Austria vs France, Monarch vs Lufthansa Ski Weekend

I have another dilemma that I'm hoping you can give me some advice on....

We are hoping for a weekend away in March, either weekend of the 7th-11th (preferably) or 14th-18th March.

The master plan had been to get cheap flights with Monarch to Munich (£80 each return from Manchester inc ski carriage) then probably go to Alpbach (self-catering accommodation for 150 Euro for 3 nights & car hire for around £100). However, the flights with Monarch aren't great times- arrive on the Friday at 10.30am but need to fly home on the Monday at 5pm, so realistically only 2 full days skiing, maybe 2.5 if we ski Monday morning before driving back.

Plan B was to fly with Lufthansa to Munich on the Thursday. The flight times are much better- Thursday morning and returning Monday night, so probably 4 full days skiing. However, now that Lufthansa have changed the rules on ski carriage (only skis up to 147cm-ish go free, everything over is 50 Euros each way each.... and I've emailed them and they've confirmed that we will have to pay), it makes a very cheap break suddenly quite expensive (200 Euros just to take skis!?!). Car hire is a bit more expensive (£120 I think) and accommodation is a bit more expensive given that its an extra night (220 Euro). Flights without paying extra for ski carriage are £100 return each.

Plan C is to fly to Grenoble from Manchester with Monarch Thursday to Monday. Flights are around £100 each inc ski carriage. However, I've searched through all the usual suspects on booking.com & their respective Tourist Info websites (Autrans, Chamrouse, AD, L2A, Brides-le-Bains even La Clusaz et al...the list is not exhaustive) and I'm really struggling to find cheap accommodation (was hoping to pay no more than 250-ish Euros including cleaning charge, preferably self catering with a kitchenette).

So does anyone know of any cheap self-catering accommodation near Grenoble that is near a ski resort?
Or do I just suck it up and get ripped off by Lufthansa, going to plan B?
Or do I have 2 to 2.5days skiing for dirt-cheap in Alpbach with Monarch?

Dilemma, dilemmas!! Any advice is greatly appreciated! We are both intermediates, happy with plenty of reds and blues, and we don't need a huge ski area or miles of piste to keep us entertained.

The answer for this one is simple! You're going skiing, so it has to be the 4 day break. It might be more, but you will only come back wanting more after only 2 days on the slopes!!!!

There's tons of cheap accommodation in alpe d'huez and serre che, both easy drive from Grenoble. Look on homeaway website.
I've just booked a chalet for 6 for a week in serre che in march for £250pp including 6 day lift pass.

Tony_H wrote:I've just booked a chalet for 6 for a week in serre che in march for £250pp including 6 day lift pass.

Fancy doing my holiday booking for me? :shock:

Tony_H wrote:T
I've just booked a chalet for 6 for a week in serre che in march for £250pp including 6 day lift pass.

jesus...........really??

Really.
Booked via the offl tourist board website, they have a ski promo week.
There's lots of apartments to select from, but we found a chalet with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge, kitchen diner, wifi and tv. 500m from lifts or 20m from bus stop, Villeneuve old village.
The lift pass is £190 on its own so it works out at £60pp for the accommodation for the week.
Add into that I have enough airmiles for myself and mrs h to fly out for nothing, I reckon I've had a right touch.
Plenty of these bargain weeks out there if youre prepared to search for them.

The OP might find something like this maybe?

If you go for plan B I would leave the skis & hire them, top of the range would be less than €100 & wont have to lug them around, also wont have to pay to have them serviced.