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Tips to Ski for Less This Winter
Many resorts are making concerted efforts to move travelers to websites for
booking. In fact, some of the very best deals—such as last-minute
airfares—can be booked only on the Web. Bookmark www.myskitrip.com
. Think
off-peak. Most resorts are hungry for vacationers early- and late- season, so
prices are heavily discounted at those times. Midweek skiing deals have long
been a staple in the East, but now they’re popping up in the Rockies, too.
Auction fever is heating up. Head to sites such as www.bid4vacation.com, www.skyauction.com
, www.ebay.com , www.auctions.tripod.com,
www.priceline.com
, www.auctions.lycos.com
, and others for cheap vacation packages, airfare and
gear. Search carefully to get up to 85 percent off new skis and more than 50
percent off lodging. Buy pre-packaged trips from tour operators who specialize
in skiing. They can purchase airfare, lodging and lift passes in bulk, then
create a package price you probably can’t beat. Call 800-475-4867 or visit
www.skitops.com for a member list of the Ski Tour Operators Association (SKITOPS),
an association of the largest and most reputable tour operators in North
America. Peruse newspapers from major cities (such as Denver and Boston) for
package deals. In the Denver papers, for example, you will often find ads for
last-minute slashed rates to fill empty rooms in the Rockies. Many
locals—anyone who lives within a few hours of a ski area or resort—have
frequent-skier cards for favorite resorts, which allow them to purchase lift
tickets at bargain prices. If you’re going to ski at a resort for more than a
long weekend, prowl around online to see if it makes sense to get a
frequent-skier card. If you’re planning a longer trip out West, it may even be
less expensive to buy a season pass during the price wars than to buy individual
tickets. Join a ski club. Find (or organize) a city-based group, a school club,
a company-organized or affinity group. Contact local ski shops for information
about clubs in your area. Look into discount coupon books, such as the
Entertainment Books or Gold C books, for resort discounts.
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