2020 passes and COVID

[Peaheartsmama]

Hi Ladies - In the middle of all this craziness, one thing I was hoping to get your perspectives on. What are you thinking as far as purchasing next years passes? There are some limited time offers in place right now. I am thinking specifically about the IKON Child passes... but there is a lot of news out there that social distancing measures may have to be in place for over a year... and that could mean that ski areas won’t be able to open next year. I realize it’s super far out but has anyone considered this?

 

[Kimmyt]

pass insurance?

 

[Jenny]

pass insurance?

Can't believe it will cover this.

 

[MissySki]

I get the New England pass for Sunday River/Loon/Sugarloaf, and they extended their lowest price offer until the end of April right now whereas it would have originally ended this past Sunday (the day they closed). Gosh I hope it would never come to not being able to open at all next season! How many resorts could survive that?

 

[Bookworm]

I have a hard time believing that social distancing will be in effect this winter. Already, China and Japan are loosening things up a bit. I just bought an IKON for next year.

 

[captain_hug99]

pass insurance?

I am going to try to see if the pass insurance I bought will cover my losses for the 2019-2020 season.

 

[Tvan]

Even before the current situation, I was lukewarm on purchasing one of the big passes for next year. I only got in 10 days on the Ikon this year, and DH only got 6. The math just doesn't work out for us. I think we're gonna wing it for next year, and rely on online discounts and local pass cards (ORDA Ski3, for example).

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

I'm still planning to get the full Ikon for next year--but I'm going to wait until the last minute before the early purchase/renwal pass lower price runs out.
Of course if things still look really bleak come mid April I may change my mind.
It can be a toss up---if I buy now and the virus comes back just as badly next winter, I may not be traveling so I'll have wasted the money---but if my trips go off as planned, I'll have spent more by not buying now. Could be a loss either way.

 

[Peaheartsmama]

does anyone recall until when ikon discounts were in place last year? I’d like to wait till the end to pull the trigger too

 

[santacruz skier]

Doubtful that pass insurance covers season passes. It doesn't for Epic as looked it up. BF only skied 2 days this year @ $300 per day. He bought pass insurance. So did i but I got more days in.

 

[marzNC]

does anyone recall until when ikon discounts were in place last year? I’d like to wait till the end to pull the trigger too

There is no reason to believe that what happened last year makes any difference for next season. Ikon just hasn't been around long enough to established any sort of pattern.

I would venture a guess that any deadline in a plan that was created before March 14 will get revised given the current situation. True for schools for sure. I expect Vail Resorts, Alterra, and all the destination resorts on Ikon and MCP to wait a bit before coming up with a new plan.

That said, I do expect there to be a ski season for 2020-21 in N. America. What's becoming less clear is whether or not there will be a season for 2020 in the southern Hemisphere. At least for travelers from another country. New Zealand could well decide to keep restrictions in place thru September. That's about the time that the ski season is ending in NZ and Australia.

 

[Jilly]

I believe the big guys will have to extend their dates. I think Ikon is April 23 as I was going to wait till I got back from Florida to buy it. (Not going to Florida as the planes aren't flying now. Course cancelled)

I would like to see a further discount from Ikon. Say another $50 on my Base pass renewal. I lost a month of skiing because they closed. Staff are getting EI, so only the last weeks pay is owed. Everything is shut down, so limited employees. Tremblant has to do some snow moving so the melt runs smooth. And they might be doing some maintenance on the lifts. But nothing like 250 snow school instructors, 30 liftees, cafeteria staff etc....

 

[skibum4ever]

Normally I would purchase our passes by the end of March. This year I will hold off for a while. But since both passes have a payment plan I will certainly put a deposit on them before the deadline.

 

[kiki]

I already bought a pass at a local hill for next year when they had a sale in mid Feb. the plan had been to also get my WB season pass from vail with the April deposit for best price, but I will probably wait till September to decide... who knows what will happen with our jobs and income, I can’t commit now to that cost.

 

[SarahXC]

I also already purchased our local hill pass when they did their March 1st super sale day but think I’ll wait on Ikon until April 20th or so. A lot might change in this next month, probably will do the money down and payment plan option but might consider an independent type pass versus Ikon depending on what happens...

 

[Abbi]

I purchased my local Epic Northeast pass but am holding off until later for IKON. While I hear a plane landing (I'm five miles from TF Green in RI) right now, I'd hate to have to commit to a pass where I'd need to fly!

 

[marzNC]

I also already purchased our local hill pass when they did their March 1st super sale day but think I’ll wait on Ikon until April 20th or so. A lot might change in this next month, probably will do the money down and payment plan option but might consider an independent type pass versus Ikon depending on what happens...

I fully intend to get an Indy Pass again. At around $200, even though I only used it for five days that was the incentive to go explore new hills in my local region. Really enjoyed skiing with you at Cataloochee. And introduced a friend who lives in DC to Bryce because of Indy. He got the $139 deal because we were meeting up at Massutten the last weekend of Feb. He liked Bryce so much that he went back for a day trip the next weekend.

 

[UtahDesert]

I'm thinking that I'll wait until the last minute for renewing my Ikon Base Pass at the best price. I don't have to travel to ski, so if the local resorts open up next winter I'm there.

 

[Peaheartsmama]

Yeah I think I’ll wait till about mid April to pull the trigger too. And fingers crossed that this is all over by the time the first snow comes. Stay safe everyone.

 

[Peaheartsmama]

I do hope that they extend the deadline to buy these passes - I would bet that their numbers are way down so far with people being conservative with spending right now. And the medium term uncertainty around when this will resolve. As it is, the economic consequences of all this will likely mean less disposable income in the coming season.