Dec 4
2009

Winter sports vacations can be expensive, so I thought I’d post ten of my favourite money saving tips.

  1. Book in advance, you can often get a good discount. If staying more than 3 weeks in a ski area it can sometimes work out cheaper to buy a season pass with a substantial pre season discount.

  2. If you don’t want to book in advance, then why not leave it until the last minute and get some late booking offers.
    Snowtrex     , Holiday homes Interhome and others sell off their unsold accommodation with up to 30% discount in the last 2 weeks. Be flexible and if you are wanting to travel at school holidays don’t even bother trying this method.

  3. Book your transport well in advance. You will get the cheapest rail, bus, ferry and air fares.

    Winter Sports

    Winter Sports

  4. Do a big shop away from the resort at a supermarket or better still a Farmers market. The price of food and goods at Winter Resorts has a massive mark up.

  5. Take sandwiches and a stainless steel flask for food / drink while out on the piste. You can even save time by eating on the long telecabin rides. That way you save by not eating in expensive restaurants in the resort and have more time to ride.

  6. Look at buying second hand skis or snowboards on ebay, SCUK or the SkiClub web sites. It will be cheaper than hiring at the resort.

  7. You can buy last seasons Ski Snowboard clothes cheaply at TK Maxx or sometimes ebay.

  8. Have a look at Annual Travel Insurance including Winter Sports, it can often work out cheaper. However whichever insurance you plan on buying, check the small print to ensure it covers the activities you intend carrying out.

  9. In many French resorts the Supermarket chain Sherpa has a number of schemes to help you save money. Firstly they will buy back unused, undamaged boxed, tinned food at the end of your week. Secondly they offer free hire of fondu and raclette equipment, all they need is a deposit.

  10. If you are travelling by car, you will find that snow chains are cheaper at the large supermarkets near the Alps than back home.

Coming next. 10 ways to spend a more sustainable Winter Sports break.

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Trackback  •  Posted in credit crunch  


Nov 14
2008

‘Credit Crunch’ and ‘Energy Crunch’ are terms many of us will have come across at one time or another. To be able to travel we all need to be able to finance our trips and the current credit crunch will affect many travel plans. Of course the credit crunch will come to an end someday but that may not be the end of the challenges facing anyone wanting to travel the world. The energy crunch or at least Peak Oil is waiting in the wings as oil will not last forever and many experts believe that there is not enough oil left in the world to increase production beyond the levels reached in Summer 2008.

Treading lightly as we travel this beautiful world will ensure that our successors can enjoy it as much as we do. I do not endorse luxury travel as it consumes a lot more resources than budget travel. For example a business class traveller can take up the space of up to six passengers on a budget airline. This means that passenger will probably use at least four times as much aviation fuel per passenger mile and emit at least four times as much CO2 as a passenger on budget airline. Of course train and bus passengers will consume even less.

This blog has been started to discuss these issues and share experiences and tips for travellers who are want keep the cost of their travel to themselves and the environment to a minimum.

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Trackback  •  Posted in Sustainable travel