 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm experiencing the joy of decision making by committee. I think there are 6 of us, though it might be 4, or it might be 8. We're trying to book a 1 week ski holiday for intermediate skiers.
I've been told to use the week of 7th-14th March (+/- day or 2).Catered chalet or hotel.
France, Austria, Italy first preference.
I've looked around most of the websites for deals but there's not much happening yet for that week. I've been hearing stories of amazing deals. I have found a few packages for £350-£400 sort of range, which I think's reasonable.
Is it worth waiting until later?
What about Andora or Bulgaria? What are they like?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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tomstickland, if you're not sure yet whether there will be 4, 6 or 8 of you, or whether you will go to France, Austria, Italy, Andorra or Bulgaria, to a catered chalet or a hotel, maybe it might be worth waiting a bit? 
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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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We don't care where we go, we want to see the offers.
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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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Any other year and I'd say you're going to be disappointed. But this year things are a little different.
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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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Pay special attention to the flights. In my experience they run out faster than the accommodation - particularly with such a large group.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| tomstickland wrote: |
| We don't care where we go, we want to see the offers. |
You need to know how many of you there will be before you can make meaningful searches.
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| bucking bronco wrote: |
| Any other year and I'd say you're going to be disappointed. But this year things are a little different. |
What do you mean by each of those statements?
Why do you think he would be disappointed any other year?
And what is different about this year?
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alex_heney,
I suspect bucking bronco menas there are quite a few available places this year which hasn't been the case in previous years when booking so late. As an example we recently checked out a couple of major Austrian resorts for an Eatser booking and was expecting them to be fully booked, normally they would be but not this year.
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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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That's the week I'm away and I know of someone who has booked the last available room in our hotel that week and only got a £50 discount, but if you're not fussed where you go there's bound to be plenty of choice. If you do the TO route you'll probably save around £100 per person on brochure prices for booking late...
Personally I wouldn't consider Bulgaria, but that's just a personal choice thing as the ski areas are limited and vegetarian food is not widely available. The snow is perfect across the Alps and Pyrenees this season so don't feel restricted to high resorts...
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| DB wrote: |
alex_heney,
I suspect bucking bronco menas there are quite a few available places this year which hasn't been the case in previous years when booking so late. As an example we recently checked out a couple of major Austrian resorts for an Eatser booking and was expecting them to be fully booked, normally they would be but not this year. |
Easter, yes I would expect it to get boked up early when it is March. But it isn't commonly as early as the week of the 14th (I'm not sure it is ever that early), and I would expect availability for most non-Easter March week to be around at three weeks before.
Easter being so late this year is bound to affect Easter week bookings, because it is late enough to not be very snow sure.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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alex_heney,
Easter was the earliest is has been for decades last year (23rd March 2008). This year it's later but not that late as Easter is generally between 23 March to 24 April.
2011 will be really late ...
15 April 1990
31 March 1991
19 April 1992
11 April 1993
3 April 1994
16 April 1995
7 April 1996
30 March 1997
12 April 1998
23 April 2000
15 April 2001
31 March 2002
20 April 2003
11 April 2004
27 March 2005
16 April 2006
8 April 2007
23 March 2008
12 April 2009
4 April 2010
24 April 2011
8 April 2012
31 March 2013
20 April 2014
5 April 2015
27 March 2016
16 April 2017
1 April 2018
21 April 2019
12 April 2020
Not sure about flights but there's certainly more accommodation available. Might be best to book a cheap flight now (to an airport near many resorts e.g. Salzburg) and determine the final location later.
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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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I'd try the chaletsdirect solutions room if I were you, that will give you a good overview of potential offers. I wouldn't risk going right down to the line though, it's still very much peak season. We've been booked for a while for those dates and are still getting asked about them.
See if you can find somewhere that will do flexible dates and you'll save a lot on the flights.
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tomstickland, I've sent you a PM! 
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You know it makes sense.
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It's 4 people now.
Game on.
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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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I've posted in the solutions room and the response has been amazing. What a great idea.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
I've posted in the solutions room and the response has been amazing. What a great idea.
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yeah... as long as you want to go to France!
We used to use chalets direct and found the solutions room great at first.
Then the admin got slacky and someone would post 'Austria only - 8 people - catered etc..etc..' and loads of french chalets would ignore it and put 'what about France.....'
Got rather P'd off with it in the end!...as there were so many rule flaunting chalet owners who ignored the actual request details.... left us out in the cold...brrrrr!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes, but as long as you've got time to sift through, does it really matter?
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