The ski world has changed a lot since I posted in this thread a little over a month ago. With all the uncertainty I'd first thought about delaying purchase until fall when I could probably still buy Sierra-at-Tahoe unlimited pass for $449 or pass that is blacked out on holidays for $379. Either one gives you Powder Alliance benefits, but then I learned the only other Tahoe area on Powder Alliance, Sugar Bowl, dropped out after two years it's so not as attractive to me. While Sierra has some good lifts, terrain and side-country, and is mostly wind-protected and gets a lot of snow, it's 18 miles/30 minutes from my family's cabin at So. Tahoe including Echo Summit and avalanche-prone Meyer's Grade vs. a mile on a back road to Heavenly's CA base.
If I stick with Vail Tahoe pass, then in early September, I'm eligible for Senior version of Tahoe Value pass which is also $449. It's blacked out on holidays and you can only ski Heavenly 7 days a week as Kirkwood and Northstar are blacked out all Saturdays. But if my wife gets that pass it's $529 for her and she has not gotten enough use out of her Tahoe Vail passes. At least the last three times she had one, she would have done about as well or better using Buddy tickets on my pass, although that may require waiting in a ticket line.
And then you have to wonder if will there be a full 2020-21 season. Ikon either had some good questions or low enough pass sales that after they doubled the renewal discount and extended deadline to May 27 last week, this week they added an option to defer pass funds to 2021-22. You have to decide by Dec 10 to defer to the following season and can't have used the pass.
"Pass deferral requests must be received by Ikon Pass, Inc. between September 10 and December 10, 2020. A deferral request may be made by either the pass purchaser or the adult pass holder of any 20/21 Ikon Pass product. In each case, the associated credit will only be issued to the actual pass holder (who may not be the pass purchaser) of the deferred 20/21 Ikon Pass product. "
"There is no fee associated with the Adventure Assurance Program."
https://www.ikonpass.com/en/adventure-assurance-program" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
While all that sounds good, will there still be an Ikon or Alterra if they don't have a season next winter or will they go bankrupt? I've received refund for a cancelled food festival my wife and I were supposed to attend the last weekend of March and received email notice of a refund for a play we were supposed to see on March 31, but have yet to see refund on my credit card. I was also supposed to go to concert at Chase Center on night before Easter. It's been re-scheduled to early Oct. (a year after I bought tickets), but our governor said it's not likely that we will be having big events in the near future and our county executive said large sporting events are unlikely to resume late November. We should know more by the May 27 Ikon deadline. I hope it's progress on re-opening and not setbacks.
I'm also awaiting refund for trans-Atlantic flight from Norwegian Air who may not make it through corona virus, or through April. I bought tickets in mid-Feb to fly to Spain on May 2. They canceled flight on April 10 and offered 120% credit instead of refund, but I bought flights during a 20% off sale and would rather get my money back than have credit that may be worthless. I've heard it takes two to four weeks and that credit card companies are withholding nearly 100% of funds from airline so I'm not going there yet. I realize this is all very first world problems and nothing compared to the nearly 40,000 people who have died in US so far from virus.