Every year snow season rolls around and I get the same messages. How do you make it work. Isn’t it insanely expensive. Is it actually worth it with everything else going on. So this year, for my birthday, we packed the snowboard, flew down to Victoria and spent a few days chasing powder at Mount Hotham and Falls Creek, and I kept track of absolutely everything. What we spent, what we saved, and exactly where the money went. Grab a coffee, this one’s a proper breakdown. Now this was our first time to this area, but we are no strangers to a snow trip, so I have lots of ideas for you… read on.
We flew Qantas Business Class out of Brisbane, and the entire flight was covered on points transferred over from our Amex Explorer card. Zero dollars spent on airfares, which still feels like a small miracle every time I say it out loud. We started the trip in the Brisbane domestic lounge, which was such a nice way to ease into a holiday, and the seats on board were genuinely lovely and comfortable. Breakfast and a mimosa at altitude, plus enough baggage allowance that we didn’t pay a cent extra to check the snowboard. If you’re not already transferring points across for flights like this, it is worth looking into. It completely changes the way a trip like this feels from the very first hour.
From there we picked up our hire car with Hertz at Albury Airport, and I have to say, it might be the easiest pickup I’ve ever had. You genuinely just walk across the car park and you’re in your car. No queues, no waiting around with bags. This leg of the trip was a collaboration with Hertz, but the process itself was so smooth I’d be booking with them again regardless.
Bright makes a brilliant base if you’re splitting your time between resorts. It’s about an hour and ten minutes from Albury, and then roughly another hour and ten minutes each way to reach either Hotham or Falls Creek, so keep that in mind when you’re planning your mornings, especially if you’ve got a lesson booked.
We booked an Airbnb in the middle of Bright, a two bedroom place that came to $1,200 for four nights. Here’s the bit I really want you to take away from this post though. I had originally booked accommodation up on the mountain at Falls Creek, and cancelling that in favour of staying in town saved us $2,400. Being based in Bright meant more flexibility, better food options in the evenings, and honestly a much nicer atmosphere to come back to after a big day in the snow.
One thing nobody tells you about parking. It’s $69 a day at both Hotham and Falls Creek, and it is not included in your lift pass. Budget for it separately, because it’s an easy thing to forget until you’re pulling up to the boom gate.
We use the Epic Australia Pass, which covers Perisher, Falls Creek and Hotham along with resorts overseas. It’s $1,435 per adult for the season, and on its own that number can feel like a lot to swallow upfront. But we use ours for a minimum of 21 days a year across our Australian and international snow trips, and once you do that math it works out to around $68 a day. Compare that to single day lift tickets at Mount Hotham, which start from $180 a day, and the pass very quickly pays for itself if snow trips are a regular thing for you.
On the mountain, lunch came to around $80 for the two of us, a meal and a drink each including alcohol. Mountain prices are mountain prices, there’s no getting around it, so it’s worth building into your budget rather than being caught off guard.
For breakfast we kept it simple and self-catered, picking up bread, eggs and a few snacks to have at the Airbnb each morning. It’s such an easy way to save money on a trip like this, and it meant we were properly fuelled before a big day on the mountain rather than rushing through a rushed cafe breakfast.
Dinners were where we let ourselves properly enjoy being away, eating out most nights in Bright for around $120 a night including drinks. If you’re heading to Bright, here’s where we’d point you.
Mimi’s, for beautiful Vietnamese food and easily one of our favourite meals of the trip.
And if you get a rest day, or the weather turns and you need an afternoon off the mountain, Sun Cinema Bright on Gavan Street is such a find. It’s a small, boutique cinema with genuinely comfy seats and such a warm, old school feel to it. A lovely, cosy way to spend an afternoon after a few big days in the snow.
A snow trip doesn’t have to mean blowing the budget. Fly on points where you can, stay in town rather than on the mountain if it makes financial sense, self-cater the meals that don’t need to be an event, and actually do the maths on your lift pass if you’re a regular. Small decisions like these are how we make trips like this happen without it feeling like a splurge every single time.
If you’ve got a snow trip on the cards this season, I hope this helps you plan it a little smarter. And if you make it to Bright, tell Mimi’s I sent you.
Enjoy!
This trip included a collaboration with Hertz for our car hire. As always, all opinions and recommendations are entirely my own.