RFID Electronic Lift Tickets

[Bene288]

Anyone have experience with this type of ticket yet? They had them at Jiminy this weekend. It's a credit card sized ticket that you keep in your pocket. You walk up to the corral and it reads the card and opens a gate for you to ski through and get it line. I can see some advantages, I bet this thing keeps every statistic possible. However, it seemed that 3 in 4 people were having a problem with it, and not getting through in a timely fashion. If the card isn't positioned correctly then the gate wouldn't open. They also say if it gets too close to your phone or wallet it can become deactivated, like a hotel card. I wonder if this is just an experiment early season because I could imagine INSANE hold ups during peak or weekend. I'd like to know the upside of this.. Is it to stop people sneaking past the liftie? I could see two people sneaking in on one ticket like you can do on the Green Line. Or people swapping tickets in the lodge. A whole group could potentially ski on one ticket, just not go up together.. Any ideas?

 

[ScottySkis]

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2

I remember them in Utah a few years ago, they work great.

 

[abc]

Jay has it (they actually make you pay a non-refundable $5 for it!) And it worked poorly 2 years ago. Now sure if it improved. And if you only go to Jay once or twice a season, don't EVER forget to bring the old car with you, or you'll have to cough up ANOTHER $5 FOR A NEW CARD!!!

Almost all European resorts use it and it work very well. No manual scanning and no hold up. At the end of the day, you can log onto the resort website and see all the lifts you've ridden, they even add up your elevation skied! Or yes, you drop the card into some collection slot at the resort and your credit card will be credited for the deposit of the card.

The difference? The RFID had been in used in Europe for quite many years and almost all skiers gotten used to using them properly. Here, it's a novelty with no added value, yet. (and with added cost to the customer in the case of Jay Peak)

 

[riverc0il]

Stowe makes you pay too. Refundable if you remember to request it at the end of the day. It is certainly meant to make you remember your card and preferably (from the resort perspective) preload online before you go.

I've made this complaint before but sooner or later, we are all going to have a dozen or two dozen cards to remember to bring with us to various places to avoid having to pay an additional five bucks everytime we go someplace we've been before (once this thing gets more wide spread, at least). RFID manufacturers and ski areas need to get together and figure this out ASAP. I am okay with having to buy one card per manufacturer system but I should have to have one card per resort. That is going to get asinine after a while.

As far as in line, I like RFID better than hand held scanners. Those things are a nuisance.

Stowe's system works better than Jays. Jay's has gotten better though. Early first season they had it was rough. Happy days now compared to that first day I tried to board the tram using the card...

 

[steamboat1]

I used them at Stowe a few times last year. They charge $5 also but I got it refunded after each day. Don't know if that's because I paid cash or not. Anyway I didn't have any problems using them except for the last warm spring day I skied there. I was only wearing a shirt with no pockets & my two pants pockets were cluttered with keys, change & a wallet full of credit cards etc. Usually I'm wearing a ski parka I could put the card in. The machine wouldn't read the card in my pants pocket. I had to take off my gloves, unzipper my pants pocket & take the card out each time I boarded a lift so the machine could read it. Not only was it a pain but I had to hope I remembered to zip them back up so I wouldn't lose the card or anything else. The other thing I didn't like about them is the fact you have to go through an automatic gate. I never liked automatic gates whether they be for RFID card reading or boarding any lift that has them. Kinda makes you feel like a horse in the starting gate for a race.

 

[Bene288]

Luckily I'm tall enough that the sensor hit the scanner being in my front pant pocket. I saw a father have to lift his daughter up because she was below the scanner. The liftie was telling us the card needs to be between the shoulder and waist. It was pretty comical seeing people practically hugging the thing to get it to scan their card.

Seems like its a pretty big initial investment. The scanners at Jiminy looked fixed to the ground. Could get pretty expensive for mountains with a dozen + lifts.

 

[Hawkshot99]

I have used RFID systems at Stowe and Jimmy peak. Both times worked great for me personally. I never had the machines not scan my ticket. The stowe one I wore on a lanyard around my neck that the gave to me as I just had on a long sleeve T in the spring. Tucked it under the shirt and never had to touch it all day.
At jiminy I keep it in my left pant pocket and you just keep your left side close to the scanner wall thing.
Both ways are way faster than the lifty walking around with the gun.

Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2

 

[MBRI]

The 1/2 dozen times I was at Stowe last year it worked flawlessly. It does everything its suppose to but get you cash at a ATM. got my $5 back the last time there.

 

[KD7000]

I did two days at Stowe last season on their RFID system. One of those days was with my daughter. The system seemed to work nearly flawlessly for both of us. Didn't see any unusual holdups at the gates; I'd say it may have even been faster than hand scanning people in line. I kept my card in a jacket breast pocket and my daughter had hers on a lanyard. I liked not having to worry about having a pass or ticket displayed.

 

[Bene288]

There just seemed to be a lot of people at Jiminy that couldn't get through the gate. I wasn't having any problem though. I like the idea of a lanyard. I did like not having to worry about where my ticket was. Right in the front pant pocket worked great for me. I know one buddy of mine will be pissed though, he's kept every lift ticket since 7th grade strapped to his jacket.

 

[skifree]

skiing with a lanyard around my neck seems scary

 

[drjeff]

I had my 1st experience with an RFID ticket out at Park City Mountain Resort last winter - worked great for me and my kids, my wife had some initial problems with it (even though she had it in a front pocket in her coat) All was fine after one of the lift attendants told her that there shouldn't be anything between the ticket and the outer fabric of her coat pocket (she had her cell phone in the same pocket between the ticket and the outer fabric). Once she moved her phone to a different pocket in her coat, she was fine the rest of the day

 

[4aprice]

skiing with a lanyard around my neck seems scary

The one's i've used are stashed in your pocket. I've used them several places and never had a problem, except maybe having to rock back and forth to get it to read. I like the system and don't even mind the deposit if they make it clear that it is to be refunded. I think many of them can be reloaded from your home computer. Solitude (the 1st place I ever saw them) used to ask for used cards (hard plastic at the time) to be returned but now they are on a much smaller card.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[Steve@jpr]

Jay Peak does not, in fact, charge a $5 deposit for RFID Cards. This is the third season we've used them and we haven't charged a $5 deposit since the first season.

Steve.

Jay has it (they actually make you pay a non-refundable $5 for it!) And it worked poorly 2 years ago. Now sure if it improved. And if you only go to Jay once or twice a season, don't EVER forget to bring the old car with you, or you'll have to cough up ANOTHER $5 FOR A NEW CARD!!!

Almost all European resorts use it and it work very well. No manual scanning and no hold up. At the end of the day, you can log onto the resort website and see all the lifts you've ridden, they even add up your elevation skied! Or yes, you drop the card into some collection slot at the resort and your credit card will be credited for the deposit of the card.

The difference? The RFID had been in used in Europe for quite many years and almost all skiers gotten used to using them properly. Here, it's a novelty with no added value, yet. (and with added cost to the customer in the case of Jay Peak)

 

[wtcobb]

Last year my 3-day EpicPass had an RFID. I wore it on a lanyard around my neck, just under my jacket, with no difficulties on the scan. It was cool to see all the stats at the end of the day for the lifts I hit, total elevation gained by those lifts, "badges" for achievements, etc.

 

[marcski]

IMHO, just keep them in a dedicated pocket in your pants or lower jacket and they work great.

 

[Angus]

Ragged had it last year and seemed to be problematic. At the Boston ski show, they said they were going back to traditional tixs this season. Use out west with no problems and at Stowe with no problems. keep in a thigh pocket which seems to be perfect.

 

[abc]

Jay Peak does not, in fact, charge a $5 deposit for RFID Cards. This is the third season we've used them and we haven't charged a $5 deposit since the first season.

Steve.

Steve, that's absolutely false!

If Jay no longer charge a deposit, that would be good. But it definitely use to.

I even went to the desk and asked WHY they wouldn't make it refundable. I was told they "don't have a way to do so"!

(I'm going to print this out and bring it with me the next time I go because I'm 100% sure it USED TO charge for the card and I can't trust an information source that I know is incorrect)

 

[riverc0il]

Steve, that's absolutely false!

If Jay no longer charge a deposit, that would be good. But it definitely use to.

I even went to the desk and asked WHY they wouldn't make it refundable. I was told they "don't have a way to do so"!

(I'm going to print this out and bring it with me the next time I go because I'm 100% sure it USED TO charge for the card and I can't trust an information source that I know is incorrect)

Re-read his post... he states they did do it the first season they had RFID but they no longer do. He never said they didn't at one point. That was actually news to me and I'm glad to see it. Stowe should follow suit but I doubt they will.

 

[snosharkrider]

I went to Jay last April late in the season and wasn't charged a deposit for the RFID. I bought a ticket at the ski shop and wasn't charged a deposit.* I also booked a room & lift ticket package and wasn't charged a deposit at that time either.

*According to the check-in desk at Jay the day's skiing prior to check-in is included as well as the day you check-out. That is not often the rule and I think it's a good deal. When I informed them I had already bought a ticket they couldn't refund my $ but gave me a credit to use on the mountain.