Driving to the alps

A snowHead

boredsurfin, no I've not heard anything since there was a bit of discussion back in the summer. As Eurotunnel now price their tickets according to demand (like a lo-cost airline) I thought I'd risk buying tickets early because I didn't want prices to rise before I'd booked. I've just check the price for the same booking we have and the outward part is still the same (£49) but the return journey is now £5 more expensive than we paid.

A snowHead

rob@rar.org.uk,

Most channel Ops do this now...

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

JT, Care to comment on the ongoing financial situation at the Tunnel? Actually to be more specific if I buy a ticket now what do you think are the chances of being able to use it in January?

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the off-peak eurounnel prices are excellent, but it's not always possible to time the journey that exactly, and an extra £30 (not euros) is charged if you catch a different train in the same "off peak" bracket. I have no idea about the risk of losing money on tickets bought now. Anybody got any inside info on the Portsmouth-Le Havre ferry route being abandoned by P & O? We live 10 minutes from Portsmouth!

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rob@rar.org.uk, The last minute ticket I purchased during the recent BA strike was £110 return, leaving the next day. It certainly pays to book ahead these days.

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Frosty, still cheaper than some of their pricing a few years back though Very Happy

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JT, I realise that, but unfortunately Jane gets terribly seasick (once vomited while the ferry was still in Dover harbour), so the train is our only cross-Channel option.

Frosty, I agree - I've never been lucky whn it comes to cheap tickets booked at the last minute, so I tend to book early for everything these days.

pam w, are you sure that you pay extra for a different time train within the same price bracket? That's not my understanding, and it wasn't the case when we turned up a couple of hours early at Calais last December. We were given the choice of catching a train immediately (it was within the same price bracket) or sticking with our booking and having a couple of hours to shop in the Duty Free place.

After all it is free

I have booked ferry crossings from Dover-Calais on numerous occasions with Sea France £90 return, who I've always found to be cheaper than P&O, but his year our summer holiday wasn't booked until May, and I managed to get two cars (1 was an MPV with box) for £60 return travelling at the end of July with P&O. It doesn't always pay to book early as prices do fluctuate considerably. Also we always book the late night crossings which are so much cheaper, and you have the advantage of quiet roads and arriving early for a full days skiing. snowHead

I'm a Speed ferries fan now, bought three tickets now £50 each return with a car. Dover/Bolougne. I THINK its £50 no matter what time you book (I may be wrong but don't think I am). Their MPV/larger vehicle's came out at about £65 return when I looked. Bolougne is only a few miles east of Calais.

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Frosty, That's excellent value, I shall be looking into that one. Very Happy

edit: yup, just checked it out £50 return Very Happy

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boredsurfin,

I don't know about Eurotunnel's situation specifically I will try and get a better picture.
I would think that the ferry companies would take any surplus under the reciprical arrangement.
No one here is talking about Eurotunnel falling over however and expect business as usual.
And, of course, pay by credit card. A friend lost out when EUjet failed by not paying by CC.

pam w,
The end of sept is the pull out time. I did hear talk of Britannia taking over but that seems to have died a death.

The tunnel always used to charge for missed trains but the French side can be a bit hit and miss - whether they can be bothered type thing.
But if you arrive early and it suits THEM to have you on the next train I would not expect them to charge you. It would be a cheek if they did

Just got a quote for Fri 3 Feb 0600 dept for £30.00 via P&O. The problem will be the retiurn, if you try to get a crossing throughout the day/evening its about £75. I always try to travel at unsociable hours so £30 for the return trip should be achievable from this far away in time. So just as IncogSkiSno says.
Thats the way of the world with online travel bookings now.

snow reports

I've heard this from a couple of people but don't know how true it actually is ? Basically booking day returns on both sides ? I know that ferry companies threaten to charge you full rate if you try to pull a fast one but has anyone had any experience of this ? I mean how accurate can all the ferry operators be logging everyones number plate/cross referencing etc etc ? 'Oh' can anyone advise whether the Petrol stations in France near the ferryports switch over to "Winter diesel" in the colder months or is it only when you get near the Alps etc that they sell "Winter Diesel" ? Thanks

We were charged £30 in BOTH directions on our last eurotunnel trip (August). But we were pretty late; the trip had been originally booked for March.... In the past they didn't always bother, but seem to have tightened up. The trouble with all the Dover bargains is that we live a few minutes from the Portsmouth ferryport, and I do hate the M25. Though Le Havre creates timing problems with Paris. There just isn't a really easy way of getting there, is there? I am very used to the drive, now, but we are generally going for weeks; I'd not be keen on driving for a week these days, though I did it in the past.

You know it makes sense.

pam w, perhaps since Eurotunnel switched to charging more like a lo-cost airline they are more rigorous about enforcing charging policies for people who turn up at a different time to their tickets?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

From the Eurotunnel website:

A snowHead

yes, I guess being two months late was pushing my luck

A snowHead

Type23,

Booking made have an outward and inward leg and it is very easy to see that one half is not used. Thats when companies - probably quite rightly - think the traveller is pulling a fast one.
Searches made by name or registration are also very easy. However, the new low cost airline policy can actually be quite helpful here as
it is very easy to book one leg now. In the past it used to be only foreign address which could get Calais/Dover prices which also seemed to be a lot cheaper, Brits had to pay the full rate..!!
Now it is a question of capacity and peak times demand peak rates but the quite times should be cheaper. Witrh this in mind the carrier mightv charge if the rates crossed into different rate zones. The ferries generally don't charge for weather delays but might charge if you booked a cheap crossing but then turned up at a peak time.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

boredsurfin,

If they go tits up, PM me.

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JT, I think you'll hear before me wink

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boredsurfin,

I meant I'll sort out a crosiing if there isn't an automatic arrangement in place at the time, if I can.

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JT, Cheer's for that. Hopefully I won't need to!

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Let's hope that Eurotunnel doesn't go tits up, but if it does surely the banks will establish another company to run the operation? Having an empty hole in the ground will benefit nobody.

After all it is free

rob@rar.org.uk,
Thats a sure thing and some might argue that Eurotunnel will go bust sooner or later and needs to do so to be competitive.

JT, putting aside their debt mountain, do they make an operational profit at the moment?

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rob@rar.org.uk,

I don't get involved to that extent, ie, the breakdown of their finances but I expect they do as they have pretty much half the market on tourist traffic and it ebbs and flows with P&O with FR8. Taking out the Debt equation they would be in a pretty poor state if they didn't make money
The split is something like 35-38% each and Sea France, Norfolk and Speed Ferries share the rest.

Norfolkline have two ships to come online and a new port albeit in Dunkerque. It remains to be seen how serious Norfolkline wil be about tourist traffic.

The picture for channel crossings is a lot better re DOV/CAL now and the new price structures have probably helped along with restructuring which both P&O nd Eurotunnel have had to do

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Type23,

Yes, that would possibly work but the inward leg of whichever company would know you haven't used their outward leg , smell a rat and probably surcharge. Going out wouldn't be the problem, getting back, more so. But as I get my crossings free I don't really have to know about these things.

The records of customers would not be cross-referenced between operators, of course.

JT,
With these days of internet bookings you don't even have to speak to an operator Very Happy

You know it makes sense.

Type23, Eurotunnel's Terms and Conditions state that:

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Sea Frances T and Cs state

A snowHead

I'm not sure about that, they can put what they like in the T & C's, if they put they'll come round your house and smash you windows it doesn't mean they can. Having paid for a service you can't be compelled to take it up, I'd be surprised if it stood up really.

A snowHead

Type23,

I meant Ferry or tunnel operator would not be able to cross ref, they need all the customers they can get they aren't going to pass on any details even if they could.

At checkin all Channel/tunnel operators would know which part of the ticket the customer has travelled. Of course, if you can travel via different companies on single tickets you might make some savings. It took years for the Operators (channel) to work out that people were using cheap day returns over long periods but not using one of the legs. That is why they stopped it. And you couldn't buy a day ticket in Calais - particuarly as an English speaker and I think it was hard for the French, I tried to get one to do it once..Still cost £60.00 - because of that very reason.

Notice that some sites don't allow singles from France, only outward singles. Otherwise it would be back to square one..!!

But since the for a long stay trips starts around £50-60 return whoever you chose - and it may depend on travel times - there is less of a need.

The only reason they will be able to implement a charge is if you turn up at their checkin with their ticket and you have abused their T&C's as they see it.
if you just use the outward then that is the end of it. They are only looking that the user has not used one of the legs on that particular booking. Anything else is too time consuming and would only be researched for criminal type purposes

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I have had play on the net this morning. P&O quoted me £60 each way for two single from Dover to Calais and back. These were travelling a week apart. For the same trip and sailing times, they come up with £106 return.

Sea France won't let you buy a single Calais-Dover ticket on the net.

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Markw,

Go out of hrs if poss.

I have just tried 3 feb friday night dept @1810 and return Sat feb 11th @1745 for £30 outward and 60 return.
£90 for a feb dept for acr of 2

And I have repeated the outward but at 1440 friday afternoon which means you could break the back of the journey on the friday, stop somewhere past Dijon for a stop over and then get to the alpes refreshed on sat am.

Whichever way you want to do it but from here £90 is easy to achieve and £60 is about going at unsocialbly times, mostly.

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Type 23: This was a few years ago now, but we did exactly what you have suggested, booked cheap day returns for the outward and return journeys. When we got to calais to make the return trip we were forced to buy a completely new (and expensive) single ticket to dover as the return portion of our ticket was not valid as we hadn't made the outward portion. Be warned...

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mwareing,
I take it that both legs were with same ferry company ? what I've been trying to across is if you book either leg with different operator how can they possibly know ?

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After all it is free

Type23,

You book a return with Fery company A and you use the outward only, or you book a single, no problem.
They will know you didn't use any return ticket only if they have cause to look up the booking. In practice this means they don't know.
So far so good, you return via ferry company B on a completely different date - probably over an extended period and present the return leg to Ferry co B. The booking shows you haven't used the outward leg of tyhat booking and they would most likely charge you a single return at an expensive rate because they are pretty sure you are pulling a fast one and in their T&C's there is a provision and justification for doing this. This is a well known flanker that they are all aware of. If you buy a return they expect you to use it. You can buy a single but only outward. Yoiu can't buy a single return. And Brits can't do this at all easily in France at an sort of worthwhile price. They don't have to talk to each other as they know what is going on by loking at which leg is sailed. If they don't think the excuse is plausible the return leg Fery co will surcharge invaribly.

Help!!

Driving to the alps

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