YSE TRANSFERS – £35 per trip
For 2025-26 we are reducing the cost of the transfers we offer between Geneva Airport and Val d’Isère, to £35 per transfer. Please note that neither YSE nor the coach company are able to provide child seats for the coach journey. Infants under the age of two on the return date of travel must sit on a parent’s lap but we will allocate a seat at £30 per trip to any child under two to give you more room.
Our transfer coaches may not have fitted seat belts and, therefore, may not be suitable for a child car seat. We will not be able to let you know in advance whether your particular coach will have seat belts or not.
YSE transfers are only available to those who have booked a holiday with YSE for the dates applicable.
GENEVA – VAL D’ISERE
From Geneva to Val d’Isère: the first coach leaves at 14.00 and the second at 16.00.
We advise you to leave 90 minutes between the scheduled landing time of your aircraft and the coach departing*, to give you time to get through security, collect your bags, meet our reps and walk to the coach (which will not be right outside the terminal).
Skiers know that heading high into the Alps in the middle of winter is fraught with difficulties. Fog in Britain, French Air Traffic Control, snow at Geneva, passport control, baggage handling, avalanches across the road – anything and everything can happen! If thirty people’s flights were delayed we would certainly wait for them; if two people were late, we probably couldn’t.
We ask Party Leaders to ring John Yates-Smith at Geneva (+33 609 460 741 or +33 616 480 406) to warn him of any serious delay. He has been organising travel to and from Geneva for over 40 years, but he doesn’t have a magic wand. If your flight is seriously delayed, we can’t make everyone else wait. If you cannot meet the pre-booked coach, sadly you will have to make your own way to the resort. We recommend insurance including cover for travel disruption, which should reimburse the cost of a taxi (always available at Geneva Airport, though horribly expensive).
The journey from Geneva Airport to Val d’Isère lasts less than three hours, giving you time to hear our infamous up-to-date information CD, which covers everything from current snow conditions to the best restaurants.
Val d’Isère doesn’t want coaches stopping in the middle of the village. People leap out onto the pavement, then rush around to the other side of the coach to open the vast holds and pull out their huge ski bags. In the dark. In front of the traffic. On the ice… The village council is right to have put a stop to it before someone got run over.
Coaches taking guests to our chalets Isère, Neiges, Pentes, Pistes, Maison du Rocher,Vieux Crêt, Pierre, Lucaval and Gnellets can drop guests near the chalets as ever, with Land Rovers helping where necessary.
Guests for chalets Chardons, Ptarmigan, Pic Noir, Perdrix, Comtes de Savoie, Amadeus, Otto, Patou and Charlotte now get off their coach at the new bus station at La Daille (which we hope will be completed, with a wc, before the start of 2025-26), give their luggage to our drivers, and board a special bus laid on by the village. This drops them near their chalet, while we deliver luggage to the door. It’s a very good system.
*The very much delayed new EES system is likely to come into operation during the autumn of 2025 – please see below.
VAL D’ISERE – GENEVA
From Val d’Isère to Geneva: the first YSE coach leaves at 07.30 and the second at 10.00, therefore please only book the 07:30 coach for flights departing Geneva after 12.30 and the 10:00 coach for flights departing Geneva after 15:00.
These transfers must be booked in advance and paid with the balance of your holiday. We cannot book any YSE transfer seat without knowing which time you want to travel, although we do not need your flight details.
Over the years we have seen traffic delayed by all of the problems listed above, with the journey once taking two days! This is extremely rare, but always possible. We can accept no liability when coaches are delayed by matters beyond our control, and again guests must ensure that their travel insurance covers them for costs incurred due to travel disruption.
EES and ETIAS
The Entry/Exit System (ESS) that the EU are bringing in, is now scheduled for October 2025. The official website says that the EU will give us “several months notice”. The ESS requires UK passport holders to submit fingerprints and have photos taken in special booths.
After the ESS has been introduced, the EU’s new European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will be introduced. This is scheduled for the last quarter of 2026 and this won’t affect the 2025-26 winter season.
However when it does come in you will need to apply for authorisation to enter the Schengen area with a UK passport. You will be required to give personal information and details about your first trip and pay a fee of €7. The ETIAS will be valid for three years but if the passport it’s in expires sooner a new ETIAS must be obtained for the new passport.
