 Poster: A snowHead
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We initially started by offering mostly Sat-Sat for the X-Mas & New Year period ie. Sat17-Sat24, Sat24-Sat31, Sat31-Sat07 and most other operators to France seem to have done the same. We do however also offer some Fri-Fri and other combinations. As we are getting closer to the dates, with a bit of support from our suppliers we will be able to offer different durations and starting days over that period but we are still unsure as to what may work better. It would be interesting to hear what you guys think even if you have already committed to something. Sorry guys can't afford to pay a market research company (not that they would know better anyway) 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've booked Fri 23rd to Fri 30th with Rocketski and am very pleased with those dates. I deliberately looked for something that wasn't Sat - Sat as didn't really want to spend either 'Eve' travelling.
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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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XPeak, Friday to Friday is an extra day's leave - I wouldn't consider it. I would consider 26th Dec - 31st Dec. My place has been booked by clients for Saturday to Satruday for weeks and I have noticed on the Tourist Information enquiries that many folk are looking for shorter breaks or the usual Sat to Sat (Austria)
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I have booked for 26th Dec - 2nd Jan, my work closes from Christmas to new year and forces me to take 3 days holiday so best way without having to take additional days, I could have done 24th-31st but prefer Christmas at home with the whole family.
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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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Saturday to Saturday has worked fine for me this year although it does mean having to take extra holiday to do 31st Dec to 7th to get the New Year in (I would only have had to take two day's leave if it was Boxing Day to Monday 2nd) - although like nollafb, I like to spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day with my family then head off to spend New Year skiing.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We did 17-23 (6 nighter) 23-30 (7 nighter) and 30-07Jan (8 nighter) from the outset. May look messy but it's gone down very well - the fact that we focus on families may sway that; I suspect travelling on Xmas/NY Eve with kids is less appealing than for adult groups.
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Work is closed from 24 to 2/1/12 inclusive. No one does much on the last day before christmas so I am doing 22/12/11 to 2/1/12. IIRC CIS Immobiler said they were also offering Sunday to Sunday.
John
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In the US, we tend to leave the dates more flexible, although I may end up regretting that a bit- Originally took a booking for Chalet Frisco for Dec 23-29, then received a request for 18-24 Dec that I had to put on hold. The original booking then switched to the 24th-30th (with thoughts of extending to the 31st) and the 2nd request booked elsewhere in the meantime.
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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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XPeak, we're still toying with the idea of going over Christmas/NY but the dates thing is making a bit more difficult than usual. We might go 16-23 as only 1 day bunked off school and not travelling on Christmas Eve (hopefully!) but our preferred option would be a 27th departure as I hate travelling Boxing Day, but there are not many of those around at all.
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XPeak, our returning New Year clients, in all 4 properties, have dictated our Christmas dates, to a large extent, for the past couple of years. We are doing 19 -26 December and 26/27 - 2/3 January for New Year. Seem very popular with now only Christmas and fully catered left and that due to a cancellation
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'd have thought Mon 26 - Mon 2 is the obvious attractive week this year though really I think you're a bit late to be dicking around as most people with serious plans will probably have committed themselves - do you include the flights all-in?
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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 expect you will get different answers depending on whether people are singles/couples or families trying to fit around school hol dates. I will answer from the perspective of a family group.
We have sometimes skiied at New Year. However this year it was not tempting due to the way the school holiday falls. We would have ended up paying a peak price for New Year week but still have had to take the children out of school for a few days as term starts on Wed 4th Jan. Christmas week is a hassle in terms of taking presents. So the most tempting option would have been 16th to 23rd December assuming the price was lower than Christmas/New Year weeks. In the end we have opted to go skiing later in the season keeping fingers crossed that it will snow a lot more than this year.
Anniepen's suggested dates above sound a good idea if most people are flying for the holiday. However surely people doing self drive wouldn't want to depart on Christmas Day to arrive on boxing day? The other thing I was wondering is how will ski school work if families arrive on non standard days. Don't most schools only offer 6 days of lessons from Sunday?
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We a group of 6 adults are doing 19-26 December as a way to maximise our time on the slopes and because we prefer the week before (and including) Christmas to ski (or board - boo) as it is generally cheaper and less crowded. For this reason we did not want to do 16-23 as it involves taking an extra days holiday and both require missing Christmas on the slopes.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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XPeak, We've booked DIY for the week 26/12 to 2/1 as we like to spend Christmas at home then have a weeks skiing over new year and be back for 3/1 when the kids go back to school. I cannot understand why TO's have bene offering 24/12 to 31/12 and 31/12 to 7/1 as this create two poorly timed weeks IMHO.
Still some people offering accommodation got the right idea with regarding timing over Christmas and New Year...
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1764564&highlight=#1764564
XPeak, perhaps you could think about this a little earlier next year so that peeps can still get cheap flights on the optimum days?
Cheers, Pete
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Poster: A snowHead
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Cheers PeteMan, we took the view that the calendar was against us for one more season so we gave it a lot of consideration early last year and then we went along with what we thought would be the most workable schedule, like other much larger operators I guess. All we are trying to do now at this late stage is to offer a little more flexibility based on what's left so of course all the most popular accommodation has gone and the choice of what we are trying to offer with different arrival dates will be considerably more restricted but most people who book late tend to understand that.
snowymum made a very good point about ski schools. Most ski schools, in France anyhow will run their 6 day courses on the basis of what the most widely accepted arrival scheme is. This season it is an overwhelming Sat-Sat changeover, which means that most ski schools in France will run Sun-Fri 6 day courses only. Ski schools in larger resort do of course offer a bit more flexibility. Not everyone wants ski school though and private lessons are available for any start day.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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we booked up about 8 weeks ago. 26-2 were the dates we ended up with and the only way we could do a week - based on the way resorts seem to have divided up their changeovers, and even through booking independently - though would have prefered to travel on the 27th-3rd.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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FAQ
We obviously get feedback from our clients too but then we have probably missed quite a few because we weren't offering what they were looking for and they just did not tell us. Will certainly try to get some new variations based on your suggestions although at this late stage not everything will be possible sadly as it risks leaving unacceptable holes in the availability. As 
's 15th to 20th and can do a cheap deal on those dates for more, 