Top 10 Ski Saving Tips

6/24/2016Jake Ryan

When it comes to a ski vacation, it’s not exactly a secret that they can be expensive, with the costs soon mounting up. I’m here to tell you, however, that this doesn’t have to be the case!

With a little bit of clever planning, you can make major savings. So, if you want to only be left with lifelong memories, and not a lifelong credit bill, follow my top ten tips for saving money on your ski trip.

1. || AVOID PEAK SEASON

One of the easiest ways to save money on your ski vacation is to avoid the peak season. For most resorts, the periods between Christmas and New Year, February half term and Easter are when their visitor numbers go into overdrive and prices skyrocket. If you can travel outside of these times, you can save both money and time (less people = less lines), in some cases you can actually see your costs cut in half! My favourite time to ski is the second two weeks of March where you are almost certain to have decent snow, sunny weather and quiet slopes; all for a decent price.

2. || TRAVEL MID-WEEK

When it comes to leaving out the weekend, everything suddenly becomes much cheaper. With most popular resorts and tour operators offering lower flights, hotels, and even lift tickets during a Monday-Thursday stay, you can actually get 4 days of skiing for less than the price of a 3 day Friday - Sunday trip. Even better, resorts are much less crowded during these times so you don’t have to worry about crowded slopes and long lines for the chair lift.

3. || PLAN AHEAD & BOOK IN ADVANCE

Nearly every travel operator, airline and ski resort in the world offer substantial discounts for early bookings. If you book between 3 and six months in advance, you can see your total price slashed by as much as 40% with money off flights, rooms, free ski hire, lift passes and child places all thrown into the mix. Planning a little bit earlier also means you can scout out the best deals on price comparison websites such as Travel Republic and Travel Supermarket where there are so many more options available to you than if you book last minute. For a ‘free’ days skiing, I always forgo the lodge and stay in one of the resorts close by. The money I save this way always means I can get an extra night for the same price. bonus!

4. || ‘BUNDLE UP’ WITH A PACKAGE DEAL

If you’re planning on an extended stay in a resort, consider investing in a ski vacation package. Compared to you having to source and pay for everything separately, most tour companies now offer bundles that include travel, accommodation, lift passes, equipment rental and food all in one deal. Not only is this much more convenient, especially if you are a novice, they are also able to score corporate discounts which they then pass on to you, providing you with a substantial saving! For some of the best packages deals, check out sites expedia.com, snowpak.com and tompsonski.co.uk. In a lot of these packages, they also include freebies and discount vouchers for food and drink among other things that you can use when you’re actually in the resort, so the savings keep coming!

5. || DISCOUNTED LIFT PASSES

Your lift passes will be one of the biggest costs you will find on your ski trip, with tickets at most resorts setting you back as much as £140 ($100) per day.

Luckily though, there are several ways that you can save on them.

✈One of the easiest ways to get a cheaper pass is to buy them in advance online. By booking a couple of weeks ahead with sites like liftopia.com you can actually get 50% off the window prices.
✈If you’ll be skiing for longer than a few days or are planning on more than 1 ski vacation, you can also make a 10-25% saving by purchasing multi-day tickets and season passes.
✈Most ski resorts also offer concessions if you’re a senior/pensioner, student or serving in the military.
✈Ski during weekdays for lower mid-week prices or in the afternoon for discounted rates.✈Look out for offers when you book your vacation with some tour companies and resorts offering free lift passes if you stay in certain accommodation.
✈Stop off a local gas stations and grocery stores for coupons and discount lift passes.

6. || RENT YOUR SKI EQUIPMENT

A great way to save money on any ski vacation, especially if you’re a novice, is to rent your ski equipment from one of the local ski shops. Even expert skiers will rent equipment when vacationing as not only do you not have to deal with the hassle of lugging your equipment around the airport, you also don’t have to worry about any extra baggage charges. Although resorts offer rentals, for the best deals you want to compare the local shop prices who offer lower rates than their counterparts on the mountain. Most of these shops also offer an extra 20-30% saving if you reserve your equipment online a few days before you travel.

7. || BUY A BARGAIN

If you’re a frequent skier or planning on becoming one in the future, when know where to look, buying your ski equipment can actually save you money. For highly discounted brand new ski wear wait until the ski season is over when ski wear prices suddenly come shooting down to as little as 10% the original asking price. For some of the best ski sale prices check out Mountain Warehouse and Sports Direct. If you don’t mind wearing pre-loved garments, Ebay, Gumtree, Craigslist offer some amazing bargains. As long as you were willing to collect them, I’ve seen a decent set of skis, boots and poles go for as little as 99p on Ebay!

8. || PACK LIGHT

Although one of the worst parts of any ski holiday is trying to fit everything you will need into one suitcase and making sure it comes within the 23kg baggage allowance, if you pack light and pack smart you can easily manage this. First of all, make sure you check the dimensions and weight of luggage that is allowed on your airline and avoid paying any oversized luggage fees. Also, when booking flights, don’t just go for the cheapest price. It may cost a little extra, but try and get an airline that allows you to check your skis and boots for free. Normally this initial cost is much cheaper than the extra baggage fee you’ll face when you get to the airport.

9. || MAKE YOUR OWN FOOD

This is one tip that I can’t stress enough, if you really want to save money, do not under any circumstances eat in the resort. In most cases, head to the cafeteria and all you’ll find is average food at ridiculously high prices. Even if you do luck out and the food is ok, you’re still looking at upwards of €20 for a soda, burger and fries everyday, which if there’s more than one of you, will soon mount up.

There are a few things you can do to avoid this though:

✈Book accommodation that includes a kitchenette and head to the local grocery store. This way you can have a cooked breakfast and dinner at a fraction of the price of restaurant meals.
✈Pack your own lunch and save yourself €15 a day by opting for a sandwich, crisps and energy bar instead of the expensive pizza and burgers.
✈If you choose to go to a restaurant for a meal, try some of the local offerings instead. Not only will the food be more authentic, it will also be significantly cheaper.

10. || SKI-COUPONING

There are hundreds of coupons available which will offer savings on every aspect of your ski vacation.

✈Online sites such as Groupon and Living Social have a variety of different offers on anything from meals and drinks to lift passes and ski hire.
✈If you head to the local gas stations, they also often have coupons available for discounts in the local ski resorts.
✈Make sure you check your resort welcome pack when you arrive. They normally have a few vouchers stashed at the back that can provide modest savings on the in-resort facilities.
✈Avoid blowing your budget at the bar and find out when the aprés-ski happy hour is where both food and drinks are discounted.