The brand new Epic Day Pass is offered in one to seven day increments with few to no date restrictions. The total days do not need to be used in a certain window of time. Passes are valid at ten western destination resorts and seven additional midwest/eastern resorts. Four day-plus passes include access to five additional western destination resorts. What does this mean for ski clubs?

A New Epic Pass Product

As of today, 3/30/19, a five day adult group lift ticket to ski at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge or Keystone - the “Colorado Ticket” - for the period between the Martin Luther King Jr and President’s Day holidays retails at $620, or $124 per day. It’s valid for a five out of eight day range.

Also as of 3/30/19, a five day Epic Day Pass - a brand new product - to ski at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Telluride, Whistler, Sun Valley, Stowe, Heavenly (and on and on; 26 in total) retails for $470, or $94 per day. Each of those five days is valid for any day of the season except for ten days designated as holiday periods, most of which fall outside the most popular “ski club windows” of travel. (Note: Epic Day Passes valid over holidays are also available for a premium and still cost less than regular group tickets.)

Amazing, right? It is, and I can safely say the Epic Day Passes will be among our product line for ski clubs headed to most Epic-linked resorts (the day passes are not valid at every Epic Pass-linked resort, but most).

However, there will be caveats to the product; I’m not sure we even know them all. This is a new product and even the Vail Resorts group reps were a little blindsided by it and are working on figuring out the details of how this product will work with clubs.

Benefits of Epic Day Passes

Let’s start with the undeniable pros of Epic Day Passes.

1. They’re cheaper than other group lift tickets. Substantially cheaper.
2. They’re usable at a wide range of resorts with very, very few date restrictions. Did a club member buy a five day pass but ultimately only ski three days on the trip? With a regular group pass, absent documented medical reasons, those two days are lost. With the Epic Day Passes, those same guests are now left with two days remaining to perhaps head to Okemo, Vermont or Heavenly or other destinations for a quick weekend getaway later in the season.

So there are only two “pros”, but they are substantial pros. The exact type of pros club members appreciate.

(Likely) Quirks of Epic Day Passes versus Traditional Group Lift Tickets

Now the possible cons. Note that we don't know all the details of the product yet, so some of these cons are speculative:

1. They are non-refundable and non-transferable the moment they are purchased. Optional travel protection will cover for select causes; medical reasons for the holder or close family, in some travel protection offerings the loss of a job, travel interruption, etc. However, it will not cover, “I changed my mind and am no longer going on the trip.” In contrast, in nearly all cases a completely unused group lift ticket can be refunded without issue.
2. In all likelihood, these will follow the same pattern as regular Epic Passes and their cost will rise over the course of the Summer and Fall. And the cost will rise unknown amounts on an unknown schedule. This means they need to be purchased as club members sign up for a trip when they select an Epic Day Pass option.
3. It's likely that at some point before the start of the season these will no longer be available for purchase. That is the case with Epic Passes and I would hazard a guess these will follow suit.
4. It’s also very likely club members who purchase Epic Day Passes will see a lot more direct marketing from Vail Resorts in following years. Depending how closely ski clubs are able to meet the interests of their club members, this may or may not be relevant.
5. Epic Passes are not directly discountable. Tour operators can “incentivize” the purchase of Epic Passes via offering a corresponding lodging discount or similar, but we cannot directly discount the pass. With a regular group lift pass tour operators are welcome to sell a $600 lift pass for $19.75 if we are so inclined. We cannot sell a $470 Epic Day Pass for $19.75, we can only sell it for $470. However we can sell it for $470 and offer a $450.25 lodging credit to the guest.*

* Note: In either case we are unlikely to sell clubs lift passes at a 96% discount. Perhaps if you catch Mike during negotiations for our ski club wine tasting program but, generally speaking, not. However a 7%-11% discount, varying on requested comp structure (if any) and overall trip structure is common from virtually all price competitive group tour operators.

So there are cons... but I think most would agree the pros significantly outweigh the cons. It’s a very appealing product for both ski clubs and group tour operators.

With that said, if using the Epic Day Passes as the “default” lift ticket option in evaluating or promoting a trip, ignoring the quirks of the product is a potential recipe for disaster. So a quick review of what to look for and how to avoid potential peril is below.

Non-refundable, non-transferable nature of Epic Passes

The first year we offered Epic Passes we offered Vail's $50 down payment plan option. As Summer and Fall progressed, a small percentage of those $50 down sold - six or seven total - opted to cancel their order and simply not send the remaining payments. No problem, right? The guest never received the pass so they’ll lose the $50 deposit and such is life. Same as a lodging deposit for a condo or an airline seat, etc.

Not the case. We, as the tour operator who placed the initial order with a deposit, were required to pay the balance of the passes at a cost of around $5000 to purchase non-transferable Epic Passes.

The point of this anecdote isn’t to complain about the policy. For the record, despite the loss we took, our Vail reps had empathy for the situation and, for this one time loss, eventually evened it out over the course of a season or two. The point of the anecdote is Vail Resorts does not joke around  with the non-refundable, owed-in-full-upon-ordering nature of Epic Passes.

From a ski club perspective that means a few things:

1. Your initial deposit policy should adjust if offering Epic products. The typical $200 or $300 down we see on most trips needs to be bumped up the entire cost of the Epic Day Pass products if offering them. I believe this issue, first and foremost, is the greatest concern. A club does not want to be in a situation where they’ve taken a small deposit involving an Epic Pass product, their member cancels and now the club is on the hook for the entirety of the pass cost. Our online registration system allows for initial deposit adjustments by selection: we can set a $250 initial deposit, but make it $720 if a five day Epic Day Pass is chosen by the guest. If using another system or an in-house paper form system be sure to account for the rigidity of full payment for Epic products.
2. Clubs may need to review their default terms and conditions presented to registrants if offering Epic products. Many use the same policies year-in/year-out and may still suggest the norm for decades - that unused lift tickets are refundable - which is no longer always the case.
3. Travel protection becomes even more important when guests purchase Epic Day Passes. In the past, a guest who booked in August then, say, tore their MCL in October, would be responsible for limited costs. Likely nothing for lodging or lifts, maybe $50 for an airline seat if it couldn’t be refilled, etc. In the case of the non-refundable and non-transferable passes that guest - absent travel protection - would be looking at an additional $400-$500 in losses. With this new product, cancellations many months in advance of travel are still looking at significant non-refundable expenses.

Fluctuating pricing and availability

Somewhere in Vail Resorts headquarters some very smart analyst-type folk are watching pass sales and, as sales figures roll in, they’re going to make determinations of when to raise prices and by how much. As a wholesaler, we’ll get about a week notice of the increases but, otherwise, we are not privy to changes in plans. At some point in mid Fall these same analysts will also decide when to end Epic sales entirely. An end date is specified but, in its brief history, we’ve seen Epic sales continue a few weeks beyond the pre-stated end date (no guarantee, of course).

From a ski club perspective, watch for:

1. Club leaders should pay special attention to how Epic day passes are presented to when given proposals. The days of seeing “5 day adult lift ticket” in a proposal is no longer as unambiguous as it once was. If you get a trip proposal from a tour operator using Epic Day Passes - great. I’m sure we will as well. Just be sure when reviewing other proposals you are aware of what each is offering. The Epic Day Pass option is appealing but comes with more restrictions than a regular group lift ticket.
2. Pay close attention when presenting a trip to club members where the “default” lift option included in an advertised package price is based on Epic Day Passes. That initial advertised price may only be valid until June 24, or July 15, or all season. And when the price goes up, it may go up $20 or $40 or $75. Historically speaking, we simply don’t know what will happen. If advertising day passes in ‘static’ promotional material like fliers or club cards make sure the verbiage illustrates the potential for price fluctuations. Maybe use “Starting at $1,549” instead of “Base price $1,549” or maybe advertise a price without lift passes while promoting add-ons for both the variable cost Epic Day Passes (“5-day Epic Day Pass: $470 with a $45 trip credit. Full pass cost due at initial deposit, non-refundable after registration”) and the static-priced regular group lift ticket (“5-day adult lift pass: $559”).
3. Unknown price fluctuations and a Fall end-sale date means clubs will need to adjust how they interact with a tour operator. If using a tour operator’s online system, this shouldn’t be a huge issue. The tour operator should monitor incoming Epic Day Pass sales in that case. If a club prefers in-house registration via their own online registration, paper forms, etc, it’s going to be critical to keep your tour operator apprised of Epic orders. They days of emailing your tour operator with a total lift ticket count thirty days before travel is not viable if promoting these Epic products. Not doing so presents a risk where a guest registered for Epic Day Passes at one price, but when the tour operator is advised of the lift order, the Epic Day Pass pricing is higher or simply not available at all.

The bottom line

Despite not knowing every detail about Epic Day Passes quite yet, this new product appears to be an exceptional value. It’s no secret the cost of in-resort expenses for ski clubs (lodging, lifts, etc) has outpaced inflation in recent years, leading to more expensive group travel than four, six or ten years ago. This product has the ability to counter that a bit, making it very attractive to club members able to sign up for a trip sooner than later. However, in all likelihood, if these products are offered, club leadership will need to make some adjustments to their existing processes to avoid potential unanticipated expenses/penalties and/or frustrated club members. Tour operators and ski clubs will, hopefully, know all necessary information about this new product soon.

Thanks for reading and think snow!

Steve Broski
 Sports America

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