The cost of travel during school holidays is notoriously high. Everything from your airline seat to your hotel room might be considerably more expensive should you choose to travel during term time. When you’re planning family ski holidays, the differences can be quite significant. Given that skiing is usually one of the more expensive types of holidays, there are ways to keep costs down.
This difference might be so significant that you’re tempted to swallow the £80 fine that you’ll receive for taking a child out of school during term time. But the truth is that you can often slash the cost of your ski holiday without resorting to this desperate approach. Let’s consider a few reliable ways to do so.
Start With the Full Cost, Not Just the Package Price
Your budget should cover every cost associated with your trip. That way, you won’t end up blindsided by the things you failed to account for. In the case of skiing that means factoring in everything from your transfers, to your ski passes, to your food. Equipment hire is something that’s easy to overlook and forget. Equally, if you intend to take your own gear, you might find that you pay significantly more to stash it in the cargo hold. By budgeting meticulously and deliberately, you’ll be able to focus on the aspects of your trip that really matter.
Be Strategic With Dates, Deposits and School Holiday Travel
Different school holidays tend to offer different levels of cost. You might find yourself choosing between Christmas, February half-term and Easter departures. When you expect demand to be high, you might book early and shop around at smaller airports. The rules governing term-time travel allow the authorities to escalate if you’re offending repeatedly; in extreme cases, parents may be vulnerable to prosecution, and to four-figure fines. But even if you haven’t done this before, the cost of the fine is probably not worth it.
Choose a Resort and Package That Reduces Hidden Extras
The destination you pick out should be transparent with its pricing. Factor in everything from lift passes to ski schools when you’re choosing between different options. The quality of your trip might, in part, be determined by the suitability of the resort for your level of skill. If you’re a beginner, you’ll need access to approachable slopes and quality instruction, even if it means paying a little bit more.
Protect the Holiday Budget With the Right Insurance and Booking Protection
Skiing can be a dangerous activity. You’ll need to be appropriately insured for related injuries. That way, you’ll avoid facing a hefty bill when you seek treatment. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that your package holiday’s bundled financial protection will protect you in the same way as proper travel insurance.
So What Do I Do?
Research, time and planning. We usually spend a week skiing each year but there have been years where we’ve not been able to go. That’s not to say I don’t still sit down to price it up. We’re a seasoned skiing family, we’ve done the whole lot; catered chalet, all-inclusive and self-catering. We’ve driven, and we’ve flown. We’ve stayed in various resorts.
From personal experience, and to keep costs down, I would choose driving over flying any day! The crossings are cheaper than flights, you can take a lot of your own luggage and you’ve got flexibility of how often you stop (and we often drive through the night so the kids sleep). This might not be an option depending on where you want to ski, but as we usually choose France it’s a great and accessible option for us. We’ve had a couple of flight mis-haps and, honestly, the short flight hasn’t been worth the extra waiting in the airport, the snow grounding the flights, the waiting around, the getting there and all of the other boring stuff. I would much rather have autonomy over our travel.
Another huge reason that we choose to drive is that we get to take our own food! We can pick up as much fresh/frozen food as we need but all the dried foods, snacks and sweet treats come with us. We’ve even been known to freeze meals to take straight there and, because they’re bulky, they stay frozen for the whole time. It saves us a whole lot of hassle and stress, especially when you just want to get there and get something quick and easy on the hob once you’re in your accommodation.
We keep it basic in terms of accommodation. Don’t get me wrong, I love the hotels/apartments with the pools and play rooms but honestly, if you’re looking to keep costs down go for a cheap, traditional style apartment. You’ll find that you don’t spend much time in them anyway – especially if you like a bit of après ski!