J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ise

AlistairS wrote:Interesting comments, When you consider BA used to offer free carriage on skis and may well of got more skiing customers as a result, I think they may loose custom if this is the case. I used BA last year and our skis went free of charge. The more competitive nature of the airline companies is bringing about casualties. I cannot understand why BA are charging so much more than the smaller companies however, look at the BA terms on the Inghams site and its there loud and proud £80 return for ski carriage. :(

I don't think this is surprising, it's just turned out they want your custom less than they did or less than people think they should. I think BA did particularly try and attract skiers as customers so they had a good deal, a deal as I keep pointing out is way better per kilo of luggage than any other traveller was getting.

But their results have been terrible, their worse ever loss last year and so on. Every kilo of extra weight burns fuel, around 10% of additional mass IIRC, so an extra 10kg is an extra kilo of fuel. That's real additional cost, the amount of fuel taken on board is decided just before takeoff, the heavier the plane then the more fuel the pilot signs for. Obviously there's increase in handling charges as well.

Some people (not your post) seem to have developed a keen sense of entitlement to cheap air travel and seem to think airlines are obliged to carry their skis for free or they should pay less per kilo than anyone else on the aircraft. Some airlines obviously wanted the business enough to offer good deals for skiers but it's a bit rich for them to be accused of being greedy just for charging skiers the same as everyone else has been paying for years.

If BA are charging 80 quid then that's pretty close to what the excess luggage charge would be, that runs typically around 10 quid a kilo so if you reckon skis might average 8kg it's spot on. Some other airlines are still offering substantial discounts to skiers for their luggage so it's probably worth shopping around.

4x4 wrote:Soon it's going to be cheaper to arrange delivery of your gear to the hotel with a courier, someone like DHL!
:cry:

I've looked into that and it's not been cost effective. But, that was from Switzerland which is not EU, so without customs charges it might work out.

benny12345 wrote:i'd be high end, exclusive. someone gives you aggro in a lift queue you can call me. not enough curry on your currywurst, the same.

4 people makes all the difference when you're hiring cars, travelling to/from airports in the UK, sharing ski bags on planes, etc. doesn't make a stroke of difference in organising hotels etc but then they're already reasonably priced when you deal direct and save them costs in affiliates and or agents. god knows where or what (!) i would be staying in for £25 in the uk with DB&B whee in Europe it's easy. pay a bit more you get a bit more but we're all there for the snow aren't we. if when the rate comes back will be even better

I do agree with you but I'm just saying that going from 4 to 8 and using a minbus is even cheaper, 8 to 30 and a coach is cheaper again. I know the discounts I can get for blocks of 30 or 60 beds 5 or 6 times over and it's nothing compared to thousands of beds a tour operator can get. I'd say a TO has size problem though, there could be a cracking B&B for half the price but it's useless to them as it only as 20 beds.

This all works best when you don't compare like with like which is why most people are mostly right regardless of the conclusion they've come to :lol:

benny12345 wrote:btw you're right, ise, about some of the prices. we always tend to beat even good prices because we're often in a group. 4 people tends to make it work out. but i guess if it were just 2 then it would be hard to beat some of the deals you see advertised at the last minute.

I was thinking of more than 4 really, that's not going to be enough really attract good rates.

I don't think it's about money, it's just a choice people make for all kinds of reasons.

I do find it quite a relief personally if someone else has done the organizing sometimes, it's so much less to worry about.

Pablo Escobar wrote:
I heard the pin tail is coming back :twisted:

nothing ever comes back in the ski world, someone invents it again

I'm going to guess they'll be fatter at the ends than the middle if that helps :lol:

It's ISPO next week so a lot of stuff will be on display no doubt. Including a touring boot from Salomon apparently :shock: So that's knocked that on the head, no doubt Crystal will be doing touring weeks next now it's all so mainstream :lol:

Someone should tell newschoolers.com they're over using that fisheye lense a bit as well :wink:

They were flying F/A-18 Hornets out the base down the road to Davos last week but I don't think that's running this week :lol:

If you're staying in a hotel or similar they may have a partner who does transfers, failing that there's the tourist office or you could ask for a quote from these guys :

http://www.ski-transfers.com/airport_transfer_to_Davos.php

No idea if they're any good but you see their details around a lot.

Like bandit says the transfer ticket is normally about the best deal but maybe for 10 a private transfer works better.