Skiing on the Cheap - 2013-14 Edition

[Cornhead]

The MSC value deteriorated in terms of lift ticket deals, but it's worth it just for the "free" (not really) lift ticket to Smuggs for me.

The way I look at it, I paid $35 for a Saturday lift ticket to Smuggler's Notch, which is good, and if I can use it even once for a BOGO at Jay Peak, it's even better. Problem is, you cant BOGO Saturdays at Jay Peak anymore with this card. And Platty you cant BOGO at all anymore with the card, it's now BOGO1/2off, which I can beat with other deals, etc...

Agree, I was pissed they dropped the Platty BOGO, but as you said, for the price of a cheap lift ticket everything else is gravy. It's nice that the membership is good for a calender year, I joined last February and can enjoy the discounts til this February, then just get another cheap ticket if I wish to continue.

 

[xwhaler]

Yep. Plans changed after I talked to my buddy. We will be at Waterville in the AM

Sent from my VS980 4G using AlpineZone mobile app

Light crowds today at WV. Ski on. Blowing snow on HSQ liftline. Firm and fast/New England packed powder. Skied for a solid 3 hrs with a quick stop for a big bottle switchback at the schwendi hutte
Sunny skies and making turns with a great friend of mine.....well worth the $7 ticket!


Sent from my VS980 4G using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[dlague]

That is awesome! Looks Like we are headed to Sunday River though - I have a little more faith in their grooming and snowmaking! We have comps that have to be used by 12/25 so.... day tripping it!

We changed our plans and did do the $7 day and it was well worth it! Skipping Okemo tomorrow and heading to Sunday River since it is the last day to use the comp! Will use the Okemo option later this season!

 

[catherine]

$25.00 at Bretton Woods tomorrow.

 

[Quietman]

anybody seen the Northeast Ski Map, usually found at rest areas?

Found one in the Jaffrey, NH McDonald's. The discounts are nowhere near as good as in the past. But there is a bogo for smuggs non-holiday, $10 off Jay Peak(used to be bogo), and $15 off Catamount weekends and holidays only(??), and a few others. I made over $200 selling these coupons on ebay a couple of years ago, but the discounts were much better then.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Found one in the Jaffrey, NH McDonald's. The discounts are nowhere near as good as in the past. But there is a bogo for smuggs non-holiday, $10 off Jay Peak(used to be bogo), and $15 off Catamount weekends and holidays only(??), and a few others. I made over $200 selling these coupons on ebay a couple of years ago, but the discounts were much better then.

And the amazing this is, he wonders why.

 

[Quietman]

Really? I never said that I wondered why. You must really like to use that animation in your posts. Jay did the bogo for 3 years, and I highly doubt that the 50 +/- coupons that I distributed made any difference to them. A bunch of families thanked me for saving them some $ on their trips.

My only question was why Catamount offers discounts on weekends only, usually discounts are midweek.

 

[ScottySkis]

Really? I never said that I wondered why. You must really like to use that animation in your posts. Jay did the bogo for 3 years, and I highly doubt that the 50 +/- coupons that I distributed made any difference to them. A bunch of families thanked me for saving them some $ on their tri

My only question was why Catamount offers discounts on weekends only, usually discounts are midweek.

Potterbrothers sells tickets for Catamont good holiday and weekend for 40$.

 

[Smellytele]

Really? I never said that I wondered why. You must really like to use that animation in your posts. Jay did the bogo for 3 years, and I highly doubt that the 50 +/- coupons that I distributed made any difference to them. A bunch of families thanked me for saving them some $ on their trips.

My only question was why Catamount offers discounts on weekends only, usually discounts are midweek.

It is the selling of something you get for free that he thinks is the issue

 

[BenedictGomez]

It is the selling of something you get for free that he thinks is the issue

Yes, but he already knew that and was playing dumb.

Not to mention the "rinse, wash, repeat" multiple times aspect involved.

I dont care if people want to sell a BOGO or a coupon or something you came across or came in the mail, but outright lifting multiple promos and taking them out of other people's hands to make a buck is where I draw the line. And we here in this thread "wonder" why it seems there are fewer and fewer of these deals as the years go on. There's one of the answers (and I cant blame the mountains one bit).

 

[Quietman]

Yes, but he already knew that and was playing dumb.

Believe or not, I was not playing dumb. Call me naive and/or stupid, but I don't lie, even on the web. I'm relatively new here, and posted the info for the map in response to a question. I can now see how that pissed you off, and what I thought was a relatively small action on my part, represents a bigger issue if lots of other people do it. I honestly didn't realize how big a target I was putting on my back when I posted what I did. I can be dumb, but I'm not a troll, you can look at my 10+ years of posting on VFTT to see that. I really hate trolls!! Thank you tele for explaining this without the animals, even if they were appropriate. I won't try to explain my financial situation, or reason for doing this in the past, but I will make a promise to never do this again in the future.

Thank you for setting me straight, hope to ski with some of you in the future.

 

[billski]

And the amazing this is, he wonders why.

I have no issue with people making a buck this way. It's like the old story where the plumber comes in, fixes a leaky faucet by changing a washer in 5 minutes and hands the owner a $120 bill. The owner balks. "120 for 5 minutes of time?" The plumber responds, "You're not paying me for my time, you're paying me for what I know."

If people want to be lazy and get taken advantage of, hey, it's their choice to be lazy or ignorant. If people want to pay window rate, that's their choice. Look at all these people who are selling god knows what, masking tape they buy from Ocean City Job lot for a 500% markup. Buyer beware!

 

[billski]

Potterbrothers sells tickets for Catamont good holiday and weekend for 40$.

If it were not for this thread, 99% of the people wouldn't find 99% of the deals we find collectively. We are actually doing ourselves a disservice by making this thread viewable to lurkers. I have advocated for years that this thread be limited to contributors. Nick?

 

[Quietman]

We are actually doing ourselves a disservice by making this thread viewable to lurkers.

Interesting thought, does making the deals available to the masses dilute their value, or make ski areas offer fewer deals? I'd be really interested in knowing if Jay stopped their bogo's because too many people were using them, or if it was part of a larger overall marketing decision.

For many years, I bought vouchers for Mt Abram from a guy on Ebay for $20 to use on weekends after doing 2 for 1 on Thurs and caravan carload Fridays. It was the only way that I could afford to ski on weekends with my large family. I don't know where the guy got them, but the ticket office happily accepted them. This is the type of deal that I might not share here for fear of them selling out before I got mine each year.

Thank you for your input Bill!

 

[ScottySkis]

http://www.potterbrothers.com/discount-lift-tickets/

 

[ScottySkis]

http://www.potterbrothers.com/discount-lift-tickets/

 

[ScottySkis]

From Potter Brothers ski shops

 

[St. Bear]

If it were not for this thread, 99% of the people wouldn't find 99% of the deals we find collectively. We are actually doing ourselves a disservice by making this thread viewable to lurkers. I have advocated for years that this thread be limited to contributors. Nick?

I think you overestimate our numbers and reach.

 

[billski]

I think you overestimate our numbers and reach.

Names! Give me zee names! Give me zee numbers! Last I knew, AZ has 5,489 members. 1940 of them have zero posts. 559 of those with zero posts joined after 1/1/2013. And those are only registered ,members. Here's a little tidbit: Most users ever online was 11,481, Mar 16, 2011 at 5:24 PM. Total views for THIS thread: 45,392

I am convinced that certain of the local/regional media harvest info to create their own reportage. Some stuff we pick out and the timing are such there is little chance a reporter could pull it all together so quickly. Mass media = 1000% magnification.

Schnoverestimate, not a chance!

 

[BenedictGomez]

I have no issue with people making a buck this way. It's like the old story where the plumber comes in, fixes a leaky faucet by changing a washer in 5 minutes and hands the owner a $120 bill. The owner balks. "120 for 5 minutes of time?" The plumber responds, "You're not paying me for my time, you're paying me for what I know."

I view it much closer to that little girl caught on tape last month taking the entire bowl of halloween candy left on the stoop. Sure, it didnt expressly SAY to only take one piece of candy and leave the rest for other children, so by your logic she was just industrious and clever to take the entire bowl and prevent the other kiddies from getting the candy they looked for.

Meh....whatever though.....not a big deal..... my point was, to not see the connection between "taking all the candy and selling it" with a decrease in free candy being placed on the stoop was a bit much. The mountains arent stupid. They recognize inefficient marketing distribution when they see it, and IMO, with more an more of our life moving "online", I think we're going to see far more "targeted" offers in the future, rather than very expensive paper printing and advertisement promotion "placed on the stoop" so to speak.

Names! Give me zee names! Give me zee numbers! Last I knew, AZ has 5,489 members. 1940 of them have zero posts. 559 of those with zero posts joined after 1/1/2013.

I think you're onto something with that.

Think of it this way, there arent THAT many regular posters here. There are enough to make for a nice forum, but not so many that if you contribute here regularly you generally dont recognize someone. Yet, look what happens whenever there's a contest for a few free lift tickets etc... HOLY CRAP, all of a sudden there will be 68 "count me in" posts in that thread within just a few hours, and often by people with 14 posts to their name with a 2008 register date. Do these people have RSS feeds set up for this stuff I wonder? Or are there just tons of lurkers/readers here who dont post (unless they can "get" something) - I think the latter is the likely answer.