Last minute bargains?

The availability of last minute bargains varies year to year.
Ultimately the tour operators want to sell as many holidays at as high a price as possible.

If they don't take up enough capacity - they sell all their holidays and thus cap their ability to make a profit and may lose future custom. Too much capacity the don't sell them all so have to discount.
Thus the tour ops try and match capacity to demand and tend to fluctuate from year to year.

Skiing isn't as popular in the UK as it once was. It has to compete with long haul winter sun these days. There is recession which has exposed the differences in prices between different countries. The Brits do make up a big part of the European ski holiday market so the resorts want the Brits to come as for many of the Alpine countries their own countrymen don't spend as much as we do on holidays - the French tend to self cater and don't buy much in the resorts. We tend to fly so not the capacity to fill the boot with food so opt for catered accomodation.
The East Europeans come and go - again, like the rest of us hit by the recession and also their own ski resorts are developing so less incentive to get ripped off in the 3V.

If there are no bargains you can find a hotel on the net or take a punt and drive down and do a deal in resort. It depends when you go - outside of half term, Fashing week and the French school hols you will probably be fine - the accomodation not taken up b the tour ops will likely still be open.

In the last few years I have found a few last minute ski deals on www.snowtrex.co.uk, especially in France. It can be very hit and miss though. Whenever I can't find a deal, I try looking through forums for people travelling on the dates I want to go and see if they are interested in package deal, some operators cut their prices if they know a large group will be coming rather than just one ortwo skiers.It is a long shot but does work every so often.

Ian Wickham wrote:Here is my two bob's worth through experience of the last three weeks which has made me more anti TO.

There is still plenty of capacity as in hotels in resorts which are paid for I was told three months in advance, the direct expense of an unsold holiday is the air seat ...... now what they ( The TO's) do is to sell off the plane seat, which is what they have done this year, I can understand it but not very good customer service.
The prices this year for last minute have been ridiculous £1000 + for an apartment for two in France.
I have finally got myself sorted but it will not be the Alps ... any ideas :D

You're anti tour op come what may ;-)

I've a couple of friends in the travel industry.
The planes are either fully chartered by a tour op, or they charter a number of seats on a flight. Thomson and crystal for instance have their own airline, as do Neilson and Thomas cook. However inghams have to charter flights are part charter them. As do others.
It's not the seat prices that cost much as it happens, in fact broken down its a very small cost compared to what you can book a flight for yourself.
It's very unusual to be able to buy a seat on a chartered flight.

Rooms in resorts are booked up several years in advance and paid for at the exchange rate at that time, hence why we saw big price rises a couple of seasons ago which reflected xchange rates with the weak £

Wen you can get a deal is when a property or flight is virtually full or both, in which case they've made their money and its a case of filling spare seats and rooms. You have to time its right and get lucky as well.

Also, when conditions are great like now, they know they will sell seats and rooms even late which is why they don't discount them. Funnily enough, in years gone by, the resorts which are usually well discounted are the ones which at the time have poor snow and tend to be low lying resorts. You'll have seen deals for Andorra, soll, niederau, etc dominating the knockdown priced bargains.

Tony_H wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:Here is my two bob's worth through experience of the last three weeks which has made me more anti TO.

There is still plenty of capacity as in hotels in resorts which are paid for I was told three months in advance, the direct expense of an unsold holiday is the air seat ...... now what they ( The TO's) do is to sell off the plane seat, which is what they have done this year, I can understand it but not very good customer service.
The prices this year for last minute have been ridiculous £1000 + for an apartment for two in France.
I have finally got myself sorted but it will not be the Alps ... any ideas :D

You're anti tour op come what may ;-)

I've a couple of friends in the travel industry.
The planes are either fully chartered by a tour op, or they charter a number of seats on a flight. Thomson and crystal for instance have their own airline, as do Neilson and Thomas cook. However inghams have to charter flights are part charter them. As do others.
It's not the seat prices that cost much as it happens, in fact broken down its a very small cost compared to what you can book a flight for yourself.
It's very unusual to be able to buy a seat on a chartered flight.

Rooms in resorts are booked up several years in advance and paid for at the exchange rate at that time, hence why we saw big price rises a couple of seasons ago which reflected xchange rates with the weak £

Wen you can get a deal is when a property or flight is virtually full or both, in which case they've made their money and its a case of filling spare seats and rooms. You have to time its right and get lucky as well.

Also, when conditions are great like now, they know they will sell seats and rooms even late which is why they don't discount them. Funnily enough, in years gone by, the resorts which are usually well discounted are the ones which at the time have poor snow and tend to be low lying resorts. You'll have seen deals for Andorra, soll, niederau, etc dominating the knockdown priced bargains.

Not much in the line of bargains this year and the point I was trying to make was that they sell the spare air seats off, and that what has happen this year, options were Belfast, I don't think so, Manchester which I would have prepared to drive to for the right deal.
So from the horses mouth The TO's....... "We have accomodation but no flights" -)

I have finally got myself sorted but it will not be the Alps ... any ideas :D

Pyrenees?
Am guessing it's not Tyrol.
Or perhaps the Dolomites

Ian. The tour ops don't sell off the seats. Certain routes sell out faster. Manchester often fly bigger aircraft so there's more seats, and Belfast or Glasgow don't sell as many as there which is why you can often get these routes as available.
Stansted, Birmingham, east Mids, Bournemouth, Bristol tend to sell fast, gatwick have multiple flights so you can often get a seat on a gatwick plane

Dids1 wrote:

I have finally got myself sorted but it will not be the Alps ... any ideas :D

Pyrenees?
Am guessing it's not Tyrol.
Or perhaps the Dolomites

Wrong..... Nil point -)

Tony_H wrote:Ian. The tour ops don't sell off the seats. Certain routes sell out faster. Manchester often fly bigger aircraft so there's more seats, and Belfast or Glasgow don't sell as many as there which is why you can often get these routes as available.
Stansted, Birmingham, east Mids, Bournemouth, Bristol tend to sell fast, gatwick have multiple flights so you can often get a seat on a gatwick plane

Thats strange as I see flights only being advertised on the TO's airlines all the time :shock: