Sun Valley touts new exchange programs
Company will offer to upgrade lift passes into charge cards
By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer
Imagine using your ski pass as an on-mountain credit card. Imagine being able to redeem an unused lift ticket for dinner and a movie, or a romantic sleigh ride.
Officials from Sun Valley Resort this week announced that they are introducing two new programs that they hope will make visiting the resort?s ski mountains and guest facilities substantially more convenient.
Under one program, called the Lift-Ticket Exchange Program, customers will be able to exchange unused lift tickets for resort products and amenities, including sleigh rides and meals at resort restaurants.
Under another, referred to as the Resort Technology Program, visitors to Sun Valley will be able to easily upgrade their old-fashioned plastic ski pass into a credit card that can be used at numerous resort facilities.
The Lift Ticket Exchange Program has been implemented in other years but was not actively promoted by the resort, said Jack Sibbach, director of marketing and public relations. Some 2,300 unused lift tickets were exchanged for goods and alternative activities last ski season, he said.
Now, the resort is actively promoting the program as a means to offer potential customers one more reason to come to Sun Valley.
?It is another way of getting out the word about all of the things there are to do in Sun Valley,? Sibbach said.
Under the program, ticket holders will be allowed to exchange an unused one-day lift ticket for a limited-edition souvenir plate or a sleigh ride with lunch at Trail Creek Cabin, east of Sun Valley Village.
In addition, customers will be allowed to redeem an unused single-day credit from a multi-day lift ticket for a variety of activities, including Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, massage and dining in Sun Valley restaurants.
?We tried to make these other options comparable in price to what a lift ticket would be,? Sibbach said. ?In some cases, they might be worth more.?
The customer-credit program being implemented by Sun Valley will ultimately allow customers to upgrade a Sun Valley ski pass to be a universal charge card that can be used throughout the resort.
The resort this winter will allow customers to link their ski passes to an existing credit card account and then use the pass as a charge card at resort ski schools and selected restaurants, including those on Bald Mountain.
?It?s more of a convenience factor,? Sibbach said. ?People will not have to take their wallet when they go skiing.?
Eventually, Sibbach said, the system will be expanded so the passes?which will be renewable on the Internet?can be used as golf or tennis passes and will be accepted at all resort venues in all seasons.
