 Poster: A snowHead
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Sorry if this has been covered before, new member.
I can see that Le Shuttle tickets for Feb 2026 are on sale, never booked anything this far in advance before.
Question is, do the prices go down as well as up? Seems quite expensive at the moment but unsure if this has a chance of going down rather than up with dynamic pricing?
This is for half term, so gut instinct is it won't get any cheaper, but would appreciate some thoughts from those that are expert regular travellers.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@ajcampbell1977, sometimes they do have special offers but this usually excludes Peak Season dates. Suspect they are more likely to run out than go down in price.
Welcome to 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@ajcampbell1977, can you avoid the obvious times? E.g. travel Thursday or Sunday. Doubt Friday night/ Saturday out or Saturday/Sunday back will get cheaper.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks both, that's really helpful to know, probably can't avoid the peak times of Friday/Saturday so will have to suck it up and get them bought soon before they cost even more.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@ajcampbell1977, welcome to SH's.
Pricing is "dynamic" but the variances isn't massive and I've never seen them go down, only up.
TBH it's all pretty transparent.
Basically book as early as possible - you can amend anyway (to varying degrees/restrictions depending on ticket type).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Layne,
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Basically book as early as possible - you can amend anyway (to varying degrees/restrictions depending on ticket type)
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unfortunately, nearly all the ticket types now come with a fee to amend, and even with standard plus which used to be "standard refundable" where you could cancel up to an hour before departure free of charge (i used this in easter 24, in case the overnight ferry i was booked on had an issue), now up to 7 days prior with a fee!!
it has been discussed on other threads, looks like trying to push everyone to fully flex tickets!!!
https://www.leshuttle.com/uk-en/tickets-fares-add-ons
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@terrygasson, I suspect most people rarely have to amend - but the £30 they charge is a lot less than the cost of a flex ticket.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@terrygasson, so we will turn up and be unable to get on the next train even if we have Flexi as everyone will have bought them?
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I’m not sure if everyone will as the price of Flexi is going up in leaps and bounds as well 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Hells Bells, seems so!!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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What a nightmare. The situation with the M20 in particular is just not reliable enough for this to be a reasonable or fair policy…
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You know it makes sense.
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Utter greed. People will move to ferries or just turn up super early (where possible) causing more traffic. Having been many a time in Feb half term I can definitely say book early as prices will only go up as spaces get more limited. We used to cross on a Thursday night and take kids out of school Friday - to save costs, not hit tunnel hoardes and get ahead of traffic.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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| abricotine wrote: |
| What a nightmare. The situation with the M20 in particular is just not reliable enough for this to be a reasonable or fair policy… |
Exactly. We travel from Durham, leaving at around 6am for a 1pm ish train. Often arrive early, as we don't tend to hit M11/M25/M20 until after rush hour, but there have been occasions were we have made our booked train but arrived less than an hour before. In January, for example, we hit a road closure on A1 around Newark, and sat in traffic for around an hour. Fortunately we'd already picked up supplies for breakfast and some sandwiches at Wetherby. There had been some delays at the tunnel too, so when we checked in, although we were late, our train was late too, so it wasn't a problem. What will happen now I wonder? Would I have to buy a new ticket and lose the return leg too? At some point on the journey, I even looked on the app to change the crossing to a later one, but couldn't.
I often now book both legs separately, and that might be something for people to consider if they don't want to lose the return part of their trip. It used to be that the Tesco Clubcard deals were generous enough to cover most of the cost of a return, but that is no longer the case, so I just use vouchers to the value of the outbound leg, and book our return crossing separately.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have already complained formally via their feedback services, quoting on line travel forums as well. Their stock reply was the simplicity of the new system but they would pass on my feedback to higher authority.
I told them in blunt terms that would be going back to the ferries. Of my 2 return crossings this year I had to alter 2 (illness and rockmageddon) and would have been late for another thanks to a crash on the M1. DFDS here I come.
It’s good to moan on here, but tackle the issue direct - it may have an effect.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Those Ts&C's didn't get enforced for us on our April trip (just returned). We arrived only 35 minutes before scheduled departure due to traffic and a flat battery on the way out but weren't charged extra or voided. And on the return we arrived more than an hour early and were allowed to select an earlier departure. Wonder if that is because our Ts&C's were related to our purchase that was made prior to March 2025.
Will certainly take note though and plan in some additional time for the outbound trip next time around to avoid a nasty surprise at the terminal.
The fabulous flexibility and brilliantly efficient loading has always been one of the highlights of our France trips.
I will take note though
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| larkim wrote: |
Those Ts&C's didn't get enforced for us on our April trip (just returned). We arrived only 35 minutes before scheduled departure due to traffic and a flat battery on the way out but weren't charged extra or voided. And on the return we arrived more than an hour early and were allowed to select an earlier departure. Wonder if that is because our Ts&C's were related to our purchase that was made prior to March 2025.
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I would expect that to be the case, the applicable T's & C's should be those in effect when you purchased the tickets.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| ajcampbell1977 wrote: |
Sorry if this has been covered before, new member.
I can see that Le Shuttle tickets for Feb 2026 are on sale, never booked anything this far in advance before.
Question is, do the prices go down as well as up? Seems quite expensive at the moment but unsure if this has a chance of going down rather than up with dynamic pricing?
This is for half term, so gut instinct is it won't get any cheaper, but would appreciate some thoughts from those that are expert regular travellers. |
Flexiplus tickets don't seem to have any dynamic pricing, for peak dates at least. When we travelled last New Year, we could have paid the same (rather extortionate) price for tickets the day before travel, instead of booking them 9 months earlier.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
| larkim wrote: |
Those Ts&C's didn't get enforced for us on our April trip (just returned). We arrived only 35 minutes before scheduled departure due to traffic and a flat battery on the way out but weren't charged extra or voided. And on the return we arrived more than an hour early and were allowed to select an earlier departure. Wonder if that is because our Ts&C's were related to our purchase that was made prior to March 2025.
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I would expect that to be the case, the applicable T's & C's should be those in effect when you purchased the tickets. |
True, but not that unusual for companies to leave themselves the rights to update conditions of travel subject to an email in advance warning you of the change etc. I do wonder how strict they will be about it in quiet periods, especially with traffic jams being par for the course at any time of day down and around London etc. They'll lose some of their customer appeal if they end up too strict.
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Looking at the prices vs last years its showing as £24 and £22 more expensive this year vs last although with the more restrictive 1 hour flexibility. It will be interesting to see how they play it as I often think it works in their advantage when it's busy to just get people moving. I suspect it's when it's quieter they might try and make people pay for the "luxury" of going earlier. We certainly turned up early for our return trip this year and got on a train over 2 hours earlier than planned.
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FAQ
