August 10, 2004 -- Ski season, already? No, but if fall fashion is filling out the mannequins at your favorite clothing boutique and pre-season football is on the boob tube, then you know fall and winter are right around the corner. Ergo, it should be little surprise that travel operators and ski areas are touting their wares for the coming season by offering early bookers the chance at some solid travel deals.
United Vacations operated by Mark Travel Corporation out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin just announced a stay a fourth night free and ski a fourth day free package in Winter Park, Colorado for travel good at certain hotels through April. Certain periods, especially Christmas and New Years, are blocked out at some accommodations. See www.unitedvacations.com/spec/FS1067.asp for details on travel dates and to help select accommodations. You can book travel at the site, or you can call 888/328-6877 to speak to a travel representative.
Prices for these deals include roundtrip airfare, four nights' lodging and four days of lift tickets. In order to qualify for the fourth night and ski day free package you have to book at least four nights at the hotel and four days of lift tickets -- meaning you're staying and skiing five nights. Nothing to complain about when all the accommodations have hot tubs, the powder is blowing and the hot chocolate and Irish Coffee are flowing.
If you stay at the Beaver Village Condominiums, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo facility two miles from the mountain, the trip without air taxes runs $494 from Dallas, $504 from Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco and $624 from New York City or Newark. At Timber Run (a studio with a sleeping loft facility) or Vintage Resort & Conference (normal hotel room) your cost start from $514 out of Dallas, $524 from Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco and $644 from New York City or Newark. Prices at the sporty Iron Horse Resort begin at $559 out of Dallas and end at the high end at $689 for flights out of New York and Newark. Remember, you need to make the trip 98 miles from the Denver Airport on your own. Amtrak delivers you there and you could always rent a car and make the scenic drive north. The hotels provide transportation to and from the Amtrak station.
Comparable deals include travel to Snowmass, Colorado and Banff, Canada. Without airfare, four nights and four days skiing will get you fifth night free at the Silvertree Hotel in Snowmass, located at the base of the mountain. The total cost of the trip for double occupancy costs $455. The trip to beautiful Banff with the same fifth night free deal at the Fairmont Banff Spring Hotel costs $526 without airfare. These deals can be booked at www.lynxtravel.com.
Want to hit France and ski the ever chi-chi Val D'Isere. Round trip with accommodations at the luxe ski lodge Hotel Christiania costs $1,535 per person. Lift passes aren't included, but breakfast is, and it's rare that Val d'Isere has a poor ski season. Travel on this deal is only good for one week from January 8-16, 2005. Check out www.ski-europe.com for the skinny on this deal and other European vacation deals.
Of course, if you're itching to get to a mountain and could care less about skiing down it, off-season end of summer deals to some resorts are available. Gorp Travel (www.gorptravel.com) is offering ten percent off travel to Aspen, idyllic in the late summer and early fall. Stay at the Aspen Canyon Ranch for seven days for $1,255 for travel between August 29 and September 11, 2004. Airfare is not included, but the Ranch offers horseback riding, fishing, and hiking with excellent wilderness guides.