# Affordable Family Vacation



## Sliders (Jan 29, 2018)

I wonder what would be the best way to book an entire ski VK for the entire family? Flights and all. We're not fortunate people, we just like to snowboard and the hills around here are getting a little... played. Can anyone offer an exceptional deal and experience?

Thanks


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## mark0157 (Jan 9, 2018)

Sliders said:


> I wonder what would be the best way to book an entire ski VK for the entire family? Flights and all. We're not fortunate people, we just like to snowboard and the hills around here are getting a little... played. Can anyone offer an exceptional deal and experience?
> 
> Thanks


I was shopping around recently and Expedia had some pretty good bundled flight/hotel deals.


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## Sliders (Jan 29, 2018)

I was working the travel sites but couldn't drill down into the 'everything' - flights / hotel / car - that I was looking for. I'll keep trying. Added to that; I'm not positive (or overly picky) about where we should go. Thank you for your time, Mark.

Be Well


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

I think you should narrow it down a bit first or you'll be going in circles forever.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Perhaps pick a place or region and post up for info in the appropriate regional section. Ya you won't have somebody doing up a Disney package...but you might be able to tailor it more to your family's likes, needs, parameters and budget based on some locals' knowledge. Btw around my neck of the woods, there are very if any family packages.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

A bit of background on where you usually go and what you are into and abilities would be nice as well.

Tons of help and opinions but we don't read minds


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

I hear that PNW is played out and that currently Colorado is the go to place....but I don't know a thing about Colorado, except that it is the greatest place and has fantastic powder.


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## MMSlasher (Mar 18, 2016)

I'd give you tips, but you didn't even go so far as to tell us where you are from. Are you in the country where the leader tweets and has great hair, that country where people always apologize, or someplace where a new country is every hour away? It would be pointless to even suggest something.


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## Sliders (Jan 29, 2018)

I hear you all. Didn't want to bore you with a book though. We are in Wisconsin. My three boys and I ride. 3 of us snowboard and 1 skis. That's a lot of people to set up for fun. 

I sent the post just hoping that someone would say, damn 'you know where I had a blast and scored a deal too....'

I appreciate all of the responses.


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## DudeAbides (Feb 27, 2017)

To do it cheap takes planning and legwork. Book it all together packages are rarely the cheap way to do it, just easier. Look for non mega chain resorts (unless you have/getting season passes) within a few hours of a big airport, like Powder mountainin UT or Monarch in CO. Don't book your vehicle to pick up at the airport, almost always cheaper to book pickup at another location and taxi/uber/bus there to get it. Lodging, we can usually find a condo cheap on VRBO.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Sliders said:


> I hear you all. Didn't want to bore you with a book though. We are in Wisconsin. My three boys and I ride. 3 of us snowboard and 1 skis. That's a lot of people to set up for fun.
> 
> I sent the post just hoping that someone would say, damn 'you know where I had a blast and scored a deal too....'
> 
> I appreciate all of the responses.


Me thinks ya'll will have a blast wherever you go. If your boys are old enough, e.g. at least tweenies, give them the dates, budget and tell them to come up with 2-3 options that are viable. Gives them the opportunity for input and educates them on some real life skills with a motivational reward. See how many days they can figure out on your stated budget. Anyway my kids became quite resourceful. Have fun.


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## Alpine Duke (Jun 21, 2015)

I'm a family man myself so i empathize.  Pick a little hill for cash purposes.

example: fly into SLC but go to Logan for Beaver Mountain or Cherry Peak. Both dirt cheap and cheap to stay in the town.

Here is a cheap one no one does but fits a budget family: Fly into Vegas as their flights are always cheap. Car rentals cheap if not just on a weekend. Drive up to a little town no single person would ever go to called Beaver Utah. Its a few hours but beautiful drive right past Zion National park with scenery a Wisconsin family would love. In fact, take a day and see beautiful Zion. Ride a little hill called Eagle Point which is peanuts and cheap to stay at or just stay in Beaver. The locals will offer to purchase the children as conscript farm hands...but just say not and they'll leave you alone. I doubt they have snow this year....but just saying.

......... there are many little places like that with cheap lift prices that no one goes to for a destination. Depending on how many days....finding a little hill with cheap tickets can be huge for you. would need to be semi close to a major airport though. I picked Vegas because always cheap flights. Beaver UT is too far but such a scenic trip it is worth a family trip just for that...

anyway, I would look for a little place like that. So much more family friendly at little hills.


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## dfitz364 (Jan 10, 2014)

Not to anger our northern brethren, but heading to Canada from the US using our pesos up there makes things much cheaper. Currently $1 USD is worth $1.23 CAD (as of google at 8:00 this morning), basically making your money stretch a bit more. We went to Tremblant a few years back and stayed in a little shanty basically ski in ski out for ~$70 USD/night. Just a thought, best of luck with the vacation search though!


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## WasabiCanuck (Apr 29, 2015)

dfitz364 said:


> Not to anger our northern brethren, but heading to Canada from the US using our pesos up there makes things much cheaper. Currently $1 USD is worth $1.23 CAD (as of google at 8:00 this morning), basically making your money stretch a bit more. We went to Tremblant a few years back and stayed in a little shanty basically ski in ski out for ~$70 USD/night. Just a thought, best of luck with the vacation search though!


Ya it might be cheapest to fly to Calgary and take a shuttle to Banff area (about 1 hour from Calgary). Our Trudeaubucks aren't worth much these days. On the other hand, Denver isn't that far from Wisconsin so it can't be that much to fly there. I hate flying though so I try to drive as much as possible.


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## Brewtown (Feb 16, 2014)

Sliders said:


> I hear you all. Didn't want to bore you with a book though. We are in Wisconsin. My three boys and I ride. 3 of us snowboard and 1 skis. That's a lot of people to set up for fun.
> 
> I sent the post just hoping that someone would say, damn 'you know where I had a blast and scored a deal too....'
> 
> I appreciate all of the responses.


As others have said there's not a lot out there as far as package deals that I'm aware of at least. Some research considerations: How old are your boys? There might be some places that have better discounts for young people than others (and any stay and ride deal you might find might actually be more expensive than paying individually if the resort has steep discounts for children/teens). Do you all have your own equipment or will you need to rent? Assuming your flying out of either MSP or MKE Southwest has direct flights to both Denver and SLC for reasonable prices and includes 2 free checked bags, which is huge if everyone in the family needs to bring a board bag. If your close to ORD they have more options for budget carriers but I've never gone that route. I'm from Milwaukee and have only done CO and UT and UT is definitely the less expensive option between the two. Lots of cheap hotels right in SLC and there are a ton of resorts within a short drive of the city. You could also look at heading north to the Ogden area, Snowbasin is cool and I've heard great things about powmow. I just stumbled on this the other day, can't vouch for it but looks like it could be a really good deal depending on the room prices. https://www.visitogden.com/things-to-do/ski-snowboard/ski-3/

Good luck to you, I stress over how much I spend on my trips every year as a single man, can't be easy taking a family of 5.


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## teleuker (Apr 3, 2016)

dfitz364 said:


> Not to anger our northern brethren, but heading to Canada from the US using our pesos up there makes things much cheaper. Currently $1 USD is worth $1.23 CAD (as of google at 8:00 this morning), basically making your money stretch a bit more. We went to Tremblant a few years back and stayed in a little shanty basically ski in ski out for ~$70 USD/night. Just a thought, best of luck with the vacation search though!


Did you take advantage of their spring pass? It was $150 CAD the past couple of years. We probably passed each other on the slopes if you were up there during a spring break. Unfortunately, I don't think that they have that pass anymore.


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## dfitz364 (Jan 10, 2014)

teleuker said:


> Did you take advantage of their spring pass? It was $150 CAD the past couple of years. We probably passed each other on the slopes if you were up there during a spring break. Unfortunately, I don't think that they have that pass anymore.


I don't believe we did, but I didn't plan all of that for that trip. Definitely would have been worth it though if that was the price for it! I just was in charge of finding the lodging hahah if I remember, it was the first week of March in 2016, if memory recalls.


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## teleuker (Apr 3, 2016)

dfitz364 said:


> I don't believe we did, but I didn't plan all of that for that trip. Definitely would have been worth it though if that was the price for it! I just was in charge of finding the lodging hahah if I remember, it was the first week of March in 2016, if memory recalls.


You wouldn't have been able to get the deal. We went the end of March (like 3 years in a row) and tickets were good from the first day of Spring 'til season's end. (Early April). For our week trip it was totally worth it.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

I'd also look at what's within a 12-16 hour drive from you. Flying is nice, but wherever you go the day is wasted any way. Forget about ticket costs, then you have to factor in car rental, getting all your gear on the plane, not a slight endeavor for a family if you need to start buying travel bags, and a ton of other shit.

You say you aren't super particular so getting to Whistler or Jackson Hole doesn't seem a requirement. Look for a good resort that you can get to in a day on the road.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

DudeAbides said:


> To do it cheap takes planning and legwork. Book it all together packages are rarely the cheap way to do it, just easier. Look for non mega chain resorts (unless you have/getting season passes) within a few hours of a big airport, like Powder mountainin UT or Monarch in CO. Don't book your vehicle to pick up at the airport, almost always cheaper to book pickup at another location and taxi/uber/bus there to get it. Lodging, we can usually find a condo cheap on VRBO.


It sucks that skiing/snowboarding vacations are going to be relatively expensive no matter what, but this is some pretty rock solid advice right here.


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

You were hoping for a canned response which does not exist.

The simple answer is that no trip is going to be cheap or "reasonable", especially for a family. Nothing with this sport is cheap or generally even reasonably priced. Aside from that, you have gotten solid advice.

If you don't care about the resort for name, prestige, terrain options or size, go with a smaller resort, one that's not part of a chain, possibly even a sister-mountain - like Pico is to Killington. We always like going with VRBO/Home Away because often you can find lodging same price or cheaper than a hotel and you can also do your own food, etc. if you want which can help save. We'll usually buy breakfast and lunch stuff and go out for dinners.

Car booking can be a crapshoot - if you book early enough in advance, you can get the price just about the same picking up right at the airport and not have to deal with that hassle of getting to your rental.


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## phillyphan (Sep 22, 2016)

I'm going to throw out Winter Park Co. For a few reasons. One, it is reasonably close to Denver as it is one of the first resorts off of 70 heading west. You can take a shuttle or rent a car and be there within 1 hour and 45 minutes. You can also take the Amtrak train and it is dirt cheap. Two, it is not as commercialized as the "big resorts" such as Vail, Aspen, etc and will generally cost you less. You can buy a four day pass for around $200 at certain times. Three, VRBO and AirBNB are pretty big there and you can find a lot of cheap condos to rent for a week. I'm leaving this weekend for a week and I have a ski-in/out studio condo for $1200 for nine nights. Plus there is a free shuttle to the mountain and grocery stores and various restaurants in town so if you find one a condo near the route it is simple to get where you need to go and you don't have to rent a car for the week. Four, it's massive. Over 3,000 acres with all different types of terrain for every type of rider. Trees, moguls, wide open bowls, side country, groomers, beginners, etc. Five, it should be a cheap flight from Wisconsin to Denver as Denver is a Frontier hub and Southwest gives out low fares all the time w/ two bags included.


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## jae (Nov 27, 2015)

driving to anywhere will save around $400.

the local costco usually has discounts on tickets.. i.e. $475 for 5, 1 day lift tickets to mammoth. originally $600 at the ticket office.


some places have a kids 12 and under ski free deal.


first things first though. settle on a mountain, then look around. if it's too expensive make a list of mountains you would like to visit, and then go down the list.

time is money.


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## mojo maestro (Jan 6, 2009)

wrathfuldeity said:


> I hear that Colorado is played out and that currently the PNW is the go to place....but I don't know a thing about PNW, except that it is the greatest place and has fantastic powder and free lift tickets.


Fixed for accuracy..............>


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## Varza (Jan 6, 2013)

mojo maestro said:


> Fixed for accuracy..............>


So trolling, much lies, wow! The PNW isn't family-friendly. At. All.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

mojo maestro said:


> Fixed for accuracy..............>


Thank you for your prompt attention...but most folks and kids are neither skilled or tooled for the conditions and would have serious trouble or die. They would require some serious frick'n snow wings (much like water wings for the kiddies). Talked to the daughter this am...Friday she (5'4" 130#) noted her pow skis (184cm with 130mm under foot and 160mm at the tips) were not big enough. Stay away or die...last week had our 3 fatality of the season (was inbounds and as of yet, has not been found).










Know one of these guys and this is inbounds
[ame]https://vimeo.com/253156873[/ame]


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## WasabiCanuck (Apr 29, 2015)

jae said:


> driving to anywhere will save around $400.
> 
> the local costco usually has discounts on tickets.. i.e. $475 for 5, 1 day lift tickets to mammoth. originally $600 at the ticket office.
> 
> ...


Same here. I prefer to drive whenever possible. Usually much cheaper than flying and I hate all that security shit at airports. I also try to get lift tickets at Costco about 20-30% off ticket window at resort.


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## offthewallds (Dec 16, 2016)

You're in 'sconsin, been up to Mt. Bohemia in the Keweenaw? That'd probably be your cheapest option.


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## DudeAbides (Feb 27, 2017)

jae said:


> driving to anywhere will save around $400.



When adding car rental and flights, my family of five saved over $1500 by making the 19hr drive out to Wolf Creek this year. That’s a significant chunk of change.


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## ctoma (Aug 9, 2011)

DudeAbides said:


> When adding car rental and flights, my family of five saved over $1500 by making the 19hr drive out to Wolf Creek this year. That’s a significant chunk of change.





jae said:


> driving to anywhere will save around $400.


Clark: Why aren't we flying? Because getting there is half the fun. You know that.


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## comfortstarr (Feb 9, 2016)

Hey. I looked into this last year (for this year). Wound up going to Vail because unforeseen circumstances gave us a free place to stay. With the 4-day Epic (which allowed 4 days at Afton), it was sort of reasonable, sort of...

Prior to that all coming together, I was shooting for SLC, renting a car, staying in a boring hotel and driving to Solitude/Brighton. Seemed like it would be the most reasonable. As others have said, driving can help, especially if there are 4 of you. I'm in Minneapolis, tons of people do the drive to Montana. Depending on where you go, it's between 10-15 hours. But, I've heard nightmare stories about what happens in storms. FYI: flights from MSP to Denver and SLC are "cheap," flights anywhere else are pricey (I checked Calgary, Vancouver, etc.).

I also think someone's point about nothing being reasonable is, sadly, true. You have to jedi-trick your mind into seeing your money as monopoly money. Part of this is saying, "to hell with it!" I wanted to let my 8 year-old have a lesson; we aren't likely to ever go to Vail again, it's supposed to have great instruction, etc. Their lessons are ridiculously, offensively expensive. That said, I put him in one and he lucked into a one-on-one session with a great instructor. He had what he called the best "sports related" day in his life (I think he tossed in "sports related" to not hurt my feelings, I'd never seen him so happy). He did 26k feet with this guy, even got into Vail's back bowls. He's a much better snowboarder.


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## snowangel99 (Mar 11, 2016)

"affordable" means you have to drive. You drive a long way but then after you get there keep driving some more, eventually you will hit a ski resort. Then book a vrbo or similar or take the kids out of school and go during low season. This is the only affordable way to do it. If you are flying you aren't going to find anything affordable sorry. You can also find group bus trips that are pretty cheap and you can sleep on the bus.


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