Mountain Collective deal a Thredbo ticket saver?

Is Mountain Collective the cheapest way to ski Thredbo this season?

The Mountain Collective Pass has always been a great deal since inception, that – as we have reported – has got better over the years as NZski.com areas in NZ (Coronet Peak, The Remarkables & Mt Hutt) plus Mt Buller in OZ got added to the mix.

Their pay $AUD is a super promotion with the Aussie dollar around 69c against the USD – that’s an extra saving of 30% plus for downunder Mountain Collective Pass buyers. So just $AUD 469 at the moment.

In this crazy COVID-19 year your chances of being able to fly anywhere up north to use it are looking less and less as America keeps racking up record daily COVID infection numbers. It’s just totally unrealistic to expect flights there to fire up anytime soon. Maybe they will fire up to Japan so you can get back to Niseko, where it’s valid at Niskeo United.

Even scooting over to Queenstown or Christchurch and using it there is looking more and more unlikely as the Melbourne/Victoria situation had pushed the much-hyped “Trans-Tasman Bubble” flights agenda backwards. We have been guilty as charged as far as hyping that goes; after all if NZ had zero cases and Australia virtually none it would not have been that hard.

As for the other Southern alternative, Valle Nevado, they are getting slammed with snow enjoying the best season since 2005. But not open – the opening date got pushed back again to the end of August for their hotel reservations and even if they do actually open in September of course there will be no flights.

Indeed right now no one from Melbourne can even get to Buller, never mind get themselves to Thredbo as well.

But there is one crazy upside to all this. After Thredbo decided to go day passes only at $159 per day that makes 3 days at Thredbo $477.

If you nominate Thredbo as your “3 day” resort for Mountain Collective you could (subject to being able to lock in some dates) get those same 3 days for $469 using a Mountain Collective pass. You need to purchase the MC pass then go in to Thredbo’s link and try to reserve your 3 days in their system.

So in theory at least it’s the cheapest way to ski Thredbo for 3 days – a saving of $7. But after your 3 days every subsequent day is 50% off according to Mountain Collective conditions as advertised on their website:

“EACH 2020-21 PASSHOLDER WILL RECEIVE:
2 DAYS AT THE COLLECTIVE DESTINATIONS FOR A TOTAL OF  46 DAYS50% OFFALL ADDITIONAL DAYS AT THE COLLECTIVE DESTINATIONS+ A BONUS THIRD DAY AT THE DESTINATION OF YOUR CHOICE (WHILE SUPPLIES LAST)“

So if you skied a 5 day midweek using the MC Pass your potential saving just on that would be $166 (based on Thredbo advertised daily rates of $159 x 3 + 2 days @ 50% off). And subsequent days at 50% off would save you more.

If Melbourne/Victoria comes out of lockdown you could add 2 days at Buller also, plus subsequent days there at the 50% off rate (again subject to pre-reservation availability as booked here).

If you can’t get the days at Thredbo though, and don’t use the MC pass downunder, you can simply cancel by 20 October and get a full refund (assuming you have not used it for any day across their Southern Hemisphere resorts).

So that qualifies as a Thredbo cheat is our book. This is the Thredbo link to pre-reserve for Mountain Collective Pass holders

The list of Mountain Collective Northern Hemisphere resorts is enough to make any keen skier or boarder salivate. Alta, Aspen Snowmass, Big Sky, Jackson Hole and so many more. Oh, and of course Niseko United makes the list.

Many stay open well into spring, so if you had the MC pass you could just wait and hope flights do fire up.

This is the full list:

• Alta Ski Area 
• Arapahoe Basin 
• Aspen Snowmass 
• Banff Sunshine 
• Big Sky Resort 
• Chamonix — France New 2020/21
• Coronet Peak + The Remarkables — NZ 
• Grand Targhee Resort New 2020/21
• Jackson Hole Mountain Resort 
• Lake Louise 
• Mammoth Mountain 
• Mt Buller — Australia 
• Niseko United — Japan 
• Panorama Mountain Resort New 2020/21
• Revelstoke Mountain Resort 
• Snowbird 
• Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows 
• Sugarbush Resort 
• Sugarloaf New 2020/21
• Sun Peaks Resort New 2020/21
• Taos Ski Valley 
• Thredbo Alpine Village — Australia 
• Valle Nevado – Chile

More on their website here, including cancellation details.