Help ski surprise

black123

My husband has always wanted to go skiing. So as a surprise I said id book a trip. My mistake - I'm normally patient when it comes to shopping around and I always spend time on getting value for money. But im totally bamboozled with information overload. I'm also surprised at how expensive it all is, I had a budget of 1400 in my head for everything but I can't seem to find anything like that. I need some help with:
Where to go
Value for money (cheap as possible)
Beginner friendly
Night life-we're not into clubs or mad nights out just friendly locals that are good craic etc
I'm open to a DIY holiday
I hope you can help
Thanks

Rew

1400 for both of you each?

Have you looked at the tour operators

Crystalski
directski
highlife
etc?

Cheap as possible is probably self catering but half board makes life a lot easier so its worth considering.

I've been to France twice and loved it, heading to Austria this year. Id highly recommend Meribel in France as a good beginner spot. Where ever you go you better going for the cheaper area lift pass option. Its more limited but until you find you feet you unlikely to need the wider area pass.

Northern Monkey

Andorra might be a good option, but 700 each could be tight by the time you include lessons, lift pass, ski hire, etc. unless of course you don't mind going self catering (I'm too lazy to do this myself) Crystal ski normally have offers called ski+ that include lift pass and ski hire for OK money ( but your lessons will still need added on)

black123

Yeah its 700 each. Skiing isn't really suited for the normal two income family. On top of all the extras there's still wet gear boots etc. Is it likely that there'll be there would be better deals if we were to hold of until January/February next year?

Kmc123

black123 wrote: »

On top of all the extras there's still wet gear boots etc. Is it likely that there'll be there would be better deals if we were to hold of until January/February next year?

Keep on the lookout in Aldi and Lidl they have ski gear for very reasonable prices around xmas time. You might also be better off to wait and book last minute, usually you might get them a good deal cheaper but I agree with above 1400 is cutting it a bit tight!!

Rew

TK Max is good for ski gear on a budget.

Id ring the travel agents tell them your budget see what they can do for you, you would be surprised.

zagmund

Aim for off-peak times to reduce the cost. Times like the middle of January tend to be better value than mid-term for example. Check the brochure prices and you will see the trend in pricing.

Note that the lift pass price will be a significant part of your overall budget in some resorts. The resorts I've been to for the last few years in Austria cost €150-€200 for a weeks pass. Out of €700, that's a fair whack. Add in ski & boot hire and you're probably talking another €50-75.

However, there are ways to do it on the cheap. Ryanair flights to Munich (Memmingen) can be quite cheap mid-week, transfer on their bus to Munich train station, train down to one of the Austrian resorts. That side of things *can* be quite good value. There used to be a thread on here last year about the cheapest way to do it, using particular regional train tickets.

You can mail the tourist office in any town and they will give you a range of accommodations that are available, and you can of course google places yourself and email them for prices and availability.

If you want to keep the price down then you will have to settle for being a little away from the centre of town more than likely. This isn't necessarily a bad thing especially where there's a ski bus nearby. Don't go for somewhere waaaaay out of town with no easy way to get to the lifts as walking for 30 or 40 minutes in the morning before you hit the slopes is *not* a good idea.

Good luck,

z

p.s. I just had a look and picked the week of 18JAN at random - you can get to Memmingen & back (with a bag) for ~€80 per person. It's going to be hard to beat that. Their Wednesday flight gets you to Memmingen by 1300. It will still take another 4-5 hours to get to a resort.

[edit] forgot to add - definitely worth calling a travel agent and see what they have. We are going with a tour company this year for the first time in about 10 years - we couldn't have done the trip we wanted anywhere near as cheap as the agent could get. Other years we could do it cheaper as a DIT tour.

Fattes

700 is doable.

Two static and no alternative prices

Lift Pass - 150 to 220 in most low cost resort..

Ski boot and Equipment rental - Avg 60 -100 Resort dependent.

Look at the ski welt area in Austria and talk to Travel operators.

Direct SKi and Crystal are the best bets.

Some deals will include the lift pass and helping with the budget last week of Jan is normally cheap.

snowcrazie

I've managed to get both Italy & France this year for €650 pp that's flights, transfers, accom, lift pass and rental but no lessons. But it's full lift passes so you might be able to trade off some of the cost of lessons against a more limited lift pass.

The cheapest holidays i've seen/gone on are to Pas de la Casa. You wouldn't want to be expecting much accomodation wise in any resort for these prices though! And I book as a group so due to rooms being under occupied you might find you have to pay more per person as a couple.

Check out Directski, Arinsol & Pal - I think that's where you'll find the best deal. Prices have rocketed over the last month though. You can do accomodation allocation on arrival and it usually knocks about €50 pp off the price.

A tip for the for the future with snow holidays is to get in asap if you're looking for a cheap deal.

Also try travel agent window for deals, i saw some great ones in swords recently.

black123

Thanks everyone I've loads of food for thought here. Good tips and advice. More shopping around to be done with your tips in mind.
P.S. I might just head over to the financial section see if there is any info on cheap loans ha ha!

Kmc123

snowcrazie wrote: »

Check out Directski, Arinsol & Pal - I think that's where you'll find the best deal. Prices have rocketed over the last month though. You can do accomodation allocation on arrival and it usually knocks about €50 pp off the price.
.

Was here last year and directski were very helpful, our original accomodation we had booked was unavailable due to heating being broke, this accomodation was SC. On arrival we found out we had been upgraded to a four star hotel at the end of the town for no extra fee, needles to say we were delighted!!

Prices here are very reasonable as it is a duty free town, lots of cheap alcohol and cigarettes, if your into that sort of thing of course!! There is also a bar at the end of the gondola who give free toasted sandwiches after your day on the slopes!!

KStolen

I am going to Isola2000 in France. There's a low season in early January, when the French kids are in school.

Flights/travel costs €140.
Accommodation (self catering) is €300 for a 5 person room for the week. The room is very much on the "cosy" side, but there's a path to a slope literally 2 meters from the front door. It's fantastic.
Boots/snowboard/helmet rental is about €90.
Lift pass is about €120

I have snow gear, so that's not a cost. Lessons are expensive (€300 a week or something ridiculous) and I won't be getting them.

That's about €400pp excluding food/drink, which will be about €100.

The resort itself is average sized. It's not particularly pretty, but it has 120km of mainly red and blue runs. It has a few short black runs and some long green runs. Perfect for beginner to intermediate.

It is fairly expensive to eat out or buy food in the (small) supermarket though.

It gets very busy at weekends with people coming up on day trips from Nice.
The rest of the time you might have the slopes to yourself, depending on what time of the year you go.

So yeah, it can certainly be done on €1400 between you. Just do the research and you'll find somewhere. I think France is likely to be your cheapest option. It also helps to consider the time of year you're going at. I know nothing about travel packages, but of the few I've seen it seemed cheaper to organise it myself.

Snowbride 2011

I've just check Arinisal on direcski, 08/01/12, 2 people including beginners ski packs, flights and transfers: total €1246.68 (excluding travel insurance). Now I haven't been to this resort so you'll need to check out the boards for a review re slopes, but it should be cheap enough in resort

Booking Code DS1401420
Holiday starts 08 Jan 2012
Number of Overnights 7
2 Travellers

Accommodation Residencia Daina, Arinsal & Pal, Andorra
Check-in Date 08 Jan 2012
Overnights 7
Rating ***
Basis Bed & Breakfast
Number of Rooms 1
Cost Double/Triple room (for 2-3 people) 2 x Standard Rate €508.34 €1,016.68
€1,016.68
Double/Triple room (for 2-3 persons)
Beds:

1 x Pull out Bed, 1 person
1 x Double Bed, 2 persons

Ski Packs
All Inclusive (beginners only): Learn to ski pack (Area Lift Pass Equipment and School) €235.00
All Inclusive (beginners only): Learn to ski pack (Area Lift Pass Equipment and School) €235.00

Other
Web Fare Discount 2 @ €-120.00 €-240.00
€-240.00

Cost and Payments
Total Cost €1,246.68

Northern Monkey

Snowbride 2011 wrote: »

I've just check Arinisal on direcski, 08/01/12, 2 people including beginners ski packs, flights and transfers: total €1246.68 (excluding travel insurance). Now I haven't been to this resort so you'll need to check out the boards for a review re slopes, but it should be cheap enough in resort

Booking Code DS1401420
Holiday starts 08 Jan 2012
Number of Overnights 7
2 Travellers

Accommodation Residencia Daina, Arinsal & Pal, Andorra
Check-in Date 08 Jan 2012
Overnights 7
Rating ***
Basis Bed & Breakfast
Number of Rooms 1
Cost Double/Triple room (for 2-3 people) 2 x Standard Rate €508.34 €1,016.68
€1,016.68
Double/Triple room (for 2-3 persons)
Beds:

1 x Pull out Bed, 1 person
1 x Double Bed, 2 persons

Ski Packs
All Inclusive (beginners only): Learn to ski pack (Area Lift Pass Equipment and School) €235.00
All Inclusive (beginners only): Learn to ski pack (Area Lift Pass Equipment and School) €235.00

Other
Web Fare Discount 2 @ €-120.00 €-240.00
€-240.00

Cost and Payments
Total Cost €1,246.68

Arinsal would be fine for a beginner (if the place is white you will be happy ), but if it is possible I would try for Pas de la casa or Soldeu

black123

thanks but cant go until end of feb start of march