true cost of a holiday.

Of course there are so many options (quad, twin, single, full lift pass, local lift pass, ski hire, boot hire. Etc) that it is simply not possible to display all options in the headline, but as other posters have said, people are not stupid and can work out the real cost of their trip.

Maybe the way forward is to write to TO’s that are “obviously” using the headline price as a marketing tool “if” the price shown is unattainable, and say that due to the clear intent to hide the true cost you will not be booking with them.

Also any “ski” holiday that does not include the items needed to “ski” should receive the same. I understand that some people want ski hire some don’t, others want a local pass and some will want a different pass. But surely the answer here to is to offer the basic and then reduce the costs if not required and offer other items as a supplement. E.g. all TO’s could offer either ski/boot hire or carriage as they cost about the same all over Europe. They could offer a local pass in the standard cost, with an explanation that other types were available at a supplement. A ski holiday is just that, it’s for skiing and using the tiny percentage of people who don’t ski/board as an excuse not to include a lift pass in the holiday cost is, to say the least, opportunistic and just lends credibility to the idea that they have something to hide.
latest report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Wayne, some good ideas. I certainly agree that it would be nice if certain things required for skiing were included in the base price.

Say you were skiing in Meribel, the price could include a Meribel-Motteret pass and ski/boot hire. Then, if you want a 3V pass you pay a little extra, and if you're a tag along who's not skiing you get some knocked off the price (or indeed if you've got a pass anyway). If you're taking your own skis you get a bit knocked off the price (not the full hire price obviously as most TOs use airlines you pay to take skis on). If you don't need ski carriage or ski hire you get the full price of it knocked off. Etc etc. I wouldn't inclue ski school in the price though, as lots of people have a couple of weeks then let themselves loose on the public...
ski holidays
 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.
Helen Beaumont, You do wonder...We have had a few very odd enquiries.

My favourite was along the lines of a group of 8 with flights booked asking for New Year's availability in Chamonix sending the enquiry on December 30 and stating that they were "getting desperate".
ski holidays
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Quote:

My favourite was along the lines of a group of 8 with flights booked asking for New Year's availability in Chamonix sending the enquiry on December 30 and stating that they were "getting desperate".

Laughing I'd have told them my apartment was "getting expensive".
ski holidays



Terms and conditions  Privacy Policy