The season pass is the best price in skiing for those who ski a lot, and the worst for those who buy it on impulse in November. The rule of thumb is one division: the season price by the day price. The result is the number of days from which the season wins. We did it for every resort on our pages that publishes both prices.
The tipping day
On the lists read in September, the season pass is worth between 11 and 20 full-price days, with a median around 15.
At Tignes and Val-d’Isère, the Espace Killy season is worth the equivalent of 15 days at €78. At the Semnoz, a €200 season against €18.50 a day: 11 days. At Super-Besse, the season pays off around the fifteenth day. The small local resorts — Chamrousse, Le Lioran, La Bresse — are in the same zone, between 12 and 16.
The rule of experience: from three weeks of skiing in the same resort, or ten weekends, the season pass wins. Below that, it loses — and the count includes the bad-weather days when you do not go out.
What lowers the threshold
Pre-sale. Almost every resort sells the season 10 to 25 % cheaper before an autumn date. That is the price to compare: a pre-sale season at 12 days is a far better sum than at 15.
The days that are not day passes. An afternoon, a Sunday morning, two hours before driving home: with a day pass you do not do them — it is not worth €60. With a season, you do, and they are free. For an owner or a resident, that is what changes the relationship with skiing.
The perks. Many seasons include free days in other resorts, family discounts, access to neighbouring areas, or summer skiing. They cannot be counted, but they count.
What raises the threshold
The risk of a snowless winter, in the mid-mountains. A season bought in October for a resort that only opens six weeks is lost. Our Météo-France records say, resort by resort, how many days the snow lay each winter — and the worst winter in the series is the figure to look at before buying.
Injury. A season is refunded only with the insurance that goes with it, pro rata, on a certificate. Without it, a sprain in January costs the season.
Boredom. The season pass for the resort you know by heart locks you in: discovery days elsewhere are paid at full price.
The big areas: the “valley” season
The 3 Vallées, Paradiski, the Portes du Soleil, the Grand Massif sell two seasons: the full area, at €1,300-1,800, and the valley — Les Menuires-Val Thorens, La Plagne alone, Morzine-Les Gets — for much less. For a weekend skier who always sleeps in the same place, the second is the one that makes sense: the full area is paid by the day the rare times you cross over.
The table below
It ranks resorts by kilometres of pistes obtained for each euro of day pass — the value-for-money measure we compute on every published list. Each resort’s pages give, where the list states it, the season price and the pre-sale deadline.
