Season Passes...

[theprogram4]

22 minutes ago, Benm said:

 

the only reason covid protocols are staying around is because they are making money hand over fist with the new ticketing practices. 109 for a wknd pass is robbery.

Bingo

[toast21602]

4 minutes ago, theprogram4 said:

Bingo

saying the only reason they are around is a little misleading. It might also be because of the 1/2 million people that have died from it... but yeah, they are definitely benefiting from increased prices and their limited ticketing scam that they have going and like I said earlier, I see that continuing.

Edited March 1, 2021 by toast21602

[Schif]

Protocols could also be around next year because they risk alienating a large swath of the market by not having anything in place. I'm guessing that for as many people will get their shot and start party rocking in night clubs an equal amount will continue to mask up and won't feel comfortable in places that don't at least put on a show of being Covid safe. 

[theprogram4]

Just now, toast21602 said:

saying the only reason they are around is a little misleading. It might also be because of to 1/2 million people that have died from it... but yeah, they are definitely benefiting from increased prices and their limited ticketing scam that they have going and like I said earlier, I see that continuing.

I would do the same thing if I ran blue🤷

[toast21602]

Just now, theprogram4 said:

I would do the same thing if I ran blue🤷

Absolutely. Everyone wins. People are happy there are still some precautions and feel safe. People are happy they can still ski. Blue is happy that they are stuffing their pillows with Benjamins. 

[skiincy]

wonder if I could proofread and edit their email marketing in exchange for a free season pass. i'll set myself up as Skiincy Marketing LLC.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Maybe Blue is finally realizing that skiing is a drug for us. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 minute ago, skiincy said:

wonder if I could proofread and edit their email marketing in exchange for a free season pass. i'll set myself up as Skiincy Marketing LLC.

I’ve offered to be their social media marketing guy for years for free.  I’ve always thought their FB Page was terrible. They rarely even post videos or action shots.  Tomorrow they’ll probably post about their Mother’s Day brunch.  

Edited March 1, 2021 by GrilledSteezeSandwich

[Benm]

10 minutes ago, toast21602 said:

saying the only reason they are around is a little misleading. It might also be because of the 1/2 million people that have died from it...

i should have been more clear. the only reason they are staying around next year. no one knew what was going on this season early in the pandemic, so the ticketing system etc was a no brainer. i feel incredibly fortunate we didn't need to resort to making reservations.

with vaccines, prevention measures and more knowledge of the virus, one shouldn't be seeing the 1/2 million deaths between now and next season (one would hope). i don't think comparing next year to this past year is a good analogy.

and yeah, what i said is hyperbole. i'm sure the decision involves keeping people safe and they want to mitigate the spread. at the same time, i think that being able to charge 109 for a day pass and people eating them up caught blue's attention and they are going to capitalize on it.

[Justo8484]

6 minutes ago, Benm said:

i should have been more clear. the only reason they are staying around next year. no one knew what was going on this season early in the pandemic, so the ticketing system etc was a no brainer. i feel incredibly fortunate we didn't need to resort to making reservations.

with vaccines, prevention measures and more knowledge of the virus, one shouldn't be seeing the 1/2 million deaths between now and next season (one would hope). i don't think comparing next year to this past year is a good analogy.

and yeah, what i said is hyperbole. i'm sure the decision involves keeping people safe and they want to mitigate the spread. at the same time, i think that being able to charge 109 for a day pass and people eating them up caught blue's attention and they are going to capitalize on it.

I'm just curious to see if they can continue to get that rate when there are other options for entertainment and recreation next winter. People will be traveling to warmer destinations again, indoor dining will be less restricted if at all, people will feel more comfortable with having friends/family over at their houses, etc. Will some of the people who saw skiing as an opportunity so safely socialize with friends outdoors continue to do so in the future? Probably, but I doubt there's a 100% stick rate with that, and a bunch of people who justified that ticket price this year because they had nothing else to do might not feel the same way next season.

 

Re: season passes, did anyone actually get the email that allows you to purchase the pass at the renewal rate? I got the email saying that I was going to get an email, which wasn't super helpful.

[Benm]

Just now, Justo8484 said:

I'm just curious to see if they can continue to get that rate when there are other options for entertainment and recreation next winter. People will be traveling to warmer destinations again, indoor dining will be less restricted if at all, people will feel more comfortable with having friends/family over at their houses, etc. Will some of the people who saw skiing as an opportunity so safely socialize with friends outdoors continue to do so in the future? Probably, but I doubt there's a 100% stick rate with that, and a bunch of people who justified that ticket price this year because they had nothing else to do might not feel the same way next season.

 

Re: season passes, did anyone actually get the email that allows you to purchase the pass at the renewal rate? I got the email saying that I was going to get an email, which wasn't super helpful.

email to watch for another email.

i wonder if any poor souls purchased their season pass before seeing the email

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I’m just happy when I checked emails there was nothing from customers or red lobster.  

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

3 minutes ago, Benm said:

email to watch for another email.

i wonder if any poor souls purchased their season pass before seeing the email

 

I’m sure some did.  I would have last week if I didn’t have to pay off my Kastles on my credit card already.  

[Kyle]

1 minute ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

I’m just happy when I checked emails there was nothing from customers or red lobster.  

[toast21602]

17 minutes ago, Benm said:

email to watch for another email.

i wonder if any poor souls purchased their season pass before seeing the email

 

gotta love the email to let you know about another email. classic boomer move. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 minute ago, toast21602 said:

gotta love the email to let you know about another email. classic boomer move. 

Reminds me of my Dad, he’ll tell people he’ll email them from his iPad. Back when he was the president we’d have meetings to schedule another meeting. 

[trackbiker]

Even with the higher day ticket prices, do you think they made up for the loss of revenue from the food and beverage and the wedding business? I know weddings are a huge profit area for venues. How many would they have on an average weekend?

[Benm]

2 minutes ago, trackbiker said:

Even with the higher day ticket prices, do you think they made up for the loss of revenue from the food and beverage and the wedding business? I know weddings are a huge profit area for venues. How many would they have on an average weekend?

i agree they probably took a hit there.

i feel like they've made up the difference other places though (besides the other day, when was the last time they blew snow?) --

[Schif]

I'm assuming that the pie chart of revenue by business unit is definitely shifting around but I doubt that the pie is expanding in diameter. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

23 minutes ago, Benm said:

i agree they probably took a hit there.

i feel like they've made up the difference other places though (besides the other day, when was the last time they blew snow?) --

They blew a lot of freaking snow in December and January..but yes they saved some money on February snowmaking but most seasons they don’t have the luxury of ample natural snow that sticks around for a month. I’m just freaking happy my customers aren’t analyzing our costs. I have a few that think our prices are high compared to the competition but they still go with us. 

[Justo8484]

1 hour ago, trackbiker said:

Even with the higher day ticket prices, do you think they made up for the loss of revenue from the food and beverage and the wedding business? I know weddings are a huge profit area for venues. How many would they have on an average weekend?

even being lucky with lots of natural snow this year, i doubt they were up over the previous year. that restaurant is pretty busy all summer long and even with outdoor dining, i bet they missed out on a lot of revenue especially with the high markup on drinks from the bars not helping out as much as normal.

[Johnny Law]

They are definitely selling the season pass from the mindset that cash flow in summer is less of a concern than previous years which in my mind can only come as a result of demand for tickets. I seem to recall the 2013 to 2015 time frame one time I paid 729 which was after a really good winter. 

More cash around less need for a discount but I do wonder if the same demand is there this time next year.  

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

2 minutes ago, Johnny Law said:

They are definitely selling the season pass from the mindset that cash flow in summer is less of a concern than previous years which in my mind can only come as a result of demand for tickets. I seem to recall the 2013 to 2015 time frame one time I paid 729 which was after a really good winter. 

More cash around less need for a discount but I do wonder if the same demand is there this time next year.  

 

You paid $729 because you bought your season pass opening day.  This year if you wait until opening day to purchase your pass it’s $799. Back then early bird was $499 and I believe one year was $529.  I used to buy my pass around Halloween for like $635. All tiny amounts of money. 

[Schif]

More expensive passes, less demand and maybe people not wanting to deal with a reservation system could make next year the country club we thought this year would be. 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Schif

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 minute ago, Schif said:

More expensive passes, less demand and maybe people not wanting to deal with a reservation system will make next year the country club we thought this year would be. 

The only time Blue is consistently empty is if we have one of those seasons that doesn’t start until late and doesn’t snow.  Think of all the new people that got into skiing this season...I don’t expect it to be a country club.  Plus the population of the pocono and the Lehigh valley is exploding as well which bodes well for Blue. Lots of NY and NJ folks.  It’s great brings some nice culture to this area.  

Edited March 1, 2021 by GrilledSteezeSandwich