Skiing.LifeTips Newsletter, Issue 260: How to Find Cheap Lift Tickets

Skiing Tips Weekly Tipletter August 14, 2009, Issue #260: How to Find Cheap Lift Tickets 1 Tip of the Week With the price of lift tickets rising faster than global warming temperatures, many people might be concerned with the expenses involved with taking a ski trip. In some resorts, lift tickets have been seen for as high as $81! That's the bad news. Here's the insider's secret: Very few people actually need to pay that price. Like anything else related to skiing, finding bargains depends on where you go, when you go and who you know. However, since prices and deals have a tendency to change as frequently as the weather in Colorado, it behooves you stay constantly informed. Here are a few websites that provide great information about advertised and unadvertised lift ticket deals. Epicski.com: A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum With over 14,000 members from all parts of the globe, Epicski.com is the largest ski forum on the Internet. The membership base of Epicski is predominantly composed of ski fanatics and ski area employees. If you want the latest and greatest information about cheap ski deals, this is the place to go. The Epicski folks tend to have periodic ski gatherings at various ski areas throughout North America. If you get the opportunity, you should definitely go. Since many of the members are ski area employees, they may be privy to lift ticket discounts that are often better than anything that is available to the general public. Even if you do not meet any ski area employees, locals at the ski towns often hold season passes that allow them to purchase lift tickets for their friends and family at discount prices. Who knows? You might even be offered a place to stay! This adds a whole new meaning to the idea of having friends in high places! Get a Lift for Your Groceries In some ski towns, the local supermarkets might feature discount lift tickets. For example, in Colorado, the King Supers, City Market and Safeway usually offer a discount for most of the local resorts. However, the discount is often only a savings of a few dollars. In most cases, this is only a good deal if you are planning to ski at the particular area for a day. Thank You for Calling American Express Did you know that you can use your American Express Membership Rewards points for purchasing lift tickets at various ski areas? Other affinity credit cards might have the same sort of deal. This is often an excellent use for those "stray" points. Why use them for magazine subscriptions when you use them for skiing? I'm Flying! Every year, the airlines and the ski areas do some sort lift ticket deal. For example, the Park City Utah ski areas offer a lift ticket with a same-day airline boarding pass. Given that the Park City ski areas are only a short ride from the airport, if you arrive early enough; this can be a good deal. The caveat: If you are from a sea level location, make sure that you do not have any problems adjusting to the high altitude. Frontier Airlines often has a deal with Copper Mountain in Colorado. Fly Frontier, and get a coupon for buy one, get one free card. Play the Age Card Some ski resorts offer either a discount senior season pass or a senior discount lift ticket. However, they seem to change each year. Also restrictions, such as weekends, holidays and Spring break may apply. Lift and Learn Some ski areas offer free tickets or even season passes with their lesson plans. For example, at Loveland, if you purchase three, full lesson packages, which include lift ticket lesson and equipment rental, you receive a free season pass! If you already know how to ski, there's no need to fake beginner status. The same deal applies to the snowboard package! Drive Yourself Ski Crazy Are you in the market for some new wheels? If you purchase a Chevy Tahoe, you can receive a free season pass at participating resorts. Speaking of driving, your local gas stations often h 2 About LifeTips Now one of the top on-line publishers in the world, LifeTips offers 98,458 tips to millions of monthly visitors. Our mission is to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Expert writers earn dough for what they know. And exclusive sponsors in each niche topic help us make it all happen. To unsubscribe, please click or cut & paste the following link to our instant unsubscribe page: http://www.lifetips.com/unsubscribe.asp or write to us at: LifeTips.com / 77 N Washington St / Suite 3B / Boston, MA 02114 [273011]