Booking independantly

[WelshMoth]

Accommodation in Courcheval, flights and car is booked. I've agreed a good deal with the ski hire and I can get a family ski pass - all good.

I have some questions for those who've gone it alone before.

1. I'm hiring a car. Will they provide snow chains?

1. I can't find an insurance company that covers accommodation should something go wrong (gas leak, fire etc) and we find ourselves stuck. Lots of good providers say "No end of trip coverage" (I think) so I'm a bit confused by this.

All advice appreciated.

[thatdearoctopus]

Re: car hire - chains are not provided unless you pay extra for them - there are quotes on the websites 5-8Euros a day???. Airports in the Northern Alps usually hire out cars with snow tyres (whereas in the Southern Alps, e.g. Nice/Marseille will charge you about 20E a DAY for them, if they do them at all). Either way, snow tyres aren't enough - if they close the mountain due to a heavy snowfall, they won't let you up unless you have chains.
We've taken our own universal chains before, but the issue there is that they're not completely universal, and it's pot-luck if they'll fit your hire car. They're also bloody heavy to add to luggage. But, new ones you've bought recently are easier to fit (fgs practise first!!!) as they have different coloured chains. Hire company ones are likely to be all the same colour, filthy and quite likely to be in a great big knot in the box!

[thatdearoctopus]

I've never had accommodation insurance (and we do self-catering every year). What's it for? Why would you need it?

[parklives]

Just came back from skiing in Italy, was told that all hire cars in that region had snow chains by law, therefore they were included.

[thatdearoctopus]

Ah, OK, well then it's worth checking out. We always hire in the south, which isn't specifically a mountainous region.

You still need to practise putting them on. There are videos on YouTube, but find a friend who has some you can try out for real, if at all possible.

[WelshMoth]

THanks for the advice re snowchains. I'll contact the hire company. We're flying into Grenoble which is about 2 hrs from Courcheval.

Re the insurance - I was just reading the policies available to me and I googled the bit about not covering 'end of trip' accommodation. I'm concerned in case anything happens and we are somehow not insured.

[thatdearoctopus]

It might mean what happened to friends of ours not long ago. Their flight home was cancelled, but they weren't covered for hotel accommodation whilst they waited for an alternative flight. But they would have been covered on the outward journey, which is stupid really, as you more likely have the option of returning home to sleep, whereas in a foreign country you don't.

[Buttercupsandaisies]

You need to book insurance with flight insolvency to cover flights and accommodation. It's usually an add on but insurance is a waste of time if it's not stated on policy

[WelshMoth]

Thanks everyone.

But, say for argument's sake, that something happened to our apartment and we were left on the street with our bags and belongings. Does the standard ski insurance cover us? Would we be able to pay out for separate accommodation and claim it back? I don't know why this is such a bee in my bonnet but it's worrying me. I'm not booking through Owners Direct not any other agency either, so am I covered?