Interested in any smart ideas for a ski trip to Chamonix in Feb 2016. I go on a ski trip once a year with a couple of old mates, when our kids finish VCE they get to come along. So far both my mates have brought their kids but this year it will be my turn to bring my 18 yo son. Our agreement is that everyone who comes pays a 'share' of all communal costs so I will be up for 2 shares in the accommodation, hire car, food etc. i am keen to get a lid on costs before my '2 shares' blows out of proportions.
We have gone to all sort of places in the past (Canada, US, Japan etc) and we normally have a small sidetrip on the way. Rough plan at this stage is Oz to Paris, 2 days or so in Paris then cheap flight over to Geneva, ski for a week at Chamonix or somewhere comparable then come home.
I normally look for travel bargains or use FF points for my international flights then fly budget airlines (in the US Southwest etc). We've never been to Europe before. We normally book a self contained flat at the destination and split the costs. In the US we use VRBO and in Canada we used Allura Direct to find an apartment. We normally have a hard time finding accommodation since 'sleeps 4' normally means 2 people sharing a bed, none of us are those kind of friends! but 2 separate beds in a room is OK. We need to find somewhere with 4 beds and the older guys at least probably wont want to sleep on a pull out sofa.
I get it that skiing isn't a budget sport and normally the first investigation turns up travel agents and '5 star' luxury stuff. We will be happy to book things ourselves and do a bit of legwork, we wont want to pay a premium price for 'convenience' to a travel agent etc. I am interested if anybody has any good tips to help me get started looking.