Adults pay only $449, which works out to $112 a day with kids + seniors passes at $249, which is only $62 a day Till April 9
Super strange - the 4 day offer appears on the Ski Falls website, but is missing from the Falls Creek website. I've vented my frustration on this before, but it's ridiculous to me that the lift operators delay release of their prices so much when accomodation is on sale - especially when there are special offers that have been available with a degree of consistency, but may not be offered this year (Coffee Club) Also worth mentioning that the All Resorts earlybird entry has just been released today - $600: https://www.fallscreek.com.au/earlybird/
I'm keeping an eye open - I think that Lake Mountain had them the cheapest last year? I'd rather support one of the smaller locales if possible.
Ahhh - yeah, having the option to upgrade from Falls only to All Resorts is a Good Thing, but as seems to be the rule in these matters, it's a toss up between getting in early and securing a bargain, or getting in *too* early and locking yourself in to something! Case in point, those who paid in full for a Hero Pass, and now have to jump through hoops with Falls/Hotham to change it over to an Epic pass.
That's going to be a one off and it doesn't sound like anyone's going to be disadvantaged, so it's hardly a case in point.
I done know why you say "jump through hoops". I suspect that the process will be fairly easy once they figure it out. They will want to encourage people to go epic. The uncertainty at the moment is unfortunate, but pretty insignificant compared to the vagaries of our snow seasons
I wonder how much it costs the punters to have this duplication of functions in the lift company and the resort - does it run right through duplicated website and marketing, admin, IT and HR, reporting and compliance?
So Lake Mountain have their early bird price up - $600, the same as Falls. Mt Stirling (and by extension, Mt Buller) have the pass up for purchase, but no earlybird pricing - just the full $787. It also seems to imply that you have to buy both the All Resorts pass and the Buller Season Pass together? Baw Baw still has "TBA" on their All Resorts pass section.
My impression has been that, although they have been receptive to changing Hero passes to Epic passes, punters still have to initiate this of their own accord, and may still be out of pocket. It's also unclear how they will deal with those who purchased an Epic Pass and a Hero Pass. It also goes to the broader concept of an opportunity cost, and that is quite significant in these situations, and exploited by the ski industry generally. As Curra notes, buying a season pass is never a sure thing, as a marginal season wipes out the chance of getting maximum value from the pass. My issue is more around the approach of getting people locked in to accomodation before it is all gone, when they don't know what the total costs of a holiday will be. I am trying to get a group of friends together, but all I can say to them is that the lift passes cost $x last year, so that's a ballpark, and it will be higher this year. Given the significant change in the cost of the 4 day any day pass ($369 last year to $449 this year), I am concerned that I may put my friends, who are budgetting to the nth degree to go on a trip like this, in a difficult situation if the lift passes increase at the same rate.
Last year you couldn’t even get the All Resorts through MBMS RMB. I mentioned it to someone in their marketing and they were aware of it too, not a mistake.
Over the years, typically the All Resorts early bird prices and the full prices have all been aligned across all resorts - so no advantage who you buy it from. However last year Mt Buller didn’t even offer the All Resorts pass (I mentioned it to the RMB and they were aware of it). This year Mt Buller are only offering it at full price. I’m unsure where their head is at.
All Resorts entry passes are the same total price regardless of where they are purchased from.... it is regulated. The only difference is that the 'upgrade component' varies depending on each resort's base season pass price.
similarly the Local Pass situation is a debacle. There is no information about how any conversion could work and the Merlin people insist that the Local Pass will remain non refundable despite the uncertainty
The change from Hero Pass to Epic Pass is not across the board or mandatory as I can see because if you read the FAQs the benefits (eg lesson discounts, retail discounts) of the two passes are not the same. By making the transfer original people who have purchased a Hero Pass can still for this season have the exact benefits, terms and conditions that they signed on for....... or they may choose to change over to Epic benefits, terms and conditions. For those that are worrying, a significant part of what Vail has purchased is a season passed customer base, they are hardly going to disenfranchise those people from the get go.
Has the locals pass gone on sale yet? I have seen nothing about it and it usually is a short sale period closer to the season start.
I would be very surprised if Merlin or Vail want people who have purchased passes (or do so before the deal is finalised) to be hurt this year. Long term ramifications are unknown of course. It might take a while to define the processes and there will likely be some stuff ups, but I would be confident that they would look after people. As @Hully said, return business of season pass buyers is very important
I'd say it falls more as an unintended consequence rather than something they are seeking to do. I realise that there are some people for whom the additional features of the Hero Pass offer more benefit than the overseas lift passes on the Epic Pass. Having not puchased a Hero Pass or an Epic Pass, I would presume that some direct marketing has gone out to Hero Pass holders around the opportunity to convert to an Epic pass, which would no doubt be a good strategy for Vail.
As with the confusion between Skifalls.com.au and Fallscreek.com.au, the Locals Pass is available on the Hotham website, but not mentioned on either Falls Creek site. *shrugs* Based solely off the lift cost, if you intend to ski more than 11 days this season, you are better off getting an Epic Pass - but that depends on the value you place on cheaper lessons and hire.
so what's wrong with this page? https://www.skifalls.com.au/tickets-lessons-rentals/lift-passes/local-pass-falls-creek-2019 *shrugs*
yes it might be easier if falls resort mgt and the lift co had a single website, but surely it's not that big a deal. if you go to for a beach holiday, you don't expect every aspect of your holiday to be covered in detail on the same website.
Huh, I totally missed that one! As far as what's wrong with it - well, it doesn't actually state what the *cost* of the locals pass is - just what the benefits are. If you download the order form, that outlines the costs, but that's not where I would expect to find them. Evidently, I also missed this one - https://www.fallscreek.com.au/localspass/ That does actually spell out the costs at the outset. That's hardly a fair comparison. I'm not expecting every detail to be covered on the same website, since accommodation, gear hire and similar things are available through other providers. What I would expect, however, is that two sites covering the same information do not contradict one and other. Even easier, simply cross link the relevant pages between each site, rather than duplicating content. A more accurate comparison would be if a restaurant has a Menulog page and an Eatnow page, with different menu prices on each - although this still isn't as close, since those are managed by third party providers.
The application form on the page I linked has the price I found the page by looking at the lift co website. Now I see that if you enter/click the url it actually takes you to this page on the resort mgt site https://www.fallscreek.com.au/localspass . here the price is displayed without needing to look at the form
For 2019 Hero Pass holders/deposit payers: https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/falls-creek-hotham-to-be-bought-by-vail.83435/page-11#post-3834193
Just wondering: is there a mountain/ski resort/ whatevs... Somewhere on the planet that has more expensive daily access than in Victoria? $$$$$$ ...take your time, we have all year!!! (;-l )
That's... exactly what I said in the post above yours? Like, I specifically called out that I hadn't seen the page you linked to, and that the issue I had with it was that it didn't display the pricing - the only way to see it was to click "download order form", which is not very intuitive. I also linked to the resort management site in my post - and mentioned that is does lay out the cost. I'm not sure how much more humble pie you expect me to eat at this point, or what the point is of you reiterating what I have said as if it's new information?
WHAT is with the Falls Creek price gouge? Last year this pass was $369 ONLY a $80 increase. Two years ago it was a 6 day pass for about $449. Sorry, but our family isn't skiing Falls anymore, cheaper and better to head OS. Absolutely ridiculous.
Just for the record, the site should say 'from $66' - I had a look and while some mid weeks were 'quite cheap' the weekends from memory were ~$110 or so. The biggest problem for me is that I have to nominate exactly what day I'm skiing about 4 months out. Presumably there's no refunds one lose out when lodge ballots are held? Or any other reason? It could be a rather expensive ticket if ones accomodation is for another date. Or even say unable to ski due to injury or illness? Now if it was a generic weekday/weekend or even peak/off peak/ middle/ the take up would be much higher. My two cents!
Pretty sure it was around that for the walk-up price. I think I paid ~450-500 for a 4-of-6 day pass in 2017.
I fear the worst too.. It would be hard to make a decision on buying a 4 day pass if you don’t know what a 1 day pass costs... Is it just assumed it will be exxy?
I'm thinking we'll buy the Epic pass and hope the sale doesn't fall through. We've already booked out accommodation at Falls though.
No need to wonder, the two most expensive places to ski on the planet. Just wait till VIC gets another couple of poor snowfall seasons. They won't be selling too many epic passes after that. In my humble opinion Thredbo is the only Aus ski resort that can offer decent skiing in a poor snowfall season. Perisher getting close but still very fractured all over the place to access.
This is only a good deal if they discontinue the $200 weekend pass - otherwise you are paying more for no discernible benefit. As for the 'all resorts' entry pass to have to pay $600 essentially for parking is a disgrace, especially when you consider the equivalent in NSW is only $190.
Mmm agree with the poor season bit. Being Vics in a Vic-based ski club, We find NZ Is a decent hedge against poor snow. NSW may have some higher elevations, but accommodation just kills us. Can stay & ski in nz for much less per day, which mitigates the airfares. Plus theres the obvious advantage of the tourism/stunning scenery, the lakeside drives, etc....
