Tag: family travel

Take your kids skiing for free in 2026-2027!

Thinking about taking your lil’ rippers out for some fun on the slopes this winter season? If you’re hitting the powder in 2026-2027 ski season with the kids you can’t miss this list! Check out these programs for lift tickets, rentals and even lessons for FREE at some resorts and with deep discounts at others.

We’ve rounded up some of the best kids ski free programs in Colorado, Utah, New York, Vermont, and Pennsylvania to help you plan an affordable family ski vacation.

Colorado & Utah

• Epic SchoolKids (Vail Resorts): free for K–5th graders for 4 days at each of their included resorts in Colorado and Utah.

Colorado:Keystone, Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, and Crested Butte

Utah: Park City

These are FREE and include a free first-timer lesson and rental package if new to skiing/riding.

This is available to anyone (including non-Colorado and Utah residents) but you must apply in person at local Epic Mountain Gear shops in Utah and Colorado. Proof of eligibility provided with school grade card, school ID or transcript. No parent lift tickets are required for eligibility either! Blackout dates do apply so read up here before you go!

Park City, UT

  • Colorado Ski Passport (CSCUSA): K–6th graders get 4 days of skiing at each of the 19 participating resorts
    • Including: Aspen, Steamboat, Winter Park, Copper, Telluride, Arapahoe Basin, Aspen Highlands, Echo Mountain, Eldora, Granby Ranch, Howelsen Hill, Loveland Ski Area, Monarch, Powderhorn, Purgatory Resort, Silverton, Snowmass, Steamboat, and Sunlight
  • While this pass comes at a cost it’s only $79 for 79 days and includes 2 free days of ski/board rental at Christy Sports.
  • This pass is unique as it also offers a discount for teens and an accompaning adult. The Gem Teens pass gets your teenager 2 passes at each of the 10 included resorts for $210 (or 20 visits at $10.50 each if you can maximize it).

    The Gems Parent Pass is $350 for 20 visits (still a discount if you can make for for that many days of “pow”). These passes go on sale September 1st!
Screenshot
  • Ski Utah 4th/5th/6th Grade Passport: 4th, 5th and 6th graders can ski or ride 3 times at each of Utah’s 15 resorts for $79 (at total of 45 days). The cost goes up on December 1st to $99.
    • Including: Alta Ski Area, Brighton Resort, Beaver Mountain, Brian Head Resort, Cherry Peak Resort, Snowbasin Resort, Snowbird, Solitude, Deer Valley Resort, Eagle Point, Nordic Valley, Park City Mountain, Powder Mountain, Sundance Resort, and Woodward Park City
Beaver Creek, CO

East Coast

  • New York
    SKI NY Ski & Ride Passport: 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders get a complimentary one-day lift ticket when accompanied by a paying adult,  at participating NY resorts
  • Including: Belleayre Mountain, Big Snow American Dream, Bristol Mountain, Buffalo Ski Center, Catamount, Dry Hill Ski Area, Gore Mountain, Greek Peak Mountain Resort, Holiday Mountain, Holiday Valley Resort, Holimont, Hunt Hollow Ski Club, Kissing Bridge, Labrador Mountain, Lapland Lake Nordic Vacation Center, McCauley Mountain, Mountain Creek Resort, Mount Peter, Mt. Pisgah, Mt. Van Hoevenberg XC, Northampton Park, Oak Mountain, Peek ‘n Peak Resort, Plattekill Mountain, Powder Mills Park, Skaneateles Ski Club, Snow Ridge Resort, Song Mountain, Swain Resort, Thunder Ridge, Titus Mountain, West Mountain, Whiteface Mountain, Windham Mountain Club.

    Note: Each resort has its own set of rules and restrictions so check out the link above for each.
Holiday Valley, NY
  • Vermont
    Ski Vermont gives 5th graders a passport for three days of free skiing/riding/cross country at each 40 resorts for $40
    • Including: Bolton Valley, Brattleboro Ski Hill, Bromley Mountain Resort, Burke Mountain Resort, Cochran’s Ski Area, Jay Peak, Killington, Lyndon Outing Club, Mad River Glen, Magic Mountain, Middlebury Snowbowl, Mount Snow Resort, Northeast Slopes, Okemo, Pico Mountain, Quechee, Saskadena Six, Smugglers’ Notch Resort, Stowe, Stratton, Sugarbush
  • Pennsylvania
    The PA Outdoor Aventure Pass in association with the Pennsylvania Ski Area Association offers a 4th- and 5th-grade adventure pass that for $69 gives you year long discounts but includes buy one get one free lift tickets at the included resorts.
    • Including:Ski Sawmill Family Resort, Montage Mountain, Elk Mountain, Tussey Mountain, Camelback Resort, Spring Mountain Adventures, Bear Creek Mountain Resort, Mount Pleasant of Edinboro, Blue Mountain Resort, Ski Big Bear at Masthope Mountain, Blue Knob All Seasons Resort, Shawnee Mountain Ski Area
Vail Village, CO



Interested in taking your kids skiing abroad? See how we did the French Alps and Banff on a family budget!

Airport Lounges on a Budget

Lounge access is no longer a super exclusive experience made only for first class flyers. The credit card game has changed everything!   Even the everyday family traveler can enjoy lounge life.   We’ve come to LOVE these spots for their relaxing spaces, plenty of charging outlets, and completely free food and beverages (including adult bevs too!). Playing the credit card game for lounge access SAVES us money. This money would have been wasted on over priced food.

The lounge experience


Three of the personal cards (i.e. non-business cards) give you open access to Priority Pass. This is a membership company that allows entrance to hundreds of lounges across the world. Unlike airline-specific cards, which may give you access once you’ve accrued enough miles, these three cards give you automatic access right away.

Capital One Venture X

This card previously allowed the card holder (and all of their free authorized users) plus two guests each access to Priority Pass affiliated as well as Capital One Lounges located in DEN, DFW, IAD, JFK, DCA, LGA, and LAS. This was perfect for our family of 5. However, we were devastated to learn the free access for authorized users and 2 guests per card is going away in February 2026! You can keep the access with $75k spend on the card a year. But that’s hefty!

The Venture X does have a $395 Annual Fee but also a $300 travel credit. This effectively brings the fee down to $95 when used once for travel. We get significantly more value than that $95 with a trip or two to the lounge. Thus, we avoid steep airport food prices.

Premium Plaza Lounge in Rome featuring breakfast buffet, bottled water to go, full bar and coffee barista

Chase Sapphire Reserve


This card allows access to  Priority Pass lounges as well as Chase Sapphire Lounges currently in BOS, LGA, and JFK (with LAS and PHL coming soon). This one also allows you to bring two guests. However, an authorized user card is an additional $75 a year. The fee on this one is $795 a year (recently increased from $550). A similar $300 travel credit brings its effective expense to $250 a year, or $325 if you add an authorized user.

The current sign on bonus for this card (as of 7/25/25) is 100,000 points plus $500 back for travel.

All for free!

American Express Platinum


Here’s another one that gives Priority Pass Lounge access in addition to Amex Centurion Lounges. Also included are the Delta Sky Club Lounges when flying Delta (limited to 10 a visits annually starting February 2025), Select Virgin Clubhouses, Plaza Premium Lounges, and Escape Lounges. This card allows two additional guests into the Priority Pass Lounges but charges each non-cardholder guest $50 per visit.

In some locations this fee is higher based on demand.  We’ve also heard rumors that access to additional guests may not be available if the lounge is at capacity. However, we’ve never encountered that problem.  The annual fee is $695. Authorized Users for this card are charged $195 each year. 

On the plus side, this card is like a “coupon book” with lots of ways to earn the annual fee back. But it takes some effort.  Presently sign on bonuses are as high as 175,000 points, which is GREAT. Use this link while in Chrome Incognito mode for the best chance of a high sign on bonus.

Current offer as of 10/22/24

Hope this inspires you all to become high class lounge loungers at low expense too!

All of the links above benefit you as a new cardholder with a sign on bonus and lounge access. In addition, it benefits FierEscape in the form of points. This helps us continue our travels and share our experience. We appreciate your support!

Let’s get started

We take immense pleasure in getting away, except we don’t want to trade our sanity in the process. Traveling with kids can be hard. It’s certainly parenting in a new location. However it can be streamlined and managed to be as reduced stress as possible so joys of seeing a new place or the peace of sitting on a beach outweighs the chaos of breaking a kid’s daily routine.

Bonjour Travel Seekers!

Welcome to Fier (pronounced like fire- our weird last name) Escape.

This space hosts travel itineraries and family travel pro-tips from a family who thrives on “getting away.” We’ve learned a lot of things along the way to make travel as reduced stress as possible when traveling with a heard of small humans. I have an uncanny drive for a good deal too which effects a lot of my planning. Being a nerd at heart with love for research I found tons of inspiration through the similar outlets and I thought why not share what we’ve discovered through our experiences.

Buckle in, its almost time for take-off !

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