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DIY ski trip

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  • 05-01-2016 8:31pm
    #1
    aidanki
    Registered Users Posts: 1,262 ✭✭✭


    hoping to go skiing this year for a few days

    however I have a question as money is tight enough and a package ski holiday will be 1100ish

    hoping to go to czech republic maybe as I have other business to take care of in Prague

    anyone ever done their own travel agent and booked the accomodation themselves, then ski school, then booked the gear etc,

    does it work out cheaper to do it that way

    the accomodation is the easy bit, its easy book a hotel for a few days at a resort

    its all the rest that adds up, just wondering is it possible do the booking myself for everything and save a few quid for partying


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    #2
    olaola
    Registered Users Posts: 4,139 ✭✭✭olaola


    Definitely, we always DIY it every year. But the trick to a good DIY deal, are the cheap flights. And if you're booking them now, you *might* not get the best value.

    Just checking at crystalski, Alpineanswers etc, and the value for last min deals is phenomenal.

    Even if I were to go with a package deal, I'd always rent my own gear. You can always find a good online discount for your preferred supplier.
    And you can pick the shop you want to rent from, so it's the most convenient for you.


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    #3
    Donie75
    Registered Users Posts: 1,107 ✭✭✭Donie75


    I found it difficult to book a hotel direct if I wasn't doing a full week, Saturday to Saturday.
    Some resorts will only do a full week.
    A last minute package deal might be the best option but be sure to factor in the cost of ski-pass, gear and lessons if required.
    Skiset do some good deals on ski rental. They usually have discount codes floating around the internet.


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    #4
    martinsvi
    Registered Users Posts: 1,729 ✭✭✭martinsvi


    I'm going to Italy again this year, we are 4 people - round trip to Bergamo (Ryanair) is 80 eur per person. Then we have booked a car for another 285. We are staying in an apartment type (self catering) hotel - it's 530 for a week, grocery stores in Italy are great, full of nice produce and cheaper than Ireland, so that takes care for meals. Ski pass is 200 per person for 5 days, ski rent some 60 eur pp.

    So that comes out as roughly 550 per person for a week. Some resorts organize shuttles so technically you can go without renting a car. We just like the option to try out different slopes, move around and so on, so we are happy to pay for this. If you're traveling solo or with just one other person, you can scrap the self catering apartment in an exchange for a cheaper one/two bed hotel. Lots of ways you can go about saving anyway.


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    #5
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,178 ✭✭✭k123456


    Diy in general cheaper, but sometimes this can be bettered by a last minute TO deal

    Hotels can sometime be difficult to find, in a resort, however if you have a hire car, nothing to stop you staying in a adjacent town, (easier to find accom)


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    #6
    Timmaay
    Registered Users Posts: 11,394 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    If your under40 and ok with basic enough accommodation (hostel style sharing if your solo), then I'd highly recommend the UCPA (also called Action outdoors), basically a very cheap all inclusive package holiday, apart from your flights (when I say all inclusive, that means ski passes, ski hire and all food! I've travelled with them last 2 years, I've done my homework on plenty alternatives, either packages or DIY and struggled to find anything close to the value I get with them.


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    #7
    webwayz
    Registered Users Posts: 75 ✭✭webwayz


    I have done DIY ski trips in France, Italy, Norway, Austria and Germany, as well as package deals.
    DIY is generally cheaper (not alway so), and you are not confined to the accommodation or hire places the agency uses.
    Using either public transport, hiring a car, or a taxi/bus service, often means that you don't have to take a meandering bus which goes around every hotel the travel agent has booked.
    You can also choose to hire skis near where the main lift/gondola you choose to use is, once on a package we had to store our skis where they were booked as part of the package from near a ski-school area, where we were going to the other side of the resort to use a main gondola, just adding time to the start and end of every day.
    You just need to sort, accommodation, flights, and connection between airport and resort, and sort your pass, ski-pack when you're there.
    On package deals, you can often get great deals, and especially late on. And with some of the online booking you can a la carte select various components of a holiday.

    Flights I have booked or looked at for bespoke ski trips
    Flights by Ryanair from Dublin to Grenoble, Turin, Bergamo, Saltzburg, Brataslava, as do Aer Lingus to Munich(Dublin or Cork), Geneva, Vienna, Lyon and EasyJet(from Belfast) to Geneva, I believe Swiss fly now direct from Dublin, suit alpine resorts.
    Often the benefit of the package is the flight is chartered and at a more respectable time, and to other airports specific to a ski resort, Innsburck in Austria or Chamberry in France.

    I have found Germany and Austria quite cheap to ski in, and with food part of the accommodation deal in Pensions, it has worked out well.


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