Epic Day Pass - thoughts?

snowphoenix

Looking at the websites and social media pages of Vail-owned mountains in the Northeast, it seems that Vail is trying hard to promote sales of the Epic Day Pass, a ticket for 1 to 7 days at any of their mountains. There are different tiers of the pass, with the more expensive tiers allowing access to their larger/more expensive resorts. At $88 for a 1-day pass to any Vail-owned Northeast mountain (tier 2, not valid on peak dates), the savings are significant compared to buying a normal day ticket, especially for a weekend.

However, I feel that Vail is marketing these passes so aggressively in order to secure more revenue before the season begins in earnest in order to please shareholders, in a similar manner as their main product, the Epic Pass. To me this reflects the industry-wide shift towards reserving or purchasing days/ski vacations ahead of time, rather than buying tickets on the day-of. I feel like the latter method makes for a better experience (at least for skiers like me who primarily ski via day trips) as one has more flexibility in terms of where to ski on a given day.

Curious to hear others' thoughts on the Epic Day Pass, its marketing and whether or not it's a better alternative to buying standard lift tickets. FWIW I have not purchased this pass but am considering it for this season as there are some Epic mountains that I skied before Vail acquired them and that I would like to revisit.

joshua_segal

snowphoenix;d-4099 wroteLooking at the websites and social media pages of Vail-owned mountains in the Northeast, it seems that Vail is trying hard to promote sales of the Epic Day Pass, a ticket for 1 to 7 days at any of their mountains. There are different tiers of the pass, with the more expensive tiers allowing access to their larger/more expensive resorts. At $88 for a 1-day pass to any Vail-owned Northeast mountain (tier 2, not valid on peak dates), the savings are significant compared to buying a normal day ticket, especially for a weekend.

However, I feel that Vail is marketing these passes so aggressively in order to secure more revenue before the season begins in earnest in order to please shareholders, in a similar manner as their main product, the Epic Pass. To me this reflects the industry-wide shift towards reserving or purchasing days/ski vacations ahead of time, rather than buying tickets on the day-of. I feel like the latter method makes for a better experience (at least for skiers like me who primarily ski via day trips) as one has more flexibility in terms of where to ski on a given day.

Curious to hear others' thoughts on the Epic Day Pass, its marketing and whether or not it's a better alternative to buying standard lift tickets. FWIW I have not purchased this pass but am considering it for this season as there are some Epic mountains that I skied before Vail acquired them and that I would like to revisit.

My 2-cents: If cost is really an issue and you plan to ski more than 10-days buy one season pass this year and the other next year.

If you're going to just ski a few days and cost is an issue, there are some excellent smaller mountains that will give great deals for single days or packages for the larger areas like you noted.

If cost is not an issue, the entire question is moot.

rickbolger

Personally don't have a problem with the epic pass of any sort, day, limited, season or otherwise. They usually represent a good value, all things considered.

As a sometime shareholder I happen to think their approach is mostly successful, and very smart.

If they get your $88 today? They got it. You paid -- the money moves to their account. If they didn't do that, they'd be waiting until January to hopefully get your $120 at the window. No guarantee that's going to happen. Might rain that weekend, or your car might break down, or your kid gets the flu. But if you already spent that $88 and it rains or flus, they still got your money and you're holding a ticket. If you do show up later on, that's good too -- most people (not all) buy something, whether it's a beer or a $20 heat lamp hamburger or a sticker at the ski shop. And your individual presence doesn't impact their expenses one iota. I don't know the numbers, but I bet they sell thousands of low cost tickets that are never used, 4-packs that are 3/4 used, etc. They figured out that $88 number was the number to maximize revenue.

Cramming the resort full of people appeals to a certain customer personality (not me) and it's like a giant money machine on those weekends when the liftlines fill the base area at Carinthia and at the Bluebird thing. People who draw energy from crowds absolutely love it, and tell their friends how great it is. Again, nothing wrong with that, it's just not my cup of meat.

My beef with Vail isn't their ticket pricing/policies, it's more about how they run or don't run things, which I won't rehash for the umpteenth time.

Business-wise I think it's incredibly smart. Hey I could be wrong, they could follow Les to financial oblivion but I wouldn't bet on it.

tedede

At less than 50% of the walk-up rate, a little planning ahead will save a lot.

skelley19

Since the epic day pass can be used any day of the season, all you really have to plan for is if you are going to use it on a peak day and spend the extra coin to be eligible for those periods. You also must decide which tier of ticket to buy based on the mountain(s) you plan to hit but they make that relatively easy in the East. I think it's a good value and model but I won't be buying them this season. Between my Wachusett pass, Indy and New England 3 pack I have plenty of options. Many of my friends have full Epic passes so if I decide to join them I can use one of their buddy tickets and end up at almost the same rate as buying now so it doesn't really make sense in my current situation.

snowphoenix

Thanks for the good points, everyone.