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Ferry from Calais to Dover


Pierre ZFP
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Hello All

Ive been away for a while (no not behind bars or anything dodgy) but now I'm back and have a small question for the bright and attractive members of the forum.

I'm looking at ferry crossings Calais/Dover for me and my car, going out last week in November and back about 10 days later. Normally I pay about €60 return but this time it's closer to €65 each way. It isn't school holidays and a bit early for Christmas markets so any ideas why it should be more expensive than usual?
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Inflation?

Actually your time period does cover the first week of Advent and hence the start of Christmas Markets.

However I suspect the main reason will be the increased cost of oil and therefore bunker fuel.

One year ago Brent was $51/barrel and now it is $62 - so 20% increase.
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Pierre ZFP, simple answer, you are staying too long in france!  the prices you mentioned are normally trips of around 5 days possibly 7 but you are too wealthy and staying too long [:)] so they want some more of your wealth.

My advice, book single journeys.

I would go so far as to say book one way then when in france book your return. I have had a crossing for 2/3rds of the UK price doing that. (caveat not guarantying anything)

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Its been like that since the demise of Seafrance/Myfurrypink, a cosy little cartel.

 

Norfolkline can be cheaper especially Dunkerque - Dover which ironically should cost more, the only other choice is using just one part of a day return ticket (cue outraged comments and dire warnings of how much you will be fined) which I have done exclusively for over a decade, now however I cannot be so flexible on my travelling times, in fact cannot be flexible at all and am frequently jerked around having to cancel crossings so its the Eurotunnel frequent traveller for me at £43 a pop, so far I have cancelled and re-booked more times than I have travelled.

 

The obstacle for many is to use 10 crossings within a calender year but even at 7 or 8 its cheaper and far more convenient than the ferries, you can nominate a second person on the account to share the crossings with.

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5 day crossing £32.00 each way

8 + day crossing £54.00 each way

1 day trip £37.00

Someone will have to tell you how much a single back to the UK is as I get UK price but € can be cheaper, anyone?

Tunnel is great with 10 tickets, ( don't you find they all need a supplemental now?) I like that they can get you into France quicker than some can get you off the boat once you have docked!  In the case of Newhaven Dieppe the unload is just depressing but still I use that route as it saves 1.5 hours of driving each way and it's the cheapest route due to fuel saved and tolls saved.  The funny hours don't always suit but I booked a £63 return (8 days)

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Before the demise of the 3rd operator when there was still competition I usually paid £25/€25 for a day return by travelling off peak hours it was only when I had to travel at short notice that I paid more, sometimes I would wait a couple of days or travel at 3am to save the last few Euros but those days are thankfully behind me now and its the tunnel everytime, the off peak hours suit me well but now those that have to travel further on either side.
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Agreed, prices for the ferry appear to be larger now. We are travelling down later this week and are paying comparatively more. We do use the flexi ticket of P and O as well and do find that very worthwhile.

Before this thread I thought that it may have been due to the dodgy availability of flights to France being a contributory factor.

I have always looked, but have always found eurotunnel more expensive. Plus there is a nice break in the driving.
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Indeed, bring back Speedferries.

I could do Paris to Bolougne in just under 2hrs. 30 Minute wait, and then 45 minute crossing.

Paris to Dover in 3hrs 15 minutes for a ridiculously cheap fare. The food was better as well.

I absolutely hate going through Calais. Tunnel or P&O. The place is grim and you spend your time waiting.

So yes, bring back speedferries. There must be a market for another operator to reopen that route. In fact, I would actually pay more to travel that route.
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P&O also do a season ticket:

http://www.poferries.com/eu/dover-calais/offers/season-tickets

Tickets Single (each) Tickets can be transferred

3-4 Returns (6-8 Singles) €43 None Allowed

5-8 Returns (10-16 Singles) €41 up to 2 (4 Singles)

9-11 Returns (18-22 Singles) €38 up to 3 (6 Singles)

12+ Returns (24+ Singles) €35 up to 5 (10 Singles)

There is a sterling price version as well

http://www.poferries.com/en/dover-calais/offers/season-tickets

Tickets Single (each) Tickets can be transferred

3-4 Returns (6-8 Singles) £36 None Allowed

5-8 Returns (10-16 Singles) £34 up to 2 (4 Singles)

9-11 Returns (18-22 Singles) £32 up to 3 (6 Singles)

12+ Returns (24+ Singles) £29 up to 5 (10 Singles)

There are additional charges for some peak crossing days. The transfers are to allow relatives and friends to travel for an extra £10/€12

More details and Rotterdam/Zeebruge - Hull season ticket offer http://www.poferries.com/eu/terms-and-conditions-season-tickets

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[quote user="EuroTrash"]When Speedferries went belly up I was left with half a carnet of unused tickets. When SeaFrance went belly up I was left with half a carnet of unused tickets. I'm not buying any more carnets.[/quote]

 

You should have claimed back the lost funds from the card issuer, mine wasn't even a credit card (which is no quibble refund) so I did a Visa chargeback, could not have been easier (Nationwide) and the money was in my account the next day, someone else tried the same with their French bank and were given the bums rush, later expériences taught me that the Visa chargeback is the easy bit, the hard thing may be getting your bank/building society card issuer to process the claim.

 

I have said that for more than a decade I "took advantage" of day return prices for single crossings without penalty, I did actually get back-charged by Myferrylink in their final days, my fault as I was pushing it using the same company in both directions, the costs were not a lot €25 and £25 (I had saved 100 times that over the years) but I challenged it anyway as despite what forum lawyers will tell you it is not legal to make such charges.

 

Contrary to my expectations it was Santander that gave me the bums rush (awfull customer service) as far as they were concerned anyone with your card détails can take what they want when they want which is concerning in this click and buy age, Credit Agricole allowed me to dispute the charge as an unauthorised debit and even wrote out the letter for me to sign so I got the €25 refunded by the card issuer and the £25 was a bargain compared to the savings I had made.

 

Speedferries, sadly missed, great fares, an honest business model and friendly motivated staff, they got royally screwed by the duplicity of the Port of Boulogne, very soon after they were due to move the UK departures to Folkstone and would have had a permanent competitive advantage over all the other operators, how I miss the unjustly named "Vomit Comet" [:D]

 

Anyone recall getting a personal E-mail from the chairman of Speedferries entitled "an apology to all our customers"? The one that apologised for having imposed a fuel cost surcharge saying that it was scrapped forthwith and promising that they would never re-instate it? - Then a hypocritical swipe at the opposition saying that they continued to levy the surcharge and him saying "which I find dreadfull" or something.

 

Remember that? - That was all a result of my being held to ransom and deciding to not get mad but to get even with a little help from Kent Trading Standards Office.

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@albf - no I couldn't take the campervan on Speedferries.

The way Speedferries used to park the vehicles when the ferry was full was quite amazing, they seemed to have cars one on top of the other and hanging from the rafters. But they knew what they were doing, everything was always still in place at the end of the crossing, must have been safer than it looked!

I was a great Speedferries fan too, when they finally gave up the fight it was a bit like how I felt the night Elvis died - end of an era.
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I never fully understood what caused Speedferries to go out of business. They were always full.

I know that P&O (big spit.....fecking hate that company) purposely delayed Speedferries from docking in Dover by delaying their own departures but what exactly happened in Bolougne ?

I reckon the Leclerc fuel sales in Bolougne must have been cut in half when Speedferries ended. A lot of foot passengers went to Boulougne for the day because the beach there is quite nice so the town must have lost revenue/sales.

Like Chancer said, it was a good business model that benefited everyone. Well, except Le Shuttle and P&O.
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Frequent traveller deal through tunnel is great for me. I make 6 single crossings a year; my mate makes 4. So we make maximum use of the 10 tickets. Mostly works like clockwork and half hour crossing time taking you straight onto the motorway network does it for me. Moreover, unlike with the ferries, my 2.8 ton van is charged at same rate as my car. Also great that I can change the travel date and vehicle details as many times as I want without charge right up to the day before I want to travel, so it's very flexible.

So it's like Speedferries was but even better, as far as I am concerned. Helps of course if you either make 10 crossings in a year yourself or have a reliable person to name as your nominated joint user.
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[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]I never fully understood what caused Speedferries to go out of business. [/quote]

 

Arrest of SpeedOne by the Port Authorities in Boulogne

Yesterday afternoon, shortly after 17:00 UK time, the Port authorities of Boulogne arrested SpeedFerries’ SpeedOne during its turnaround. The arrest was made on the basis of SpeedFerries Limited’s debts to the port in relation to port dues and taxes.

The arrest was totally unexpected, as the authorities had given written confirmation that no legal steps would be taken prior to a meeting planned for 10:00 today. At this meeting SpeedFerries in consultation with its bankers and financial advisors, were to present a proposal for a resolution of the issues relating to outstanding dues and taxes, as well as disputes with the Port regarding:

A) Substantial counterclaims towards the Port which have been entirely ignored by the French authorities, and

B) Serious competition and discriminatory issues in relation to the Port’s dealings with a French ferry operator preparing to start-up a Dover-Boulogne service.

The authorities informed the SpeedFerries staff on site that the arrest was carried out despite the written agreement, as “this would strengthen the negotiating position of the Port against SpeedFerries”.

As the actions of the Boulogne Port authorities are now proven to be unpredictable and inconsistent with their given guarantees, SpeedFerries finds itself in a position where it is unable to inform its customers, employees or business partners, of a firm date for the resumption of services.

The company deeply regrets this situation and asks everyone affected to accept our sincere apologies. Further statements will be issued when more information of substance becomes available

SpeedFerries Limited
Curt Stavis
Chief Executive Officer

 

Exactly 10 years ago, how my fortunes have changed, the loss of the tickets and more importantly the loss of the lo-cost service was a killer blow to me then.

 

I had travelled with them the week before and both crossings were crammed to the last inch of space, at this time of year with the other operators I often feel like I am the only person travelling, I have been on a tunnel crossing with only 5 other vehicles.

 

Both my outward and return crossings did not board and I had an hour wait each time, OK still far better than the ferries, they blame it on tech problems but the truth is they are consolidating departures as the trains are running virtually empty, I cannot blame them but why wont the just change the Schedule to hourly departures in winter? En revanche there were hundreds of poids lourds tailing back almost to the motorway exit.

 

That Speedferries were full in November shows that they were doing something much better than the competition, they forced the others to adopt a more honest pricing model which remained for several years albeit at higher prices until they squeezed out the 3rd operator and now we are back to the bad old days.

 

Still with Brexit we can look forward to 99p booze cruises again!!!!

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Thanks all for your thoughts.

Yes I remember speedferries and I have been violently ill on their vessels. The tunnel would be my crossing of choice but I would never do enough trips to make a carnet worthwhile and the normal price is a bit much for me.

I'm starting on the French side so I think I'll get a single to UK and a 'day trip' on the way back
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Came back via Calais on the ferry a couple of weeks ago, there were loads of sun tanned young men standing at the roundabouts on the road to the terminal, police were also in attendance.

I usually go out on the shuttle using my Tesco clubcard points and returning when I'm ready on the ferry, why? the shuttle you have to give a return date and if something happens whilst over in France you lose that slot unless you are rich. With the ferry I get an internet connection when I'm ready to come home and book that, the ferries don't tend to increase the price the nearer you get to the traveling date, plus Calais port is not as busy as the shuttle terminal for UK immigration. I have never had a problem turning up early on either the shuttle or the ferries always got an earlier crossing at no charge.

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[quote user="Department71"] the ferries don't tend to increase the price the nearer you get to the traveling date, 

[/quote]

I would have to disagree with that point, P&O certainly do. I have hesitated to book due to work and when re-visited to book fares have increased drastically (3 days or less providing it's not a special date)

Less so on DFDS Newhaven Dieppe

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[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]I never fully understood what caused Speedferries to go out of business. They were always full.

[/quote]

A con man fleeced 1000.000 Euros out of Bolougne council by promising to bring in businesses to upgrade the port and increase ferry involvement into the port. He very quickly disappeared with their money. Next thing you know SpeedFerries owed the port 250.000 Euros in fees and Bolougne panicked. They slapped a notice on the mast demanding payment and SpeedFerries couldn't pay up immediatly, so the council shut them down. We were gutted as we used them a lot. Now it's Frequent Traveller, works wonderfully well for us as it turns us out in Cheriton and it's only 1 hour 20 minutes from home.
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Same for me Nick, 1 hr 20 minutes UK side and 1 hr 30 minutes French side, when they are not consolidating the crossings I either drive straight on or have a maximum of a 30 minute wait, the saving in crossing and waiting time is at a minimum 1hr 30 minutes over the ferry each way.

 

When Norfolkline have played the same tricks on the night crossings I have had to sleep in the car for 3 hours or more.

 

I dont even bother looking up the check in or my crossing time any more in the UK I just aim to get there sometime after 4pm and in France some time before mid-day and just drive on the next crossing and apart from the last 2 trips I always manage to drive straight on just before the departure. The cancellation and re-booking is a real boon as well.

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