Prioritising how you budget for a holiday

A snowHead

Just to feed my interest, how do you guy prioritise your spend when considering a snow holiday?

I've always seen the spending money side of the holiday as something i just write off; what I spend, I spend having a good time, be it on beers, eating on the slopes or just generally indulging myself. I never go mad as in going out on the lash every night, but two or three beers during apres is the norm before dinner then a few more beers afterwards (I'm no party animal BTW). Likewise, I don't sit down for slap-up three-course lunches but will generally always eat on the slopes, as well as taking a sarnie as an energy booster. I like France and will keep going there despite the high drinks prices - it's a holiday and I'm not going to penny-pinch. I wouldn't say I have a daily budget that i stick to religiously.

When booking I've always had one eye on lift pass costs and although it's an essential part of the holiday, it has dictated to some extent where I go but ultimately, the type of lift system has more bearing on my resort choice, what with having a deep-seated loathing of drag lifts. Overall piste mileage counts for a lot also and that make €250+ passes easier to swallow if I know I'm not going to be doing the same runs all the time.

Time of year also plays a part - seeing as it's just me and the missus we try to go at the times when it's not peak (and therefore more expensive) - we've been the start of December and the end of March, but generally plump for the first two weeks in January. Once little man starts coming with us then it'll obviously change dependant of when he's at school and when school hold fall. I think that'll be a hard pill to swallow, but then again plenty of other people do it and I suppose the desire to get a great family deal will push me to save more and spend more wisely.

Obviously, budget is dictated by your financial situation and some people are more flush than others. Myself, I never aim for the Ritz so I'm happy with flights, transfers and catered chalet for £500, knowing that it's the snow I'm there for and not the accommodation. Prices are obviously rising year-on-year and the deals within my desired budget are becoming fewer (and those that are at my price are getting snapped up quicker) so I'll have to bite the bullet and up my budget. Do you guys feel you're losing that value for money that was once so prevalent, especially in the late deals, or is it something that you just accept as prices inflate as years pass?

I'll be interested to hear what you guys spend and how you set out your budget, more to satisfy my curiosity, but in part to see if I'm being a tad wad and I'm actually missing out by having a budget ceiling?...

A snowHead

I don't really have a daily budget, just recon on around 15e per person per day eating on the slopes.

Lift passes only sway me if there are free kids places, that's by the wayside now as the (not so) little feller is 9.

I tend to focus on the overall picture and if I deem the resort is worth a few hundred quid more then go for it.

I remember the time when a last minute, say 2-3 weeks prior to departure date 3* CC in france could be fround for £300 Sad

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Specialman, lunch is non-negotiable, as it would be me who would have to sort out the packed lunches in the morning.
It isn't always an expensive lunch, sometimes just soup.
I don't want to eat on the slopes if it is cold, I would rather go back to my warm apartment for that. I prefer to get out earlier then eat in the apartment in the evening while I can cook at my leisure while watching a DVD or listening to music. We will go out on a few nights for a couple of drinks and buy a pitcher of beer if there are 4 of us.
If we are looking to budget, I may choose a cheaper hotel for the overnight stay with a meal in a brasserie rather than somewhere nice with a good restaurant. Even more so if our sons come too.

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My thought process tends to look at the cost of travel, transfer, accommodation and lift pass.

After that, I kinda have a rough idea of what food, drink and associated apres costs will be, and find they don't vary that much from resort to resort. Some you have to watch the pennies more, some less so, but not enough that it dictates where I go.

I tend to assume I'll eat on the slopes as it's not always possible to get back to the apartment/hotel depending where it is.

My focus is very much on maximising the skiing and I suppose any apres is a nice bonus to join things up between skiing and sleeping.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

The only thing I think about is flight, transfer and accommodation. Lift pass, ski hire beers etc are all roughly the same. I work on an overall budget of £1000 for the week all in which I always do, and that includes everything.

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I try to save up £1000 for a week's ski holiday. This to include everything, flights, transfers, hotel, spending money, ski carriage, lift pass, airport parking, cattery. Generally speaking a TO holiday is around £600-£750 of this (including flights, transfers, hotel, lift pass, ski carriage). It doesn't feel like it has changed much in the past 5 years and dinners on the mountain, etc. are a bit cheaper with the better exchange rate. I have managed to save up nearly £3k this year through my 2 additional jobs, so I should be able to afford 2 ski holidays, new boots and a new TV. Lush!

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Our typical spend is around £1k each all in, including cattery, airport parking.

I don't like to throw money away, and prefer to either take a packed lunch or find somewhere maybe at the foot of the pistes for lunch that's reasonable priced. Couple of apres beers, bottle of wine with dinner and maybe a drink or two each after that.

I don't have a spending money budget per day where "if it's gone, it's gone" but I tend to have an idea of how much I want to spend over the week, and if we're there or thereabouts, that's good enough for me. At the end of the day, you're on holiday, but there's no sense in breaking the bank and living off beans for the rest of the month if you've gone a bit mad!!

After all it is free

My main holiday comes in about £1000 all in. If we can get a second holiday we have to book last min then we will go cheap as possible, sometimes a good deal comes up on a catered chalet, we will get a case of beer to bury in the snow and only do the apres bars towards the end of the week when we know our money will stretch but then we are quite happy to relax in the chalet with a dvd and a book.
With 4 course meals served in the chalet we are happy just to get a soup or a sandwich on the slopes. If we go self catering we will take something on the slopes with us, in Sweden this is most likely as you can use free BBQs dotted about or heat chilli up in a microwave no problem. We go for the snow so if we only get 1 night out it really makes no odds to us. I work nights at home, my partner works days so spending time together AWAKE doing something we both love is what it's all about.

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Specialman, I used to do extra locum days to cover our ski trips, but I'm employed for the majority of the week now. The bonus is paid holidays, and the opportunity for lieu time if I work on a Saturday morning.

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On a normal family trip I would look to pay around £500-600 each all in 3/4 board passes travel etc. for 8 days, we tend not to spend much on drink in the evenings, we'll just drink the free wine most of the night with the evening meal, as the main bulk of the holiday is cheap, we tend to splash out a bit at lunchtimes so everyone eats/drinks whatever they like. We probably budget about £1000-1200 or so for lunchtime food/drink and general spending money but in reality never get near to blowing it.

The cost of lift passes would be high priority for us on a family trip, accommodation cost would come next.

snow reports

We probably seem a little extravagant with regards to our skiing, but not in reality. I like to get value for money and will shop around or decent deals/prices etc. We probably spent around £1200 - £1300 pp/pw all in. I can justify this as we dont really go on a summer holiday due to circumstances etc. We'd never penny pinch as you're on holiday but you do have to draw the line somewhere. Its all about what value you put on things.
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For the last few years have been doing DIY trips to North America and this year that budget ( may have to increase a little) actually gets us 18 days skiing in Utah I would think total spend will be around 5K - 5.5K.This is being helped though as our prices are held for the last 3 years

We wont be eating three course meals on the mountain, but I wouldnt want to. Night times will be eating out, sometimes fine, sometimes not so fine but its as the mood takes us. We'll be hiring a 4x4 to get around so sometimes drink wont flow that much. Other times it will as bars are available on foot. We're there primarily for the skiing and not so much partying.

We've done cheap and cheerful before ( think 3* CC in France, last minute for 14 days £350 - a few years ago now )and we have stayed in some decent places too. We've also stayed in some not so salubrious accommodations Toofy Grin

So long as theres a bed/food /hot water and plenty of snow you cant go far wrong.

Given a finite sum of money, my priorities are / would be;

1. maximise the number of days on snow
2. pick cheap & uncrowded times
3. my own Room
4. interesting / extensive resorts
5. location of accom (no bus rides to lifts)
6. my own bathroom
7. half board can save money, esp if brekky is decent and they don't mind/notice you 'making & taking'

other stuff - flights, lift passes, beer money, ski hire I kind of take as a given / constant and don't factor it into my choice so much - although Arlberg prices would be a factor if it really came to it.

Basically, if push came to shove (and pray God it never does) I'd whittle away those priorities from the bottom up

You know it makes sense.

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

A snowHead

We have no chance of cheap deals as I'm a teacher but we shop around and go self catered, booking direct with owners via their websites. S/c means food costs are broadly similar to home but we do chuck loads of booze on top. Self drive and tesco vouchers for the tunnel means we generally get away with £500/600 pp peak times. Thats generally a group of 9 sharing costs, cooking etc. Driving does lose a bit of snow time but we do manage two trips a year, christmas and half term. to be honest when we did some 2 week christmas trips we did find ourselves a bit snowed out by the end, feeling we had to go out to make use of the passes, so 2 shorter his are better. as we get better we do now look for mileage on the piste but are happy to drive 1/2 an hour to get there which cuts accommodation costs sometimes.

A snowHead

I do not really budget... and I do not enjoy spending money in the resorts keeping in minds it will never benefit the right people anyway : bunch of foreigners on the take, bunch of locals on the take, bunch of valley people owning one (or more) hotel/s on the southern coast and one/or more in the Alps running them with trainnees from various hotel schools and so on, sod them.

I camp, sleep in the car, dug a snow shelter and even crash at some relatives if necessary (and replicate the favour when they are visiting wherever I am on a kind of bartering system) but my money is NOT going to those people. Food is bought at the grocers/butchers in the valley and cooked on the stove or from combat rations if I am dead lazy. I do admit to the luxury of bread and croissants bought in resort. Skipasses is where it hurts. I have no choice but pay for companies criss-crossing the landscape with wires and transporting people as far and high as possible even if they do not have the skills to come down decently. If I am splashing out I go for UCPA, state run/own association with limited power to make profits.

A good part of the resorts are actually on National Park lands (at least in France) and should not be monopolised by a handful of greedy weirdos turned pseudo entrepreneurs cum third-rate mafiosi.

The budget thus is relatively limited to the strict necessary. Usually I plan on something along the line of £600 max.

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

volklwaffen, wow, you are a cheerful little holidaymaker!
This, in particular, strikes me as being somewhat hypocritical, if you're going to use the damn things:

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volklwaffen, I take it the £600 is for the whole season? wink

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

volklwaffen, You got ripped off on the return...... although it is all uphill I guess!? Laughing

You are the "money saving expert" and I claim my cheese toasty! Cool

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It was fast and made it in time for work. Still smiling thinking of it.
I am not claiming any expertise in saving money. I am just attempting not to give it to certain people. Different.
Sorry, do not have cheese at home. Hate that. Glass of wine instead ?

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Each year arranging and booking the trip falls down to me.
Last year my group of 6 went to Grand Bornand in France, total cost was £346 self catering

Some of the group are quite low earners so it all comes down to budget for us, aswell as wanting decent accomodation, decent piste size, quiet slopes.
It's not easy

This doesn't bother me too much as it means I can fit 2 trips in and not feel like I'm stitching myself up & having to skimp on a cheap sun holiday later in the year.
My cheapest ever trip was through Crystalski, £340 halfboard to Pamporovo including liftpass (they were completely free)
Very small resort but a half board hotel and at that cost was great

Most expensive was £600 catered in Tignes, as you can see we're not exactly big spenders lol

Anyway, this year we are going DIY
Accomodation (self catering 150metres from the 2 Gondola's, double bed for each person) £87. got 10% off for booking just before Nov
Flight (included case but sharing board bag) £94
Lift Pass (20% discount given for booking along with accommodation) £104
Transfer £45

Total £330

Resort is bigger than Bansko but slightly smaller than Morzine+Les Gets, so not a massive area but there are never any lift ques

snow reports

johnE, Where are you driving to? We leave 5.00pm fri and can get to Mayrhofen for early afternoon midday ish sat, after which doesn't leave a lot of time/energy for a couple of hours on the snow. We're off to morzine in feb so will be interested in the difference in drive time.
Too right about the budget, people don't seem to realise that christmas day on the snow is cheaper than buying loads of food to throw away at home.

You know it makes sense.

I used to find it relaxing drinking too much alcohol, but as you age it tends to focus the mind on the effects of alcohol on the body (particularly at altitude). A week consuming 50+ units of alcohol is no longer a holiday, be that a beach holiday or ski or any break. You would return from that needing a holiday.

When it comes to ski holidays, my primary focus is on skiing time, quality, and weather. The budget is set at a top level to include total spending, so that comparisons can be made between skiing in Scotland and not. That means everything is included, even the drive to the airport.

Skiing in Scotland can mean that many expenses can be eliminated like accommodation. It also means when the weather is just right, you can be sure of guaranteed snow and good weather (provided the weather forecast is accurate).

This makes it very hard for European resorts to compete within budget. They have to offer things at the luxury end to make it worth spending the extra.

Of course the skiing is usually better, weather is usually better, and lift system faster and more efficient in higher more snow sure resorts.

Getting out of Scotland often puts extra cost on ski holidays compared to those who have easy access to a tube stop direct to Heathrow airport. Many tour operators do not offer flights from Scottish airports, making it even more expensive (and inconvenient time wise), to go abroad.

On balance, it is more of a holiday to ski in Scotland when the weather and snow is good, as well as being good on the pocket.

It is more hassle, more expensive, and often the weather can be not too good as well. (compared to skiing on in Scotland when the weather is perfect). The skiing in Scotland is limited, but there are still areas I have not done yet due to lack of snow.

I still price up DIY breaks each year, and can often find comparable prices which might make it worthwhile. However, I hate skiing when there is a snowstorm, whiteout, and a week without even one day of such weather is highly unlikely if you book in advance in the cheapest period to do so. This makes skiing in Scotland usually the winner (for me at least given my priorities)

snowHead

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

Being Self employed, one of the biggest factors in holiday costs I have to consider is the fact that if Mrs Ansta1 and I aren't working, we aren't earning money, which generally doubles the relative cost of the holiday. Wherever possible I try to plan holidays around already identified quiet times.

A snowHead

A snowHead

We drive to Les Arcs and leave about 19:00 getting to the resort some time in the morning, depending on the road and driver conditions. IIRC the best time was somewhere around 9.5 hours from Calais. The worst part of the drive is getting to Dover and on at least one occasion this took over 5 hours.

It did take 22 hours to drive back from Venice on one occasion which I think is quite close to Mayrhofen (that is Mayrhofen is very near the Dolomites which are quite close to Venice)

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

Lads trip last year came in at just under £750 for me including spending money, but I know some of the other guys spent over £1k by going out hard every night till 3, 4, 5 am. I went out on 2 big ones but went to bed around 1am the rest of the nights - find being hungover really impairs my skiing. Other people seem to be able to deal with it much better than I...

Expect next year will be much the same.

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bobmcstuff, £750 for full week? Seems cheap.
Assuming you pay at least 450£ for catered deal, another £200 for ski pass. That will leave you very little to go out even to 1am, never mind the lunches etc.
Sorry for asking but it is useful info as I look for ways of doing ski trips cheaper.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Tom W, nah was budget with Off The Piste (some people still students, average age of group about 22 I'd guess). £279 for non-catered accom and lift pass (Val Thorens), £139 for return flights inc ski carriage and €50 transfers (Altibus). Comes to about £450, then £300 spends, subsisting mainly on a diet of baguettes, bolognaise (cooking as a group for economy) and those stubbies you can get a 24 pack of for €7...

Tried not to drink too much when actually out, so that I could ski without dying the next day.

And doesn't include the price of owning my own equipment.

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bobmcstuff, Cheers. I have seen those deals on Val Thorens website last year. Very, very good indeed if there is 4 people to share a room, ups I mean French apartment wink

Would love to do this one day if we can find right people to share it with.
For a couple, I could always stick to my option and have almost none spending money. Just live on chalet food and drink Wink

and aim to end up on 750£ as well.
THANKS

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I don't want to think about it. I rinse money while skiing, due to a complete lack of self-discipline and an addiction to partying like a beast. Will always get up to go out skiing in the morning, albeit with some horrific hangovers thrown into the mix.

I should go to Ibiza more, just to save money. Little Angel

After all it is free

volklwaffen, yeah UCPA is very good - went a few times with them as a student. Was about £500 for everything except beer money (coach there and back though...).

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UCPA is brilliant - went to the one in Tignes last December. Great food, great atmosphere, met plenty of great people to ski and drink with (I was solo), and I'd definitely go again. The group instruction was pretty average - but that seems to be fairly normal in France anyway!

The next time I ski alone, I'd go UCPA. I'd go with a group of friends too - no worse than being in a budget chalet in most ways, and better in many others!

Help!!

Prioritising how you budget for a holiday

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