When he arrived an hour after than had (it took the busses longer) he was literally shouted at by a

It's rather good and not made up by tourist offices (or people that love the tourist office and want to marry it either)... Anyway, snowHeads is MUCH better when you're logged in - you get to post your own messages complaining about things that annoy you like perhaps this banner which, incidentally, disappears when you log in :-)
Tell us more - how on earth did they manage to do that? I would have thought it would have taken at least a couple of rounds of I want to go shopping/sauna rv and travel trailer manufacturers this afternoon, why would I want to go out it's been chucking it down with snow for ages
We started family trips with our 5 and 6 year old girls last year; decided last season at the last minute (literally day before) to just do it, book and go-great TO deal, total cost �2100 for everything in VdI. This year, got cheap flights early, booked apartment/hire/lessons/car transfer to go same time-just after Easter....same price. You takes your choice, pays your fancy. Personally, not a great fan of chalets despite the free wine-would prefer to have a pizza/beer/book/DVD and happy cooking. Like a chat with people every now and again, but not complete strangers for four hours every night. Worked for us last year with great company (hopefully they agreed!) but some evenings found myself wanting a spag bol and an early night. Is that me?
Last season I was at Verona airport (again, I seem to spend my life there) and our Gatwick flight had just landed (so there was nothing wrong with the runway, airport, etc) and I was chatting to the chap from another TO who was waiting for the Manchester arrivals. It was on the board as due to arrive in a few minutes. Then it disappeared from the board. He went to the desk to ask what had happened and was told the airline had decided to divert to Venice. No reason was given other than that. So he had to, after first persuading truculent bus drivers that it wasn�t his TO�s fault, set off on a race with a 737 to Venice.
I met him a few weeks later and asked him what happened and apparently everything was fine other than the clients arriving at Venice to find no rep/coach/etc. When he arrived an hour after than had (it took the busses longer) he was literally shouted at by a few of the people who wanted compensation for their ruined holiday. They were going to contact ABTA, the police, 's, the guy in the pub �who knows about the law�, etc, etc. No reason was ever given for the flight diversion other than �operational reasons�.
I�m not saying that DIY is a bad idea; I do it sometimes and others I just call Thomas Cooks. But most people simply don�t want the hassle; they would prefer to leave it to someone else to sort things out when they (very occasionally) go pear shaped.
It may be right, and if it is you have a very good deal. My dad always used to say that if something doesn't look right it probably isn�t. I know what the cost of lifts passes is in your area, how much the ski school charge, the cost of flights, transfer coaches, etc but not a clue what the hotel charges. I honestly hope you have got a genuinely good deal
When he arrived an hour after than had (it took the busses longer) he was literally shouted at by a few of the people who wanted compensation for their ruined holiday. They were going to contact ABTA, the police, snowHead's, the guy in the pub �who knows about the law�, etc, etc. No reason was ever given for the flight diversion other than �operational reasons�.
This scaremongering rv and travel trailer manufacturers about what could go wrong on holidays rv and travel trailer manufacturers always happens on the DIY v TO threads. The idea seems to be that independent chalet and hotel owners couldn't care less if you have a problem with your insurance, transport, health, passport and so on and will just leave you to sort it all out alone, which is just not true.
Indeed, company I used to work for offered accom only and when the ash cloud turned up over Europe we offered help to those guests we had in resort (our last guests of the season). Some got sorted straight, others decided it was a better idea to go to Fang House and get absolutely twatted...
The latter were offered a seat on a coach that another family had found heading back to the UK empty after dropping people off in Europe which, crucially, had a guaranteed channel crossing. Turned this down as it would only get them to London and they lived in Scotland. After more time spent looking and getting arsey with the RM who was trying to help them and make suggestions, they realised that there wasn't really any other way of getting over the channel. Most of them ended up on the coach, 4 of them decided to head to Freidrichshafen Airport and sort it from there. Last I saw/heard from them was when I dropped them off at St Anton train station.
Indeed, company I used to work for offered accom only and when the ash cloud turned up over Europe we offered help to those guests we had in resort (our last guests of the season). Some got sorted straight, one family stayed for an extra 5 days (one room in the chalet, B B basis as in there's the cereal, there's the milk/juice/yoghurts in the fridge, help yourself) others decided it was a better idea to go to Fang House and get absolutely twatted...
The latter were offered a seat on a coach that another family had found heading back to the UK empty after dropping people off in Europe which, crucially, had a guaranteed channel crossing. Turned this down as it would only get them to London and they lived in Scotland. After more time spent looking and getting arsey with the RM who was trying to help them and make suggestions, they realised that there wasn't really any other way of getting over the channel. Most of them ended up on the coach, 4 of them decided to head to Freidrichshafen Airport and sort it from there. Last I saw/heard from them was when I dropped them off at St Anton train station.
As others have said, generally speaking, DIY is cheaper at peak times especially Feb HT. However, it depends how many people. I reckon that driving and booking an apt. directly (at HT) is easily cheaper for 3/4 but marginal for 2 when you can get a good TO deal (and sometimes you can). At off-peak times you can save vast amounts by using a TO package and if you are just interestd in the sliding part then you don't mind compromising on accomodation. But that's not for everyone of course. Horses for courses as ever.
After the last 10 years of using TO's, I'm sort of DIY'ing this year. Flights booked with Easyjet, catered chalet and transfer with chalet company. I don't see much diffference with cost but I have been able to spread the payments out a bit more.
Agonising over whether the B B will be OK for everyone in the group (at 52euro a night HB!!), then the eventual exhilaration of getting the confirmation e-mail from them. And the crushing blow of discovering the flight has gone up by tenner when you go to book.
Or there is the tipping point. After weighing all the factors and permutations, after definitely deciding that you know what the snow conditions will be, down to the last sq meter, in large swathes of Europe, months in advance, even taking into the altitude of the front step of the B B. The tipping point is arrived at; you will lose the will to live and just book anything, almost regardless of the cost because you just can't take it any more.
That's why we came up with www.findtransfers.com You only need to fill in one form and it gets sent to all the companies on the site who then can give a quote. Hopefully saving skiers lots of hassel and money... We are going to add a shared transfer forum on soon as well. We really hope that it can take the hassel out of booking transfers and everyone can find the company that suits their needs best..
We once rocked up at ZRH airport off our TO arranged flight to be met by the TO rep who said we'd come to the wrong airport. She said she was trying to arrange a coach. Given we were going to Western Austria the prospect of a bus being dispatched from Klosterle or Landeck etc was not a good one and it's fair to say she copped an earful. Perhaps a more tactical choice of words rather than somehow implying it was our fault would have been met more gently.
This year we wanted self-catering. We prefer having a simple breakfast, make sandwiches to add to soup bought on the piste, home cooked meals most evenings with wine at the apartment and then eat out a couple of nights- will unlikely spend more than �400 between the two of us all week.
Sometimes DIY can be a bit cheaper and sometimes more expensive. rv and travel trailer manufacturers I always do DIY now, but that is because I am almost always wanting a non-standard holiday. rv and travel trailer manufacturers This is mainly because I want 8 days skiing, not 6. Sometimes this just means changing the travel to early morning flight going out and late evening coming back, or travelling overnight by train, or driving out. Sometimes it also means an extra night.
Our March lads trip typically costs around the following per person assuming four travelling. rv and travel trailer manufacturers We get flights arriving at Geneva late afternoon and returning on the evening the following rv and travel trailer manufacturers Saturday. This is on the basis of Easyjet flights, car hire car Geneva Swiss side and staying in our apartment which I put into the central account at the net price I would have earned if it was rented out through the agency. All figures in pounds.
This year we have five confirmed for the full week and probably a guest appearance for a few days so the cost for accommodation comes down but we will probably hire two cars. Surprisingly this makes very little difference to the cost per head as we can get away with two small cars instead of one big one.
We've done this for a few years now and it very rarely gets above �100 per day unless we go out for dinner a lot (usually it's only once or twice in the week). We're all too old and boring for extensive apres but one or two evenings we manage a few beers in town before heading home and if there is a Sunday Six Nations match on (10th March 13, England v Italy) we will usually wat