What Is the New Normal of a Ski Vacation?

Few ski vacations can be called cheap, but travelers looking to book reservations at winter resorts this year should expect to pay less and get more.

A slow economy and a reluctance to travel have left the industry scrambling for guests and have raised the bar on perks and deals. Savvy consumers would be wise to familiarize themselves with these new standards.

Of course, nearly every industry is adjusting to what economists are calling “the new normal,” the concrete changes in supply and demand cleaved by the recession. But tough economic times have hit the slopes particularly hard.

Popular winter destinations, along with the rest of the hotel industry, are already feeling the chill of leisure travel cutbacks. (U.S. hotel prices dropped 17% in the first half of 2009 compared with last year, according to the latest Hotel Price Index from Hotels.com, released in September.) Mountain resorts have to work especially hard to attract budget-conscious consumers’ attention because costs to enjoy the slopes can add up quickly. An adult lift ticket can add $30 to $100 per day. Flying in? Airlines consider ski bags as part of your checked baggage allowance. On Continental (CAL), that’s an extra $30 for someone already paying $20 to check a suitcase. Tack on another $50 in overnight bag fees if the skis, poles and boots collectively weigh more than 50 pounds.

Many ski areas, resorts and airlines are slashing prices. “We saw a big shift in pricing starting last year, in time with the economy falling down,” says Greg Gantzer, the president and chief executive of Action Sports Interactive, whose sites SkiSite.com, ShredSite.com and RealConditions.com track lift ticket and gear prices, as well as mountain snow conditions. Travelers can easily shave 30% or more off last year’s prices.

Not only have prices dropped, but more resorts are dropping them. In previous years, a skier hunting for deals might have had limited options; now, there are deals for every mountain, says Dan Sherman, a spokesman for specialty travel agency Ski.com.

To make sure you’re getting the best rates, be aware of these three new pricing trends on the slopes:

Old standard: Stay five nights, get the sixth night free.
New deal: Bonus day when you pay for as few as two nights.

Getting a free night stay is one of the most common perks -- resorts anticipate making up for the lost room revenue when you pay to ski, eat and use the property’s other amenities for another day, says Mike Stitt, the general manager of deal site Travelzoo. This year, look for a freebie at least every fourth night (down from the fifth or sixth of previous years).

A few places offer deals on shorter stays. Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada (the skiing venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics), is offering a third night free at participating area resorts for arrivals before Dec. 17 (rates start at $99 a night). Pine Ridge Condominiums in Breckenridge, Colo., offers a third night free for midweek stays through April 30. (Regularly, rates start at $169 per night.) “Most people would stay a third night anyway,” Stitt says.

Old standard: Full-price stays over the weekends of Christmas, New Year's, Presidents’ Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
New deal: Discounts even during peak times.

Long winter weekends typically mean packed houses for mountain resorts because skiing families often take advantage of school holidays. But given the economic chill, resort operators are hedging their bets this year with holiday discounts for travelers who book early. “That’s pretty much unheard of,” Sherman says. Love Ridge Lodges at Grandview in Jackson Hole, Wyo., has a third-night-free and three-day lift ticket package from $682 per person, for Dec. 25 through Jan. 2, 2010.

Others are letting their regular promos stand during the holidays, forgoing their usual blackouts. Customers who book by Dec. 1 for a stay before April 30, 2010, at Charter at Beaver Creek in Beaver Creek, Colo., will see their room rate reduced by 30%. Regularly, rates start at $225 a night.

Old standard: Drive-in markets offer the best prices.
New deal: Fly-in markets are dangling free tickets.

Mountain resorts that rely more on travelers flying in than on those driving in have been hardest hit by the recession, Gantzer says. “It’s been harder to get people out to those markets,” he says. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will reimburse travelers for their fourth place ticket purchased (up to $500) when they buy lift tickets and stay at least five nights at an area property between Nov. 28 and Dec. 18, or Jan. 3 and April 10, 2010. Crested Butte, Colo., offers a free ticket (up to $450) for every two purchased for travel to the area on American (AMR), Delta (DAL), or United (UAUA) between Dec. 17 and April 4, 2010. Kids fly free on midweek American Airlines (AMR) flights to Crested Butte between Jan. 3 and Feb. 12. (And once they arrive, they ski for free.)