Whether you’re planning your first trip to the slopes or are a seasoned professional, traveling with the family or alone, it’s never been more important to find ways to save money on your ski vacation. Prices are rising across the board, from accommodation to ski passes, and the cost of living crisis continues to put pressure on holidaymakers’ budgets.
There’s no denying that ski trips come with unavoidable extra costs. It’s easy to blow the budget on extras like lift passes and equipment rental and often the price of lunch on the mountain at some popular resorts is eye-watering.
As you make plans for the upcoming season, here are our top tips for saving money on your trip, including which accommodation to choose, alternative resorts to consider, how to save the cost of extras once you’re in resort and what to take with you.
Before you go
1. Book an all-inclusive stay so that everything is paid for before you travel. At one end of the scale is Action Outdoors, at the other end is Club Med. The great thing about both is that the prices include lift tickets, tuition and three meals per day.
2. If you prefer your own space, staying in a chalet or chalet hotel takes a lot of the guesswork out of how much you’ll ultimately spend at the resort. Chalet boarding means you get a cooked breakfast, afternoon tea (usually including cake and perhaps soup) and a three-course dinner every day except one day – the chalet guests’ day off. Wine with meals is often included, meaning you can also save money on bar hopping if you wish. “Consider traveling with another family or friend, then you can book a larger ski chalet and keep the price per person low,” says Tim Andrews, founder of chalet rental specialist OVO Network. But be warned: if you want to stay in a catered chalet this season, be aware that the number of skiers available to British skiers has shrunk significantly since Brexit and the pandemic.
3. Think flexibly – The Heidi app – which launched last winter and recently announced trips to 20 more resorts – uses technology to connect people with lesser-known resorts and book holidays of varying duration, eliminating expensive trips from Saturday to Saturday are avoided. This winter the app will cover North America and Eastern Europe.
4. If you are traveling at the beginning or end of the season, consider booking your accommodation directly with the tourist office. Some resorts have stunning packages to tempt visitors in the quieter months.
5. Buying currency at the airport is an absolute no; you end up getting the worst exchange rate. Also avoid using a credit card abroad as you will often be hit with high fees. Preloading a card with the currency of your choice can save you money on bank fees and guarantee a more favorable exchange rate. For example, with the Revolut card, travelers can spend money in stores or online for free. Whether you withdraw money from an ATM or use the card to pay, the device automatically converts money into the local currency at the best available rate. These are the biggest mistakes to avoid with your travel money.
6. One of the best ways to save money is to forget the mega-resorts in the Alps and head to a lesser-known area, both in terms of holiday costs and local prices. Eastern Europe has seen tremendous growth as a ski destination in recent years, especially Bulgarian resorts such as Bansko, due to the extremely competitive costs of packages there. However, if you are an adventurous intermediate or experienced skier or snowboarder, you may find the terrain limited and frustrating. If you choose the Pyrenees instead, with resorts such as Baqueira-Beret in Spain, the Grandvalira area in Andorra and the Grand Tourmalet area in France, you get access to varied and challenging slopes at a fraction of the cost of a trip to the Alps. Find this season’s best budget-friendly ski holidays here.
7. It can be difficult for families to save money on skiing because they are limited by school holiday dates. Choosing the Easter holidays instead of the February half-year holidays can work out cheaper – and by considering smaller, lesser-known resorts you can save twice as much money.
Before the trip
8. Eurostar can be booked up to 330 days, or about 11 months, and connecting TGV services 90 days in advance, so plan ahead to get the best prices. This winter it is possible to book the ski train to France directly with Eurostar (with transfer in Lille).
9. Alikats, the Morzine-based chalet company, is one of a growing number of operators offering discounts of up to 20 percent to guests traveling by train. The Montagne Verte Card also offers visitors to Morzine and Avoriaz discounts on items such as equipment hire, lessons and lift passes, if they have proof of a valid train ticket.
10. Driving to the Alps can be great value – it has the advantage of being able to fill your car with food (and drink), and it’s kinder to the environment. Avoid filling up on the autoroute – visit plein-moins-cher.fr for the cheapest local fuel prices. Use our guide to driving to the Alps for more advice.
11. Worried about fuel costs? Consider going electric, thanks to a growing network of charging stations in resorts.
12. Avoid the crowds of Geneva or Chambery and consider flying to less visited hubs. Ryanair operates routes to Turin, with access to Italian resorts such as Champoluc and Courmayeur, and to Klagenfurt, in the heart of the lesser-known Austrian province of Carinthia.
On the slopes
13. Once you know where you’re going, check the resort’s website for any lift pass offers – including group discounts, early bird deals and family rates. Are you traveling with children? Check the age limit for free passes: in Le Grand Massif (Flaine, Les Carroz and Samöens) it is a maximum of eight, and a maximum of nine in Zermatt.
14. Think about what else is included in your pass: pool access, local discounts and more will fill your week with free activities.
15. Skiing in Italy? Visit Alto.ski for a pass that lets you pay only for the days you ski. Tignes and Val d’Isère offer similar benefits with their A La Carte pass.
On the spot
16. Start cooking yourself, but think about it carefully first. Do you really want to cook every evening and can you buy what you need locally at a good price? To save extra costs, you can use a meal delivery service, such as Huski, or if you’re driving, you can pack ready-made meals (homemade or otherwise).
17. Chalet companies, such as Chalets1066 and Ski France, offer the classic accommodation choice, but on your own terms: choose the level of catering you want to budget for.
18. One of the most notoriously expensive extras on a vacation is buying lunch on the mountain – especially if you’re staying at an expensive mountain resort. Instead of spending $20 for a burger and fries every day, you can buy sandwich ingredients and snacks at the local supermarket and do it yourself. Don’t just head to any old picnic spot for lunch, go to one like Serre Chevalier’s three planchas: outdoor grills without charcoal, and the resort staff on hand to clean them in between uses.
In your suitcase
19. Rent as much as you can. Use EcoSki or WhoSki for clothing and book your equipment in advance with Intersport or SkiSet – you save about 50 percent on local prices.
20. Give your old ski or snowboard boots new life with insoles. Superfeet’s Winter Comforts cost £50 per pair.