Online booking for Ski rental

Hi Guys, I am wondering if its a good idea to book Ski rental online. I am going to Alpe d'heuz for a week and I have noticed that there is a 20% discount if booked online. I was looking at this particular site.

http://j2ski.skiset.com/index-en.html

Any suggestion will be extremely useful.
Thanks for your help

Sam

Hi Sam,

We (j2ski) are partnered with SkiSet for pre-booked Ski Hire, and the link you quote in your post will give access to our discounts - at least 20% off walk-in prices. I think they're also doing a "7th day free" promotion at the moment too (in addition to the 20%).

We've been approached by all the major ski shop networks and selected SkiSet as our partners as we believe they offer the best range of equipment and the highest standards, in the widest number of resorts.

Although they now include around 600 shops, SkiSet do control the quality of the network. We know of a couple of shops that were removed from the network following poor service.

They guarantee that all the equipment is less than 3 years old; although our experience is that you'll be unlucky to get kit more than 1 year old - especially if you select one of the higher grade packs (e.g. Platinum).

All hired equipment is regularly serviced (and almost always will be serviced on request, if necessary). They're also generally relaxed about swapping kit - so if you want to try a different ski mid-week it shouldn't be a problem.

For Alpe d'Huez, just be sure to hire from the shop nearest your accommodation - there is a map on the SkiSet site.

If you have any specific questions / requirements then don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers,

Admin, that is helpful information, and provides the reassurance that I was also seeking. Was considering hire for Bridet les Bain. Staying at Hotel Amelie.

Also interested in on-line lift passes, but again, was uncertain of quality of service. Some sites gave seniors discount for over-60, some for over 65.

I've booked skis with Olivier sports for 4 people for later this month in Alpe d'Huez.

I spent some time going through all the different hirers before settling for the Sport 2000 / Olivier shop.

It's true that you ought to consider how close the hire shop is to your hotel / chalet (ADH doesn't apparently have many ski lockers on/near the slopes)but it's not essential.

One thing I found with some of the shops - and Skiset may have been one of them - the information on the location of the shops and resort accomodation wasn't always reliable/accurate. The last thing you want is to get there THINKING the shop is near your accomodation when actually it's 5 mins away... in the wrong direction!

The clincher was that the price was the best in resort
and the website was fairly easy to use too and in English.

Hope this helps.

I've used Intersport online booking 3 times, and found them very good, and saved a fortune over booking with Tour Op. They have shops all over, especially France.

Even though I paid for a generic ski quality, I emailed the shop direct after booking on line, and requested my favourite ski. It was waiting for me.

Always remember, as previously mentioned, pick a shop really close to your accomodation.

Hired through skiset last week

The equipment was good. Skis were, poles were rubbish.

The discount was invisible, since the prices were the same as those offered by the rep.

The ski fitter in Brides Les Bain was nothing short of rude. He was much more interested in us giving him 20 Euros to use their lockers ~ even when we told him they weren't required.

We didn't get the particular skis we asked for, and had no way of knowing if we were getting a lower value ski.