Ikon Pass

raisingarizona wrote

Why do dentist and other big money making city types need discounts?

Lol.

If you think it's easy to get money out of people, even (especially?) rich people, try getting them to pay a tiny bit more in taxes to, say, build a trail system or keep a band program at a school.

Milo Maltbie wrote

raisingarizona wrote

Why do dentist and other big money making city types need discounts?

Because it’s my money and l’ll decide how to spend it.

Why does every ski resort in North America need to be in one or another price fixing scheme?

mm

I often hear from my local bike shop and ski shop working friends how local doctors, lawyers and dentist types always want some sort of bro deal as if they are entitled to it. I just think it’s funny how some of the most wealthy folks in a community want the bro deal instead of realizing that those small businesses need their full support and they certainly can afford it.

And you definitely sound a little cheap there Milo. Just sayin.

Milo Maltbie wrote

Why does every ski resort in North America need to be in one or another price fixing scheme?

mm

It's called business survival.  How many more ski resorts do you think would be on the market after a year or two of low snow conditions?

The MCP, Indy Pass, Powder Alliance, Freedom Pass, and other multi-resort passes or perks are simply other ways of getting people to put their money into the ski industry long before even potential snowfall totals for Jan-Mar are know.  The creation of the Epic Pass in 2008 showed that geographical diversity had value in the long run, even though the season pass passes for the VR resorts at the time decreased tremendously.

When did sales of season passes used to start around 10 years ago for ski areas/resorts in NY?  In the spring or summer or fall?

marznc wrote

When did sales of season passes used to start around 10 years ago for ski areas/resorts in NY?  In the spring or summer or fall?

For as long as I remember, ski areas always put the next season's pass on sale at the end of the prior season to get the best deal.

Marcski wrote

marznc wrote

When did sales of season passes used to start around 10 years ago for ski areas/resorts in NY?  In the spring or summer or fall?

For as long as I remember, ski areas always put the next season's pass on sale at the end of the prior season to get the best deal.

So in the spring for NY and probably for most New England ski areas/resorts.

I started buying a season pass at Massanutten in VA in 2007.  March 2019 was the first time Massanutten and Wintergreen sold season passes for the next season at a discounted price.  Both have also started offering perks for passholders like discounts on food or retail sales on resort.

In the southeast it used to be that you couldn't buy a season pass until Sept, sometimes not even until early Oct.  Only one NC mountain has updated their website for the 2019-20 season.  They are too busy with the fall events, which will run thru late October when the fall colors happen.  Colleges start in mid-August so Labor Day is not the hard cut off for vacations like it is in the northeast.  That was a bit of culture shock when I moved from NYC during high school.

raisingarizona wrote

Milo Maltbie wrote

raisingarizona wrote

Why do dentist and other big money making city types need discounts?

Because it’s my money and l’ll decide how to spend it.

I often hear from my local bike shop and ski shop working friends how local doctors, lawyers and dentist types always want some sort of bro deal as if they are entitled to it. I just think it’s funny how some of the most wealthy folks in a community want the bro deal instead of realizing that those small businesses need their full support and they certainly can afford it.

At the risk of answering what could be a rhetorical statement, a couple of guesses....
- There's no harm in asking
- Maybe the vendor hasn't done an adequate job of overcoming that objection ahead of time or differentiating between his product/service vs. the competition
- If you can afford something, doesn't mean you need to pay full pop.  Maybe there's a discipline that some (wealthy or not) have in waiting for something until the timing makes sense for them.
- In the words of "Bill Gates" when he was on The Simpsons, "you don't get rich by writing a lot of checks."

D.B. Cooper wrote

"you don't get rich by writing a lot of checks."

This could really come in handy around the house.

The increase for Ikon passes on Oct. 17 was $50 for adults and a bit more for Young Adults (13-22) and kids. Full Ikon is $1099 and Ikon Base is $799.  Those who bought back in the spring saved $100, or $130 if they got the $30 renewal discount.

Unlike Summer/Fall 2018, there weren’t any additions to Ikon since sales started in Spring 2019. In August 2018 there was an announcement every day for four days in a row when Solitude, Brighton, and Niseko were added.  That's also when the Boyne resorts were separated and Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands were added.

There is a list of Opening Dates on the Ikon website (click on Unlock Winter on the Ikon homepage).  Still TBD for Killington and Brighton as of 10/17/19.  Every region will have at least one mountain open by Thanksgiving week.  Only a few Ikon resorts won't open until early/mid December.

D.B. Cooper wrote

- In the words of "Bill Gates" when he was on The Simpsons, "you don't get rich by writing a lot of checks."

Yeah, I was going to come back with something like that, although, if said "rich guy" whined me down 5% on something, then walked out and got into a Porsche, I wouldn't be happy.

And Bill Gates got rich by building a ruthless monopoly, not by being stingy.

Just in case anyone is still considering Ikon . . . there is an offer for Full Ikon on Amazon today.  Deal ends soon after midnight ET 11/20/19.  The perk is a $150 Amazon gift card.  After purchase, get an email with an activation code to use on the Ikon website.  That's how the deal with Costco worked last fall.

https://www.amazon.com/Ikon-Pass-Adult-Snowboard-Amazon/dp/B081PD39NC/

Good find! That makes the current Ikon Base $650 and full Ikon $950, after deducting the Amazon card. For this time of year especially, that seems pretty solid.

gefiltephish wrote

Good find! That makes the current Ikon Base $650 and full Ikon $950, after deducting the Amazon card. For this time of year especially, that seems pretty solid.

Can only buy Full Ikon on Amazon.  At least for a few more hours.

Can still buy Full Ikon on Amazon and get a $150 gift card, but no longer a discounted price.  In fact have to pay $1249 instead of $1099 if buying directly from the Ikon website.

I just received an e-mail with this offer (they're getting inventive with time running out) -- buy a $600 Camelback season pass and you can get the discounted rates from last spring for the Ikon Pass plus your kid (age 5-12) gets a free Ikon.

I'm trying to understand the logic. Off the top of my head, Camelback's geographic market of northeastern PA/Philadelphia would need to spend a lot of time and money either driving to Ikon mountains in the northeast or flying out west to make it worthwhile. Wouldn't it have been easier (and sold more passes) just to have CBK become one of the Ikon areas where you get five or seven free days?

Jamesdeluxe wrote

I just received an e-mail with this offer (they're getting inventive with time running out) -- buy a $600 Camelback season pass and you can get the discounted rates from last spring for the Ikon Pass plus your kid (age 5-12) gets a free Ikon.

I'm trying to understand the logic. Off the top of my head, Camelback's geographic market of northeastern PA/Philadelphia would need to spend a lot of time and money either driving to Ikon mountains in the northeast or flying out west to make it worthwhile. Wouldn't it have been easier (and sold more passes) just to have CBK become one of the Ikon areas where you get five or seven free days?

Hmm, Camelback was bought by KSL Resorts at some point in the past few months.  KSL Resorts is not Alterra.  It's a separate KSL company that mostly has beach and golf resorts.  Also the Vail Mountain Resort & Spa.  I wonder if this is just a test of market or they want to keep Camelback off general Ikon marketing materials.

Ikon seems to be willing to provide a discount to any group/company that is willing to sell a minimum number of Ikon passes.  Last year Costco had an offer for a gift card for a limited time, this year Amazon had an offer for a very short time.  The Camelback "discount" reminds me of the group offer that someone at TGR made use of during the summer.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

I just received an e-mail with this offer (they're getting inventive with time running out) . . .

Even VR seemed to cave a bit, perhaps the slow start to the season around Tahoe was a factor.  The deadline for the Epic Pass was extended for a week from Nov. 24 to Dec. 2, 2019.  Or perhaps always part of a plan based on the numbers by the week before Thanksgiving.  VR must have a target in mind.

In Chris Diamond's Ski Inc. 2000, he included numbers for 2018-19 for Ikon and Epic pass sales.  For VR, the number was 925,000.  The best guess for Ikon was 400,000.  Diamond's sense was that spring sales were strong for both for the 2019-20 season.  He had to do some last minute writing/editing after the Peak Resorts deal was announced during the summer.  The subtitle for the book is "Alterra counters Vail Resorts; mega-passes transform the landscape; the industry responds and flourishes.  For skiing? A North American Renaissance."  Given that I've been following the multi-resort passes closely for several years, starting when I first got the MCP, it was quite an interesting read.

11/7/19, The Colorado Sun, by Jason Blevins
“The industry as we have known it no longer exists”: A former Colorado ski area executive peels back the curtain

https://skiing.substack.com/p/alterra-smashes-porsche-into-mountainside

I didn't realize Jackson Hole & Aspen are out next year.

Makes me want to go to Jackson Hole & Aspen.

The last sentence reads "Anyone who’s trying to sell a ski pass is going to have to give it to them."
I "won" a free next years membership last Labor Day at the nice local golf club where  it's a great place to walk and play golf. It's been opened and closed three times so far and is closed now till we see what Mario's son tells us what to do next. So I had a free season pass given to me and still can't play, not complainin just sayin. Last nights snow finally melted off. Hopefully we kick the poo out of the bat poo flu ASAP.

Updated. Golf Opening (again) Tomorrow (4/19) in NY. I believe that would the 4th time to open the course this year.

Mt Bachlor and Windham added to ikon for 20/21

Windham is a no brainer to compete with Huntah being on Epic now

Mt Bachelor is an epic spring skiing destination.  I want to go back there next spring now