Family Travel Forum - Canada vs. US: Finding A Snowsports Bargain

A Winter 2000 study done by the FTF office for a holiday weekend ski trip showed it cost about the same to fly from the Northeast and ski in eastern Canada, as it does to drive several hours to ski in a New England resort. (Skiing in the Rockies or northern California is much more expensive.)

In the years since, our staff has done random checks on airfares and snowsports packages, only to find the same thing over and over again.

Why?
Canada's lower-priced ski in/ski out lodging, cheaper lift tickets, and the current exchange rate (C$1=US$.70) help offset the airfare, which in any case has tumbled in recent years thanks to the many lowfare carriers serving this market. Add in the appeal of a foreign culture, and lower prices for food, lessons, souvenirs, etc. and you'll find Canada a bargain for skiing and snowboarding families.

Checking the family-friendly resorts outside Montréal, we found a family of four could spend 5N in Les Suites in Mont Tremblant's lovely European style pedestrain village, in a comfortable 1BR condo unit, including lift tickets for three people, for just C$663. (You can get more current package information at www.tremblant.com)

In comparison, at the wonderfully family-friendly Okemo, Vermont (www.okemo.com), a resort which prides itself on its trained naturalist staff and guided trails, the tariff for a ski in/ski out 1BR condo and lift tickets, for a similar 5N period, jumped to US$1,435.

Bargain Hunting Lessons Learned
1) If you're skiing over a holiday period, plan ahead and work closely with a travel agent or tour operator to check on packaged deals, which can save you and the kids lots of money. And don't forget, the Canadians don't celebrate the same holidays - like January's Martin Luther King Day or February's Presidents Day - so prices don't get hiked up north of the border on so-called "holiday peak periods."

2) If you're skiing midweek or late in the season, you can contact most resorts directly to find tremendous savings in family "packages" with more than you imagined - lift tickets, free breakfast, a rental car, free kids club or clinics, you name it - included.