8 tips on how to take the children on a skiing trip and not break the bank

 

Skiing is not the cheapest of holidays, especially with children, but using some or all of the tips below should help you save money. Our last skiing trip was about 30% cheaper than the cheapest offer we could find from a travel agent.

We have been skiing for over 15 years and having the children was never going to stop us. Quite the opposite, we could not wait for the moment when we will be able to take our little ones on the slopes. So we never held back and both my kids were less than 1yo when we first took them with us. OK, they were not skiing at that age.

When I mention it to our friends, that we do go skiing every year and with kids the usual reaction is “we would love to do it one day but it is so expensive”. So, is it expensive or not?

Let’s be honest, skiing is not cheap and never will be. But if you love skiing just as we do, not going is not really an option. However, there are ways in which you can reduce some of the costs significantly.

1. High season, try to do it yourself, low season – get yourself a deal!

If you have to go in high season, there will be very limited number of deals that you will get from the travel agents. They simply don’t have to give you anything as if you don’t buy they will sell to somebody else.

For people who have to travel during school holidays, it is usually better to book everything directly – flights, accommodation, transport, ski passes and equipment is usually cheaper than through a travel agent. In most cases, the owners simply don’t need to give any incentives to the middlemen to sell their offer and the agents make their maximum margins at that time. Use price comparison websites or airbnb to check the prices and you will soon find out that you can organise your trip cheaper. Also the purchase of skipasses and rental of ski equipment directly costs 10-20% less.

Outside of key high season dates, things change. As it is more quiet time, you are more likely to get 2-for-1 n skipasses, kids go free and other discounts are common from the travel agents. They need to fill the pre-booked rooms and planes so you do have a chance to get yourself a good deal.

2. Get your priorities right and… compromise

You will not be able to save the money unless you understand what you really need. Make a list of the must-haves and nice-to-haves. This will help you make some compromises that should lead to the price going down.

Remember, the more must haves the higher the price, so be realistic.

It is a skiing holiday after all, so make sure you get the red lines clearly defined around skiing – the number and type of slopes would be my number one, followed by guarantee of snow (real or artificial)

Also as you are going with children consider what you need for them – do you need childcare rather than the ski-school? Remember, younger children will not be able to ski (or learn) all day long. You need to have a plan for after-ski activities.

The logistics is always important. Are you happy to drive yourself to the resort or do you need to fly? How are you going to get to the place from the airport? The transportation is one of those areas where you can easily save or add costs.

Finally, the dates – are these fixed or not? If your kids are not school age yet, you are on to a winner. You can find the best deals there are.

However, if you can only go during school breaks, you can still save a lot. Just read on….

3. Choose the right country and resort

There are no hard rules here as the resort selection is down to individual preferences. But there are few things to think about when trying to get a good deal.

From my own experience here is the ranking of countries from cheapest to most expensive – Bulgaria, Andorra, Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland but if you feel more adventurous, countries such as Slovakia also offer great deals and resorts. Moreover, the food and accommodation would be significantly cheaper than in the Alps.

Also, smaller resorts tend to be cheaper and more family oriented, so you might have a lot of apres-ski activities for your little ones to enjoy. Very often, these would be included in your ski passes. In smaller resorts, you will also find more family dedicated hotels and B&Bs. So you will either pay less or get more family fun for similar price.

 

4. Getting the dates right

The most basic rule to save money is understand the calendar of your resort. All resorts have the dates when their tourist week starts and ends. Normally it is either Saturday or Sunday.

Why is that important? If the resort change day is on Saturday and you want to arrive on a different day, then you will pay a premium. Sometimes very significant.

On the other hand, if you are booking the flights yourself you are more likely to get a much better deal on a non-change day. So you will need to look in combination of flight+accommodation. What you save on flight might be more than you pay extra for your place to stay.

If your children are not school age yet you can make the most of low season offers. As a rule of thumb, the cheapest times are beginning and end of the season but also… first two weeks of January. It is because the people who went away for Christmas/New Year are back home and the school breaks have not started yet. This is the best time to go.

You can easily identify when the tourist week starts and ends by looking at either flights or accommodation. You will find most of charter and low cost carriers flying to local airports on that day.

5. Book as early as possible

If you know where you want to go and when I suggest you start looking for your skiing trip as early as possible. We normally book our skiing holidays around May/June time. Why so early?

First of all, not many people book skiing holidays just before the summer so the prices and availability of places is by far the biggest. It is also the time when winter airline schedules are published and finalised so you have the best selection of flights.

Secondly, don’t fool yourself that it might be cheaper or there will be a promo. For the high season – as the availability decreases the prices go up. That’s a fact!

Thirdly, it gives you enough time to do your research and contact and clarify any issues with ski schools or other providers.

Lastly, a lot of ski equipment rentals offer early bird discounts for next season, sometimes up to 40%.

6. Research your logistics

Transportation is the area where you can save a lot of money if you do it right.

First you need to decide if you want to drive or fly.  Here I will focus on the flights only.

Again do your research. There are many airports servicing the mountain resorts. If you want to find good deals there are a few simple rules to follow:

• Never assume the low cost airlines are the cheapest – check traditional airlines as well
• Find out which airports offer bus connection to your resort and start there – you can normally find this type of information on resorts websites
• Remember that the closest and smallest airports would usually be the most expensive ones and the flights will be limited to only charter flights
• Check some of the main airports – they might be further away but as they normally have a lot of connections for both low cost and traditional carriers you are most likely to get a good deal there
• Remember that traditional airlines offer big discounts for Saturday and Sunday flights as their core business customers are not flying over the weekends
• Consider car rentals – sometimes you might end up further away from the resort but if you are willing to drive from the airport will help you save money on flights

7. Accommodation

Believe it or not, but services such as airbnb or homeaway also work in skiing resorts. This is by far the best option to save money on the accommodation. You will find your typical apartments and short term rentals of all sorts. These are by far the best options for families with children. You get flxibility of private accomodation combined with all the benefits of being close to slopes, lifts, skiing schools for children etc.

If you wish to get even better prices, check the ski busses connections from and to the main resort. Most skiing places are well connected by this free form of public transportation and you can easily find a much cheaper place to stay in a small village outside of the main town than in the centre of it.

8. Childcare and ski schools

Most if not all of skiing schools will offer your children group or individual tuition in English and very often quite a few other languages. It is always good to check the prices and details online directly with a school as then you can get exactly what you want and need. It might be that you only need a refresher for a couple of half-days so no need to pay for full day or full week.

If you are travelling with younger children, a lot of skiing schools will offer ski kindergarten, which is a full day care combining introduction to skiing with after ski snow clubs. They also give your child a chance to meet children from other countries, which is an additional benefit.

You can save a lot here, if you book a place in advance. Comparing to travel agent offers of childcare you might save even 50% of the cost.

Some of the ski schools and kindergartens offer packages including discounted skiing passes for children or equipment. Have a look at at bundle and additional savings to be had.

There are also many other ways in which you can make your skiing holidays work and not break the bank. I only listed the ones we personally used to introduce our children to skiing. Hope you find it helpful.

If you wish to find out more, simply put your question in the comments below and I will try to answer.