Quantity (cheap ski deals) or Quality (ski Chalets)?
The Dilemma: You love to stay in a catered ski chalet, but you also want to ski as often as possible, which means hunting for cheap ski deals.
As a newbie in the ski travel industry last winter, I encounter this conundrum more than any other and, after a full season at the sharp end of booking ski holidays, I’ve discovered that you can eat your (home baked by chalet girls) cake and have it!
Here’s how:
1. Book really early
Despite or perhaps because of the whole skiing fraternity being so skint, quite often now the best ski deals are to be found if you book a whole year in advance. That’s not a type – a whole year!
The simple truth is that the ski travel companies have been severely battered by the recent penchant for late booking (it’s disastrous for business planning and cash flow) and so they’re trying to fix the situation by offering incredibly cheap ski deals for those willing to plan and book way ahead of actually taking their skiing holidays.
Booking early is essential if you’ve a large group and want to all be able to stay together, so why not get organised… find and book really early and you’ll bag the best possible ski deal… and probably the best free extras too, like 1 in 10 people go free, or free lift pass for the group leader etc. It’s my opinion that booking early ski deals guarantees you the best price/quality combination.
2. Book really late
If you don’t mind where you ski and you don’t need to get a large group of people into the same accommodation, simply wait… and wait… and wait… until the tour operators get into their ritual last minute panic and need to dump a few dozen un-sold packages at the last minute.
There’s no doubt that the very cheapest ski chalet holidays are to be found if you Google “last minute ski deals”… but beware… because it’s likely that all those late ski deals which are still available, are there because no one else wanted to ski or stay there!
The key to success with late ski deals is actually your own flexibility – do not use this approach if you’re fussy about where you stay and ski, or are booking for a large group or family.
3. Use a ski travel agent/specialist
To preserve your sanity, don’t search the website of every single ski tour operator. Use the ski travel agencies who work with all the big suppliers instead.
To find ski chalets at really low rates, you’re going to have to spend a few minutes each day searching, until a great deal pops up and you can grab it. If you do this by searching Crystal Ski, Inghams, Thomson Ski, Neilson and First Choice Ski every day, you will soon lose the will to live… or at least the will to ski. By searching on one of the big online ski travel agents websites you are basically searching all of those tour operators in one go.
Richard Sinclair is director of ski deals and ski chalets for SNO Ski Holidays. If you are interested in ski holidays go over and check out his site as he know everything about ski trips and you will surely find a great ski deal for yourself and your loved ones.
Processing your request, Please wait....
