Finding The Best Ski Deals

Finding good ski deals is not difficult if you know when and where to look. There are two times in the year when you can find really great ski deals.

The first is before the season has started. Resort and chalet owners are looking forward to the new season, contacting prior visitors, and generally trying to pre-book as many of their facilities as they can before the season starts. For them, this is the most uncertain time of any season.

And, at any rate until they meet their minimum amounts of pre-sold rooms for the season, they will normally be very accommodating to give deep discounts on rooms, skiing packages, transportation, and more. The strategy is one that is centuries old. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And, if there were a way that resort could pre-book 90% of its rooms, it would do so, even if it had to do it at a lower rate.

The second best time to get ski deals is near the end of the season. This is the time when snow has started to melt from the slopes. And as the ski season nears its end and occupancy rates begin to fall, ski resort managers will again offer great discounts for anyone willing to book rooms.

They figure correctly, that if they can just break even or maybe even lose a tad on the room rental rate, they will still be able to make it up on ancillary hotel or room charges, meals and drink, and naturally ski tickets. But, usually, they won’t give you these discounts, unless you ask for it. So ask.

Another way to find terrific ski deals is to look for chalets that are off the beaten path. For instance, the top and most well known ski resorts in any area are going to almost always charge the top prices. But, usually, within a snowballs throw of these large resorts, are smaller ones which are as nice, or nearly as nice, as the well known resorts.

But, the key thing, is that these lesser known ski resorts are going to offer you better deals. The main reason is that the most effective way that they can compete is on price – so that’s what they do. So where do you find these smaller resorts?

Luckily, just about every resort has a web site these days. Spending an afternoon surfing the net for the ski area that you are thinking of visiting will highlight many good ski resorts in that area that are off of the main path. And, a real advantage in many of these smaller resorts is that there will be much less crowding and often a more personal touch from the staff.