This morning, we received an email from Vail Resorts about a number of updates for 20/21 Epic Pass products, including benefits for renewing passholders. All passes will now come with “Epic Coverage”, which will provide refunds for “any portion of the season that is lost” in the event of COVID-19 resort closures. This coverage will also provide insurance on the pass for job loss, injuries, or a number of other personal matters.

The policies themselves are somewhat complicated and detailed here﻿, but the important thing to know is that there are two refund options: the Core Season option, which provides refunds based on the number of season days lost either among all Vail Resorts or a specified “Primary Resort”, or the Specific Week option, which provides refunds for closures during a 7-day period that the passholder will specify.

Existing passholders will be eligible for between 20-80% off renewal for next year’s Epic Pass, with the 80% discount going to those who didn’t use their passes at all. Up to an 80% discount will be applied to customers with unused multi-day pass products as well. Vail says they will send out personalized discount information to passholders by May 13th (May 21st for Peak Resorts customers).

Coverage policies: https://www.epicpass.com/info/epic-coverage.aspx

Link to press release: http://investors.vailresorts.com/news-releases/news-release-details/vail-resorts-provides-update-season-pass-plans-20202021-north

Our Take

We had heard that Epic was planning to make an announcement on season pass policies by the end of April, and we’re glad they’ve put these policies into effect. Renewal discount policies are strong compared to Alterra’s recent Ikon enhancements—depending on the number of days used this season, they could translate to a better deal upfront for renewing passholders.

In addition, the Epic Coverage policy is much more secure than Ikon’s Adventure Assurance in that it covers a mid-season interruption (currently, Ikon’s policy only allows for cancellations until December 10th). For some people, this alone could drive them to choose Epic for next season. Moreover, the different cancellation options offer enhanced flexibility both for customers looking to book only a weeklong trip and those looking to use it as a true season pass.

It should be interesting to see if Alterra responds to this in any way.