Best ski deal out now

Best ski deal out now

Perisher’s Freedom Pass becoming Epic may be the best value for snow enthusiasts, but selling direct means travel agents won’t reap gains.

As part of the announced acquisition of Perisher by Vail Resorts, consumers will be able to reap benefits by purchasing The 2015 Perisher Freedom Pass online before 31 May to include “Epic” benefits which adds free access to 9 resorts in the US, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Park City with some blackout dates applicable.

Current holders of the Perisher Freedom Pass will also automatically be able to enjoy the Epic benefits at no additional cost, subject to the deal closing between the two resorts. The Perisher Freedom Pass with Epic Benefits is on sale now for A$749 via the Perisher website, with the season slated to open June 6.

However, Vail’s Epic Pass for the 2015-16 season is commissionable to travel agents and do not hold any blackout dates for skiing in its US resorts, but holders will only enjoy unlimited skiing and snowboarding benefits at Perisher for the following 2016 Australian snow-season. The Epic pass is on sale for US$769.

Vail continues to invest heavily in its American resorts, with US$125 million pledged for upgrades, including US$50 million to upgrade the guest experience at Park City including establishing a link to Canyons Resort, creating the largest single ski area in the US.

“Park City number one inbound market is from Australia, and we expect a lot more Aussies to visit in future,” Vail Resorts’ PR manager, May Lilley said yesterday in Sydney.

 

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

    Latest comments
    1. fine if you are planning on skiing Perisher, buy who wants to spend AUD$749 to USD$769 if you don’t intend going anywhere near Perisher.
      Earlybird Deals right now at Copper Mt Colorado(20 mins drive east of Vail & 25 mins drive from Breckenridge & Keystone) consistently voted the most family friendly snow resort in whole of North America, include FREE lift tickets when book 10 nights accommodation all season long, in the resort starting around USD$50/person for spacious on snow condos for whole of January, when most Australians ski in USA/Canada.
      The FREE lift tickets are for 1 adult & up to 4 kids under 13 years & are for 7 days out of 10 days with lift line priority, which means no lift Q’s ever (whereas some nearby resorts have horribly long lift Q’s especially on weekends) Extra days lifts USD$45/day to extend the FREE lifts for 5 people & same for extra adults.
      There’s even a free bus that goes about 20 times a day from Copper Mt to Breckenridge & Keystone + free bus go to one of the worlds biggest outlet complexes at Silverthorne. It’s so big, it straddles the interstate highway.
      Australian resorts are so hard to get to, if you don’t live near Melbourne(Buller) or Canberra for NSW resorts. This is probably why Queenstown NZ has been booming over past few years.
      It’s harder & therefore more expensive to fly to Canberra on weekends, as both QF & VA have cut weekends flights(no public servants work on weekends, so they don’t fly & no one goes to CBR to see public servants on weekends)
      QF & VA won’t allow JQ & TT to fly to CBR, as routes to CBR are the highest yielding in the country.
      QF no longer flies to Hotham airport, which means Albury is closest airport to Falls Creek & Mt Hotham & no jets fly to Albury anymore, meaning smaller aircraft & higher fares + still 2.5-3 hour bus ride from ABX.
      For NSW resort there haven’t been any commercial flights to Cooma since 2013.
      Hopefully, Vail resorts will instigate reintroduction of commercial flights to Cooma.

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