Before You Book a Ski Trip, Learn How to Save on Mountain Hotels, Ski Rentals and Lift Tickets

Summary

Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways

Episode: Before You Book a Ski Trip, Learn How to Save on Mountain Hotels, Ski Rentals and Lift Tickets
Date: March 18, 2026
Hosts: Sally French, Meghan Coyle
Guest: Craig Joseph (NerdWallet Travel Expert)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Sally, Meghan, and guest Craig Joseph take listeners on a deep dive into strategies for smart savings on ski and snowboarding trips. From navigating hotel and ski rental costs, mastering lift ticket hacks, leveraging points and miles, to picking the right time to book, the team breaks down actionable tips and new offerings to ensure your next ski vacation doesn’t bust your travel budget. Whether you’re a beginner or a black-diamond regular, this episode is packed with insights, personal anecdotes, and must-know deals—plus advice for non-skiers tagging along on mountain getaways.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Marriott Free Night Certificate Changes and Credit Card Updates

• [02:34]
• Sally: Marriott has increased the flexibility of their free night certificates—now you can top off with up to 25,000 points (previously 15,000).
• Meghan: This expands the range of properties accessible, with 733 new hotels unlocked, per data from the Gondola search tool.
• Pro Tip: Chase, Amex, and other cards offer strong welcome bonuses and annual free night certificates—check up-to-date listings for welcome offers.
  • Notable Quote:

  “I kind of think about this free night certificate as a 35,000-point discount...” – Sally [04:06]

2. Rising Airline Fuel Charges

• [06:39]
• Meghan: Ongoing global events are driving up oil and airline surcharges. Cathay Pacific’s fuel charge jumped from $73 to $149 on North America–Hong Kong flights.
• Sally: Even when booking on points or miles, travelers still have to pay these surcharges.
• Advice: Book something refundable, ideally on airlines you already fly, to retain flexibility as prices swing.
  • Notable Quote:

  “If we had a crystal ball, we would not be here working at NerdWallet.” – Sally [07:37]

3. Ski Passes: When and How to Buy

• [08:29]
• Sally: Now (March) is the cheapest time to buy passes like the Ikon and Epic for the coming ski season—prices will only rise and options diminish as the season approaches.
• Meghan: Highlights on pass options, including discounts for kids (with adult pass) and “Squad packs” for groups aged 23–28.
• New Mountain Access: Midwest resorts (e.g., Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin) join the Ikon pass.
  • Notable Moment:

  “They’re not trying to bring just one Gen Z to the mountain—they want Squad.” – Sally [09:47]

4. Real Talk: How Much Does Skiing/Snowboarding Cost?

• [14:23]
• The Math: Mega mountains in CA/CO can mean $200/day for lift + rentals.
• Craig: Renting gear at the destination lets you try new tech and sometimes buy nearly-new at end-of-season sales.
• Sally: Buy gear if you’re within driving distance; renting is costly and returning by deadline is stressful.
  • Notable Quote:

  “The time incurred just to rent skis, and then you have to return them... is too stressful.” – Sally [15:47]

5. Season Passes vs. Day Tickets

• [17:01, 28:08]
• Pass Strategy: Resorts want pre-season commitment—no snow, no issue for their bottom line.
• Meghan: Passes provide flexibility/frequency discounts but can come with blackout dates on peak weekends/holidays.
• Craig: Buddy passes and discounts for food, lessons, and rentals for passholders.
• Sally: Do the math—ten trips may be needed to break even on a $1,000+ pass.
  • Notable Quote:

  “There’s no bad weather refund.” – Sally [18:04]
  “Figure out your break-even point.” – Craig [29:11]

6. Beating Crowds and Timing Your Trip

• [20:01, 21:37]
• Weekday vs Weekend: Weekdays are less crowded and offer a better experience, especially for beginners.
• Sally: Weekends may offer longer hours, but late-day snow is usually worse.
  • Notable Quote:

  “You don’t want to pull a Gwyneth Paltrow and ski right into someone.” – Sally [21:09]

7. Lift Ticket and Rental Savings Hacks

• [23:10]
• Craig: Leverage credit card benefits (e.g., Chase Ultimate Rewards for tickets, airline cards for bag check fee waivers).
• Meghan: Use Buddy passes, buy day passes via Epic/Ikon, or scout local family deals (e.g., Vermont’s $35 5th-grade passport).
• Sally: Look for late-day discounted passes if your group prefers to sleep in.
  • Notable Story:

  “My family has six people in it. I grabbed six of those tiny little boxes of cereal, and we donated it. And we all got $35 [tickets].” – Meghan [26:00]

8. Booking Mountain Hotels & Using Points

• [32:53]
• Craig: Book properties with kitchenettes, use points to avoid cash outlays, and target “fifth night free” benefits at chain hotels.
• Sally: Resort fees often waived when staying entirely on points.
• Transportation Tip: Use shuttles to save on pricey and competitive parking.

9. Maximizing Rental and Equipment Savings

• [36:38]
• Craig: Rent off-mountain for lower prices and potential discounts on tickets; some shops deliver to you.
• Be Cautious: Airlines treat ski/snowboard bags as regular checked bags, but don’t overpack or risk extra fees/damage.

10. Comparing U.S. and European Skiing

• [40:38]
• Meghan: Skiing in Europe (e.g., French Alps) is far cheaper; one ticket covers vast mountain areas, better food, vibrant après ski culture.
• Sally: More supply (4000+ resorts in Europe) keeps costs and crowds more manageable.

11. Non-Ski Activities & Family Fun

• [43:36]
• Options abound: tubing, snowshoeing, ice skating, or simply lounging by the fire.
• Sally: Tubing at Wildside Tahoe is $45/adult and includes all equipment.
• Meghan: Outdoor ice skating offers beautiful vistas and breaks up ski fatigue.
• Craig: Ski-ins/ski-outs like Hyatt Everline at Palisades offer access to extra activities, including hot tubs to recover in style.

12. Best Credit Cards for Ski Trips

• [45:52]
• Consider general travel or rewards cards like Capital One Venture X or Bilt, which earn 2x everywhere and may offer travel protections, bag fee waivers, and more.
• Be wary of how purchases are coded (entertainment/sporting goods/etc) for max rewards.
• Always use cards with travel insurance benefits for weather or delay contingencies.
  • Notable Quote:

  “Pretty soon there’s going to be an exclusive massive Capital One lounge in a ski resort. I’m calling it.” – Sally [47:56]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “It is super Easy to spend $300 or more just on lift ticket and rentals.” – Sally [01:10]
• “If you don’t go in with a plan, you kind of do [bust your budget].” – Sally [01:10]
• “It is way cheaper to [sit in the lodge and drink hot chocolate].” – Sally [44:11]
• “Just think of it as a rope drop. Sally, next time you go skiing, you got a rope drop.” – Meghan [23:04]
• “Megan, buy your own skis.” – Sally [15:31]
• “My family has six people in it. I grabbed six of those tiny little boxes of cereal, and we donated it. And we all got $35 [tickets].” – Meghan [26:00]
• “The time incurred just to rent skis and then you have to return them... is too stressful...” – Sally [15:47]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:34] Marriott’s free night certificate news & points strategy
• [06:39] Airline fuel surcharges & booking tips
• [08:29] Ikon/Epic ski passes—timing and new discounts
• [14:23] Real costs of lift tickets, rentals, and when to buy/bring gear
• [17:01, 28:08] Season pass versus day ticket—pros, cons, break-even math
• [20:01, 21:37] Beating crowds: weekends vs weekdays, best times to ski
• [23:10] Credit card perks & rental/car fee strategies
• [32:53] Hotel savings: using points, free nights, and transportation
• [36:38] How and where to rent gear cheaply
• [40:38] Skiing in Europe versus U.S.—costs, culture, lift ticket value
• [43:36] Non-ski activities: tubing, ice skating, après ski options
• [45:52] Best credit cards and loyalty programs for ski/flight expenses

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Conclusion

Ski vacations can be pricey, but stacked points, timely pass purchases, off-mountain rentals, and off-peak strategies can significantly reduce costs—and maximize fun. Don’t forget to leverage credit card perks for flights and checked bags, and consider non-ski activities for all members of your group. Whether you’re scoring a late-season pass, heading to Europe for a cheaper thrill, or just chilling with hot chocolate, this episode arms you with plenty of tactics to make your winter escape epic and affordable.

Transcript

[A]

This episode is sponsored by Rakuten.

[B]

The key to earning points and miles for travel is to stack your rewards. You won't earn everything with just a credit card.

[A]

We love a good stack and that is where Rakuten comes in. You probably already know Rakuten for cash back on things like fashion, beauty, electronics, even groceries.

[B]

But here's the part we love. You can earn cash back on all sorts of travel purchases too.

[A]

We are talking flights, hotels, car rentals, book through your favorite travel sites like Expedia, booking.com, vrbo, hotels.com, iHG Viador. I could go on forever.

[B]

You can even earn on cruises, vacation packages and experiences. So yes, that artisan cheese tour inside a cave in Spain, that counts.

[A]

Wait, tell me about this artisan cheese tour. I need to go on it. But don't worry, Megan. You can earn Rakuten cash back on top of your credit card points and many loyalty programs because we know you're maximizing every dollar.

[B]

So. So go ahead, plan the trip.

[A]

Join for [e-mail] or download the app that is R a K u T E n Rakuten.

[B]

A Smarter way to travel and Earn Sally why does it feel like I bust my annual vacation budget on one ski trip?

[A]

Megan because if you don't go in with a plan, you kind of do. It is super Easy to spend $300 or more just on the lift ticket in rentals.

[B]

And that's before parking and tater tots. And maybe some spiked hot chocolate at the end.

[A]

Yo, Megan, that hot chocolate will probably cost you 28 dol.

[B]

Today's episode is how to save on ski or snowboarding trips. Even if you don't actually ski or snowboard. We've got tips on saving on mountain vacations and other activities, like my favorite, ice skating. Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools and tactics to maximize your travel dollars. I'm Megan Coyle.

[A]

And I'm Sally French.

[B]

And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip.

[A]

That trip might be a ski trip,

[B]

and yes, it seems crazy to be talking about this in March, but this is actually the best time to lock in discounts for your trip next winter. That's probably what our colleague Craig Joseph will be doing because he has a broken hand right now, but he will be back out on the slopes next season.

[A]

Craig will join us for our ski episode today. But before we get to Craig, our disclaimer, which is that we will talk about a few credit card companies that are nerdwallet partners in this episode that does not influence how we discuss them. The benefits, terms and fees mentioned were accurate at the time of posting. But things can change. Some offers may have expired by the time you're listening, so for the latest details, follow the links in the episode description.

[B]

Sally, let's start with some of the Marriott news you covered last week that we should talk about.

[A]

Yes, Marriott just made its free night certificates a little bit more flexible. So now Marriott members can add up to 25,000 points to top off their free night certificates. That is up from the old 15,000 point limit.

[B]

This has always been my problem with free night certificates. These are free nights that you usually earn through a hotel credit card. And and Marriott's free night certificates come with a cap. So either 35,000 points, 50,000 points or 85,000 points, depending on which card you have and how you earned it. And if you're not familiar with Marriott's dynamic pricing system, let's just say it's pretty difficult to find a property with a free night priced at 35,000 points or less. Exactly.

[A]

Yeah. So if you want to book a hotel that costs more than the certificate's value, Marriott does let you add points from your own account to make up the difference. The problem is, before you could only add up to 15,000 points. Now this allows you to book more properties because you can add up to 25,000 points. So let's say you had a 35,000 point free night certificate before, that meant you could only book hotels up to 50,000 points, which relative to how many hotels are in the Marriott property? Not a ton. Now you can book up to 60,000 point hotels.

[B]

Our colleague Craig, who will be on in a few minutes, also got some really interesting data on this from the hotel award search tool Gondola. And they found that this change of being able to add 25,000 points to any of the free night Certificates unlocks additional 733 properties that you could use those free night certificates at.

[A]

People might be wondering, how do I get one of these free night certificates? Many Marriott credit cards offer free night certificates of differing values. So for example, if you hold the Marriott Bonvoy boundless card, then each year you get a 35,000 point free night certificate. This card has a $95 annual fee. What I kind of think about this free night certificate is that it's kind of like a 35,000 point discount on a hotel that you could book up to. Now the new 60,000 point limit, according

[B]

to the data From Gondola, Those cardholders with 35,000 point free nights get access to 471 new properties because of this change. That's more new properties than any of the other cardholders with other value free night certificates get access to.

[A]

Of course though, this could change. So this is based on when Gondola pulled the data, but we have that bad word here on the show dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing means that points rates can change and typically they don't change to get lower, they typically change to get higher. So I do kind of wonder if this means that points rates are going to get higher.

[B]

We will be watching. All right, we should also mention there are a lot of increased welcome offers to go along with these Marriott changes. So if you're thinking, okay, now I want a card with a free night award, check out the list I keep up to date on the Nerd Wallet website. I'll put in the episode description. You can see what kinds of welcome offers are out there.

[A]

A lot of really good welcome offers have come up over the past week. So one of my favorites, you could possibly earn 200,000 Marriott Bonvoy points if you make $6,000 in purchases within the first six months of card membership when you are approved for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express card. That card does have, wait for it, a $650 annual fee, but it has a lot of good benefits. It comes with platinum status. There's an 85,000 dol 000 point free night award which you get each year of card membership. That award is much more valuable than of course a 35,000point free night award because you just get to book Bour properties.

[B]

And funny enough, if you're really into the free nights and don't need the elite status, you could earn three free night awards which are worth up to 50, 000 points if you spend 3, 000 within the first three months of account opening with a Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card. So that card only has a $95 annual fee and and it has like a two part signup bonus so you can earn an additional free night if you spend $4,000 in the first four months. That's another great option if maybe the brilliant card is not for you.

[A]

There is a link in the episode description to Megan's awesome article about all these increased offers.

[B]

Let's talk a bit about fuel surcharges. The conflict in the Middle east has led to rising oil prices and that could affect the price of your plane ticket. Some airlines have already announced price adjustments and increased fuel surcharges, including Scandinavian Airlines, Qantas and Air New Zealand.

[A]

Most notably is Cathay Pacific. They have nearly doubled the fuel charges for tickets purchased after today, which if you're listening, is March 18th.

[B]

For flights from North America to Hong Kong, for example, the surcharge jumps from about $73 in US dollars to around US$149. That's an extra $150 on top of what the airline is already charging for the base fare.

[A]

And while we love booking on points, sadly you can't really get away with that here because you typically have to pay those fuel charges even if you book flights with points or miles.

[B]

Cathay Pacific says it reevaluates fuel surcharges every month, so maybe there is hope that the prices could come back down when oil prices are down again as well.

[A]

We just did that listener questions episode and I've already gotten so many more listener questions with people wondering should they book their flights now before prices go further? Of course we do not have a crystal ball. If we did, we would not be here working at Nerd Wallet. But my advice is that I would always say book something refundable. Book with an airline that you fly regularly. So that way if you cancel, typically you get a credit and it will be a credit with an airline that you will actually use.

[B]

Yeah, what I always recommend is lock in a price that you feel comfortable with and then if you do see the prices change later and they go down, you can always cancel and rebook the same ticket. As long as you buy main cabin and not basic economy. Because if you buy basic economy, usually you don't get any money back or flight credit if you cancel. But main cabin in higher, usually you'll at least get a flight credit and you can use it to rebook.

[A]

All right, switching gears over to skiing and snowboarding, we'll dig in deeper. All about skiing and snowboarding in this episode, but I did want to share some quick news very relevant to skiers that is that the icon pass for the 20262027 ski season went on sale last week. Like we said at the top of the show, this is the best time to buy ski passes ahead of next year because this is the lowest price you will find.

[B]

So the Icon Pass is one of the two biggest multi mountain season passes out there and for the 2026-2027 season, that pass is going to cost about 1300 US dollars. So that's a little bit of increase from last season's Price.

[A]

There are some additional discounts within that. For example, if you have a child's pass and you have purchased one adult icon pass, then you can save up to $100 on that child's pass.

[B]

They're also doing a new Squad pack, so I think this is sort of their answer to Epic Passes discounts for young people ages 13 to 30. The new squad pack from Icon is for people ages 23 to 28. So after college or maybe doing master's degrees or something like that. But each Pass is only $750 when one person buys five passes for the entire group. That would be great if your whole friend group wants to go skiing together,

[A]

so they're not trying to bring just one Gen Z to the mountain they want. Squad. There's also base pass and session pass options. If you don't need the full unlimited access, that's going to be a little cheaper, so it might be a better deal for you. Early spring access to some mountains, depending on the weather, starts as early as March 12.

[B]

There's also some new mountains on the Icon pass, including Snow River Mountain Resort in Michigan, Lutzen Mountains in Minnesota, and Granite Peak in Wisconsin. I really didn't even know there were mountains in the Midwest. So learn something new.

[A]

Oh my gosh, it's great skiing out there, Megan. We will bring Craig into the show. Let's get him set up because he has some great tips. He has some advice about the financial mistakes people make before they even step into their boots. That is up next after this.

[B]

Today's episode is sponsored by Clawd.

[A]

You know how people say we're basically your well traveled friends?

[B]

I mean, yeah, that's literally our whole thing.

[A]

Well, Claude is also kind of doing that. It's the AI from Anthropic. I'm a little threatened.

[B]

Should I be updating my resume?

[A]

Oh, hear me out. I asked Claude to help me figure out whether to use points or cash for my upcoming trip to Taiwan. And it didn't just say it depends like some kind of cowardly chatbot.

[B]

The it depends response is my villain origin story.

[A]

Well, with some prodding, Claude walked me through the map using actual redemption values. It asked me what card I had.

[B]

Okay, wait, that's what I do.

[A]

Then I asked it follow up questions. And then another question and it just kept going. No sign. No, as I mentioned before, no judgment.

[B]

And that's not all it can do for travelers.

[A]

It can figure out whether your credit card covers rental car insurance in a specific country, translate hotel cancellation policies from legal speak into Human. I could go on.

[B]

Find it at Claude AI.

[A]

There's a free version. And honestly, just start by asking something you would normally text me at 11pm

[B]

or the question you've been too embarrassed to ask us.

[A]

Nah, you can still send us any and all questions. Sure, ask Claude. But ask us too.

[B]

Ready to tackle bigger problems? Get started with Claude today at Claude AI SmartTravel.

[A]

That's Claude AI SmartTravel. And check out Clod Pro, which includes access to all of the features mentioned in Today's episode.

[B]

Claude AI SmartTravel.

[A]

This episode is sponsored by Rakuten.

[B]

The key to earning points and miles for travel is to stack your rewards. You won't earn everything with just a credit card.

[A]

We love a good stack and that is where Rakuten comes in. You probably already know Rakuten for cash back on things like fashion, beauty, electronics, even groceries.

[B]

But here's the part we love. You can earn cash back on all sorts of travel purchases too.

[A]

We are talking flights, hotels, car rentals. Book through your favorite travel sites like Expedia, booking.com, vrbo, hotels.com, iG Viador. I could go on forever.

[B]

You can even earn on cruises, vacation packages and experiences. So yes, that artisan cheese tour inside a cave in Spain, that counts.

[A]

Wait, tell me about this artisan cheese tour. I need to go on it. But don't worry, Megan. You can earn Rakuten cash back on top of your credit card points and many loyalty programs because we know you're maximizing every dollar.

[B]

So go ahead, plan the trip.

[A]

Join for [e-mail] or download the app that is R A K U T E N Rakuten.

[B]

A smarter way to travel and earn. Craig Joseph, welcome back to the show.

[C]

Hey Megan, Glad to be here.

[B]

So despite living part time in Florida, I think it's fair to say you love the mountains and tell us whether you ski or snowboard and where you like to travel to do that.

[C]

So I am a snowboarder and I love the mountains. So I got into it when I was in grad school in Oregon and in particular I really like volcanoes and my lab mate wanted to learn how to snowboard. He was from China. So we took a lesson at one of the resorts, small resorts outside of Eugene, Oregon, and I've been hooked ever since.

[A]

Wow. Did you go to University of Oregon?

[C]

I went to Oregon State.

[A]

Oh, Oregon State. All right.

[B]

Sally, what about you? Are you a skier or snowboarder?

[A]

I've never done snowboarding. I don't like the Idea of my feet being stuck to one board. But I. I'm a okay skier.

[B]

And are you mostly skiing in California?

[A]

Yes, I'm always going to Tahoe because I live in the Bay Area. I grew up in Orange county, so we went to Big Bear. I have not done an international ski trip. Megan, tell us about your ski experience or snowboarding.

[B]

Well, I grew up on the east coast, so I grew up skiing a lot of the local mountains there, like in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. And then I went to college in California. So I started skiing in Tahoe pretty regularly, probably at least once a year. And then, yeah, just last year, I decided to ski internationally for the first time, and I skied the French Alps.

[A]

I'm excited to talk about ticket prices internationally because the people tell me they're so much cheaper. So I think you really are the expert on this. We should talk about what ticket prices actually are, what you should expect to pay when you're going skiing. Because it's also not just lift tickets.

[B]

There's a lot that goes into it. I mean, I just went to Mammoth a couple weekends ago, and my lift ticket with a 50% discount was $125.

[A]

Whoa. So it's usually 250.

[B]

It's usually 250 on a Saturday.

[A]

How'd you get a 50 discount?

[B]

I got it through my friends Icon pass. Friends and family discount. They were doing a very special deal. Usually it's a 25 discount. I believe if you bought it within a certain time period, you could get 50% off. So that's how I got that.

[A]

Put a pin on this. We're going to talk about those Icon passes later and how they can be a great deal.

[B]

And I want to mention that I also had to rent skis. I don't own my own. So my skis and helmet and all that was $85 for one day at Mammoth. So I think if you're going to some of these bigger mountains, like in Colorado or California, you can very reasonably expect to pay $200 per day just for the rentals and the Lyft tickets.

[A]

Megan, you gotta buy your own skis.

[B]

I know. I know. I need to, but I honestly, I hate carrying them around. I feel like this is where everyone figures out that I'm actually not a great skier because I look crazy when I carry them around. Like I'm like a newborn deer on ice, you know?

[A]

Okay, so I have a hot take. If you are in a place where you are driving distance to the mountain, you gotta buy your own skis. I understand not wanting to check skis and we'll talk about that later, is can be a giant pain. But the time incurred just to rent skis and then you have to return them by 4pm on Sunday or whatever the rule is, is too stressful that the cost and then the cost of the time. Megan, buy your own skis.

[B]

Okay, Okay, I will.

[A]

Okay, Craig, tell us how much do you spend on ski tickets?

[C]

Oh, I spend way too much. Buy my own gear. Probably refresh my gear more than I need to. I have recently started within the last couple of years not checking my own snowboard and my own gear and renting when I get to my destination. And that allows me to try out new gear. You know, the board shop is usually stocked with the newest products from that model year, so you can try out new boards and then at the end of the year they generally have sales and they sell those boards so you can get them at a discount. So it gives me a way to test out different things and see what I'm looking for before I drop a few hundred bucks on a new board each season.

[A]

Megan, I think this means this is your time to buy a new set of skis because this is the end of season.

[B]

Yeah. And I need to learn how to take care of them. I need to learn how to wax them myself. Yeah, there's a lot. This is going to be a multi step process for me.

[A]

So you mentioned your friend had a ski pass. There are epic passes, there are icon passes. Those are the two major ones. These passes are a huge revenue driver for the ski resorts. The Wall Street Journal reported that Vail brings in. Are you guys ready for this? Vail brings in almost a billion dollars in revenue before the season even starts based on their epic pass.

[B]

That's right. They've completely changed the model of ski resorts because now these ski resorts are able to kind of secure the revenue before the season even has any snow. Right. So maybe you buy a ski pass for the whole year and then it doesn't snow very much. And so now you've spent a thousand dollars on a pass and you might have to spend a little bit more to travel to other ski resorts that did get snow. So these are really interesting. I think they have pushed up the prices in some ways and then also made it more affordable for some people to go. If you can afford the passenger, they can go more often because they can have this unlimited skiing or snowboarding for a whole season.

[A]

So they're really betting on you buying in. And then if the weather's horrible, and you can't ever use it. Then they got the money. There's. There's no bad weather refund.

[B]

Right. And something Craig and I were talking about a while ago is that also because of these passes, people want to, you know, buy into a pass that has a lot of ski resorts in it. Right? You want the most choice. And then that's kind of led to just a few companies buying up a lot of ski resorts.

[A]

This reminds me of the uptick of memberships for everything. People got their memberships for their gym classes, and then of course, we have the memberships to these airport lounge programs. And then now it's just membership to go skiing.

[C]

It's sort of like bundled fares or like paying an annual fee for a credit card or something. Like you get all these benefits up front, and then maybe you can eat away at that upfront cost by using those benefits. But I would guess that a lot of people don't take advantage of all of these buddy passes and discounts and all the things that come with that lift ticket that they're really paying for. When you buy a season pass, one

[A]

of the benefits that I think you can get out of buying the season pass is that you are paying the one upfront price. But when someone is faced with dynamic pricing, which we see more often, if you want to ski during Christmas weekend, you're going to pay way more than the people who are skiing on a Tuesday. But with these passes, you can ski on Christmas weekend, is that correct?

[B]

Not exactly. A lot of passes have blackout dates. And so with the season passes, you still might not be able to ski on the busiest and most expensive days. But honestly, if you have access to a mountain for the entire season, you probably won't even want to go on

[A]

those super busy days or not going

[C]

on Christmas, there's nothing worse than standing in line in a cold blizzard, right, With a bunch of other people that are just there and, like, just surviving because it's the weekend and it's the only day of the week that they can get out there. Right?

[A]

Okay, so funny you say that. So I want to ask you guys as the ski pros, how do crowds factor in when you decide to go skiing?

[B]

I personally do not try to ski on the weekends. That mammoth Saturday trip was an exception because that was the only time we had to go. But if you can ski on a weekday, it is so much better. It's often 50% or more less crowded.

[A]

Megan, how do you ski on a weekday? I thought you're working for Nerd wallet.

[B]

You take nine to five, you take some pto. And skiing on a weekday I think is just a better experience. Something that I've heard from people is like, oh, I'm a beginner. Like, I just want to, you know, try it out for one day, try it out on a weekday. I know it sounds like a big commitment to take a day off to try something new, but you will have a much better experience. I think the thing that beginners get wrong about skiing and snowboarding is that they're scared of bigger mountains. They're scared of going on a weekday, like doing things that seem like serious skiers or snowboarders do. But actually when it's less crowded, I think there's less risk of running into a ton of people wasting your money when, as Craig said, you might be just like waiting in line for lifts, things like that. So I would not be afraid to take a day off.

[A]

So you're saying if I'm a noob skier, I want an empty mountain, it's better for me to not go during the busy time. I don't want to pull a Gwyneth Paltrow and ski right into someone.

[C]

Uh, yeah, I try to avoid the busy times. I, I, similar to Megan, I love riding during the week. If I do go on the weekends, I tend to be there right when the lifts start turning. So I can get as many runs in as possible and then get off the mountain as the sleep in crowd rolls in and I can just kind of get away from them.

[A]

So you two seem like weekday skiers, but I'm gonna offer a hot takeoff right early off the bat. My hot takeoff is I do think the weekends can sometimes give you more for your money, and that is the weekends offer longer hours. So for example, I love skiing at Mount Rose in Tahoe. They just announced that they brought back their open late schedule, so they extended their hours from the standard 4pm lift time to now they close at 5:30, but only on Fridays and Saturdays. And then after daylight savings, which just happened in early March, they pushed it even further, so they closed at 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Is more for your money. So longer lines, but you get get an extra two hours from if you were to go during the weekday.

[B]

You'll want to be careful, Sally, though, because the snow at the end of the day is not as good. Right. Like they groom the ski resorts overnight. And so again, if you're a beginner and you're looking at this going like, oh, great, I can go until 6pm I mean, 4 to 6pm Is kind of tough hours to be skiing or snowboarding because there's a lot of moguls, there's a lot of bumps. It might be icy, depending on the weather. So you do want to keep that in mind if you are planning on staying later and skiing into the evening.

[C]

That's especially true for if you're, if you're trying to get powder because all the powder is tracked out by the end of the day, Right. So unless it was actively snowing throughout the day, then you're probably going to be pretty tracked out and not having quite as good of a time as you would have earlier in the morning.

[A]

Y', all, I'm such a noob skier that I can't even tell the difference in snow quality. It's just all. It's all snow.

[B]

Just think of it as a rope drop. Sally, next time you go skiing, you got a rope drop the first in the morning. All right?

[A]

Okay. So we talked about best times to go. What are the ways that you guys save money on lift tickets and rentals?

[C]

For me, there's a variety of ways. One is having the right credit card, so you can often get discounts on lift tickets through programs, for example, with Chase. So last year you could buy daily passes to a variety of resorts because Chase partners with Altera, which is one of the big ski conglomerates now. So you get 20% off, 30% off depending on the day at these different resorts. And you could also use points, so you could actually redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards for lift tickets. It's not the best value. You only get $0.01 per point for the Lyft ticket, but it's a good way to put money back into your pocket for what's probably going to be a pretty expensive day or expensive trip. Some of the other ways that I save money are by having the right airline credit card. So I travel a lot when I ski and I don't want to pay check bag fees. So I can save 30 or 40 bucks when I use, say, my American airline card and fly on American to get to my destination and check my bag.

[B]

I also use the Buddy passes, like I said, from a season pass holder. If you.

[A]

So do you give your friend who has the season pass some sort of kickback for using her Buddy pass?

[B]

No. She is just so happy to have other people to go skiing with that she will hand them out. My other tips are buying day passes from Epic or Icon, those two big companies that could be cheaper than buying lift tickets that are bought directly from the mountain, especially if you're only going to go one or two days getting those day passes from Epic or Icon that you can use anywhere. Even if you just plan on going to one mountain, that could be cheaper. And then also look for local offers. So it goes both ways, right? You can either look at these big companies, or you can look at local offers. Like, some ski resorts have kids ski free deals. And I found out that some states even have kind of like a pass for kids to ski at a bunch of different resorts in their state. So, for example, Ski Vermont offers a fifth grade passport. So it's sort of like the national parks, like fourth grade deal, where fourth graders can get a free annual pass to national parks. In Vermont, if you have a fifth grader, they can ski for only $35. And this pass gives you a bunch of vouchers that you can use at a bunch of different resorts in Vermont, and you can get up to 90 days of skiing for $35. That's really good.

[A]

Well, that's how they get the parents in to pay full price.

[B]

Exactly.

[C]

And it gets the kid hooked so that when they're older, then they buy the pass.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Good time to learn, you know what I mean? And then also, I have a quick story about one time skiing in West Virginia at kind of a local family resort. And they were doing a deal. As soon as we walked up to the ticket office to buy our lift tickets for the day, they were like, oh, you know, today, if you donate some food, we'll give you a lift ticket for $35.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

And, you know, a lift ticket at this resort, I think is closer to 75, 80, you know, almost a hundred dollars. And we were like, oh, man, do we have any food to donate? And my mom was like, like, wait, we snagged those little boxes of cereal from the hotel buffet this morning. Megan, run back to the car right now. So, you know, I'm hustling out there, and I grab. My family has six people in it. I grabbed six of those tiny little boxes of cereal, and we donated it. And we all got 35.

[A]

Thank you, Hyatt Place for the cereal. Wow.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Okay, now, I know you guys said you want to go in the morning to get the fragrance Crush Pow. But when I go skiing with my friends, they are partying out late, and they are rolling into the ski resort so late. I do want to throw out there that many ski resorts will offer discounted tickets if you do ski late. Don't overlook that, because sometimes ski vacations, you do Want to sleep in? For example, I said Mount Rose. They offer discounts on Friday and Saturday after 12pm so enjoy your morning and then save money by going late.

[B]

Okay. And then I think we should talk about, we've been talking a lot about season passes versus these day tickets. Let's go over like some of the pros and cons of getting a season pass versus a day ticket. Craig, do any come to mind for you right off the bat?

[C]

You know, some of the pros are that you can get discounts on food and beverages and, and other vendors throughout the mountain. So if you buy an Icon Pass or an EPIC pass, you often get like 10 or 15% discount on, on lessons, sometime on LOD, on gear rentals, on gear demos. So there are ancillary benefits that go along with it. But along with that you're also getting some disadvantages. Like if you don't buy the full blown Epic or Icon pass, which I think this year it was like $1,000 or just over did not have any blackout dates, then you're probably not going to be able to ski on holidays or busy weekends because your pass is blacked out. And they're only letting people onto the mountain that are buying day passes. So it all depends on what your location is and how much you want to be inconvenienced once you actually pay that upfront.

[B]

That I think about it, that is both a pro and a con, is that these passes allow you to ski at a bunch of different ski resorts and some of them are all over the world. So I know some people who have taken that as an opportunity to say, hey, I do want to go to Japan and I can actually ski as part of my pass there. So it's kind of like an incentive for them to explore a new place and travel, which, you know, we all love. But at the same time, it is like there's only this certain list of ski resorts that you can use these passes at. And let's say your friends are going to a nearby mountain that's not on your season pass. Are you going to be like, oh, I'm gonna pay extra when I've already paid a thousand dollars for the season pass to go to an, you know, kind of out of network ski resort. I don't know. That's gonna be a tough decision.

[A]

Yeah, I feel so bad when I've paid for these membership programs. And it's not just ski resorts. I have the AMC Movie Pack pass. And then when my friends want to go to Alamo Drafthouse, I'm like no I can't because I get quote free movies at amc. And the logic totally applies to ski, especially because ski is so expensive.

[C]

I think you really need to just do the math. Figure out your break even point. Like if that season pass is going to cost 1000 bucks or it's $100 per day, you need to go 10 times just to break even. Right? So if you are okay with all of those restrictions and potential cons like blackout dates, yeah, go ahead and buy the pass. But if you want more flexibility, then stick with daily lift tickets.

[B]

We're back in a minute. Stay tuned.

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[A]

So we were talking about the pass and how the benefits of selling these passes is that they lock in people who might not necessarily know what the weather is like and get them to buy now. Which means now is the best time to buy passes for the ski season. In the 2026-2027 ski season, what should people know if they are buying passes this month?

[C]

So this is the best time of year in March to buy one of those yearly passes to either Epic or Icon resorts, you can usually get about a 10 to 15% discount relative to what you'll find any other time throughout the year. Like I looked last December and compared pricing and I think I paid something like 20% more for my multi day pass than if I would have just preemptively bought it last March. So you can save money. You're just getting locked into a lack of certainty with ski conditions and then of course the locations that are only accessible through what's available on the pass.

[B]

That's a good thing to point out. So passes go on sale this month in March and then they kind of stop selling passes in December. So you kind of have three quarters of a year to think about whether or not you want to do a season pass. Maybe start planning some trips with your friends. And also if you get a pass this month, you might possibly be able to get Some spring skiing in that's part of this season. So the 25 to 26 season, if you buy a pass in March, maybe in April, if there's still snow on the mountains, you might be able to use your 26 to 27 pass for skiing in April, get that shoulder season

[A]

in, and then hopefully you get cheaper lodging as well when you're skiing. So then if you buy the pass now in March, is it good through next March? When does it expire?

[B]

It's good through the end of next season. So it depends how long there's snow on the mountains, but usually that's like April of, of 2027.

[C]

Speaking of snow on the mountains, how's it looking out west right now? I know it was a pretty slow start to the year.

[B]

It was so slow. I went to Mammoth just the weekend before. They got like 24 inches of snow or something like that. So I actually was just hanging out with my sister in law and she was saying that there's tons of snow out in California now and they had a great time. They skied all week and no complaints about the conditions.

[A]

So skiing is obviously so expensive with the lift tickets, with the ski rent. But so many people forget all the other costs that go into skiing, which add up so much more. What other expenses do you think people overlook?

[C]

The gear is so expensive, the dining, the drinking, the apres ski, the car rentals, the parking. There's so many ancillary costs that go into this. You really need to come up with a budget. And like I use spreadsheets for everything, so I itemize what my expected costs are before I go on a trip. One of my favorite ways to save money when I travel to ski is to get a hotel room with a kitchenette so I can go to the grocery store right when I arrive and then make my own food at night. And you're not stuck paying for a $30, $40 hamburger or whatever it would cost if you're on the mountain.

[B]

Craig, you should also talk about how to stay at places on points because I feel like you're so good at this.

[C]

That's my jam. Yeah, I love using points to book flights and hotels to go skiing. So in December, used points to stay at the Hyatt Centric at the base of Park City. Mountain and Park City. There are plenty of other really, really solid uses for hotel points that get you close to the mountain. You can do this in Steamboat Springs, Park City, as I mentioned, or just a variety of places, like if you don't want to actually Be on the mountain. There are so many hotel options that are cheaper, say in Salt Lake City that give you direct access up the mountains. You can use shuttles instead of a rental car. But my favorite way to use hotel points when I travel to ski is to take advantage of the fourth or fifth night free benefits that come with a lot of award programs. So for example, with Hilton, if I use points to stay for four night, I get a fifth night free. And I don't have to pay for resort fees, which is the 50 or $60 that properties tack on at the end of the stay per night for things like Wi fi and pool maintenance and other things that you think should probably already be included. So you can really save a bunch of money by using points to hit the slopes.

[B]

The hot tub. Oh my gosh. I always try to book a place to stay near the slopes that has a hot tub and then I'm like, oh no, the resort fee is $45. Great, great.

[C]

Yeah, you're basically paying for access to that hot tub to deth thaw at the end of your day. Right.

[B]

But it's worth it. It's so worth it.

[C]

Definitely worth it.

[B]

I do a lot of those same strategies. I want to shout out taking the shuttle to the mountain instead of parking there.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

A lot of ski towns, you know, they're not huge places and there might not be a ton of availability or options that are ski and ski out where you're literally right on the mountain. So if you are a little bit further away, you know, you often have to drive to the base of the mountain. And parking can be very expensive. I think at Mammoth, the preferred parking was $44. And to get the free parking, I have no idea what time everyone was getting there because at 7am it was already full for free parking. So I started using the shuttle a lot on the mountain there. And I found it to be super easy. The shuttle came every 15 minutes. There were a ton of different stops. Stops. And I was able to get to the base of the mountain within, I would say 10 minutes because we really weren't staying very far and it doesn't take very long to pick up people. So that was my favorite. And especially when you're traveling with a group, then we had a lot of flexibility to leave whenever we wanted to.

[A]

You know, I hate driving, so I also fully endorse the shuttle. I also fully endorse carpooling. And something that I've seen more recently is incentives to carpool. I love Palisades. I was just there it's the biggest. It's the best ski resort in Tahoe, I'm willing to say it. Their park parking is $30 a day, but new for this year, they started running this promotion where if you have four or more people in your car, not only do they give you free parking, they also give you a 20 resort voucher, which I know is enough for like one hot chocolate. But that's. Isn't that a great incentive to carpool and get so many people off the roads? Because Tahoe, I am saying it has gotten so crowded. So I love that Palisades is offering this incentive to carpool.

[B]

Oh, I love that. That's such a great idea. We should talk about also how to get the equipment because that is part of the calculus of whether or parking or taking the shuttle or maybe even just walking if you're close enough. If you have ski or snowboard equipment, then you may want to take a shuttle or park instead of finding your own way. Maybe Ubering. I don't know if people actually do that. How do you guys save on renting skis or. Of course, Sally, we know you bought your skis.

[C]

Yeah. If you have an annual pass and oftentimes you'll get discounts on rentals. You know, other ways to do that are to rent your gear off of the mountain. So there are lots of gear shops that operate 10, 15, 20 minutes away or in the next close city. And you can either pick up your gear and have it ready to go and then you take it up to the mountain or oftentimes they'll actually have a delivery service. So I did this last time. I was in Salt Lake City and went to Solitude Mountain and there was an outdoor store at the base of Cottonwood Canyon and I got gear there. It was $40 less per day. It was end of season, granted, but it was $40 less per day for all of my gear than it would have been if I was up at the mountain. They delivered it for me and I was also able to get a discounted lift ticket for the day because they had a deal going on with Sausage Solitude, where if you bought two day passes through them, then you'd save like 10%. So I got discounts all over the place just for planning a little bit earlier and inconvenienced a little bit because, you know, you don't want to necessarily show up to the ski resort and not have your gear with you. That's like my personal nightmare is thinking that I'm showing up and I have all my stuff and then all of a sudden, like your bindings are wrong or like you forgot your gloves or something. But it's a great way to save money.

[B]

Oh man, I feel called out. I definitely have forgotten my gloves and had to buy $60 gloves. Little gift shop at the resort now.

[A]

Craig, yay or nay on flying whiskeys.

[C]

I love having my own gear. And this goes into what you just said, like, love having my own snowboard. I like waxing it, like tuning it at the beginning of every season, you know, singing sweet lullabies to it so it'll treat me right throughout the season. So I personally travel with my snowboard most of the time now when I travel to go to the mountains. But I completely understand, like, if you're only going to be on the mountains a few days out of the year and you don't have a ton of space in your apartment or whatever, like, there's a lot of insane incentive to rent. And part of that is that you get the newest and freshest gear at most of these rental shops. But for me personally, I always have an airline credit card that'll cover the cost of the baggage fee because with almost all of the major airlines, skis and snowboard bags fall into the standard size checked bag. So you're not paying for oversized bag fees. However, you have to be careful because you can't pack excess gear into those bags. So almost every major airline allows you to have have either your snowboard or your skis and then a boot bag. But if you put in your snow pants and your gloves and jacket, all the extra stuff that isn't actually your actual ski equipment, then they'll oftentimes charge you more for that oversized bag fee.

[A]

Don't stuff all your stuff in there then.

[B]

Are you ever worried that it's going to get lost or damaged?

[C]

Yeah, but that's why I have the right credit card to cover it if the airline damages the bag or damages your equipment. And beyond that, I always have at a little airport. I was flying out of Asheville and I was flying into Reno and the flight was at some ungodly hour. It was like 5:30 in the morning. And I show up, I want to check my bag. And this is before I knew that I couldn't have my snow bibs and my jacket and all that stuffed into it because I figured it's just another bag, right? And they made me actually take all of that extra gear out of the snowboard bag and I had to throw away other clothes or actually just gave them to somebody that was working there and asked them to do something with them. I assume they threw them away. But I, I, I was forced at 5:30 in the morning to like reorganize my whole life because I didn't understand that rule. So keep that in mind if you plan to check ski equipment.

[A]

Now, Megan, I want to talk about Europe because I know you flew to France to ski last year and you said it was way cheaper than in

[B]

the US it was crazy cheap. I flew to France on points as well, so I didn't pay a lot for the flights. I think it was like, yeah, less than $100 in taxes and fees. And then I skied at Le Teen, which is in the French Alps, and it's connected to a bunch of different resorts there. So for one lift ticket price, I was able to ski, I would say the equivalent of like four or five resorts in the U.S. just imagine if they were all connected. You could ski at all the Tahoe resorts in North Lake Tahoe under one ski ticket. I did that for three days and I think was it, it was the cost of one day in the US Especially like at a California ski mountain. The mountain was huge. There were literally, I think, over a hundred runs you could do. And that means that there's not only tons of blacks and double blacks, that kind of thing. They actually use a different grading system there. They have a red instead of blue black. And there was something for everyone. I think there was like at least 20 greens or something like that. So I thought it was a great way to, to appease everyone. We went with a huge group of 20 people and everyone found something to love on this mountain, including, even if you don't love skiing or snowboarding, they have a club on the mountain. This is where I experienced the real apres ski culture in Europe where there's a DJ and everyone is partying and drinking and you're literally on the mountain and you can get to it from the bottom. You can take a gondola up to just go to this club in the middle of the mountain. But a lot of us skied there and we had the best time. It closed at, I believe the mountain closed at 5. So that meant that everyone really had to leave and pack up and go home at like 4, 4:30. And so I remember just skiing all morning, having lunch on the mountain and the food was really good and then going to apres for an hour or two, skiing back, and you were home at five. It was incredible. I loved it.

[A]

I think the reason for this is because just so many more ski resorts in Europe. So There are about 500 ski resorts in the US in Europe, which is similar in land area. There are almost 4,000 ski resorts. Just so much more supply. If you're listening to this, maybe you got to build a new ski resort in the US because the ski resorts we have are so crowded and so expensive.

[B]

This one, it just felt like everyone was working together to create this incredible ski experience. And. And it didn't feel so much like even though there was more like they weren't so much in competition, if that makes sense. Everything was connected and it was a very seamless experience. The shuttles go to all these different mountains and yeah, I could probably spend weeks out there and still not have skied the whole thing.

[A]

All right, so you mentioned people who don't necessarily want to go skiing, who are on that ski trip with the 20 people and they don't want to not participate. So what can people do as part of a ski trip if they are not a skier or snowboarder?

[C]

Most resorts and most ski areas have other options. If you don't want to get on skis or snowboards, you can go tubing, you can go snowshoeing, you can just sit by the fire and drink hot chocolate if you want. There's just a ton of different things that you can do once you're there. So for example, my mom, she keeps trying to come with me or keeps suggesting that she wants to join me on one of these trips and just sit in the lodge and drink hot chocolate and read a book.

[A]

It is way cheaper to do that as well. We talked about the cost of skiing, but even a lot of other outdoor activities can be a lot cheaper. I have become a recent fan of this place called Wild Slide Tahoe, which is tubing. It just opened at the end of 2025 for a two hour session, which is really all you want. It's $35 for kids, it is $45 for adults, which feels so reasonable to me. That includes the tube that you would actually use. They have a conveyor belt that gets you up to the top of the hill and you could just slide back to add down $45 for tons of good fun. I often love to replace a ski day, save the money and do something like tubing, especially at Wildside Tahoe. I love it.

[B]

Mine is similar. I love ice skating because I was a competitive ice skater growing up. So again, that's usually around anywhere from 20 to $30, especially if you have to rent ice skates. But it can be beautiful at these mountains. Like, a lot of them have outdoor ranks. I have a favorite one in Tahoe, actually, that's outdoor. And I find that it's just a really good break from skiing. Like, you're not going downhill or like going very fast, but a lot of the same movements and just another way to enjoy being outdoors.

[C]

Speaking of Sally's favorite place, Palisades. I was staying at the Hyatt Ever line at the base of Palisades, which has ski in, ski out there. One of my favorite places. Favorite ski in ski out resorts anywhere in the country. But they have an ice rink right there. And I hadn't been ice skating since I was. So after, you know, I think I got in three or four runs on the mountain, called it quits. I went back and went ice skating and then hopped in the hot tub afterwards. It was really fun.

[B]

Oh, I love that. I love when people rediscover ice skating, especially after the Olympics this year. I'm hoping to see everyone out on the ice soon.

[A]

All right, it is time for a listener question. We have one that is very on topic with the theme of this episode. So, Craig, I'm glad you're here to help us answer it. This listener is named Sandy, and Sandy wants to know what is the best credit card for skiing either in the US or international?

[B]

Craig, what are your thoughts?

[C]

So this could go a lot of different ways because there isn't really one credit card that's geared at skiers. But there are more general rewards cards like the Capital One Saver cash rewards card that gives you three points back on entertainment purchases. So if you have a card that codes as entertainment when you use it, you can get bonus rewards that way. For me personally, I'll be using my Built Palladium card that I just got, and I get two points point for every purchase that I make. I don't have to track reward categories. Plus I get extra built cash with every transaction.

[A]

Oh, no. I'm talking to two giant built fans on this show. No, I totally hear you on getting two points per dollar versus Built. Y' all know my feelings on Built. I don't want to mess around with the build cash and all of that. So there are other cards you can get that earn at least 2 miles per dollar on everything. I'm thinking about something like the Capital One Venture X rewards card. Megan, I know you love their lounges anyway. That's a great one. That way you can earn rewards on all your purchases. You don' to worry about how it codes. Because sometimes you might have a card that codes as entertainment and you might think if I buy directly from the ski resort, it codes as entertainment. But maybe you bought that ski pass from your local sporting goods store, in which case it might not code as entertainment. It can be really difficult to know. So I do like something Craig, to your point, something like a palladium that earns 2x. If you don't want to mess around with build capital One Venture X is is my pick.

[B]

And don't forget that a lot of travel cards can help you in case of flight canc delays. I think those things are kind of a higher risk when you're going skiing or snowboarding because there might be weather involved at your destination. So I would also recommend booking with a credit card that has some travel protections in case you get caught in some nasty weather.

[C]

And that card might also cover your damaged skis if you check your bag.

[A]

I'm just waiting for that card. That is the ultimate ski credit card. And it's going to be some bougie coupon book that gets you some sort of epic or icon pass, some sort of discounts on boot rentals. Pretty soon there's going to be an exclusive massive Capital one lounge in a ski resort. I'm calling it. They haven't announced it, but I feel like that could happen 10 years from now.

[B]

I'm sure it's coming. Craig, thank you so much for joining us on this episode.

[C]

Yeah, it was my pleasure. Always pleasure talking with you and make

[B]

sure to follow Smart Travel on your favorite podcast app including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and iHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes. If you're listening in Spotify, you can actually drop us a comment right in the app. Tell us where you're going so skiing

[A]

and tell us what you think about this show. You can always leave a comment about the show and you can always give us a five star review is certainly welcome.

[B]

This episode was produced by Tess Vilin and edited by Nick Kismi, Claire Soci and Hillary. Georgie helped with fact checking and our disclaimer.

[A]

We are not financial nor investment advisers. This info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes. It may not apply to your specific circumstances.

[B]

We hope you're inspired to keep your passport full and your wallet even fuller. Thanks everyone. We'll see you next time. Spring just slid into your DMs. Grab that boho look for that rooftop dinner, those sandals that can keep up with you and hang some string lights to give your patio a glow up. Spring's calling Ross work your magic.