From Miles to Smiles Stylish travel for professionals seeking luxury at affordable prices
Whoop whoop. As you are reading this, over a leisurely Saturday morning brekkie, Jason and I are heading to the airport for some surprise birthday weekend snow. Yes, I’ve treated him (and me, I guess!) to a long weekend in Italy, and hopefully a few days of skiing. Preferably with blue skies, and not a whiteout like this.
Today, I’m going to share how I booked this weekend ski trip without breaking the bank.
A weekend snow break for less
If your annual ski holiday left you craving for more, fear not, as there is a way you can squeeze in some more winter ski activity. I managed to book this weekend snow break in Cervinia for just over £500.
Flights
Using all my tips from the 14 week travel hacking plan we secured enough airmiles for two reward flights from London Gatwick to Turin.
These cost just £100 in taxes and 33,500 for business class flights. At 16,750 each, and with the same flights costing £317.60 for the two of us, that means each AVIOS was worth just 0.0064p. This is a pretty typical valuation based on some recent figures I calculated for a response to Adventurous Kate.
Whilst I would not normally use AVIOS for business class, short-haul flights, we have ski boots and helmets to carry, so I wanted to ensure we can take two bags each, even though we probably won’t need to.
As it will also be Jason’s birthday while we are away, it is nice to start our trip in style with lounge access too. Ok so he can’t have a drink as he will be driving, but I will force myself on his behalf.
Getting to the resort
Having discovered recently that getting to the mountains can be hard, I opted to hire a car and was staggered by how cheap it was.
For three full days of car rental, including snow chains, it cost just €31.51. You can book your own car hire with Holiday Extras.
Hotels
I only booked this trip six weeks in advance, and rooms in resort were already 96% booked. I was left with options which were ridiculously expensive, or which were nowhere near the resort.
As we have hired a car, I opted for a very snazzy, spa hotel in nearby St Vincent. From the hotel to the ski slopes will take around 30 minutes each morning, but that is a price I’m willing to pay for additional luxury.
For three nights I paid just £282.04 including breakfast. Let’s hope Jason doesn’t see this post, or the cat will be out of the bag!
Ski passes
Now here is the cool thing. If you go skiing in Cervinia, you receive a free day ski pass, providing you return either during the same season or the following season. I thus have two vouchers for a day.
One additional day of skiing in February costs just €46 each. Our two days skiing will thus cost just €96. It would not cost much less for an unsatisying hour on the indoor slope at Xscape, so I’m pretty happy with that.
Ski hire
For €42.50, we can hire skis and pole shoes for two days. We have boots and helmets, but if you don’t you will need to add in that slight extra cost.
Total costs for our ski weekend
| Expense | Cost in local currency | Cost converted to GBP* |
| Flights | £100 | £100 |
| Hotel | £282.04 | £282.04 |
| Ski pass | €92 | £81.41 |
| Ski hire | €42.50 | £37.62 |
| Car Hire | €31 | £27.89 |
| Total | £528.96 |
Now if that isn’t a pretty good price for a cheap ski weekend, I don’t know what is. Let’s hope the weather looks like this!
Want your own ski break?
If you want your own bespoke ski weekend, we will happily help you create an itinerary that will save you money. Just send us your requirements for a ski weekend getaway, and we will send you details and the links to book.
Otherwise, take a look yourself.
Your top tips for a weekend ski break?
Maybe you have some top tips for weekend snow from the UK. I’d love to hear them. Just drop a comment in the comments box below. Likewise, if you have a burning question, pop it below and who knows it might end up as a future blog post.
* Converted to GBP by XE on 10/1/18
Its really nice post. Italy is such a nice place. I was in Italy last year in summer with my family, It was a great experience for us to enjoy our holidays.
I don’t ski or snowboard (never have, am completely terrified), but even I can appreciate what a well planned and bargainous trip this was! £500 is amazing, everyone tells me skiiing is so expensive. And you got the perfect blue skies too. What a trip!
Yes sadly skiing is not cheap although it helps when you get a free day of skiing. To be fair I also still have days where I’m terrified, or certainly a few moments everyday. I’ve learned to control it over the years but in the past I’ve had full on tantrums on the mountains when I have taken on something more difficult than I can really manage! I’m clearly a sadist
Seems like quite a bargain . And the place does seem worth the effort. I am not into skiing and though I have never tried it, maybe with this kind of a bargain, I might give it a shot. A good capture.
We’re generally a bit wary when it comes to articles with mentions easy way of doing things on the cheap but given that you’ve provided numbers and specifics and practically covered everything for £500, its seems quite a good deal!
Wow, you got an amazing deal for that skiing weekend. I would have done the same thing to save money by staying 30 mins from the slopes to save money. That is a really good trick to save money by getting the free day by returning to the same place in the same season.
Not at all bad. You managed to book everything in £500. Really nice. I am sure he might be carrying this smile after you broke him this surprise. Lovely pictures.
I still have to learn 🎿 and your post is inspiring me to do it soon.
What an awesome deal! I’ve never been skiing before, a lot of that because of the price of ski trips, but now that I know it’s possible to do it on a tighter budget, sign me up!
Congrats guys! What a great deal! As I am from Austria and in the middle of the Alps, I never made it to Italy to go skiing except South Tyrol and that was fantastic. So happy to see you got such a good deal. And I wouldn’t mind either driving a bit longer for more luxury in the hotel and the free day pass is AMAZING!
I have skied in Soll a few times which was also reasonable value. Lucky you to live so near the slopes
Not bad for £500 if it includes all of that! I’m not a skiing enthusiast but I do love snow and have been considering taking ski lessons. The only thing is, I live far far way from any place that has snow, so I am not sure when I will have the opportunity to learn! You’re lucky you can get to such a gorgeous place just over the weekend, and for that price!
Yes that is one of the joys of living in Europe – that we do not have to travel long to get some amazing ski destinations. We have had some fabulous skiing conditions too.
You are really good in finding bargains! The price of the car is unbelievable!
I would also like to visit northern Italy again soon! A ski break could be a reason!
You are not kidding. I just hope that when we return next year we find the same deal!
Cervinia for just over £500?! Sign us up! That’s pretty savvy spending. Love the free ski passes, those are definitely useful for future trips. And I can’t believe that you got a rental car for three full days, including snow chains for just €31.51. Wow!
I know it’s awesome isn’t it? Also I have to confess I was convinced there would be a catch to the free day but I handed those cards in yesterday and got a blissfully FREE day of skiing. Clever incentive to get people to return