Book early to beat the credit crunch

The wobbly economy might seem a good reason to put off skiing plans or to wait for last minute deals, but as Lucy Crisp discovers, it's actually made it more important than ever to book your break early.

While the economic slowdown has left many people tightening their belts, booking your annual ski holiday could be just the thing to lift the gloom, and booking early will mean bagging the best deals and the break you want.

Banning your winter holiday might seem like an easy way to save money, but it can be counter productive. After a dreary summer, resigning yourself to a long winter without any snow can make life seem particularly depressing.

Denying yourself the prospect of a holiday treat is like extreme dieting. Tell yourself you can't eat any biscuits, and the chances are you'll crumble when total denial becomes too hard and you end up binging on a whole packet.

The same goes for holidays – enforcing a ban now can lead to impulse buying later when the grey skies get too much so you end up splurging by paying top whack on a luxury break to cheer yourself up.

The knowledge that you have a week of indulgence lined up will help you stick to your everyday budget as well as providing a vital mood lifter. Half the fun of a holiday is savouring it beforehand, and being able to imagine yourself being pampered in your favourite resort is a key motivator for many people.

“With all the doom and gloom of the economy,” says Fraser Hopewell, a regular skier with chalet specialist The Alpine Club, “the nights starting to close in and winter around the corner, it's amazing to have our Alpine Club holiday to look forward to . . . gorgeous chalets, fantastic food, amazing service and of course the skiing. It's keeping us going. Roll on March!”

Apart from being a crucial mood lifter, booking early can also bring significant savings while allowing you to know your costs so you can work out a sensible budget in between. In addition, if you're hoping the credit crunch and the disastrous financial markets will be just the thing to help you scoop a luxury last minute ski deal at bargain basement prices, think again.

“The ski market is by far the most resilient in the travel sector,” explains Sean Tipton from ABTA, “Even after September 2001 when there was widespread panic in the travel industry, while everybody else went down, the ski market went up. It was the only market that did.”

This means it's likely that the ski market will prove to be more resilient in an economic downturn, especially as the ski sector is composed of more affluent travellers who are more insulated from economic downturns. This is borne out by ABTA who have seen an increase in business for luxury operators at about 6% this winter. In addition, changes in the way tour operators organise their accommodation has led to less last-minute discounting.

“Traditionally,” explains Tipton, “tour operators have always given out better deals for early bookers but if it was a slow year, they offloaded holidays cheaply at the last minute to try and recoup some of their costs. This led to more and more people booking last minute to take advantage of cut-price deals. In response, tour operators have cut capacity significantly because they would prefer to turn people away for late bookings rather than have unsold holidays.

“This means late bookers have fewer cheap deals and a vastly reduced choice. The days of really cheap deal are over for last minute bookers. This means booking early is the best way to save money and to get the holiday you want.

“This applies to the ski market more than any other market as it has the most repeat business. Skiers have learnt their lessons and they know to secure the resort and the accommodation they want, they have to book early.”

“Our bookings are up on this time last year,” agrees Helen Raemers of luxury chalet operator The Alpine Club (thealplineclub.co.uk). “So it's more important than ever to book early. You can choose the holiday dates you want, and you get the pick of the best chalets as these do get booked early, particularly on the peak weeks. Canny skiers can also take advantage of the cheapest flights, early booking offers like our £100 off early bird offer and being able to reserve the best instructors, the best restaurants, and the best massage slots!”

Booking early also gives you the biggest choice of options while the widest range of seats are still available. Flights and trains usually only have a certain number of seats at the lowest lead in prices and when these go, prices go up to the next fare bucket.

“Early bookings give you best chance of securing the cheapest fare,” says Tom Parker, Eurostar, “because when they're gone, they're gone. And despite the credit crunch, we're already seeing really strong bookings this year.”

Another good reason to snap up early booking deals is the uncertain travel market. The high profile demise of operators like XL has actually caused prices to rise. The Guardian reported that the day before XL collapsed, a week in Corfu with Olympic Holidays cost £200 - the following day, the same holiday was £352. Any other market disruptions are likely push prices higher while Thomson, First Choice, Thomas Cook Group have already admitted their prices will have to rise next year to cope with high fuel prices and the strong euro. Flights, too, have rocketed and are sure to rise further as more airlines fold and the major players cut capacity.

The uncertainty in the industry means it's important to choose your operator wisely. Industry analysts predict the big, familiar names like Thomson, First Choice and Thomas Cook are a safe bet while smaller specialist tour operators can also be a good choice.

Smaller operators are more insulated because they don't have such aggressive business models and tough targets which makes them more flexible. Many small companies have a high repeat-clientele rate, many of whom will be older and more affluent so they are less likely to be affected by the credit crunch.

Accommodation-only operators like The Alpine Club are potentially in an even stronger position as they don't have seat allocations with airlines, so they aren't affected by fuel price hikes.

So, it seems that even in a credit crunch, to bag the best prices and to be certain to get the chalet you want in the resort of your choice, it pays to book early.

Where to find out more:
The Alpine Club's £100 early booking offer applies to January and 1 February holidays booked before 01/10/08. Terms & conditions apply. For more details, visit thealpineclub.co.uk.

Abta: abta.com

Eurostar: eurostar.com