New Online Sign Ups
New Online Sign Ups – June 25!
Your Club (TBSSB) has been hard at work getting ready for the coming season. Most of the details of each trip have been ironed out, plus we have worked with our tour operator (Sports America Tours) to set up and use an easy online trip registration system. It’s now ready to accept trip applications and deposits. We are anticipating a lot of demand for our trips, so don’t wait. Sign up as soon as you can. You may sign up and submit a deposit starting at:
Noon (EDT), Friday, June 25, 2021
The new online sign-up system will open at that time. We’re looking forward to seeing many of you again this season. If you have any questions or problems when trying to sign up, contact your trip leaders. If they are not available, call 800-876-8551 or email info@sportsamerica.com. To preview or register for a trip, go to our home page (http://tampabaysnowskiers.com), scroll down to the trip schedule, choose a trip to preview and click the trip name.
Back in the Snow……AGAIN!
NOTE: For all trips except Breckenridge, Zermatt, Holland, and Scotland - If you click a trip link before the noon opening on Friday, you should receive a message asking you for an early registration code (which you do not have unless you are a Trip Leader). Come back at or after noon on June 25 and you will not need a code to view or register for a trip, but you may have to hit the Refresh button on your browser to get the code requirement to disappear.
Are you wondering why Zermatt, Holland, and Scotland are already sold out? I did. It turns out that these three trips were cancelled at least once, if not twice. I wanted to get on the Holland trip, but the trip has been cancelled twice. It turns out that the original travelers paid the $1000 deposit two years ago, and they did not ask for their money back, so they remained signed up for that trip. Sorry about that.
Season Ski Passes
SEASON SKI PASSES - EPIC & IKON
IMPORTANT NEWS! Updated 5/4/2021
It’s not too early to start thinking about skiing/boarding next season. Your Club, Tampa Bay Snow Skiers & Boarders (TBSSB), is working hard planning the trip schedule for the coming ski season (2021-2022). Although the schedule is in a preliminary and tentative state, we can tell you that we will be offering several destinations to resorts at which you can use either an Epic pass or an Ikon pass. See our Preliminary Trip List on our website home page for destinations and which Pass may apply.
Ikon passes went on sale on March 11, 2021. Epic Passes went on sale March 23, 2021.
Both passes include numerous mountain resorts. If you purchase a full or base pass thru our tour operator (Sports America) then you will receive a special discount. This additional credit won’t apply to the three FSC trips because Sports America is not the tour operator for those trips, but if you buy the right pass it will still be useable on those trips.
The current prices for the Ikon pass are in effect via our link with Sports America but are increasing soon. The Ikon prices are increasing sooner if you go directly to the Ikon website. No date has been published for when the Epic pass prices will increase but it’s likely that will happen by the end of May.
Both passes typically have a couple or more price increases as we get closer to the ski season. However, the benefit of purchasing through Sports America will still be in effect. If you think you will be skiing/boarding at one or more of the many pass destinations, purchasing or renewing your pass before the first price increase will give you the best price available this year.
To purchase a pass through TBSSB and Sports America (which is the only way to receive the trip credit mentioned above), or simply to learn more about what resorts and restrictions apply to each pass type, click these links:
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
EPIC - If you are planning to ski or ride at one or more of the Epic/Vail destinations, you should purchase one of the many Epic Pass options. Which pass is right for you will depend on what dates, and how many days and resorts you’re planning to ski or ride. Even if you only go to one Epic destination and only ski a few days, the Epic Day Pass, or the Epic Local Pass, will cost less than the lift tickets the Club will be able to offer. Note that the Military Epic Pass does not cover Telluride nor Ogden.
IKON – If you are only going to one Ikon destination, and skiing less than 6 days, purchasing a Group Lift Ticket through the Club for that trip is probably the better deal. If you are planning to ski or ride 6 or more days, or more than one Ikon resort, you should carefully check out the Ikon pass options. One of their passes (at least the Base or Base Plus) is likely to be the better choice if you plan to ski 6+ days and/or more than one resort. If you are going to Aspen/Snowmass or Jackson Hole, the Ikon Base pass will not work, you will need at least the Base Plus pass for those two destinations.
In any case, please be sure to very carefully read all the pass options, restrictions, blackout dates, and destinations included. Not every pass type is good at all resorts or on all dates. By clicking the links above, you can see the prices, which resorts are included or not, what restrictions or blackout dates apply, and etc. Before selecting a pass, please be sure that you fully understand what your specific pass offers, at which destinations, and what restrictions or blackout dates may apply.
If you have questions or need help making the right selection, feel free to call the 800 number that can be found near the top left of the pass description pages accessed via the links above.
If you still have questions, please contact your trip committee chairs:
Mike Pearson: mikepdigsvb@verizon.net
Peggy Gummoe: pbgummoe@aol.com.
Covid Message and FAQs
General Club Message Concerning Covid-19
We hope you are healthy and safe and that you are enjoying your summer as best you can despite all the craziness.
As we move forward with our 2020-21 ski season, this has been a challenging time for our Club. With all the uncertainty, we are limiting our number of trips to the mountains for this coming season. We will continue to put the safety of our travelers first. Based on the ever-changing situation with the coronavirus, we are proceeding with cautious optimism. If things start looking better, we may add trips later on. If things are too bad, we won’t hesitate to cancel trips. With that being said, we are excited about returning to the slopes!
It’s important to remember TBSSB is a 501(c) 7 organization. We are a not-for-profit, just-for-fun social Club completely operated by volunteers. The organization was not set up to make money, but to provide an awesome experience for our members. When the Club has had to cancel a trip, we have and will work tirelessly with our travel agents, the mountain, the lodging, and the airlines to get every refund or credit back to you, our faithful travelers.
The coronavirus situation is constantly changing and there is no way we can predict the future. At this time, it is important to sign up for the trip(s) you want by reading and completing the current TBSSB trip application and sending it along with your deposit to the designated trip leader. As the trip deadlines become due in the fall, we should have a better idea how the coronavirus will affect our trips. Rest assured that we are watching the CDC and the World Health Organization, as well as local agencies and those in and around our trip locations for any new developments. Again, we will put traveler safety first and cancel trips if necessary and return your deposits to you.
Every resort has handled the coronavirus situation differently. If it continues to be an issue, some will restrict their operations while some may cease operations. All resorts are instituting protocols to protect their guests, but these protocols are not the same at all resorts. As we learn more and get close to the ski season, we will provide updates as we are able.
This season, more than ever, we encourage you to look into getting trip insurance. As a not-for-profit Club, TBSSB does not provide trip insurance, nor do we promote or endorse any particular insurance company. We do encourage travelers to seriously consider whether or not trip insurance is a good thing for them. Please see the Trip Insurance section on our home page for more information about this subject.
Please see our Covid-19 page for answers to some frequently asked questions (FAQ’s).
Stay safe and think positive!
Real ID
Real ID Driver Licenses & ID Cards
The REAL ID Act became effective nationwide on May 11, 2008. Bottom line: if you do not have a star on the upper right-hand side of your driver's license on October 1, 2021, then you cannot get onto an airline flight. Florida began issuing REAL ID compliant credentials as of 1/1/2010. So if you have a driver's license that was issued prior to 11/2010, you need to get a new license before 10/1/2021. No kidding. But there are other types of ID you can use, such as the Global entry. Thank the Dept of Homeland Security. For more info, see REAL ID Details as well as https://www.tsa.gov/real-id.
Trip Insurance
Trip Insurance – A Very Important Topic
TBSSB is a not-for-profit club and does not provide trip insurance, nor do we promote or endorse any particular insurance company. We do encourage travelers to seriously consider whether or not trip insurance is a good thing for them. But trip insurance is an individual decision and responsibility. If you feel it will give you peace of mind, then the small cost may well be worth it. The entire process is handled by you directly with the Tour Operator or insurance company you select. Again, trip insurance is strictly voluntary, and we offer information only as a convenience for our members/travelers.
You can find a wealth of information on the Internet. Here are some of the many websites where you can easily compare several policies: www.insuremytrip.com, www.QuoteWright.com and www.SquareMouth.com. You can find many others on the Web by doing a search with any Web search engine. These sites allow you to pick and choose what insurance you want and compare different policies of several companies, and their costs, usually side-by-side. Please feel free to consult other companies about travel insurance.
Carefully consider what features to purchase. You may not need some of the features presented, and typically the fewer features the lower the cost.
For instance, you may not want to insure the cost of the airline ticket. Most of the major airlines allow you to use your unused airline ticket, for a fee, for up to 365 days from the date of purchase. Please note that the Club’s Tour Operator purchases the tickets well in advance and that is the date of purchase used by the airline to start the countdown of 365 days.
You should probably not insure your lift ticket cost. If you cancel before a trip departs and do not use your lift ticket at all, you can typically get a full refund through the club for the lift ticket purchased through the club (excluding Epic and Ikon passes). If you use only part of your lift ticket due to an injury or medical event, you can usually get a refund for the unused portion if you provide the lift ticket and a doctor’s note to the Trip Leader detailing why you should not ski due to injury or illness. Please note sometimes there is a nominal administrative fee charged by the resort or by the Tour Operator to process the refund for your lift ticket.
If you paid for your trip using a credit card, you should check with your credit card company about their travel insurance benefits. Some automatically insure travel purchased up to a certain dollar amount for trip cancellation and/or trip interruption, but not medical.
If you want medical insurance, you will also want to insure your trip early, especially if you have a pre-existing condition that may or may not be insurable. Some insurance companies demand that you insure your trip as soon as you sign up for the trip and pay a deposit. Others allow you to sign up very late but exclude pre-existing conditions. If you need trip medical insurance, it’s best to purchase it sooner than later.
Finally, we’d like to suggest that many people have been glad they did buy trip insurance, or unhappy that they did not. Please give trip insurance serious consideration before dismissing the idea. Quite a few of our members have had occasion to use, or wish they had trip insurance. Some have experienced an unexpected illness or injury prior to the trip, or an injury or medical event while on the trip. Others have experienced the death or illness of a close family member before or during the trip. These are just a few examples of unfortunate events that interrupted a traveler’s ability to go on the trip or stay on the trip. Trip insurance can reduce the impact of such events by reducing the financial impact of having to cancel a trip last minute or fly home early.
A-1 EXPRESS PARKING
A-1 Express and TBSSB have established a partnership to bring the lowest price for either covered or uncovered long-term parking with a very fast transport to airport. Please use our partner for your airport parking.The discount won't be seen here but still use the system to schedule your parking. Upon arriving at their parking facility announce that you are with TBSSB and you will be given the first day of parking for free.
Welcome Welcome to Tampa Bay Snow Skiers and Boarders
Mike's Gang Smowmass, CO January 2021
Terry's Gang Taos, February 2021
Roger and Company Taos, February 2021
Mary's Peeps Crested Butte, February 2021
Shear Fun Two Skis Up Crested Butte, February 2021
Where Do We Ski Next? Big Sky, March 2021
John's Full Gang Big Sky, March 2021
John's Gang Big Sky, March 2021
Overjoyed! Deer Valley, January 2020
