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Weekend Surcharge at a Vail Resort

geepers

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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...
 

fatbob

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I'm not sure I understand - could you have driven to and parked at Perisher. As for the day ticket price sounds like VR SOP - good value season pass then gouge the suckers who show up without advance planning. Weekend surcharge presumably like holiday pricing.
 

sbooker

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That is a crazy price for such a shit hill. I agree Thredbo is a much better mountain.
Australia is the worst value skiing in the world.
 
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geepers

geepers

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I'm not sure I understand - could you have driven to and parked at Perisher. As for the day ticket price sounds like VR SOP - good value season pass then gouge the suckers who show up without advance planning. Weekend surcharge presumably like holiday pricing.

Was in the same car as my buds with the Epics (plus the ski train supplement). If I'd had a choice other than ruining everyone's day I would have walked.

Was it a holiday weekend? Some NA resort put a surcharge on holiday weekends...like Presidents/Family day weekend

Plain old vanilla weekend.

That is a crazy price for such a shit hill. I agree Thredbo is a much better mountain.
Australia is the worst value skiing in the world.

Haven't skied every nation to say for sure but we'd have to be contenders for that title.
 
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fatbob

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Another thought - given your buddies had epic passes did they not also have buddy pass days for you to use - it's not a massive saving but it kinda helps. But basically if I had an Epic pass and my friends didn't I wouldn't expect them to ski with me.
 

Philpug

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Almost every resort has a higher weekend/holiday rate than a midweek one. I assume though this is something new for Perisher Blue?
 

dbostedo

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^^^
Yes, I was thinking this is just like weekend pricing at a lot of places in NA, but it doesn't usually show up as an additional charge - it's just buried in the price for that day. Odd that they'd make it a surcharge and make it that much more obvious. If you buy Vail day passes online, they just show you the rate for the day you buy, without pointing out how that compares to other days.
 

John Webb

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Most eastern North America ski areas have higher weekend prices. Western is a mixed bag some up prices on weekends. Others just charge high prices all week.
 

Core2

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Vail is going to be able to gouge the heck out of Aussies. My impression is most of the people who ski down there are couple day a year at most types so the "buy a pass or we will rape you at the day ticket window" model isn't going to work down there. Hopefully people complain more but I doubt VR will care.
 

Tricia

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Almost every resort has a higher weekend/holiday rate than a midweek one. I assume though this is something new for Perisher Blue?
This is true, but there is usually a posted rate for tickets somewhere that says (example)
$150 Mon - Thurs
$179.00 Fri - Sun

Having a rate like $177 with a weekend surcharge bringing it to $191, is like they're not being up front about the difference in weekday/weekend pricing.

When I worked at N* there was a 2% resort tax on top of state tax. We could honestly say that the price of our hard goods was in line with average retail pricing, but the 2% makes a difference on a big ticket item.
 

Sibhusky

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They always had midweek vs weekend pricing back east due to crowds, but they don't here for walk up. I think the multiday online purchases reflect weekend vs midweek, but since we're not near a metro area, most of our visitors are destination skiers, not weekend skiers, so they're here a full week anyway. And the Canadians probably have season passes. Weekends are definitely busier, but those people are locals with passes.
 

sbooker

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It’s not so much the price increase as the actual cost for such one dimensional boring skiing. Once you’ve progressed from the bunny slope you’ve progressed from Perisher.
The hill up the road has something for everyone.
 

mdf

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I'd much rather have the price presented as "it costs more on the weekend" than as "it's the same price, but there is a surcharge."
Rental cars are the worst for that -- "here is the price. No wait, you have to pay 30% more than the price."
 

David

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I think every resort I've been to charges mire on the weekend. I've never heard it called a surcharge though.
 

Tricia

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I think every resort I've been to charges mire on the weekend. I've never heard it called a surcharge though.
I think the "hidden" part of it being a surcharge is the biggest gripe.
 

LKLA

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Vail is going to be able to gouge the heck out of Aussies. My impression is most of the people who ski down there are couple day a year at most types so the "buy a pass or we will rape you at the day ticket window" model isn't going to work down there. Hopefully people complain more but I doubt VR will care.

Of course they won't care, and why should they!?

The only way they will "care" is if people stop showing up. If they end up making less money because fewer people are showing up then, and only then, will they rethink their pricing strategy and perhaps lower prices (could also offer more for the same price - or could sell the place).
 

David

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Of course they won't care, and why should they!?

The only way they will "care" is if people stop showing up. If they end up making less money because fewer people are showing up then, and only then, will they rethink their pricing strategy and perhaps lower prices (could also offer more for the same price - or could sell the place).
I think fewer people is the goal. If you charge twice as much you only need 1/2 the people!
 

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