Crystal's mistake

A snowHead

For those of you who for personal reasons (ie children), are restricted to taking to the slopes at half term, here's some REALLY useful information.

The Crystal ski brochure for next year has made a big mistake. They've priced half term as being a week before it actually is. They think that half term starts on 10/02/06 whereas it actually occurs on 17/02/06.

The effect of this is that the actual half term week is priced about £150 per head cheaper than it was intended to be, and the price intended for half term is listed for the week before.

The travel agent says that they are racing to print a new brochure to change this, but will be bound to honour all prices until it is published. I've just saved several hundred pounds, so thought I'd share this with you. I even got a free place for my daughter aged 9, which is unheard of usually during half term week!

A snowHead

Good spot, hope someone can take advantage of this.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Peter B, good for you, but round these parts half term is when Crystal think it is.

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In that case, I suggest you wait until the new brochure is out. It appears that next year's half term varies around the country depending on where you live.
They have higher prices for week commencing 11th Feb, but the following week they've reduced the prices by a large amount but increased the flight supplements for that week only. It still works out much cheaper for week commencing 18th February.

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Peter B, Well spotted but your good luck isn't ours. Unfortunately, the Oxfordshire 2006 half term hols (well ours anyway) start on Monday 13 Feb. I think, given the GCSE workload, we might have to skip it anyway. This year, our Club hotel lounge/bar was full of teenagers doing revision during the afternoons.

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Half term varies across the UK

for most people this year it was 13th feb - in stockport it was 6th feb, and for some others it was 20th

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Damn, I was hoping this was another 'slag off Crystal Holidays' thread...

Ah well, I'll have to wait until next time Wink

After all it is free

The savings of travelling independently are much greater at half term than other weeks. Hotel high season prices (if you book direct) tend to be uniform for February and March. It's only British package operators who bump up the price by around 50% for UK school half term week.

Julian T, What are the flights like booking independantly. I checked for this year with easyjet, and the weekend of the start of half term was incredibly expensive, even a number of months in advance.

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Peter B, I agree, I checked Easyjet within minutes of it coming out and it was about £400 per person to geneva at half term.

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At peak times like this the scheduled airlines are often cheaper than the budget ones - what's the BA price?

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BA don't seem to fly to GVA from the Midlands. I know they do Lyons. Easyjet always know when the school holidays are.

Last time I skied in half-term week we booked with Easyjet the day their winter schedules came out. We paid approx £250 per person for LGW-GVA.

You know it makes sense.

Unless they've dropped it quite recently BA do Geneva ex Birmingham.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Peter B, I paid c.£330/head Heathrow-Zurich on Swiss for travel at half term weekends. I think BA was slightly more....as far as booking for next year is concerned, it may be a safer bet to book BA as they are more likely to be still in business than Swiss, who appear to be living on borrowed time at the moment

A snowHead

As I've said before in other discussions, the USA can be a cheap option at half term. If you choose your gateway airport carefully, flights are no more expensive at half term weekends than any other time - and certainly no more than Julian T's disgracefully expensive flight to Zurich. And, with the current state of the dollar, costs can be significantly lower than Europe once you hit the slopes.

A snowHead

But looking at the cost of flights etc.. I can't see how doing it yourself is cheaper. The basic cost of flights, transfers and catered accomodation for four people has worked out at £2000 before you add passes, insurance etc... That's in a three bedroom apartment in Ellmau, which has full kitchen for me to cater for my daughter's dietary needs owing to a medical condition, but with full chalet board catering as well in the hotel to which the apartment is attached.

That's £500 each. Bearing in mind the cost of flights, transfers, finding suitable accommodation, I doubt I would make any saving if I did it independantly, and I certainly would have more to worry about.

If it goes wrong when your with a tour operator, it's the rep's job to sort it out. If you go independantly, it's down to you! I'd prefer the peace of mind.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I've just spent about £1900 on flights, (very comfortable) B&B hotel accomodation (including bar bill) and car hire to stay last half term week in Kitzbuhel, arranged independently. The flights were via Amsterdam (to Munich), which was a pain. I imagine that I'd have paid much the same using a TO, but if I'd booked earlier I could have had direct flights, cheaper.

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Peter B, Here are the sums for a 4 star hotel in Ischgl at half term comparing independent travel at half term versus Inghams:

Inghams brochure price for travel & half board: £1,132/head

Independent: Flights: £330, car hire per head (5 in car) c.£100; same hotel half board £470/head; Total £900

Saving from independent travel = c.£230/head = £1,150 for a family of 5. Sounds worth having to me!

n.b. If you go on a package in the week either side of half term, it's about £370/head cheaper, but if you did it independently the cost wouldn't change. i.e. Packages are a better deal except in peak weeks

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Blimey, at those sort of prices perhaps my £475 /head B&B in Kitzbuhel was a better deal than I'd thought.

I noticed that the B&B hotel did not increase it's prices for half term week; the price is he same from New Year to mid March, when it drops.

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Julian T, I note what you're saying, but nobody ever pays brochure prices. Take Inghams as an example. I went to Chalethotel La Floride last March in Courchevel 1650. Brochure price £780 per head - actual price paid £299 per head.

Admittedly this was week 3 of March, so demand wasn't as high, but I'm sure I could not have got a flight, transfer from Geneva and accommodation in a (supposedly!!!) 4 star chalethotel for that sort of money independantly.

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Peter B

a) How did you do that?

b) I don't think you'd get much of a discount at half term, since you usually have to book about 6 months or more in advance.

After all it is free

Peter B, wow, at half terms we book well in advance (we're thinking about next Feb already) and pay brochure price, well early bird brochure price anyway.

Discounts? I remember those. They are given to people who are able to travel at unpopular times of the year! try getting discounts on main resorts during high season. As rare as Rocking Horse doo doo! Did you know, for instance, that Scott dunn has a waiting list for half term that is reputed to stretch for 7 years!!

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SimonN, of course they are still available if you know the hotelier personally and have been going to the same place for donkeys years wink

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marc gledhill, better stop thinking about it and book soon - a lot of silverskis better chalets have already gone for next half term! We're thinking about 2007 now to get the whole chalet booking we want.

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marc gledhill, We are planning easter 2008 as it is very early

Julian T, it's funny, but I have come to an almost completely different view to you as outside of school holidays the flights are much cheaper with the budgets. Going in January or March I could have got Saturday flights to Geneva for £12 each way.

You know it makes sense.

Frosty the Snowman, snowHead

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Admittedly I steer clear of half-term as I flat refuse to get ripped off by tour-ops and/or budget airlines, but I am astonished at the prices you guys are quoting... I ALWAYS go independent and spend ages harassing the hell out of tourist offices in the chosen resort to get the special packages they do. A group trip I'm sorting this year has resulted in prices per head (s/c - but we all prefer s/c for the freedom of choice it gives) of around £340 INCLUDING accommodation, whole area lift pass, tourist taxes, linen hire, keycard deposit, ski & boot hire, return flights, transfer to & from airport & insurance. In previous years I've done prices for similar packages at £270-ish for Isola 2000 and £310-ish for Ellmau. The deals are there if you're prepared to be relentless with the tourist office (I can count 83 emails I've sent to tourist office, ski schools, transfer services, etc... for this year!).

I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that a half term break would be a lot harder to organise, but I remember last year we almost went back to Ellmau at half term and it would still have only been around £420 for the "package" and that was mainly because I couldn't get a cheaper flight than around £130 return. This was for a group of around 16 in various s/c accomodations. OK, so you have to be prepared to be flexible with travel plans, but for Ellmau the previous year (when we did actually make it!) we paid 8 euros per adult for a RETURN train ticket from Munich airport to the skiwelt station (Kirchberg is it? Can't remember) and about 12 euros a head for the taxi transfer. If we'd waited for the bus instead, it would only have been a few euros.

Maybe it's because I like the thrill of the chase, but people who say, "oh I can't be doing with the inconvenience" and pay double what I do are, IMHO, fools... Very Happy

A snowHead

A snowHead

laundryman, hear, hear; I have better things to do than scour the internet looking for the cheapest this and that. However, if you know in which hotel you want to stay, it is usually possible to arrange that and a cheap (relative term at half term) flight without wasting too much time.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

SimonN, I had heard that about Scott Dunn as well. They have a priority system for their regular customers, if you've booked a chalet for that week before then you can book it for the same week next year, as long as you pay a deposit very early.

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With all these air travel prices, why don't you all drive? Speedferries and petrol, tolls etc would save buckets, and cheap motels for an overnight stay ........... Puzzled

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

KIDS!!!!!!!!!easiski,

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helenjane, we've driven with kids, and it turned out to be much easier than keeping them occupied in the airport, on the plane, and on the transfer coach. We were free to stop when they were fed up or needed the toilet. We aslo stopped off on the way back for a day in Lyon and visited the Roman ampitheatre. They were about 7 and 8 I think. It was MUCH cheaper than the equivalent tour operator trip (we even stayed in the same apartment block)

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After all it is free

laundryman, I don't think my kids are particularly normal though. But running through a ruined ampitheatre pretending to be Gladiators helped .

Helen Beaumont, I'll have to try that one in the National Gallery! wink

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laundryman, Very Happy

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Crystal's mistake

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