Where is my Epic Pass?

[Peppermint]

Update: Just finished chatting with someone on the Epic Pass website. I was told my passes printed Nov 9 and it will take 3-6 weeks. Well its been at least 6 weeks so am hoping to get them this week. I was told to go to any ticket window and I can get them printed out if need like some divas had said.

Also, FYI for anyone who purchased the college pass. My daughter status was coming up as inactive with no other information - good thing I was looking at our account. The rep told me my daughter has to email [email protected] with a screenshot of her class schedule and her college ID to get this fixed. Jeez, there was nothing about this when I purchased her ticket. - and I was looking for the upload button as I figured they weren't just going to take my word. Pretty sad I had to figure this out on my own to know to ask about it. Not very impressed with Vail...

 

[WhyKnot]

Ah, I thought @WhyKnot was asking about something new more related to reservations.

Hi! Yes, I was asking to understand what VR even means -- i.e. why are they even asking us to designate a core resort (and, yes indeed, will that affect ability to reserve)? I understood what you said @marzNC about it will not affect my ability to reserve/not reserve - i.e no priority given to that resort or taken away from another resort. That was helpful to learn (Thanks, as usual).

As to a resort closing and getting refund, hmm.... I had not even known anything about this so I have to think about that and which to choose! Thanks all including @TNtoTaos and @santacruz skier.

 

[santacruz skier]

It says to pick "resort(s)" you ski, but actually only allows you to select one resort . I ski both Northstar and Heavenly and selected Northstar as primary resort that might be likely to close. My understanding is if you leave the default to "all resorts", then all resorts have to close to get a refund. Think I interpreted that from @TNtoTaos's post up thread.

 

[TNtoTaos]

It says to pick "resort(s)" you ski, but actually only allows you to select one resort . I ski both Northstar and Heavenly and selected Northstar as primary resort that might be likely to close. My understanding is if you leave the default to "all resorts", then all resorts have to close to get a refund. Think I interpreted that from @TNtoTaos's post up thread.

Yes, that's how I interpret their refund policy. It's called Epic Coverage and it's pretty complex to understand, but they have a page about it, and then another, somewhat buried area ("TERMS") with all the details in very tiny print at the bottom of the page.

 

[WhyKnot]

It says to pick "resort(s)" you ski, but actually only allows you to select one resort . I ski both Northstar and Heavenly and selected Northstar as primary resort that might be likely to close. My understanding is if you leave the default to "all resorts", then all resorts have to close to get a refund. Think I interpreted that from @TNtoTaos's post up thread.

Hi @santacruz skier , like you I ski different mountains. I guess if one of them closed I would just go ski at the other (?) (and thus not really be getting a refund anyway (?), so I will just choose one that makes the most sense based also on your thoughts. And will keep hoping for the best. Thanks for all the feedback here.

 

[TNtoTaos]

Hi @santacruz skier , like you I ski different mountains. I guess if one of them closed I would just go ski at the other (?) (and thus not really be getting a refund anyway (?), so I will just choose one that makes the most sense based also on your thoughts. And will keep hoping for the best. Thanks for all the feedback here.

I think that's their thinking: if you can ski at any of their resorts, then that's fine, but if you ONLY ever ski at one, select that as your Core resort, and if you can't ski there you'll get a refund (assuming that you don't go ski at any of their others by the end of the season. They don't do refunds until the season is over).

 

[santacruz skier]

Hi @santacruz skier , like you I ski different mountains. I guess if one of them closed I would just go ski at the other (?) (and thus not really be getting a refund anyway (?), so I will just choose one that makes the most sense based also on your thoughts. And will keep hoping for the best. Thanks for all the feedback here.

My feeling is if they're in the same area such as (Tahoe resorts Northstar, Heavenly, and Kirkwood), if one closes, they all will.

 

[WhyKnot]

Hi @santacruz skier and @TNtoTaos or @marzNC or any other Diva in the Know: I just went to review this page and would love some clarity if you know. I guess.... I choose BETWEEN having my priority days "insured" and my season insured (by picking a core resort?) https://www.epicpass.com/info/epic-coverage.aspx

1) Does this mean if I choose Core Season than my priority days are not guaranteed?
2) They do make it opaque in that they do not spell out the difference and different ramifications for picking a core or vs all resorts but I will go with what I have learned here about if they close down.

Thanks.

 

[TNtoTaos]

Hi @santacruz skier and @TNtoTaos or @marzNC or any other Diva in the Know: I just went to review this page and would love some clarity if you know. I guess.... I choose BETWEEN having my priority days "insured" and my season insured (by picking a core resort?) https://www.epicpass.com/info/epic-coverage.aspx

1) Does this mean if I choose Core Season than my priority days are not guaranteed?
2) They do make it opaque in that they do not spell out the difference and different ramifications for picking a core or vs all resorts but I will go with what I have learned here about if they close down.

Thanks.

It's not really a reservations issue, it's a refunds issue. If you pick a single, Core resort, (meaning it's the only place you plan to ski), and if you can't ski there because of COVID issues, you'll get a refund (assuming that you don't go ski at any of their other resorts by the end of the season). If not, they assume that you can ski at any of their resorts, so you won't get a refund unless ALL of their resorts shut down, like last yr. They won't accept requests for refunds until the season is over. Does that make sense?

Disclaimer: Am not a lawyer (only a retired physician, lol), but that's how I interpret it after reading thru all of their fine print.

 

[TNtoTaos]

It's not really a reservations issue, it's a refunds issue. If you pick a single, Core resort, (meaning it's the only place you plan to ski), and if you can't ski there because of COVID issues, you'll get a refund (assuming that you don't go ski at any of their other resorts by the end of the season). If not, they assume that you can ski at any of their resorts, so you won't get a refund unless ALL of their resorts shut down, like last yr. They won't accept requests for refunds until the season is over. Does that make sense?

I should clarify further -- you also have to specify which days you plan to ski if you want to select a single resort. So you have to say you only want to ski at this one place, and during a specific week, otherwise it will default to all resorts. So reservations are also involved here, in a way.

Yes, it's confusing. Probably meant to be

 

[santacruz skier]

I selected All Season - Northstar - no dates .

 

[WhyKnot]

I should clarify further -- you also have to specify which days you plan to ski if you want to select a single resort. So you have to say you only want to ski at this one place, and during a specific week, otherwise it will default to all resorts. So reservations are also involved here, in a way.

Yes, it's confusing. Probably meant to be

haha.... well THANK YOU @TNtoTaos I would like now to ask a clarifying question as it seemed choosing core (single) resort was not tied to priority days, unless that would be the case when I click through to a different page (also I plan to pick priority days at different resorts, so...)

 

[WhyKnot]

I selected All Season - Northstar - no dates .

Okay this makes sense. Thanks to you and @TNtoTaos and @marzNC and all Divas.

 

[Ski Sine Fine]

1) Does this mean if I choose Core Season than my priority days are not guaranteed?

If you choose Core Season and a primary resort and have priority reservations at said resort, then any cancellation of your priority days due to capacity constraint or resort closure can entitle you to a refund. If you choose a primary resort but don’t have priority reservations at said resort, then only a resort closure of 7 or more consecutive days can entitle you to a refund. Also, if you choose a primary resort and it closes, but you go and ski at another Epic mountain during said closure, you can lose some or all of the refund that are due you.

If you choose Core Season and All Resorts, then only when the following resorts all close for 7 or more consecutive days AT THE SAME TIME do you get any refund: Vail, Whistler Blackcomb, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek, Crested Butte, Keystone, Park City, Heavenly, NorthStar and Kirkwood.

 

[gingerjess]

Okay, here's my read on Priority Reservation vs. Core Season coverage:

• If you have a particular period of up to a week that you intend to do all your skiing for the season in, and you don't intend to ski at any other point, Priority Reservation coverage is likely the way to go, since it provides you with a proportional refund for any PR day you lose.
  • Example: I have a five-day pass, select PR coverage, and book a full week of skiing with my PR days. Three of those days are cancelled; I sip hot cocoa in the cabin and receive a 60% refund on my pass.
• If you have a particular period of up to a week that you intend to do most of your skiing in, but you also plan to ski other days as you can make time for them, PR coverage might still be the way to go. However, selecting PR coverage penalizes you disproportionately if you ski days that aren't PR days by reducing your potential refund if you lose PR days due to resort closures by some amount that increases with the number of non-PR days you ski.
  • Example: I have an unlimited pass, select PR coverage, and book a seven-day trip using PR days. Two of those days are cancelled, but I go on a day trip later in the season. I receive a 14% refund on my pass, which is less than the 28% refund I would've received if I hadn't gone for that additional day trip.
• If you plan on skiing regularly (seven days or more a year) and aren't tied to a particular set of dates, PR coverage is a bad idea, since it'll likely end up with you getting no refund at all. If you have an unlimited pass and ski seven or more days, or a pass with a limited number of days and use them all, you won't receive any refund using PR coverage even if none of your PR days are available.
  • Example: I have an unlimited pass, select PR coverage, and book a seven-day trip using PR days. COVID shuts down the resort for a whole month surrounding my booking. However, later in the season, I manage to do a bunch of day trips and weekends, and end up skiing 15 days. I receive no refund, even though I didn't get any of my PR days.

This setup is definitely designed to be confusing, and it's not even that they don't want you to figure out what the "good option" is—it seems to be designed to hide the fact that there really isn't a "good option" at all.

I'm personally going with Core Season coverage with Northstar as my Primary Resort.

One thing to note about the Core Season/Primary Resort configuration is that skiing at another resort on a day when your Primary Resort is closed will penalize your potential for a refund in a way similar to the way doing unplanned day trips when Priority Reservation coverage is selected will. If Northstar is closed for a month (out of a 120-day season), then if I don't ski anywhere else during that month, I'll get about a 25% refund. But if I ski just two days out of that month at another resort, then my refund is completely eliminated.

I do think that if you select Core Season coverage, it's strictly-speaking better to pick a particular resort than it is to go with the "All Resorts" coverage. The "All Resorts" coverage essentially only will yield a refund if none of the resorts on your pass are open, and the refund potential isn't any greater than if you pick one particular resort you're likely to frequent.

 

[TNtoTaos]

Okay, here's my read on Priority Reservation vs. Core Season coverage:

• If you have a particular period of up to a week that you intend to do all your skiing for the season in, and you don't intend to ski at any other point, Priority Reservation coverage is likely the way to go, since it provides you with a proportional refund for any PR day you lose.
  • Example: I have a five-day pass, select PR coverage, and book a full week of skiing with my PR days. Three of those days are cancelled; I sip hot cocoa in the cabin and receive a 60% refund on my pass.
• If you have a particular period of up to a week that you intend to do most of your skiing in, but you also plan to ski other days as you can make time for them, PR coverage might still be the way to go. However, selecting PR coverage penalizes you disproportionately if you ski days that aren't PR days by reducing your potential refund if you lose PR days due to resort closures by some amount that increases with the number of non-PR days you ski.
  • Example: I have an unlimited pass, select PR coverage, and book a seven-day trip using PR days. Two of those days are cancelled, but I go on a day trip later in the season. I receive a 14% refund on my pass, which is less than the 28% refund I would've received if I hadn't gone for that additional day trip.
• If you plan on skiing regularly (seven days or more a year) and aren't tied to a particular set of dates, PR coverage is a bad idea, since it'll likely end up with you getting no refund at all. If you have an unlimited pass and ski seven or more days, or a pass with a limited number of days and use them all, you won't receive any refund using PR coverage even if none of your PR days are available.
  • Example: I have an unlimited pass, select PR coverage, and book a seven-day trip using PR days. COVID shuts down the resort for a whole month surrounding my booking. However, later in the season, I manage to do a bunch of day trips and weekends, and end up skiing 15 days. I receive no refund, even though I didn't get any of my PR days.

This setup is definitely designed to be confusing, and it's not even that they don't want you to figure out what the "good option" is—it seems to be designed to hide the fact that there really isn't a "good option" at all.

I'm personally going with Core Season coverage with Northstar as my Primary Resort.

One thing to note about the Core Season/Primary Resort configuration is that skiing at another resort on a day when your Primary Resort is closed will penalize your potential for a refund in a way similar to the way doing unplanned day trips when Priority Reservation coverage is selected will. If Northstar is closed for a month (out of a 120-day season), then if I don't ski anywhere else during that month, I'll get about a 25% refund. But if I ski just two days out of that month at another resort, then my refund is completely eliminated.

I do think that if you select Core Season coverage, it's strictly-speaking better to pick a particular resort than it is to go with the "All Resorts" coverage. The "All Resorts" coverage essentially only will yield a refund if none of the resorts on your pass are open, and the refund potential isn't any greater than if you pick one particular resort you're likely to frequent.

VERY well-put, @gingerjess -- you made it almost make sense, LOL! You put a lot of effort into that explanation! And you're right, there really are no good options. They want it to sound like you're getting a great deal, but I'd be surprised if they end up giving out very many refunds with that policy.

 

[WhyKnot]

Thank you @gingerjess (wow what great detail, kind of you) and everyone else here including @Ski Sine Fine . So now this all makes me wonder what the max days to ski are that we would not even get an refund if the resorts closed.... going to Google.... if anyone is here that knows that thanks for info... EDIT: okay just checked, looks like this all may be moot if we ski 7 days or more (for what I am seeing in the space of this Edit window).

 

[WhyKnot]

Does anyone know where we choose core season primary resort?.... looking on the page now having trouble finding it....

 

[WhyKnot]

Allright... I gave up I went to pass preferences and it would not let me choose core season or pick my resort. The only thing I can think of is maybe it does not let me do this if I have already skied. I emailed them before midnight for what that is worth. iT says
You cannot edit the pass preferences below due to one of the following:

1. Pass holders 18+ years old must create an account or log in to their account to select pass preferences.
2. You are not the HOH on the account and can only select pass preferences for yourself
3. You have used your pass or November 21, 2020 has passed, if you purchased your pass on or before November 21, 2020.
4. You have used your pass or pass sales have ended on epicpass.com, if you purchased your pass after November 21, 2020.

 

[santacruz skier]

Allright... I gave up I went to pass preferences and it would not let me choose core season or pick my resort. The only thing I can think of is maybe it does not let me do this if I have already skied. I emailed them before midnight for what that is worth. iT says
You cannot edit the pass preferences below due to one of the following:

1. Pass holders 18+ years old must create an account or log in to their account to select pass preferences.
2. You are not the HOH on the account and can only select pass preferences for yourself
3. You have used your pass or November 21, 2020 has passed, if you purchased your pass on or before November 21, 2020.
4. You have used your pass or pass sales have ended on epicpass.com, if you purchased your pass after November 21, 2020.

I thought you had until Dec 14 to make any changes.