Ski trip cost- are we subsidizing “host “ family

Please tell us which resort or area you’re going to. If you don’t want to be too specific, is it Zematt or Bulgaria equivalent?

You can't really tell what's happened until you get the breakdown, it's does seem a lot higher than expected if it just covers the accomodation and lift pass.

Same! And the accommodation costs.

Yes I was rather assuming based on the lift pass costs that we were talking about a week.

Your update has upset me. I think 2k for flight and accommodation with three per room is a joke.

That's a good point. The Portes du Soleil is about 50 euros a day and cheaper for teenagers.

£1k a night accommodation for a 3 bed? I’m obviously living in the past!

Yes I'm confused about this...I'm assuming the OP has looked up the accommodation they are staying in and found the cost of it, rather than the host telling them directly.

I'm wondering it's actually more than £4k, though £4k sounds like a lot for a three bed chalet for 4 nights

That’s a crazy amount for just 4 days’ skiing (3 nights?). For context, we’ve usually paid €3k for 7 nights in a hotel room sleeping 3, with breakfast and dinner included, ski-in/out, boot room on site, spa etc. In Italy.

I presume the car is a hire car? We don’t do airport transfers, as it’s cheaper to hire a car for our trip.

I think, as this excludes food and all incidental costs, they’re totally subsidising their own trip. I really would be pushing on a detailed breakdown here.

That sounds crazy for a 4 day trip. We’ve taken DCs friends skiing a few times - difference being we own our place and if there’s space in the car, we take them and don’t charge petrol or Chunnel as we’re paying that for ourselves.

friends need to pay for:

1. Passes (c€40/ day where we are)
2. Lunches out. Although we usually take sandwiches.
3. all hire kit.
4. pocket money / beers (they are now all over 18 but have previously taken 15/16 yo).

Im the chalet girl 😆 and happy to be as long as guests help with washing up.

Back to OP, fair enough you pay for DC accomm, but frankly they do seem to be overdoing it from a subsidy perspective!

I’m also surprised at the ski pass cost of £300 for 4 days: for example, a 4-day all area lift pass for 3 Vallees is about €270 this season. And that’s at the pricey end of things.

I think it sounds too much even factoring partial food costs and a share of car hire. But there may be things you haven't thought of and it's also not clear how many meals are covered (host family might be doing breakfast and evening meal every day or maybe just breakfast and a couple of evening meals so you need to know what to provide for extra food costs anyway).

Ask what it covers giving the reason that you need to work out what your child needs for spending money. If it still seems a rip off you can take a view.

I personally wouldn't mind them factoring in a modest subsidy since it's good of them to host and keep an eye on the other kids, I'm not sure i would want to! But I would not want to be ripped off either.

Yes, I was wondering about that too. How can they all fit in safely?

They are hiring a 7 seater car. They havent mentioned that so maybe that is being covered.

for 8 people with luggage?

And any food eaten on the mountains, and ski hire, and insurance.

Also - why are they even up for doing this seeing as only one of the adults can actually ski?!

Don't they also have to pay for transport?

So it's over £2,000 for a 4 day trip?

How do you know the cost of the accommodation - did they share that or are you assuming it's £4k?

Is the car just for the transfer or are they driving the whole way (either way how are 8 people fitting into a 7 seater, are they taking a second car?)

£1600 for a 4 day trip and 3 to a room, not including ski hire and food etc is a LOT.

Yep, considering that you're going to have to add at least another £3/400 to that for ski hire and sundries, it would be a no from me unless you're happy to fork that out. Which the parents are banking that you will be.

Can you explain how you’ve calculated your take on what the costs should be?

Thank you for coming back OP and putting us all out of our misery!

Yes they are completely taking the piss. £1640 for a £300 ski pass and a third of one of three bedrooms. Maybe car hire too. They are 100% funding their trip using their kids friends. No need to clarify, just a “that’s more than we expected, Timmy can’t come”.

Yes then, it sounds like you are subsidising their trip. They obviously took 'agreeing to all DC's costs' as a green light to charge what they wanted.

You don't need to phrase it awkwardly at all. 'Can you just clarify what the £1645 is covering so I know how much extra money Timmy will need to bring along with him?'

And then if they say 'oh that's just for his room and ski pass' you will know they're massively taking the piss.

I might be offended if I was asking somebody to contribute £50, but £1,640 is a lot of money for most people.