Last minute ski holidays at bargain prices
Keeping track of the best last minute skiing bargains is about to get easier this season with the launch of a new ski price index from Teletext Holidays.
The new index, which is designed to help people manage their winter holiday budget and will be updated on a weekly basis, is online at teletextholidays.co.uk/skipriceindex.
The index tracks not only the typical cost of the ski holiday itself, but also the cost of essential items such as boot hire and lift passes giving a complete picture of the overall cost of a break away, helping snow seekers keep a check on their holiday budget.
To keep the index bang up to date the Teletext Holidays team will be tracking thousands of last minute holiday prices from hundreds of different companies every week from 10 of the best value European resorts.
Bulgaria and Andorra top the index for the lowest ski holiday destinations.
“The ski market is set for a bumpy ride this year,” said Alison Steed, financial expert and editor of mymoneydiva.com
“For anyone who isn’t a die-hard skier, a winter snow sports holiday could be seen as a luxury especially when people are living on a tight budget. But ski holidays don’t have to break the bank.
“Prices are likely to come down as the season progresses and – because of the recession - we could potentially see much lower ski prices than they have done for years. That makes it the ideal time to get a bargain break.
“The index is a really useful tool. It’s essentially an online ‘shop window’ to show where the best prices are at a glance.”
Despite the Euro strengthening against the pound this year, there are more deals available in popular resorts European resorts which show great value.
Example prices include:
- Three star self catering, Tignes, France £ 319
- Three star self catering, Les Deux Alpes, France £252
- Three star half board, Pas de la Casa, Andorra £283
- Three star half board, La Plagne, France £318
- Three star half board, Borovets, Bulgaria, £233
- Three star half board, Courmayeur, Italy £351
Mark Bloxham, head of marketing, Teletext Holidays, said: “The in-resort extras which go alongside a ski holiday, such as boot hire, lift passes, eating and drinking must be considered alongside the actual cost of the break to get a true picture of the total cost.
“The winter sports market was down last year and it’s likely to be a similar story for the 2009/10 season which means tour operators are likely to stimulate demand by dropping prices. The index will allow people to keep track of the best deals.”
For clever ways to save money on a ski break Teletext Holidays has teamed up with financial expert Alison Steed and her tips are online at teletextholidays.co.uk/skipriceindex.
Alison Steed’s tips to save money on a skiing holiday
1. Borrow as much ski equipment as you can
Hiring – or worse, buying – ski equipment is likely to be a costly affair, and buying may not be worth it unless you plan on skiing each year.
Buying salapettes, ski jackets, gloves, boots and the rest of the gear could easily set you back about £200-£250. If you are buying the same for each person in a family of four, you could find yourself paying more on the kit than the holiday.
Find friend or relatives who have skied and may have the right bits and pieces for you to borrow.
2. If you have to, then hire equipment at the resort.
OK, some people will not know a single person who has skied, and if that is the case for you, then make sure you get the best deal on your ski and boot hire. Now that so few airlines give you free ski carriage – Swiss is the only one – it will cost you around £30 to get your skis out there, according to Alyn Morgan of the Ski Club of Great Britain. So you are better off hiring them at the resort, rather than in the UK.
Ski hire for six days can cost between €95 and €124 for each of the resorts in the Ski Price Index.
But if you are a member of the Ski Club of Great Britain you can get between 25 per cent and 45 per cent discount on your hire costs. A family membership for two adults and two
3. If you want to ski regularly, try online auction sites for bargains
Online auction sites are a great source of cheap ski gear, especially if you can plan ahead a little. While it is perhaps too late to do this for this ski season, it may be worth thinking about for later in the year, or next year.
Even so, you can still get some bargain gear online. For example, salopettes for a three-year-old were going for £2.50 on eBay this week. Women’s Salomon Ski Boots were up for £31. They may not be the latest style, but considering you would be paying nearly £165 elsewhere for a pair of Salomon Divine 6 ski boots for women, you are making a real saving.
4. Choose a resort which is right for your expertise
Tempting though it is to go to the chic resorts of Chamonix or Whistler, you may find that you are out of your depth when it comes to some of the runs you can ski. So check each resort for the level of slopes available, and make sure you are not spending money unnecessarily.
For example, the Ski Club of Great Britain recommends Bulgaria and Slovenia for intermediate skiers looking for a cheap deal, but you might be left a little disappointed by the après-ski. For budget ski holidays though, these countries are hard to beat.
5. Learn to ski before you go
With the recent cold snap across the UK, this has been easier this year than most. Outdoor ski facilities are available in more places than you might imagine in the UK, such as Raise, Helvellyn, Cumbria, which actually opened in 1936. You have to be a member of the Lake District Ski Club, which costs £34.50 for a family membership, and a day’s skiing costs £7.
But even when the country isn’t covered in a layer of white, there are still plenty of places to learn to ski in the UK. The SnowDome just outside Tamworth is offering two junior ski fast track lessons for a total of £119 in January. Adults doing the same would pay £138. Members would be charged less, and for a family of four the membership cost is £110. So you could easily make that back with a series of coaching for the whole family. You can also learn on the dry ski slopes dotted around the UK.
Compare that to the cost of lessons at the resort – at Meribel you would pay as much as €200 for 12.5 hours of skiing in group classes.
6. Shop around for your ski insurance
Not all policies are the same, and there are some nuances even with the same providers, so check what you are covered for before you signup.
Prices on ski-insurance.co.uk varied enormously. A policy for a couple leaving for the slopes on January 16 and coming back January 23 was lowest with Axa Insurance at £40.75 for 10 days’ cover – even though you only need seven.
Always check the variations in price not just between companies, but also on how the policies might work out individually.
Above all, you need to be sure you are comparing like-with-like, and that medical cover is enough, just in case you have a skiing accident.
7. Hire a nanny for your children rather than using a ski school
Merinannies, a private nanny service covering Meribel, 3 Valleys, Val d’Isere, Serre Chevalier, Verbier and St Anton charges between £12 and £14 or CHF 22 an hour for one child, and additional children would add just £1 or €1 or CHF1 to the price of care.
Given that the Magic Snowsports Academy ‘Kids Fun Factory’ will cost €425 in high season for 28 hours of group skiing for children aged between six and 17, there is a good reason to think about hiring a nanny, at least for part of the time.
At these prices, a nanny would cost you £336 at £12 an hour for 28 hours of care, which is cheaper than one child going on the Kid’s Fun Factory school. For two children, at £1 extra per hour for an extra child, the nanny would cost you £364, significantly less than the €850 – or £764 – it would cost to send two children to ski school.
But always be sure you are comfortable with who you are leaving your children with.
8. Don’t use mountainside restaurants
Perhaps easier said than done, but the mountainside restaurants have something of a captive audience, and you are paying for the privilege. Make sandwiches, make your way to a cheaper eating place further from the slopes, or if you have to use them, then keep it to a minimum.
9. Don’t overspend on the après ski
Apart from helping you to ski better, drinking less can save you a bundle of cash. Yes, you are on holiday, and you are there to have a good time, but spending hard on the après-ski is going to quickly burn a hole in your budget, as the resorts are not cheap.
10. Use a prepaid card to help stick to a budget
Prepaid cards are just like credit cards to use, but the biggest difference is that you load them up with cash beforehand. Once you have used all of that, the card will no longer work, so it is impossible to overspend. But you can then load the card with more cash usually via your mobile phone, if you want to.
Many companies do prepaid cards, including Teletext Holidays, but you should use a comparison service to make sure you are getting the deal that is right for you. Some will charge you to have the card, some to load the card, and others for transactions – or a combination of each. So do your homework before you head to the piste.
Alison Steed is the editor of the personal finance website MyMoneyDiva.com.