Last week I purchased a walk-in Saturday pass to Perisher Blue, A Vail owned ski resort. To my intense annoyance I was slugged a weekend surcharge bringing the cost of the day pass (including ski train) to an eye watering A$191.
Was wondering if this weekend surcharge had been imposed in any of the other Vail owned resorts or was common industry practice in other countries. It's the 1st time I've been victim of this type of profiteering anywhere in the world.
I certainly hope Vail corp enjoys spending the extra $14. It's left such a bad taste that it's the last time I plan skiing Perisher Blue.
P.S. To those who may point out that there are ways of avoiding the surcharge....Normally I ski Thredbo (more vertical descent, faster lifts) and have season pass there. However this time I had a couple of buddies with Epic passes as they also ski a week at Whistler. Wanting to ski with them was a late decision so there was no opportunity for a online pre-purchase.
P.P.S. The ski train was originally constructed to provide access to the then separately owned Blue Cow resort. If I remember correctly the 1st seasons the Blue Cow train ride was basically covered by the resort day pass (plus some nominal fee for National Park access). Then for a time we were encouraged to use it to avoid overloading the Perisher car park - at one time the previous owner planned to build a hotel on that car park which would have made the train the only access. Now it appears to have become a profit center. Making a short notice day trip to PB an expensive proposition (A$177) even without a weekend extra...
Was wondering if this weekend surcharge had been imposed in any of the other Vail owned resorts or was common industry practice in other countries. It's the 1st time I've been victim of this type of profiteering anywhere in the world.
I certainly hope Vail corp enjoys spending the extra $14. It's left such a bad taste that it's the last time I plan skiing Perisher Blue.
P.S. To those who may point out that there are ways of avoiding the surcharge....Normally I ski Thredbo (more vertical descent, faster lifts) and have season pass there. However this time I had a couple of buddies with Epic passes as they also ski a week at Whistler. Wanting to ski with them was a late decision so there was no opportunity for a online pre-purchase.
P.P.S. The ski train was originally constructed to provide access to the then separately owned Blue Cow resort. If I remember correctly the 1st seasons the Blue Cow train ride was basically covered by the resort day pass (plus some nominal fee for National Park access). Then for a time we were encouraged to use it to avoid overloading the Perisher car park - at one time the previous owner planned to build a hotel on that car park which would have made the train the only access. Now it appears to have become a profit center. Making a short notice day trip to PB an expensive proposition (A$177) even without a weekend extra...