 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
This year I will have to use a TO for our ski week. We are looking at going to Cervinia on 2nd week of Jan.
Has anyone booked ski equipment with TO's? Is this advisable or should I look at sorting it out myself?
I want to try the boots and get the skis sorted on the arrival day so do not need to rush early in the morning on 1st day skiing, especially because I will book lessons too.
Could you all, who have experience using TO, give your thoughts???
Thanks, rb51
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It depends on the TO, the resort and what time your arriving.. A good experience with Crystal in Sauze D'Oulx.. arrived at lunch and given a time to go to the Shop in the afternoon to pick up equipment.. already for the next morning was like clockwork... but this was some years ago 2007 or 2006 i think...
I generally always book lift passes with TO (if the prices check out and are nearly the same cost)... Usually get you lift pass with your welcome pack on the coach... this year we got Buy 1 lift pass get the 2nd for half price in Zell Am See works out at £147 each for 6 day pass (Normally 216 eur about £175)..
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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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I used to get the ski packs from T/O's, with Neilson you could USUALLY pick up equipment on arrival day. Never had an issue with quality of the rental gear, it depended which resort you were in as to what company they used. In the early days in Bulgaria it was borosport, skistar in sweden and intersport in maria alm.
With inghams the quality was fine but you had a scrum on the morning of the first day.
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We've had some very mediocre hire kit from TO suppliers in the past, including some badly set bindings. Nowadays we tend to hire independantly from the shop with the best depot.
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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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We usually always get ours through the TO unless it seems extortionate compared to using a Skiset Snowheads discount - quality of kit always seemed pretty good. Last year in Cervinia the TO (Inghams) used Top One hire http://www.skirentalcervinia.com/ good kit, very friendly and thorough service and about 30 metres from our hotel.
They stayed open a bit later too after our flight was delayed and were late getting into resort.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Tue 18-12-12 14:38; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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It's also possible to hire from ski shops in the UK and pay the ski carriage... Don't think this would be cheaper but you may end up with better standard of equipment and better fitting boots maybe?...
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We have always booked our ski hire through the TO - Crystal, Skiworld and Ski Total.
Each time, it has been hassle-free - have always been able to get fitted on arrival day and therefore not had to mess about on the first morning with the queues etc. The leisurely wander down to the hire shop is good for getting your bearings in the town as well, without the pressure of having to find the shop and get up the mountain.
Of course, it does all depend on various factors - arrival time in resort, opening hours of the ski shop, and whether the TO and/or shop will allow you to pick up equipment the day before. However in my experience, they are usually pretty relaxed about picking up the day before (as long as all the equipment isn't already out on the mountain!) and also, most of the rental shops stay open pretty late (7-8pm) so you would have to be arriving really late into resort not to be able to pick up on arrival day.
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In my experience TOs just use the same hire shops as you can book independently, by booking independently you don't arrive en masse with the rest of you accommodation where I think the shop staff end up rushing to get every body done quickly and hence you may not get as good a service. Also I have often found that booking through AlpinResorts or similar you can save your self quite a bit of money for the same.
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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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impingu1984, on the other hand, you could end up with boots which give you blisters and you're then stuck with them for the entire holiday.
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Lizzard, fair point
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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My husband's quite tall so I tend to book ours on-line with one of the chains of hire shops using discount codes which generally make it cheaper than the TO if you are hiring intermediate or advanced level skis. You can also decide which hire shop to used based on whether they have a depot you can use or closeness to a lift. TO will often pick one close to the main hotel they have guests in. I have used TO service with small companies, Snowcrazy had the hire people come to your chalet when we went with them which was definitely worth using.
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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 was told by the staff in one shop that they tend to treat 'private' customers better than 'TO' customers. You pay the same price, but the shop gets 100% of the money, unlike when booked via the TO. (The shop guy told me that the particular TO took a 60% cut)
On a different note, though the same trip, we were overcharged by the TO. I paid more - about @10 than the list price in the shop to rent a board and my mate had paid extra for 'superior' boots when the shop only had the one grade. The TO told me they charged a standard rate since some hotels in the same resort used different shops and refunded the money to my card no questions, it's worth checking...........
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Been to Cervinia last 2 years and booked ski hire for a friend through crystal both times. He thought the boots comfy and skis of good standard. Sure he could have taken them back if he'd have wanted to swap.
He went and got his gear the day of arrival so we were all ready to head out first thing next day; rep gave him a token on the bus that you hand in at ski hire shop.
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You know it makes sense.
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I go on costs. Often the TO will charge much more than you will pay on line or in resort. This year the TO was offering buy one get one free ski/boot and pole hire. OH and I only need ski's but this worked out cheaper than hiring skis ourself in resort. Benefits of TO is that they will take you direct to the hire shop. When you book online, you then have to find the hire shop you booked with yourself which some times can be problematic!!
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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 used the ski hire from Neilson in March last season when I went to Avoriaz, and it was fine. I did pay extra for the higher end stuff, but the quality of kit was good and it was well maintained. They used Twinner.
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Poster: A snowHead
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When I booked through AlpinResorts a few months ago it was offering me kids skis free with adults (as we wanted 2 adults to children's this worked great) also we found the Esprit staff happy to point out the location of the hire shop while en-route to the hotel
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| NickyJ wrote: |
| In my experience TOs just use the same hire shops as you can book independently, by booking independently you don't arrive en masse with the rest of you accommodation where I think the shop staff end up rushing to get every body done quickly and hence you may not get as good a service. Also I have often found that booking through ALPINRESORTS or similar you can save your self quite a bit of money for the same. |
Those are exactly my thoughts. We usually get to our accom' and then go direct to the shop. That way you don't arrive with 20 other guests tagging along with a TO rep'... having hung around for 2 hours waiting for the rep to take us. Usually manage to get them cheaper using discount codes. I got superior grade skis for next week, for the same price Neilson wanted for basic ones by using SCGB discount (ok, I'll go and wash my mouth out).
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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 have our own gear, but stayed in a chalet a couple of years ago, the chalet girl took all the other guests up to the hire shop mid-afternoon. I do know it was one of the shops that anyone could hire from i.e. not unique or specific to the TO.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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to all
many thanks for your thoughts.....I will either try and push a deal with TO or hire myself via internet with codes.
still need to find a competitive price to go to Cervinia
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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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We have our own boots, but need to hire skis. Neilson's web ordering system doesn't work for us, since it won't allow a "skis only" hire. Our daughter is 13, which means that she is a Child on some parts of the TO's website (under 1 but not a child in others (over 12 in Austria). This makes it near impossible to order a ski-pack in advance from the TO... so I ordered direct with a Ski-depot.
Whenever I have ordered lift passes through the TO in the past, while it has been a little cheaper than buying direct, they have held on to the lift passes until the "welcome meeting" that night... which is just an opportunity to sell us tickets to the bar-crawl or skidoo safari. If it is at all possible, I want to get on the slopes on the day/afternoon of arrival (just to get the ski-legs in order before the first proper day's skiing). What I now do, is suss out the price of the passes that I'll be paying at the shop... and then when the rep comes around on the transfer coach, if they have them in hand and are cheaper then I'll buy from them, otherwise it is no hassle to buy them in the resort.
I guess, if you are not confident at dealing with the locals, then buying from the TO is hassle free, but that's about it.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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redbaron51, it's a no brainer really. If you book with the TO then obviously they are making a cut from the sale. if you book with the hire shop direct, then they9Hire shop) are taking all the rental and you would I assume receive a better overall service- if the boots end up rubbing or the ski's don't suite they will be only too pleased to help you remedy. That's not to say that thaay wouldn't do that under the TO hire.
But the overall saving if you trawl around will be a small percentage of the overall cost of the holiday. I should choose which ever is most convenient.
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