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How do you economize on lift tickets?

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boris
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Posted: May 16, 2007 - 2:00 AM GMT

Two fer day at wildcat.

Shawnee Peak has a two-fer night skiing deal, as well as a bargain night on either monday or tuesday.

Sugarlaof has a Maine resident day on certain wednesdays.

In general the web has some good deals, especially last minute promotions.

And of course a thorny subject to some, the good old Mobil coupons for midweek skiing at "ASC resorts". Soon to be collectors items. I'm
ticked that I cleaned out my glove compartment and tossed them, in that they would be suitable for framing.

joshua segal
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Posted: May 16, 2007 - 11:10 AM GMT

Edited: May 22, 2007 - 1:31 PM GMT

Time for a summary. Many of you got specific with your suggestions, but in summarizing I attempted to keep it general

Comps:
1. Ski Shows
2. Contests (such as, be the 10th caller to radio station WXYZ)
3. Perk with a purchase of equipment
4. Perk with a purchase of a membership (e.g. I received a free pass with a membership renewal to Friends of Tuckerman)
5. Perk with the purchadse of a product not generally considered ski equipment: (e.g. Jeep Appreciation Day, get free season pass to XXX with purchase of a new YYY)
6. Friends who work at ski areas
7. Older than age XX.
8. Participation in a contest at an area (such as Mt. Dew Challenge, May Day Race)
9. Whining about conditions to management (getting stuck on a lift works too, but more difficult to plan.)
10. Lift ticket included in lodging price
11. Volunteering to help with races
12. Chaperoning after school groups
13. Organizing bus trips of all sorts

Discounts (note all the comp options can also be discount options)
1. Member of a group (e.g. Ladies Day, residents of VT, etc.)
a. 2-fer days
b. half-off days
2. Memberships:
a. Professional (E.g. PSIA: occasionally free: mostly discount)
b. XXX Ski Club
3. Gasoline purchase discounts
4. Newspaper ads/promos
5. Having a season pass at another area
6. Belong to certain clubs
7. Pre-buy vouchers through a variety of programs
8. Discount books/Coupons
9. Military discounts, police/fire/teacher/some other gov't positions
10. Early season/late season discounts
11. Web-site promos
12. Web auctions (e.g. Ebay, Craigs List)
13. Ski mid-week (or night)
14. Sunday PM bargains (e.g. MRG, Okemo)
15. Buy multi-day tickets

Got more?

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Joshua Segal

bousquet19
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Posted: May 16, 2007 - 12:28 PM GMT

Under discounts, add:

Ski midweek
(RivercOil is right; this may be the most easily available and significant way to economize)

Ski at night
(Bousquet has had its Thursday Nite Owl special since the early 1970s -- I think it's 10 bucks for 4pm 'til closing.)

Discounts by geography -- e.g., discounts for skiers who live in - - - .
(This past season, Wisp in Maryland had a "Locals Day" discount every Wednesday...but they considered everyone local.)

Woody

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bousquet19
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Posted: Sep 22, 2011 - 4:21 PM GMT

<bump>

Good suggestions to keep in mind as we pass the equinox.

Woody

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hammer
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Posted: Sep 22, 2011 - 4:36 PM GMT

Mostly SkiNH passes and a few Liftopia purchases. We have also picked up discounts through employer programs and we got a good deal on Waterville tickets through Groupon last season.

BTW the Jeep Appreciation Day link does not work anymore.

kevinthomas
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Posted: Sep 22, 2011 - 8:49 PM GMT

Ski mid week and save on tickets and lodging... ski March and April and add a ton more to the savings... be flexible where you go and compare specials or rates such as 2 for 1 days. Ski a place that isn't the biggest but still big such as Pico, Bromley, Black Mountian... look in the Entertainment book for 2 for 1 coupons. Buy a season pass. Or the best, just build your own ski area and comp your self tickets.
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MissDaEast
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Posted: Sep 23, 2011 - 2:33 AM GMT

One of my favorites, and I can't figure out why none of you has mentioned it...Ladies' Day!

joshua segal
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Posted: Sep 23, 2011 - 11:17 AM GMT

Quote:

One of my favorites, and I can't figure out why none of you has mentioned it...Ladies' Day!

Not sure how you missed it. It's at the top of the list:

Quote:

Discounts (note all the comp options can also be discount options)
1. Member of a group (e.g. Ladies Day, residents of VT, etc.)
...

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Joshua Segal

teighs
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Posted: Sep 23, 2011 - 12:24 PM GMT

Perk of being an employee at the ski area.

joshua segal
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Posted: Sep 23, 2011 - 1:54 PM GMT

Edited: Sep 23, 2011 - 1:55 PM GMT

Thanks for bumping this thread back. It is a great reminder for the economy-minded among us.

If there are a bunch more suggestions, I'll do a new summary, but for all of the postings there seem to be only a few new ones and one deletion. Funny how many of the "new" suggestions were already in the last summary.

The deletion:
- Jeep Appreciation Day
[But as you can see, that was not a category, but an example within a category.
5. Perk with the purchase of a product not generally considered ski equipment: (e.g. Jeep Appreciation Day, get free season pass to XXX with purchase of a new YYY)]

The additions:
- Liftopia (a modern variant of "7. Pre-buy vouchers through a variety of programs" )
- Groupons (a modern variant of "8. Discount books/Coupons" )
- Work or Volunteer at a ski area: (e.g. Ski Patrol, Courtesy Patrol, School) or be a dependant Child or spouse of someone who does
- Work at Sports Shop
- become a member of the "Eastern Ski Writers Association"

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Joshua Segal

skijay
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Posted: Sep 23, 2011 - 4:48 PM GMT

For me a season pass works. I do take advantage of the discounts offered at other mountains when you, "show your pass and save".

Jeep Appreciation Day - I remember that as I took advantage of it at Jiminy and Bromley back in the early 2000's.

Subaru should do an appreciaiton day, and I am kind of surprised they don't. I doubt you would ever find a Subaru in Vermont

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remski
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Posted: Sep 23, 2011 - 9:45 PM GMT

Liftopia.com just sent an email with some new deals for the coming season. Check it out.[URL=http://liftopia.com]

MissDaEast
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Posted: Sep 23, 2011 - 10:06 PM GMT

Quote:

[quote]One of my favorites, and I can't figure out why none of you has mentioned it...Ladies' Day!

Not sure how you missed it. It's at the top of the list:

Quote:

Discounts (note all the comp options can also be discount options)
1. Member of a group (e.g. Ladies Day, residents of VT, etc.)
...

[/quote]

Oh, DUH. Sorry, Joshua. I guess I skimmed over the third list, and didn't give enough thought to the others.

trackbiker
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Posted: Sep 25, 2011 - 4:23 AM GMT

The Winter Go Play New England Map available in those hotel and restaraunt lobby racks actually has some coupons that are pretty good deals. I usually pick up a few on the NY Thruway. I skied 21 days last year and I paid full price for 3 or 4 tickets including buying tickets for three days for 4 poor college students during spring break in VT plus 5 days out west. Most coupons on the map are nonholiday and many are midweek.
Some examples from the map from last year:
Wachusett: B1G1 before 12/24
Burke: $10.00 off nonholiday
Smuggs: B1G1 nonholiday but INCUDING OTHER WEEKENDS
Whiteface: Free teen or junior ticket with purchase of adult ticket Sun. to Fri. nonholiday.
Jay Peak: $10.00 off Sun. to Fri. nonholiday.
Black Mtn. NH: $10.00 off. Valid EVERY DAY of the season.
Hunter Mtn: Free adult ticket with purchase of a junior ticket non holiday.
Dartmouth Skiway: B1G1 midweek nonholiday
Stratton: B1G1 Tues. $10.00 off Mon., Wed., Thur., and Fri. (I used the Tues. B1G1 two years ago with the college students.)
Nashoba: $5.00 off early and late season

Holiday periods are tough to find deals. But I usually ski the "off the map areas" then anyway to avoid the crowds. The deals are out there if you take the time to look for them and schedule your trips to take advantage of them. $10.00 off may not seem like a lot of money but it will pay for lunch or for a few apres ski beers. And if you are buying multiple tickets over several days it adds up.

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