Whose planning for this Winter?

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

DH currently pricing up what we can afford this winter... Not helped by only being able to go Christmas week!

Anyone else being optimistic and planning?

I've been surreptitiously looking.. We've always booked by this point so am feeling very edgy. It just doesn't feel that likely yet!

I've booked Easyjet flights for March and a fully cancellable hotel.

We’ve booked over New Year. I fluctuate between excited we’ve booked and terrified we’ve made a huge (expensive) mistake!

Yes - booked for February half term (a while ago) and assumed at the time all this would be over, but it is not looking certain any more!

I’ve no idea if prices have gone up or down but ours is fully refundable. The availability was not great - we did get what we wanted but I wonder if more will come on over the next few months

Only looking at fully refundable packages. We used to book separately but not risking it at the moment! Also not in driving distance of the Alps now.

DH looking at Italy and Bulgaria. I don't ski so we need somewhere with other stuff.

Interesting. I’ve booked ski trips for next year, in each case separately. I had a bad time with an agent for our 2021 trip - wanted to charge a hefty “rebooking fee” that wasn’t in the t&c. So I’m trusting BA (for vouchers), and refundable deposits with accommodation providers, booked on the credit card. Fingers crossed!

Ooh me, cant wait! Hoping for the French, Aragonese and Catalan Pyrenees. We went to Saint Lary just before the first lockdown and loved it, so might go back.

Yes, us. We're away over Christmas (21-28th) and optimistically booked it in September last year.

We book independently, so have ensured we won't lose any money or deposits. The apartment is through VRBO and refundable until a week before, flights are BA and we'll get a credit note (which we're happy with), ski school website says refunds up to the day before (though we haven't booked that yet).

The only element we haven't been able to establish is lift passes. Hopefully their policy will become clear when we go to book. Has anyone else booked lift passes and needed a refund (we'd also accept a credit note as we will ski there again eventually).

Like a PP, we put it all on a credit card for that additional protection. We've already paid off accommodation and flights, ready to book the lessons and passes.

@RhubarbFairy we've never booked lift passes before we've gone before. Are you worried they might be limited?

We’ve booked for New Year near Valmorel and the 3 Valleys, but decided on self drive and self catering (fully refundable) to be safe.

In other news, very early weather reports indicate good odds on a La Niña winter developing, so it seems like it might be a good year for snow!

We usually go Feb half term. We're lucky in that accommodation is sorted due to a relative living there but usually by this time of year, I would have booked the Eurotunnel, accommodation in Folkstone (5 of us so trickier to find than a regular family room) and parking at the other end. So far I haven't booked anything. Not sure when to take the plunge.

Booked Club Med for Feb half term. We should be able to transfer the booking to 2023 if necessary. Fingers crossed

Oh God I would love to go skiing. Switzerland remained open throughout pandemic this year so might be an option

Just starting to look at Levi Finland for March 2022, but wouldn’t normally book until a bit later in the year (usually October or so) so will just see how it goes for the next couple of months.

We booked in advance last time as we found a website that offered them for about 25% cheaper.

Can I just say how happy I am to see this board active again

I’ve booked last January for this next one, fully refundable if problems.

Which your operator are people using? A bit wary of booking separately and getting stung if we need to cancel.

@Californiabakes

Oh God I would love to go skiing. Switzerland remained open throughout pandemic this year so might be an option

Yes but closed to tourists, especially non-EU (thanks Brexit)

My son was working in a Swiss resort and they definitely did have non Swiss tourists. He had Russian, other eastern European and German visitors at his chalet (i’m sure there were more nationalities but not checked for purposes of this thread). British (English) at the beginning of the season only.

Agree, Switzerland wasn't closed to tourists. that was Austria. Switzerland was open but some countries (such as UK) were not allowed entry (post the December/verbier debacle). I know many German families were able to visit their properties there for one example. Hoping that skiing will be open this year.

Have two self drive trips to France booked with Peak Retreats. These were originally booked for the 2020-2021 season and they gave us the option of a refund but we decided to postpone instead as are keen to ski again as soon as we are able to. They have a Sunday to Sunday option for Christmas and New Year weeks. Otherwise their holidays are normally Saturday to Saturday.

I've booked to go to the UCPA in Les Contamines in France in Feb half-term, but we'll only be able to go if the quarantine on return requirement is lifted before then.

Yes! Booked for Christmas week which has been moved from April 2020 to December 2020 to April 2021 to December 2021. Hopefully 4th time lucky!!! Booked independently to Austria, but haven't had any problems with moving the accommodation and flight bookings the previous 3 times!

We have BA tickets to Calgary on the 26th of December and free cancellation hotel booking