Destination Ski trips and the high associated costs for Flights, Hotels, Transport & Mountain ticket comparison & Suggestions.

[MidnightJester]

Just pulled the trigger on a Lake Tahoe Feb 3 - Feb 8th "6" day trip with(2 days travel(Friday & Wednesday) and with 4 days (Saturday,Sunday,Monday,Tuesday) as available for riding and exploring.

Stage 1- Flight with American Airlines with seat selection and flight changes as options $360 not counting $60 for a checked bag($30 each way) should cost 420. Used reward points for flight cost without bag. Leaving NYC airports and returning NYC airports.
Stage 2- Hotel ???????

 

[Kingslug20]

It's costing the 2 of us at least 3 to 4 k for this Utah trip for 10 days..maybe more..it's nuts....car rentals are at least 100 a day for anything....real 4wd...almost double that...that's why we base out of pc..easy to get around.
But I don't care at this point..I can't take it with me..and this winter..kind of sux..round these parts.

 

[Juntaclause]

Just pulled the trigger on a Lake Tahoe Feb 3 - Feb 8th 6 day trip with(2 days travel(Friday & Wednesday) and with 4 days (Saturday,Sunday,Monday,Tuesday) as available for riding and exploring.

Stage 1- Flight with American Airlines with seat selection and flight changes as options $360 not counting $60 for a checked bag($30 each way) should cost 420. Used reward points for flight cost without bag. Leaving NYC airports and returning NYC airports.
Stage 2- Hotel ???????

We skied Northstar over Christmas and did an Airbnb in Tahoe City. Franciscan lodge would’ve been fine and inexpensive as well. But there are tons of motels in the area.

If you are South Lake, I’ve heard the casinos are cheap because gambling.

I’ll anticipate state 3- we rented a 4WD using Truro. Picked up/returned at SFO. Not cheap, but necessary if snow will be falling.

 

[BenedictGomez]

It's costing the 2 of us at least 3 to 4 k for this Utah trip for 10 days..maybe more..it's nuts....car rentals are at least 100 a day for anything....real 4wd...almost double that...that's why we base out of pc..easy to get around.
But I don't care at this point..I can't take it with me..and this winter..kind of sux..round these parts.

Spent about 2 minutes on Kayak looking for Easter SLC flights and after seeing them $750 - $800+ pulled a:

That said, look to Turo in SLC for a "real 4wd" & you'll save > probably $1000 on that trip if it's really costing you ~$200/day. If you need recs, "I know a guy", and he delivers to SLC International for only $20 extra.

I'll keep looking for flights, I often find the cheapest they get is about a month out.

 

[snoseek]

You dont need a car in SLC and can Cheap enough lodging in the valley. You can fly into Reno, take a shuttle up to Tahoe and ride the bus easy enough. It can be done without a car if you are ok with bussing around. If you need to explore it gets more expensive

 

[Kingslug20]

We have to move 3 times in 10 days...need a car for sure....
Will check out turo...

 

[Kingslug20]

Turo looks great..anyone with experience with it ?
Pretty much trusting a person to come through with it

 

[MidnightJester]

Turo looks great..anyone with experience with it ?
Pretty much trusting a person to come through with it

I am doing the same with trying TURO for the first time in my Lake Tahoe trip most likely. I can find a small/medium SUV or cars for about 70 to 80 a day it looks like.

 

[jaytrem]

I've used Turo a few times. So far so good. One nice thing is you can pick the exact car. Will be using them again in Portland in a couple weeks.

There are lots of ways to lower the costs of everything in life. Credit card sign up bonuses, discount gift cards, Upside for gas (unless yo live in NJ), Ratuken and Coupon Cabin, etc. It all adds up to a ton of savings over a lifetime.

 

[Kingslug20]

The insurance thing with turo looks like I need to read up on it a bit...

 

[Abominable]

Yes, the credit cards that typically cover rental car insurance might not cover a Turo, something I've read elsewhere.

It's been 20 years, but there were a lot of slightly suspect motels on the CA side of south tahoe (across border from casinos) that were relatviely inexensive. Be daring and try Secrets Inn!

 

[MidnightJester]

For 2 people on the trip we booked the needed transport by going through TURO for a small SUV. There are fees and taxes that are added to the prices shown on the TURO site or app. Got a small 4wd SUV for $65 a day with the discounts added of ($14 off for 3+days booked and $14off for booking 7+ days out) which takes off $7 a day for the rental from $72 to $65 a day.

Total came out to $330 for 4 days or $83 a day.

Mitsubishi Outlander Sport 4WD​

Seems to be a big benefit that you can pick up and drop off the TURO rentals at much more varied earlier or later hours then some car rental locations. Also TURO rentals seem to be 24hr or all day rentals and the Major car rental companies now charge by the hour it seems.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Cheap motels. Miles flights. Turos from reputable owners. Multi mountain passes. Ramen and pbj. 14 days $2500

 

[BenedictGomez]

The insurance thing with turo looks like I need to read up on it a bit...

Yes, this is/was confusing as hell & probably took me 2 hours of research before I was okay with it. It can depend on your insurer & state and the state you're going to be vacationing in. Some insurers try to not cover you in a Turo by declaring it as not being a rental car, but a share. In any event, I've only used Turo in Utah, and I was satisfied with the combination of my insurer/insurance & Utah, but if I were vacationing elsewhere I'd check each state I was visiting individually every time I booked with Turo.

 

[Kingslug20]

It will be in utah..

 

[crank]

We made some reservations in JH. Splurging on a nice hotel in Jackson. We never rent a car there though we have just for a day to go xc at Teton National Park. We have also taken the town bus out to the Snake River where there are some trails as well but an awful lot of dog walkers.

Bonus this winter though, we have a friend staying out there by himself for the season and he will come buy the hotel and pick us up most mornings and drop us at our door apres, apres. In exchange we make him a breakfast sandwich from the hotel's breakfast buffet and we get to park close in for free.

 

[Kingslug20]

All in we got 11 days for 1500 bucks...but it's a better car than the Costco Alamo deal..no waiting on the line...
Awd honda pilot..so if I need to climb the hill to alta..I can.

 

[MidnightJester]

So just picked up a lower level hotel in South lake Tahoe / Stateline area. It was just under $600 for a Queen bed with a small kitchenet (2 burner stove, mini fridge, microwave) 4 night stay (Sat,sun,mon,tue). It is just under 1/2 mile from the Heavenly village and Gondola and 1/2 mile or less walk to the start of 2 casinos and downtown area. Sat is about $230 & Sunday,Monday,Tuesday are $90 each day.

my Flight is $420 & friends flight is $350 - ($770 total)
small suv rental for 4 days is - $330
Hotel stay with queen bed - $600

 

[Razor]

One of our best ski vacations ever some years ago. We flew into Reno, bused to Tahoe, and stayed at Harvey's on a ski and stay package. Shuttle to Heavenly and other areas like Sierra. Cheap and even won some money in the casino.

 

[abc]

One of our best ski vacations ever some years ago. We flew into Reno, bused to Tahoe, and stayed at Harvey's on a ski and stay package. Shuttle to Heavenly and other areas like Sierra. Cheap and even won some money in the casino.

I’ve contemplated taking one of those packages once or twice but never pulled the trigger. Back then (pre-pandemic) rental car in Reno was so cheap it’s easier to rent a car and have all the freedom to chase snow.

Those ski shuttles seemed to have disappeared lately. I haven’t seen those deals in recent years.