ski pass
 

hello
family going to passo tonale in mid jan the only thing i have yet to book is
lift passes. does it make any difference to price booking with thomas
cook -- or on line or waiting till we get there ( It will be very late sat
night before we get there )
thanks stephen

ski pass
 

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:20:42 -0000, "stephenjwalker"
wrote:

hello
family going to passo tonale in mid jan the only thing i have yet to book is
lift passes. does it make any difference to price booking with thomas
cook -- or on line or waiting till we get there ( It will be very late sat
night before we get there )

Normally the only difference is that if you prebook you'll save
queuing and it'll be there at breakfast the next morning. Be aware,
though, that you'll be required to have money and photos (depending on
resort, but some still use them) ready on the bus from the airport, so
if you'd rather not waste money on UK exchange rates or hunt for an
ATM at the airport you may prefer to get your own.

It's also good to be aware that your resort staff will get a
discounted rate on lift passes, but that this will not generally be
passed onto you. So the price printed on the pass may be less than
what you've paid. This is quite normal, and plays a large part in
resort worker politics.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

ski pass
 

Ace wrote:

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:20:42 -0000, "stephenjwalker"
wrote:

hello
family going to passo tonale in mid jan the only thing i have yet to book is
lift passes. does it make any difference to price booking with thomas
cook -- or on line or waiting till we get there ( It will be very late sat
night before we get there )

Normally the only difference is that if you prebook you'll save
queuing and it'll be there at breakfast the next morning. Be aware,
though, that you'll be required to have money and photos (depending on
resort, but some still use them) ready on the bus from the airport, so
if you'd rather not waste money on UK exchange rates or hunt for an
ATM at the airport you may prefer to get your own.

It's also good to be aware that your resort staff will get a
discounted rate on lift passes, but that this will not generally be
passed onto you. So the price printed on the pass may be less than
what you've paid. This is quite normal, and plays a large part in
resort worker politics.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

Hi Ace,

Is that true that the workers can get passes for other people at the
discounted rates? I know the (quite byzantine) rules vary from resort
to resort, but the lift operating companies seem pretty hot on making
sure you pay the right rate. I'm 99% certain they wouldn't get away
with it in Tignes for example, although the workers obviously get their
passes at knock-down rates. Hmmm.. maybe I'll have to ask around some
more company reps this winter...

Matt

ski pass
 

On 21 Nov 2006 04:14:58 -0800, "Matt T"
wrote:


Is that true that the workers can get passes for other people at the
discounted rates?

Not normally, or officially. I suppose if you're the one whose job it
is to go down to the lift pass office first thing in the morning you
_may_ be able to add one or two extra mates, but it would make it very
awkward, as they're usually dealing with dozens, or even hundreds, of
guests, so tend to use printed lists from the booking info.

I know the (quite byzantine) rules vary from resort
to resort, but the lift operating companies seem pretty hot on making
sure you pay the right rate. I'm 99% certain they wouldn't get away
with it in Tignes for example,

What do you mean, "get away with it"? Group discounts are available to
any large group - the tour operators aren't in any way screwing the
lift company, although perhaps the client isn't always aware that some
of his money is being used to subsidise the reps' beer fund.

although the workers obviously get their
passes at knock-down rates.

But only officially-sanctioned staff, and then normally only on a
whole-season pass.

Hmmm.. maybe I'll have to ask around some
more company reps this winter...

I don't think you'd find many ready to blatantly break the rules
unless it were for a close friend.
--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

ski pass
 

Ace wrote:

On 21 Nov 2006 04:14:58 -0800, "Matt T"
wrote:


I know the (quite byzantine) rules vary from resort
to resort, but the lift operating companies seem pretty hot on making
sure you pay the right rate. I'm 99% certain they wouldn't get away
with it in Tignes for example,

What do you mean, "get away with it"? Group discounts are available to
any large group - the tour operators aren't in any way screwing the
lift company, although perhaps the client isn't always aware that some
of his money is being used to subsidise the reps' beer fund.


Ah... group rates. I see what you mean now. Yes, that would make sense.

although the workers obviously get their
passes at knock-down rates.

But only officially-sanctioned staff, and then normally only on a
whole-season pass.

Indeed - Espace Killy do monthly rolling ones to ensure the sacked
people can't continue to benefit. I believe also you don't get the
'free days in Les Arcs/3 Valleys/etc.' benefit that you do on a 'full'
season pass.

Hmmm.. maybe I'll have to ask around some
more company reps this winter...

I don't think you'd find many ready to blatantly break the rules
unless it were for a close friend.

No, I wouldn't expect them to - I'm just curious as to how twisted the
system is if you scratch beneath the surface. Personally, I'm looking
at only a 5% discount this year, unless my flat purchase completes in
the next 6 weeks in which case it's still only 20%. Got 50% last year
just for having the carte fidelite.. :-(

Anyway, I shall report back!

Matt

ski pass
 

On 21 Nov 2006 04:39:20 -0800, "Matt T"
wrote:


Ace wrote:

On 21 Nov 2006 04:14:58 -0800, "Matt T"
wrote:

Hmmm.. maybe I'll have to ask around some
more company reps this winter...

I don't think you'd find many ready to blatantly break the rules
unless it were for a close friend.

No, I wouldn't expect them to - I'm just curious as to how twisted the
system is if you scratch beneath the surface.

WellI've never worked as a tour rep, so my experience is based on what
I've seen and heard. I have led Ski Club holidays, where we also make
use of the group discount - the difference here is that the holiday is
priced assuming that we make a slight 'profit' on lift pass monies,
which is all accounted for and goes back to the club.

It's still an odd experience to be sitting on several thousand euros
of punters' money though...

Personally, I'm looking
at only a 5% discount this year, unless my flat purchase completes in
the next 6 weeks in which case it's still only 20%. Got 50% last year
just for having the carte fidelite.. :-(

50%? That's off a season pass, presumably? I know that, on occasion,
we've bought a season pass for my wife when repping the start of
season (they'll provide one free, but not two) and it's often been
true that a season pass purchased early can be had for as litle as
2.5* a weekly pass rate. Not bad going, IMO.

Anyway, I shall report back!

Pleasze do.
--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

ski pass
 

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:04:52 +0100, Ace wrote:

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:20:42 -0000, "stephenjwalker"
wrote:

hello
family going to passo tonale in mid jan the only thing i have yet to book is
lift passes. does it make any difference to price booking with thomas
cook -- or on line or waiting till we get there ( It will be very late sat
night before we get there )

Normally the only difference is that if you prebook you'll save
queuing and it'll be there at breakfast the next morning. Be aware,
though, that you'll be required to have money and photos (depending on
resort, but some still use them) ready on the bus from the airport, so
if you'd rather not waste money on UK exchange rates or hunt for an
ATM at the airport you may prefer to get your own.


Some tour operators will take visa on the bus for passes etc.

Certainly Thomson did last year in the Dolomites.



--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Civil wars aren't.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

ski pass
 

On Tue 21 Nov '06 at 12:04 Ace wrote:

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:20:42 -0000, "stephenjwalker"
wrote:

hello
family going to passo tonale in mid jan the only thing i have yet to book is
lift passes. does it make any difference to price booking with thomas
cook -- or on line or waiting till we get there ( It will be very late sat
night before we get there )

Normally the only difference is that if you prebook you'll save
queuing and it'll be there at breakfast the next morning.

Well.

My experience is that they will be there after you've been forced to endure
the "extras" hard sell, here's the key:

James Bond experience: skidos round a lame track
Luxury Treatment : the local thermal spa
Bar crawl : Rep's moonshine in empty bars

If they're electronic, don't forget to return the passes yourself, you'll
probably get some money back. (I'm not sure that's applicable in Passo).

Be aware, though, that you'll be required to have money and photos
(depending on resort, but some still use them) ready on the bus from the
airport,

Well, not the money, the money is normally taken up front in the UK, in GBP.

If they're making you pay on the bus, they'll charge you some crazy 5% credit
card fee.

so if you'd rather not waste money on UK exchange rates or hunt for
an ATM at the airport you may prefer to get your own.

Of course, if the resort lets you buy them online, and mails them to you, that
is just perfect...


A.

ski pass
 

Alex Heney wrote:

: Some tour operators will take visa on the bus for passes etc.

: Certainly Thomson did last year in the Dolomites.

But always (in my experience!) in sterling at a poor exchange rate!!

Paying them in euros willl be the same price as in resort - one operator
even gave me the Val D'Isere "loyal client" rate on the bus.

ski pass
 

On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 09:26:51 +0000 (UTC), Brian McIlwrath
wrote:

Alex Heney wrote:

: Some tour operators will take visa on the bus for passes etc.

: Certainly Thomson did last year in the Dolomites.

But always (in my experience!) in sterling at a poor exchange rate!!


No, they were charging in Euros, so the exchange rate was whatever
your card company gave you.

And they were charging exactly the same as the window price at the
ticket office - 171 Euros for 6 days.

I still didn't buy from them, because I thought (correctly) we would
arrive in time for me to get an hour or two skiing that evening, and 8
days instead of 7 was only 10 euros extra, while a day ticket would
have been 23 Euros.

I got about 1½ hours extra skiing in for that 10 Euros :-)
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates, 1981
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom