What you need to know about skiing at a Vail Resorts this season

[gingerjess]

So did you make reservations at more than one VR resort?

Still, the software shouldn't change your preferences without clear notification. Can put up a query with a link to where it can be changed , but that should be it.

I did—I booked five days at Heavenly and two at N*. But I don't think that was it. There was an additional message on the page where the Epic Coverage is configured:

If you make no selections -- and have booked reservations for use in the core season (December 8 – April 4) on or before December 7, 2020 -- your Epic Coverage will be defaulted to “Priority Reservation Days,” which covers those specific dates. If you do not book Priority Reservation Days for core season on or before December 7, 2020, you will be defaulted to “Core Season” and “All Resorts.”

So I think possibly when they added that default, they didn't make sure not to overwrite an existing setting. Not sure. Either way, best to double-check that you have your coverage configured the way you want.

 

[Abbi]

Hehe. Thank goodness it's Friday .

Number of users in line ahead of you: 120816
Your estimated wait time is: more than an hour
Serving: ~50k guests per hour

 

[Abbi]

 

[newboots]

Oh brother. I thought this would be straightforward.

 

[santacruz skier]

Oh brother. I thought this would be straightforward.

It was what I expected but actually better.

 

[marzNC]

I thought about the fact that there were around 100,000 people in the online queue pretty early this morning. Suppose there were 1 million Epic passes sold. About 850,000 was the number announced in Sept. Using the 80-20 rule, with 10% on one extreme and 10% on another, that means most people wouldn't be ready or willing to wait on Day 1 that the reservation system is open. 10% may well decide to simply get a refund and not bother to try making a reservation. The other 10% are the people who got in the queue, or tried to, today.

If the same problems still exist in a week, then VR will have a problem. But what happens before Monday may well become a distant memory for most Epic holders by the time December rolls around.

 

[marzNC]

Here's a good write up of the actual process of making an Epic reservation. The people who had the most trouble were the ones who needed to have more than one pass linked together. Essentially anyone who needed phone support or Chat support wasn't too happy on Day 1, Nov. 6. Much harder to find complaints on social media on Nov. 7. Apparently there was no online queue to worry about today and all resorts have availability for the entire season.

Limiting Priority Days to 7 seems to have worked for the most part. Of course, there are always a few people who will complain. One person is upset because they can't reserve all the days now for a 4-week ski trip. What that tells me is that the person doesn't understand the Week Of concept. That's going to take longer for people to get used to.



Nov. 5, The Points Guy
Epic Pass reservations open today: 5 reasons why you should buy yours right now
https://thepointsguy.com/guide/epic-ski-pass/

 

[marzNC]

Posted these ideas about Epic Priority Reservations vs. Week Of reservations in the Waiting Room thread but thought it might be good here too . . . with a few additions and edits.

You can have 7 Priority Days set up and still get all 7 Week Of days for the coming week. For instance, suppose this week a family booked their 7 Priority Days for the two holiday weekends. Then in late Dec the parents manage to work out a way to go skiing the whole week starting Sat, Jan. 2. They could check on Wed, Dec. 30, and see if they could get 5-7 days in a row starting Jan. 1 at a resort of interest. After using the MLK weekend reservations, they could then book Priority days in March.

Saw in an interview of a VR senior manager where the idea was brought up of making Week Of reservations for available days that were already booked as Priority Days. Then cancelling the unneeded Priority reservations. That could mean only keeping Sat and Sun of a 4-day holiday weekend trip planned for Fri-Mon. The objective would be to get a head start on getting Priority reservations for a future ski trip that included popular days.

Holidays and non-holiday Saturdays are the 15-25 days that are typically very busy. That's likely to still be true for 2020-21. For large Epic resorts, having trouble getting a reservation during the "core season" seems unlikely Sun-Fri, non-holiday.

The expectation is that if you book all 7 Week Of days for an upcoming week that you really do plan to go ski on most of them, if not all. I'd say it would be rude to always book 7 Week Of days knowing you only plan to show up for 1 or 2. Because that would mean you would be locking out other locals. That's the type of pattern that might cause some sort of negative consequence for future reservations.

Cancelling a reservation made weeks or a months in advance within a week or two of the actual date is not a big deal. Situations change all the time that mean taking a ski vacation isn't going to work out, even without a pandemic. Resort lodging cancellation policies are typically based on 14-day or 30-day timeframes for a full refund.

 

[santacruz skier]

I'm getting a little tripped up over the Epic coverage as saw in "my accounts" the Epic coverage defaults to the 7 priority days I booked. The other choice is "all resorts, core season." So I switched to that default as plan on skiing more than 7 days at possibly all 3 tahoe resorts. But now i'm wondering why anyone would select (default) the 7 priority days only?

 

[marzNC]

I'm getting a little tripped up over the Epic coverage as saw in "my accounts" the Epic coverage defaults to the 7 priority days I booked. The other choice is "all resorts, core season." So I switched to that default as plan on skiing more than 7 days at possibly all 3 tahoe resorts. But now i'm wondering why anyone would select (default) the 7 priority days only?

Suppose someone got Epic only because they live near one resort so it's essentially their 1-location season pass. Then the single location refund policy may be better. That's more likely in other regions than Tahoe or Colorado where there are multiple large Epic resorts within easy driving distance. For 2020-21, travel restrictions may also make a difference. Someone who lives in NYC who likes Hunter might have bought Epic thinking they would also take a trip out west, but has realized they will mostly drive ski Hunter on weekends. But they will want to hold out for the possibility of a spring break trip out west so don't want to switch to the Northeast Epic pass.

The advantage of the Epic reservation system is that skiing at a resort like Hunter on a weekend could be far more fun with less crowds. Assuming someone can plan just enough to make good use of their 7 Priority Days.

 

[gingerjess]

But now i'm wondering why anyone would select (default) the 7 priority days only?

For people who have one big trip planned, especially if they have the Epic Day Pass, they want to maximize their reimbursement potential for that specific trip if things go wrong.

 

[marzNC]

For people who have one big trip planned, especially if they have the Epic Day Pass, they want to maximize their reimbursement potential for that specific trip if things go wrong.

Good point! I haven't thought much about the folks who buy an Epic Day Pass. Wonder if that has been more or less popular this fall?

 

[santacruz skier]

Right but if I hadn't looked, the default would have been coverage for those 7 priority days and not the other 20 -30 I might ski.....(wishful thinking with the Covid climate)....

 

[santacruz skier]

For people who have one big trip planned, especially if they have the Epic Day Pass, they want to maximize their reimbursement potential for that specific trip if things go wrong.

Which reminds me I need to convince my sister in law to get one instead of paying close to $200 for a day pass.

 

[Sandrinjo]

Anyone knows more about week to week reservations? What day+time reservations for the next week open up?
People complaining about not being able to reserve keystone but i guess it will be better once more resorts open.

 

[marzNC]

Anyone knows more about week to week reservations? What day+time reservations for the next week open up?
People complaining about not being able to reserve keystone but i guess it will be better once more resorts open.

Check this webpage for the start of Week Of reservations for each resort. Obviously depends on when a resort is going to open. Scroll down to find Resort Opening Dates.

Looks like Week Of reservations can be made starting on Wednesdays for the following Friday-to-Friday. Will be more obvious after Keystone, Breck, and Park City are open for a few weeks.

https://www.epicpass.com/info/winter-experience.aspx

 

[Sandrinjo]

Check this webpage for the start of Week Of reservations for each resort. Obviously depends on when a resort is going to open. Scroll down to find Resort Opening Dates.

Looks like Week Of reservations can be made starting on Wednesdays for the following Friday-to-Friday. Will be more obvious after Keystone, Breck, and Park City are open for a few weeks.

https://www.epicpass.com/info/winter-experience.aspx

Thank you!

 

[marzNC]

The details for the Week Of reservations for Epic are pretty well covered in this article. Now it's clear that there is overlap on Thursdays and Fridays. It's deliberate. Beginning on Nov. 18, starting every Wed, can book for Thu or Fri later the same week, as well as Thu or Fri the following week.

Nov. 10, Summit Daily
Vail Resorts’ full reservations system set to debut Nov. 18
Every Wednesday, pass holders will receive nine week-of reservations
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/vail-resorts-full-reservations-system-set-to-debut-nov-18/
" . . .
9 days every 7
Every Wednesday, pass holders will receive nine more week-of reservations, which can be used for the next nine days; Thursday to the following Friday. There is deliberate overlap in the system on Thursdays and Fridays, said Vail and Beaver Creek Senior Communications Manager John Plack.

“In the afternoon, every Wednesday, we’re going to launch the week-of reservations,” Plack said. “On Wednesday, you’ll have that Saturday-Sunday, which is what I think is what people are probably the most anxious about, but then you can still go in, and the entire next week, through that Friday, you can book.”

In other words, a user who visits on Wednesday evening will have nine week-of reservations to use, but a user who visits on Thursday evening will only have eight, and so on, until the next Wednesday, when the system resets.

“There is a little overlap, but I think what we want to make sure is that people can get in there, look on a Wednesday and say next week, from Thursday through the next Friday, plan out your week,” Plack said.
. . ."

 

[Sandrinjo]

That is good as at the begging they were saying you would have to make a reservation every single day for the following day and once your pass is scanned you can make a new one...

 

[marzNC]

Nov. 10, Summit Daily
Vail Resorts’ full reservations system set to debut Nov. 18
Every Wednesday, pass holders will receive nine week-of reservations
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/vail-resorts-full-reservations-system-set-to-debut-nov-18/

The end of the Nov. 10 Summit Daily article has a comment about cancellations. Writing the code to create a daily report for review to spot people who are trying to game the system in order to cherry pick one day out of a full week would be pretty easy. Clear that Priority Days and Week Of reservations will be reviewed.

" . . .
In a message to pass holders labeled “Important note,” pass holders were told that Vail Resorts wants to accommodate everyone who wants to ski and snowboard this season, and to do so, “pass holders should only book week-of reservations for days that they plan to use,” the note reads. “If you abuse the system repeatedly missing or canceling week-of reservations (or priority reservation days that you booked within 2 weeks of the reservation date), you may lose your reservation privileges for a period of time.”"