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Any Altibus users here?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
They seem very cheap, but if their bus reliability is as responsive as their customer service then I'm nervous. They have a 'live chat' window on their site, which promises a response in around 4 minutes. Here I am 4 hours later with no response.

What I'm trying to establish is when their winter time tables are available. I'd like to book a transfer for January but there're no buses running according to their booking form. So does this mean that they haven't scheduled any yet, or that there won't be any going where I want to go?

Just wondering if anyone here has used them and understands their foibles?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I've never used them but seen them mentioned on here dozens of times so there must be users around.

What are you trying to book?

Their google reviews are pretty awful and worth reading this https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=150237

All these run out at end of August so maybe they wlll have new ones then?
https://www.altibus.com/en/les-fiches-horaires/
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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?
Yikes! Maybe not something to try for the first time with a couple of small kids then.
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I've used Altibus from GVA to Tignes dozens of times and never had a problem.

2 Things to remember:

1. Its a French company and they are on holiday at the moment. The bookings for the following season normally appear mid Sept. As a nationality the French aren't big bookers ahead and are not as impatient as Brits.

2. People rarely say good things on line about travel companies. But they are vociferous when it goes wrong. Travel to ski resorts goes wrong now and again, it's the nature of the beast!

That said, who knows what this season will look like, never mind a bus timetable.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Cheers for the useful info.
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Have used them several times, mainly Geneva to places such as Val Thorens. Have got me there and back to the airport pretty much on time, there is sometimes a change of bus in Moutiers.

You get what you pay for, so don’t go expecting luxury, but all seemed pretty efficient to me.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I've used them in the past with no problems.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Altibus have always worked out fine for me over the years.The Moutier changeover on the way up to Val Thorens a bit of a pain. Its usually a bus change but twice later in the day its been a taxi service paid by Altibus.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Thanks all. Much appreciated.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
I've used them, but it's a bit clunky of you have to change in Moutiers as it usually involves a long wait. Where are you hoping to get to? If it's the Belleville Valley (VT, Les Menuires etc), I have used Alpybus (Note the different name) successfully. Big plus (assuming the service returns to something like the pre covid service) is that it runs a scheduled service at weekend and I think) Fridays and Mondays) directly to the resorts in the valley with no hanging about in Moutiers.
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Yes, three times. All on time and reliable. As others have noted, you might have a long transfer wait in Moutiers.
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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.
Perty wrote:
Where are you hoping to get to?


Les Arcs. There's a cracking deal on at my favourite kid-friendly hotel, and Crystal have dropped it from their roster, so if I'm going to go then I have to sort it myself.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@greengriff, have you asked the hotel what they recommend transfer wise. Sometimes they have deals/trusted operators.

Should definitely do the DIY thing.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
That's a good idea re the trusted transfer!

I'm still not entirely confident in DIYing with small kids. Generally, given the number of ways that the elements of a holiday can come undone, and that all-in prices through someone like Crystal were not that far away from DIY, I'd prefer to pay a little more and leave the burden of sorting any problems out to them. However this is a cracking deal, and with flight prices at the mo it's hundreds per person less than anything Crystal can offer. Although, again, the risk element leaves me unsettled - I've just been for a week in Menorca with my wife and there were only circa 20 other passengers on the plane both ways!!! I can't see that being sustainable. So I book a £20 flight now, and when it comes to January Jet2 pull it because it's not financially viable, leaving the only option as a £400 BA flight, etc, etc,.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@greengriff, flights seem to be annouced then disappear like the snow in spring. There is no way to predict whether yours will run or not. The safe way to be sure is to simply drive all the way. It is was we usually do.

My neices have used Altibus to get to and from Geneva to Les Arcs with no problem, but the last time we did the trip by plane Altibus were not running midweek so we took the train. If I remember correctly it was cheeper to fly to Geneva and get the train to Bourg st. Maurice than it is to get a train ticket from Birmingham to Cardiff now. However, I think the days of very very cheep flights may be numbered.

What hotel are you looking at BTW?
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@greengriff, Ironically the views on Altibus expressed above mirror a little of what I've seen of Crystal over the years. Many people used them multiple times with no issues with some very scathing reviews and bad experiences mixed in.

Seems to me that it's often the case with these companies that if everything goes well/normally then the you largely get what you pay for - a reasonably priced, reasonably good service, somewhat no frills you might say. But if things go a little awry they often fall short. The business model is essentially not about those occasions. I've read a few occasions of people effectively DIYing themselves out of such situations or thinking they might aswell have been. There isn't really a right or wrong to anything.

I've done flights/transfers type stuff with young children a couple of times but not on skiing holidays. And yeah it leaves you feeling a bit vulnerable. But nothing catastrophic ever happened ultimately, just a bit of stress here and there. But as above that can happen with a TO also.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Yeah even that bad review sort of emphasizes why I prefer TO vs self-booked; they will at least sort it out. If you're plane is late then the transfer bus is waiting, rather than gone. If the bus breaks down, they send another. If the airport (Chambery) is closed for bad weather and your flight is cancelled, then they put you on a bus and send you to another one (Lyon). All of the above has happened to me with Crystal. The annoyance of waiting about whilst they sort it pales next to any of those things occurring on a trip you'd put together yourself. Either way, we're drifting from the thread topic - if I want to go then I need to sort transfers myself, and certainly asking the hotel if they have a trusted provider would be a good start.
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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?
@greengriff,
Quote:

Yeah even that bad review sort of emphasizes why I prefer TO vs self-booked; they will at least sort it out.

Oddly I when things start to go wrong I prefer to sort it out myself rather than relying on someone else. I realise that it is not ski related but a few years ago I was working in Dehli when the vocanic erruptions in Iceland curtailed flights home. Since I had organised the flights my self I went to the KLM office at the airport and sorted a filght home 3 or 4 days later. Colleagues who had used a travel agent had to wait 10 days for them to sort it out.

More ski related - years ago we used a TO to go to St. Anton. We were just dropped at a car park in the dark and cold with the words a rep would collect us. Many phones calls back to the company's head office produced a rep after a 3 hours wait in the freezing cold. OK that is partly my own fault I hadn't checked up exactly where the chalet was in the town so could't just call a local taxi.

Pesonnaly, I think you are just as likely to be let down by the TO as Altibus
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@greengriff, My experience has been they will not issue their winter timetable until early November at the earliest but in our experience they stick to their timetable in winter.
It is the only public service to Champagny and they are pretty reliable.
If you search for previous years timetables you will have some idea of how frequent the service is. They don't seem to change the timetable much each season (the last 2 seasons excepted) and they run most of their services during the winter season so it will be completely different to the summer or out of season schedule.
They are not like a private transfer company so if you want that sort of service you need to pay more.

You also have the option of catching the train from Geneva to Bourg st Maurice, obviously dependent on your flight times.

Having said that we always rented a car from the airport when we were travelling with young kids.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Yes, we’ve used Altibus on 3 occasions (Geneva to Les Arcs and Val Thorens) and will be using them again in December. A good coach each time with plenty of room, last time we went to Val Thorens we were on their last bus of the day and instead of changing bus to go up to VT they put on a private 7 seater taxi for us and another group (there were only 6 of us in total).

We’ve never had any problems with long waits at Moutiers, I think 35 minutes is the longest but 5 minutes to unload your bags and 5 minutes to load up your bags meant it was perfect for a toilet and brew break.
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