Crystal Ski advice

[user1468051997]

Competitive price.
Polite reps.

Our first choice of hotel was unavailable despite having paid in full - an email informing us of this arrived a few weeks later. Apparently the hotel was at fault for this. There was only one other hotel at a comparable cost - in fact, the second one was priced a bit higher so we assumed we had done well out of it. The hotel had the same Crystal rating as the first one. On arrival it was clear that the first hotel had a 4 rating; ours had a 2 rating. This should have been made really clear when we were sorting out the issue over the phone and agreeing the new holiday details. Do look more carefully than we did if Crystal send you one of those emails!

On arrival at the airport we were not happy to be told we would have to wait for another incoming flight to fill up the coach before we could depart. As we were kept waiting for over an hour, the ski rental shop had closed 20-25 minutes before we arrived at resort. That was obviously annoying, especially as we were not informed before. It’s possible that we would have booked a private transfer had we known earlier. Something you might want to ask Crystal before you book.

Be aware of potential pitfalls!

Crystal time their flights so they all arrive together then leave together to cut down on buses. I'm guessing a flight was late....

Former rep here.

All ski companies time the coaches and planes to coincide as much as possible, but as the incomming planes all have a mixture of guests travelling on to numerous different resorts, the logistics are not simple, and it only takes one plane to be delayed to ruin the best laid plans. It is impossible to tell passengers in advance of any delays - it all depends on the weather and other factors on the day.

And it's not always the fault of the tour company or the rep. The coach to Resort A takes 60 people. 10 of them are coming from Manchester, 20 from Luton, 15 from Bristol and so on, so the coach has to wait until everyone has arrived, which on a good day should be within a time slot of about an hour. But then one family decides not to wait and jumps in a taxi (or has pre-booked a taxi without telling the tour company). So the reps now have 56 people and can't find the last 4. They can see that the "taxi family" were on the flight, but as nobody knows that they have taken a taxi, the reps spend an hour searching the airport and making tannoy announcements (with 56 disgruntled passengers sitting on the coach) before deciding to risk it and leave anyway. Multiply this by 20 incomming flights and 60 coaches on a normal Saturday and it is easy to see how things can escalate. 😎

Ex rep here (many many moons ago). I echo what the above poster said. I was in meribel, about an hour from chambery airport. People would be flabbergasted when we stopped at the services - the company got a kick back and the coach drivers wanted freebie food. The punters thought an early flight to a close airport would mean they could ski first afternoon. 🙄😂🤣

I went on a couple of packages, but now do diy skiing, mostly driving or doing independent fly/drive.

We went with them once because it was good value, awful experience. Chambery airport and the bus journey was awful, never again.

Un their defence they are good when things go majorly wrong. Two years ago they managed to completely reroute our flight after Covid restrictions changed 2 days before the holiday. And last year they helped rearrange when they had to cancel the Bulgaria trips due to lack of snow, again 2 days before.

Chamberley Airport however is dreadful... not Crystal's fault.

Chamberley Airport however is dreadful... not Crystal's fault.
It think it is partly because they land all their flights close together then make everyone wait for the buses despite the fact that there is nowhere to wait. And then again because of their shitty bus system they dump you there 4 hours before your flight departs and the airport won’t let you in because no more people can physically fit in the terminal so you have to stand outside in the snow. And you were on the bus for 4 hours when the typical drive time is 2 because it made so many stops. Never again.

Our problem at Chamberley was the security queues... they couldn't cope with the volume. It was several airlines, not just Tui flights! So all the planes were delayed.

We’re just back from skiing with Crystal. Dd had an accident on the slopes and the reps were really helpful - helping to sort ice packs, extra room on the coach, wheelchairs etc. travel insurance did the test (and were also amazing), but we did appreciate having the reps support.