J2Ski group holiday to Tignes January 13th 2013

Hi Joe,
I am sure we will all have a great time together on this holiday. Welcome to the group

Ally

Snapzz has already said he can't come, as he only gets back on the 5th from France and our trip is too soon after.

I phoned Bonjour today, with a list of questions from people interested in coming on this holiday.

Here are the questions, together with the answers I received.

1. Do they have a lift in the chalet?
No

2. Do they sell reduced lift passes?
No, but if our group is large enough we could try negotiating with the lift company ourselves.
If we order lift passes from Bonjour they will have them waiting for us, and we can pay extra for the carre neige insurance to cover us for accidents on the slopes.

3. How do they want us to pay our £100 deposits per person?
They want me to prepare, and send them, a spreadsheet with everyone's details on it. Then they would like everyone going on the holiday to phone them and pay their deposits with their credit cards.

4. What sort of discount are we going to get?
This will depend on how many J2Skiers and their friends and family decide to come on this holiday. So I won't know until after everyone has paid their deposits.

5. Several people are interested in the ice driving track. Can we obtain a discount for this?
Yes - the chalet will negotiate a discounted price, and the track is close to the chalet.

6. Can you enter the ski locker room from outside with a key code?
Yes.

7. Is the ski locker room heated?
Yes. They have heated boot racks.

8. Do we need to book a restaurant well in advance for the evening when the chalet staff have a night off (probably Thursday)?
If a large group of us want to go to the same restaurant then it might be advisable to book up at the beginning of the week. Otherwise, no.

9. Why do they insist on the website that we have insurance?
In the past they have worried about being held responsible for medical and rescue bills. However, they no longer insist that everyone is insured (but obviously it would be very sensible to buy snow sports holiday insurance).

10. Can we buy drinks from outside the chalet and drink them in the chalet?
Yes. They also have an 'honesty' bar where we can buy drinks from them.

11. How long does their transfer coach take to travel from Geneva airport to the chalet?
About 3 hours. It goes first to their chalets in Val d'Isere.

12. Could they recommend a cheap hotel near the station in Bourg-St-Maurice to stay in overnight for those taking the direct day Eurostar from St Pancras on Saturday?
Yes. The hotel Angival which is a 5 minute walk from the station and charges 50 euros for a single room.

13. How much free ski hosting is there?
There are 5 days of this. Wednesday is only a half day but the other days are full days from 9 a.m. - 4-30 p.m.

14. How many groups are there?
There are 2 groups, divided into a group for those happy ski-ing red and black pistes, and another group for those who want to stick to blues and easy reds. The other two Bonjour chalets share the ski hosting with our chalet.

15. How large are the ski hosting groups?
The first day they are usually very large as many people join them to find their way around - about 20 people. After this the numbers usually drop to around 12 people.

16. If we use their in-house ski hire company what happens if we want to change our skis etc.?
The chalet uses a company based in Tignes Lavachet, but if we contact them, or the ski host contacts them, they will come to the chalet that evening to change the skis etc.
If we go with the ski host the first day they will stop for lunch at a restaurant near Lavachet and if there is any problem with our snow gear the technicians will come out to the restaurant to sort out the problem.

17. If we decide to hire with Intersport instead, how close is their hire shop to the chalet?
It is only about a 2 minute walk from the chalet.

18. Is there another bar (as well as the Underground) where we can go for dancing etc.?
Yes. Vincent's gets pretty lively as well.

19. Would you advise us to fly to Geneva or Chambery?
Geneva. In the past they have had guests who's flight to Chambery was diverted to Nice! Later in the season Chambery would be a good idea, but not in January.

And for those who are newcomers to this thread, we still have places available on this holiday. The details are on the first page. If you are interested in this holiday would you please contact me by pm or post on this thread.

Bonjour are holding the whole chalet for us until the 1st May, by which time those people who want to come must pay their deposits to Bonjour.

Brilliant information Ally, thanks.

For those of you wondering why Tony H and Bandit aren't supposed to post on this thread, it's because Admin said this:

Admin wrote:On topic please everyone - only Tignes-bound (or potential) peeps to post on this one.

And Tony will be on holiday somewhere else when we go to Les Brevieres. I don't know why Bandit's not coming - but I expect she's busy elsewhere as well

bandit wrote:Changing Venue?

No, we're not changing venue. This is the chalet we're going to:






Brooksy is just saying that some chalets do have lifts, which is why I asked if the chalet that we are going to - Bonjour-Bonjour in Tignes Les Brevieres, had a lift.

If anyone else is interested in coming would they please either post on here or send me a pm. The details are on the first page of this thread.

I've just cleaned this thread up, again.

Admin wrote:On topic please everyone - only Tignes-bound (or potential) peeps to post on this one.

As a special service to motivate the hard-of-understanding; any further attempts to trash this thread will get you banned until next season. Seriously.

I have booked my own flight back from Geneva to Gatwick late on Sunday evening (20th January). It cost me £47 including the baggage charge.

I intend to take the direct day Eurostar train out to Bourg-St-Maurice from London St Pancras on Saturday 12th January, stay in a hotel overnight in Bourg and then travel out to Les Brevieres by bus on Sunday morning. I will then leave my luggage in the chalet and ski all Sunday.

I won't be able to buy my Eurostar ticket until they come on sale, which I should think will be towards the end of July.

This way I will get 8 days ski-ing.

I don't know yet how I will get from Les Brevieres to Geneva on Sunday 20th, after ski-ing, but I will think of something.

This is one of the nice things about DIY holidays - they are very flexible