Eurotunnel - you are having a laugh

[PaulT]

Travelled over to France on Tuesday. Booked for 07:20 and going after 06:00 was a couple of pounds cheaper than travelling before 06:00 but that was not the reason for booking after 06:00.

As it happened we arrived at the terminal at about 05:00 and I was given these choices of travel:

05:48 - Charge +£91

06:20 - No charge

07:20 - your original booked charge

Now, if the 05:48 had, say, been a £5 charge I may have taken it but £91 to travel 32 minutes earlier I am not that daft so we travelled on the 06:20.

[nomoss]

I would have taken the free trip at 06:20 too[:D]

 

 

[Frecossais]

When we use eurotunnel, we always deliberately use the off  peak periods. We like to make sure we are early, and are quite often able to travel an hour earlier than our booked time for no extra fee. Like you we'd not dream of paying such an inflated sum to go a few minutes before their peak time. You're right, they're taking the mick.

[idun]

I have rarely used Eurotunnel. In our last few years in France, we used to to and fro far more often than we ever had and I always checked the prices and they were always about £600 for the return trip and no better than £200-£300 for a single. And the ferry was about £150-£200 and sometimes cheaper for the return, so we used the ferry.

I think that Eurotunnel have been having a laugh for years.

[Théière]

No not really, it depends on what vehicle, what time etc. They have a generous 2 hour before your specified travel time and as you could see they had good options available. If you turn up even earlier than the 2 hours before then its the same as paying the rate on the day.

You cant blame Eurotunnel for having some rules by the way of a schedule. Just don't turn up more than 2 hours before the appointed time. They didn't try forcing it on you like a certain airline does for a couple of grams over on your bag they just gave options.

[Yonner]

We’ve used the tunnel 9 times out of 10 ever since we’ve

been regular travellers – 9 years. We buy 10 crossings at a time  - at £ 43 each way now- and unless its for a

specific reason we travel off peak.  We get

offered similar options at check in on occasion, but never with that much of an

overcharge. Where’s the incentive in that.

FWIW, travelled by Ferry last time, because I had to travel

in peak, and used MyFerry Link at £37 outbound, ( would have had to pay £30 supplement

on the tunnel)  I understand the

restaurant, relaxation, shops argument, but on balance, the tunnel  simply suits better.  From a time perspective alone:  we can often time it so that we are off the

M20, through the tunnel and onto the A16 in less than 1 hour 15. The Ferry was

over double that , even after being “just in time” to check in because of Mway

traffic, and standing in lane for less than 5 mins.

‘orses for courses, I s’pose

[PaulT]

Idun, I do not know where you look for Eurotunnel fares but we normally pay between £60 - £70 each way and even their fully flexible fare I have never seen as high as £200 each way.

We have turned up 3 hours early before and got on a Shuttle straight away so I am more than happy with Eurotunnel apart from asking £91 extra on this occasion.

As for the 10 trips we used to buy those (then they were £39) but now we only make 6 single trips and it is cheaper to book each one individually.

[Clarkkent]

Well, I am here in France having crossed using the Shuttle.

I travelled from Folkestone to Calais in the early afternoon on a Monday in July and shall return in late morning on a Monday in September.

My travel costs were £140 return reduced by £90 by using £30 worth of Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

[idun]

The last time I looked was about four years ago and it was still the same. Ofcourse we were travelling with a dog and that hiked up the prices. I don't know what else we had, maybe a little trailer and maybe a roof box, but then the ferries were always so much cheaper including the toutou and the rest, so that is what we used.

I do check you know, before booking, my mots has always been, look before I book. And it was always horrific. Same same with most of the eurostar fares starting from our bit of France, always horribly expensive and no cheap phone number to talk to someone to get a better fare.

I have read that it is cheaper now, maybe it is. Not planning on a car trip for the time being.

[Pickles]

[quote user="idun"]maybe a little trailer

[/quote]

That would probably be the killer with respect to the Eurotunnel price, I expect.

[Théière]

[quote user="idun"]The last time I looked was about four years ago and it was still the same. Ofcourse we were travelling with a dog and that hiked up the prices. I don't know what else we had, maybe a little trailer and maybe a roof box, but then the ferries were always so much cheaper including the toutou and the rest, so that is what we used.

[/quote]

It was only 2-3 years ago I could travel with my van on a ferry for £70 ish each way, now that is nearer to £170 each way so the tunnel and I are great friends.

Speaking of friends (those lucky to have some) [;-)]  The new deal with Eurotunnel means you can share your 10 ticket deal so even if you only make 6 trips a year then someone else could use the other 4, bargain all round [:)]

[idun]

 I've just done a search for Sept, so after the schools have gone back and it is still coming up as £300 on Eurotunnel and P&O at £200. I'm sure that I would shop around even more IF I was travelling, but £100 in my pocket will always interest me as it would go towards the cost of the autoroute. 

And the P&O times interested me far more than the Euro tunnel times when it was cheapest.

[NickP]

[quote user="idun"]The last time I looked was about four years ago and it was still the same. Ofcourse we were travelling with a dog and that hiked up the prices. I don't know what else we had, maybe a little trailer and maybe a roof box, but then the ferries were always so much cheaper including the toutou and the rest, so that is what we used.

[/quote] We've used the tunnel now for ten years; and have always bought the frequent traveller tickets, a great deal and  the price has been stable till this year; it has only gone up £4 a journey but as T stated you can now nominate one other user. The bad news is that our daughter is the nominated traveller and having a years maternity leave; Mum and Dad have now got to buy another season ticket in the same year. Years ago if you booked today for tomorrow then the prices were high, but where Dear young Idun gets her prices from I can't imagine? Also I can't imagine the time wasted hanging around on Ferries, we used one last year as one of the Grandsons said he had never been on a big boat, what waste of time, he was sea sick and it took longer to get out of the ferry terminal in Dover than the train takes to go through the hole in the ground. Tunnel every time, as long as you are like us and don't need to travel in the rush hour or on busy days, it works a treat and is superb value.[:)]

[Judith]

I use the tunnel for preference over ferry (the exception being the ferry from Spain when I needed to be at that end of the UK, twice) and as a single traveller, with no special deals, and I have never paid £200 for a return.   I book via the UK site, and when it says, do you really want to start your journey from Calais, I say yes, and get UK prices.  I check the French site prices also and take the best price.  I don't know where you get your prices from, Idun, you must be booking at highest rate times and days ...

[idun]

[quote user="NickP"]

[quote user="idun"]The last time I looked was about four years ago and it was still the same. Ofcourse we were travelling with a dog and that hiked up the prices. I don't know what else we had, maybe a little trailer and maybe a roof box, but then the ferries were always so much cheaper including the toutou and the rest, so that is what we used.

[/quote] We've used the tunnel now for ten years; and have always bought the frequent traveller tickets, a great deal and  the price has been stable till this year; it has only gone up £4 a journey but as T stated you can now nominate one other user. The bad news is that our daughter is the nominated traveller and having a years maternity leave; Mum and Dad have now got to buy another season ticket in the same year. Years ago if you booked today for tomorrow then the prices were high, but where Dear young Idun gets her prices from I can't imagine? Also I can't imagine the time wasted hanging around on Ferries, we used one last year as one of the Grandsons said he had never been on a big boat, what waste of time, he was sea sick and it took longer to get out of the ferry terminal in Dover than the train takes to go through the hole in the ground. Tunnel every time, as long as you are like us and don't need to travel in the rush hour or on busy days, it works a treat and is superb value.[:)]

[/quote]

Please go to the eurotunnel site and check. A car with roof box, and a

small trailer and a dog, return, 6th to 16th of September. Now there

were cheaper fares at midnight, which is no good for me. I have a huge journey

on both sides of the channel and know exactly where I need to stop and don't need to be arriving on either side of the channel in the middle of the night. Not that we haven't done it in the past, we have, but no more.

We

would never have bought a season ticket, as we never knew when we were

travelling or how many times a year.

And NickP.......... '

Dear young Idun' indeed, in old money, I'm a pensioner now and haven't

been called 'young' in quite some time!

My preferred journey is Hull/Zeebrugge, that costs a lot in itself, but less travelling in the UK and no hotel bills on our journey which helps towards the overall costs.

[YCCMB]

I can honestly count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've crossed the channel by boat since the tunnel opened. And at least two of those were when I was getting a lift with friends. We always find the tunnel OK on price, and the same when we still had a dog, who was fine in the car for 30 minutes in the tunnel, and would probably have been OK for ages on a boat, although I preferred not to make him have to do that, despite his very laid back temperament.

It is definitely horses for courses. All the same to us, as its the tunnel, Dover, Folkestone or Portsmouth, Southampton...all practically equidistant. On the other end, some friends extol the virtues of a shorter drive from Le Havre or wherever after sleeping on the ferry, but to me that's a wasted day, and when we can do door to door in 10 hours via the tunnel, I prefer that to messing about in boats.

[Théière]

It looks like it's your trailer that's the expense Idun, leaving that off the journey is far more realistically priced.  What could you possibly want to carry back and forth, no don't tell me it's probably just an extension of your handbag and no man is brave enough to ask [:D]

[PaulT]

Well, a dog is £15 each way. A roofbox adds nothing to the fare, just means that you are not on the twin deck carriages but on the single deck ones (a reason for a roofbox). A trailer costs the same as the car whether it be a small 3' x 4' or a 10' long box trailer.

From the UK I have a 4.5 hour drive to Folkestone and then a 12 hour drive the other side. I do not want to drive through Dover and then the time for the crossing.

If you want to travel at the more expensive times then the 10 crossings plus the £10 or £20 supplement for peak times is probably the best way.

[dwmcn]

Paul,

We've never paid anywhere near as much as idun quotes. Maybe he/she means Euorstar. They will even let you leave earlier at times for no extra charge.

David

[idun]

Go on, one of you be brave enough to check my figures on the Eurotunnel site....... I wasn't making it up and there is no way I am crossing during the night, be it a quick journey, I 've done that when I was young, but not these days.

We never crossed ten times in a year, even when we were travelling a bit more. In the early days it was once every two years, and twice or three times a year was a lot for us in the end.

PaulT, I notice that you mention Lincs. We have friends in France from Lincs and when we had already been travelling for quite some time ie a couple of hours and the rest........ we'd see the sign for Lincoln and I'd think how jammy they were on their way back to see family,  a much shorter journey than us.

On the other side, well, that depends on many things, between 9 and 14 hours. Door to door about a 1000 miles.

And the trailer. Well at one point we used to holiday before going to the UK and camp. Sometimes we'd have a camping holiday in the UK. And then when we bought the house in the UK prior to our return, we'd take some things back for the 'new' house. And we could catch a ferry cheaply anyway, I don't need Eurotunnel. I have well arranged and cheaper travel arrangements. Although, IF I ever got a bargain, then I would use it.

[sid]

We use both crossings... but never at the same time so far!

I've just done a comparison, but to be honest it's more realistic to just get the quote for a car; most people don't take a trailer every time, you only have to look at the queues at the terminal. I picked a mid-morning crossing (at random) for the tunnel, and then picked an equivalent one on P&O.

France to England and return, going out on Monday 19th Aug and returning the following Monday, at around 10:20 (ish).

£160 P&O,  against 223€ (£192 approx.) for Eurotunnel. 

It then comes down to price versus time.  It's great for some people to be able to cross in 35 minutes and carry on with their journey, whilst others appreciate the break that the longer boat crossing gives.

Horses for courses.

 

 

[Théière]

Idun, I was brave enough to check prices, that's why I said about the trailer is the costly addition. Without the trailer an average of £75 each way with slight variance according to hour travelled, based it on lunchtime.

[Chancer]

[quote user="idun"] I don't need Eurotunnel. I have well arranged and cheaper travel arrangements. Although, IF I ever got a bargain, then I would use it.

[/quote]

i was flush one year and bought a carnet of 10 tickets for £39, there is no doubt its a great value service if you are going to use all of them and dont want to take a trailer, also for those of you with vans Eurotunnel at todays £43  price is a serious bargain.

Idun, there are bargains to be had at Eurotunnel, the £50 24 hour return isnt bad but a bit too expebsive to use as a single, every year between November and february they have promotions and I have bagged several day returns which I used as single tickets for either £15 or €15, I usually return on a similar deal with one of the other operators.

I went to the UK in July very cheaply with Myferrylink, £25 I think, thats what I usually pay, sorry it was DFDS! When I return I hope to get a similar deal but it is the summer so maybe not, just recalled I brought my big trailer back to sell hence using DFDS, twas about £40 total, I had the option of a fourgon but the prices were sky high.

I am lucky in that my time is my own, I can travel when I choose and I dont book till the last minute, I will delay a crossing if necessary by a couple of days to save even a fiver (no comments please) and am happy to travel during the night if need be, usually I dont have to but bringing the trailer at a good price necessitated it.

[idun]

I'm really not bothered about Eurotunnel at all. After a long drive, we rather like the crossing, a bit of bracing sea air before we set off again.

From what I am reading, my life has never been the same as others. We lived a long way from our old english home and never could afford to go back that often. The autoroutes and fuel are very expensive, the ferry only being part of it. At the moment about 150€ for the motorways and then what 300€ for diesel, or more.......plus the ferry and a couple of hotels and that is a lot of money. And a good reason why I didn't drive down alone last time I went, even the dearer air routes that we end up with in the SE of France are cheaper than that.

Chancer, I do try and get the cheapest I can. My husband vows he will never cross to Dunkirk again though, as he was stuck in the port for an age and with a very long drive ahead of him, was a very unhappy bunny, I think he had planned on sleeping in the car when he got tired, as he was on his own, but I cannot remember.

If we had such short distances as you have to travel, then we would travel at any old time and yes, I would save £5 if it suited me, why not.

When we are both travelling, depending on what time of day we used to set off in France, we'd head for Reims or Calais on the first day. Hotel overnight. Ferry about 9am and then drive north as we could get to the M25 at a reasonable time. Returning we always stayed in Reims on the way down, catching a ferry about tea time. If we could afford Zeebrugge / Hull, then straight to the port in either direction, night on the boat and drive to our destination the following day. We have to travel by car, as it suits us.

[PaulT]

[quote user="idun"]I have rarely used Eurotunnel. In our last few years in France, we used to to and fro far more often than we ever had and I always checked the prices and they were always about £600 for the return trip and no better than £200-£300 for a single. And the ferry was about £150-£200 and sometimes cheaper for the return, so we used the ferry.

I think that Eurotunnel have been having a laugh for years.
[/quote]

Idun

I have just costed the most expensive going on 06/09 and returning on 16/09 and the cost for a car with roofbox, trailer and dog is £336, nowhere your original stated £600 return.

P&O ferries for approx. the same times = £240.

However, I choose not to use peak times and far prefer the less hectic experience of the tunnel as opposed to the ship - especially at those times when a lot of the passengers find the need to feed the fish.