Thursday, December 15, 2011

Saving Money on Ski Lift Tickets

If you are waiting until the last minute to buy your lift tickets, you could be missing a good chance to save some money.

Ski hotels and resorts are now selling tickets during times that are historically slow. Typically, skiers bought their lift tickets when they arrived at their destination. Now, it is possible to save money by buying tickets ahead of time.

There are websites like Liftopia.com and Lifttickets.com that can provide significant savings. Recently it was possible to buy a ticket for January 12, 2012 at Mont Tremblant Ski Resort in Quebec for $58.99 on Liftopia. If you bought the same ticket at the resort website, you would pay $75 Canadian. The negative side is that the tickets cannot be transferred and must be paid for in full at time of purchase, so if it rains instead of snows you could be out of luck.

Call the ski resort and ask for their best price or if they offer any type of promotion. Park City Utah has a Quick Start program lets travelers trade their airline boarding pass for same day lift passes, allowing them to ski for free the day they arrive.

Buying tickets early is another way to save. At Liftopia.com, more than 14 days out offers possible discounts of 33 percent compared to 27 percent when buying within the 14 day window.

Check out websites like worldonskis.com and ski.com for their package deals. They negotiate room, food and lift tickets with resorts and put them together in money saving packages, compared to booking each item independently through the resort itself.

Season or multiday passes, are another way to save on ski lift tickets. Check your local ski resort. Ask about Monday to Friday passes if you ski only midweek, another way to save big.

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