Is renting a plane an economic way to take the family skiing this winter?
31 October 2018
February half term. Shoop, shoop, shoop.
Racing through the trees, you pause in the sunshine to soak up the magnificent mountainous surroundings. It’s mid-afternoon, question is do we go for hot chocolate or mulled wine? Après-ski is calling.
The sun is shining, the snow is crisp white. There’s nothing quite like a ski holiday. But as there are bookends to every good read, there are the bookends to this glorious week, ones that cause a headache. An expensive headache.
Commercial flights to Geneva, Grenoble, Chambery for your family got you down? The supposedly ‘low-cost’ flight comparison site is throwing back jaw dropping prices. The horribly inflated price you pay for a family holiday.
Half term, Christmas, Easter. These are all peak family times, but also peak price times. So, we can expect crowded airports, longer than usual queues. Best leave even earlier. You’ll get to pay extra baggage penalty charges as the sleek new yellow ski boots you packed have pushed your case over the limit. Need to sort out a taxi to the airport and then a two-hour transfer to the resort. All while herding cats…
Everything costs. Time and Money.
- Taxi to airport, how much is that?
- Long stay carpark, or do we book a taxi?
- Luggage is too heavy. Ouch, is that the penalty?
- Lunch, airport prices? Airport quality…
- Transfer to the resort. Bus? Taxi? Car rental? Great, no champagne on the plane
- Night in the hotel, even though you won’t get to ski that day
- Maybe there’s enough time to get skis and boots sorted
- All this is adding up to unbudgeted, unexpected and unwanted hassle and cost.
Hmmm, this may require a rethink.
Enter the private aircraft.
Drive to your local airfield. Save time, no need for taxis.
The aircraft waits for you, as it should always be really.
You can fly to any of your choice of airfield significantly closer to your destination than the bigger (further away) airports, no need for a two-hour transfer once you’ve waited at the luggage carousel for 45 minutes.
Take as many people as the aircraft can take, added flexibility.
No luggage concerns, everything will fit on with no extra charge.
Flying commercial is fine. You know what you’re dealing with, you anticipate the lack of legroom, the endless queues, being dropped off 2 hours away from your destination. But poor service for high prices is an inconvenience you don’t have to deal with. Flying is one thing, you’re in the air, you’re down. Easy. It’s the entire day spend traveling. Including all the other bits that add up to 2 wasted days and wasted money, sandwiching an otherwise glorious family holiday.
Explore every available option. You may well find that renting a plane to take the family on holiday is not only surprisingly economical when compared with the alternative. But also takes almost all the pain out of getting to your destination of choice.
Who knew that Courcheval has its own Airport. That really is ski in, ski out.