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Sea-way Robbery.


Gastines
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Just tried to book a 2day return on B.F. FROM France car+2 without home-owners discount nearly £500!!!!!!!!!!!!

The same routes from UK car+2+3mtr trailer £260????

Same trip 2 weeks ago £163.

The amazing thing is that I tried to book several trips at the end of August and most sailings were fully booked.I must admit that I will be glad when I don't have to use them any more.
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Brittany was the preferred company for me (not the last overcrowded trip) on the western routes, except of course the cost;
to the point of driving to dover to cut down on Ferry cost (the difference funded not just the fuel but an overnight stop with meal as well), and very often total journey time was shorter.

Even booking early this year with owners discount LD beat Brittany by £150, all the prices seem out of kilter with past experience, and the benefit of a slightly better boat doesn't justify £150, so I'll continue to shop around and at the moment Brittany will be the loser.

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My thoughts exactly in that tried to book a return trip Caen Portsmouth and Caen St Malo for September and the cost was over £200 more than a similar journey of two weeks ago thus at the height of the season

I am now being forced to go elsewhere but that is voting with one's feet.

Simply I do not understand it.
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In answer to Russethouse,"Yes". Lots of reasons but thankfully not financial.We've had 4 houses in this area,selling each and moving closer to St.Malo,over a period of 20years.Resident for the last 8. In many ways we will miss the area as it has so much to offer but age,family,particularly grandchildren have decided us to make a new start. Definately out with the old and a completely new start. We have seen tremendous changes over the last 20 years most for the better but I do think costs have spralled a bit. I've no doubt we will have a bit of a culture shock when we return to the UK,the same area where we have had 10 different houses.Have to keep ahead of the Bailiffs doesn't one.

On the finances note ,perhaps this tells a story. Advertising all our furniture on another well known site at what we believed to be very reasonable prices,we had 50+ enquiries,mostly for photo's. 3 buyers turned up who cleared the majority but the others couldn't even be bothered to say" No thanks".We look forward to re=modeling our latest purchase to suit our needs with family and visitors in mind and look upon it as a new start and adventure. As "Arnie" said "We'll be back".but not permanently.
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The word robbery in the subject seems wrong to me, I think of robbery as someone who takes money off you against your will and offers nothing in return. In this case you have the choice of paying for a service at their price or not.

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If the quotes you have received are too expensive for you, try to avoid overnight sailings and weekends.

I have just tried a two-day Caen-Portsmouth crossing next week (i.e. peak season) and got a quote of £163 for car + 2 (inc club discount - £192 without).

If it is a rip-off, how come crossings are fully booked?

Just for comparison, I tried the nearest equivalent LD Lines daytime crossings Le Havre-Portsmouth and was quoted £220.

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There seems to be no logic to it apart from charging it's clients the maximum at school holiday times and at weekends when changeovers for Gites etc occur.I do understand that any business has to maximise it's profit but their system of fares seems to almost a discrimination against travellers from France. I always book trips midweek as it used to be cheaper Tuesdays/Thursdays but not any more. After several changes of dates I have now booked another trip mid-August for Cherbourg-Poole return for £165,with H.O. discount. No logic to it that I can see. I have always found L.D. Lines dearer on every trip!! On some days it is cheaper to travel St.Malo tp POrtsmouth. 9 hours on the boat all day, than Cherbourg to Portsmouth or Poole. I prefer Poole as it's only 10 minutes from home.Pity they didn't keep the Barfleur.
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[quote user="Gastines"]There seems to be no logic to it apart from charging it's clients the maximum at school holiday times and at weekends when changeovers for Gites etc occur.I do understand that any business has to maximise it's profit but their system of fares seems to almost a discrimination against travellers from France. [/quote]

Its called demand pricing which all the operators do, throw in a bit of we can get away with it and dont care, which all the operators practice to a certain degree and you have the explanation as to why similar trips cost far more starting from France than England.

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[quote user="Chancer"]

[quote user="Gastines"]There seems to be no logic to it apart from charging it's clients the maximum at school holiday times and at weekends when changeovers for Gites etc occur.I do understand that any business has to maximise it's profit but their system of fares seems to almost a discrimination against travellers from France. [/quote]

Its called demand pricing which all the operators do, throw in a bit of we can get away with it and dont care, which all the operators practice to a certain degree and you have the explanation as to why similar trips cost far more starting from France than England.

[/quote]

When you get rid of a ship..the Barflur..then the demand for what is left on offer to us is obviously going to increase. So what next...get rid of another ship. ? .. .pack us like sardines into whats left on offer and up the fares again.? 

 BF know exactly what they are doing ...and so do we.. The choice left to us is stump up the higher fares or dont  use them.....They know many cant  face the hasstle of a drive to Dover and the longer French side drive and an overnight stay especially if they travel with children  or getting on in years ..

BF will have worked out what the cost of the round trip for people with West coast properties / destinations  will be in toll charges extra fuel and food stops and hotels...and fixed their fares  accordingly . They  have me included in their calculations as I wont go Dorset Dover a crossing and down to the Vendee  taking two days to save £50 or so ..

When is comes to useing Western crossings ...as far as BF are concerned they know the saying with the words "Short and curlies " very well .

 

 

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[quote user="Frederick"] BF know exactly what they are doing ...and so do we.. The choice left to us is stump up the higher fares or dont  use them.....They know many cant  face the hasstle of a drive to Dover and the longer French side drive and an overnight stay especially if they travel with children  or getting on in years ..

BF will have worked out what the cost of the round trip for people with West coast properties / destinations  will be in toll charges extra fuel and food stops and hotels...and fixed their fares  accordingly . They  have me included in their calculations as I wont go Dorset Dover a crossing and down to the Vendee  taking two days to save £50 or so ..

When is comes to useing Western crossings ...as far as BF are concerned they know the saying with the words "Short and curlies " very well .

 [/quote]

I very much doubt that is the case.

It's supply and demand that drives the fare policy, not BF staff sitting with their toll charts and calculators in Plymouth or Roscoff.

Brittany Ferries, like most other carriers, makes its money from freight, and passenger traffic is merely a sideline. The poor infrastructure at Poole which made it unattractive all round as a freight terminal was the reason for getting rid of that particular ship, which had been built and adapted for that route and was reaching its sell-by date anyway. The Cotentin still operates a freight-only service between Poole and Cherbourg (apart from during mid-August when many European companies are shut down).

Many people enjoy whingeing. The company won't be too bothered if some passengers use the short crossings instead. I will continue to use the western channel, by booking late and avoiding peak passenger crossings I still find it offers reasonable value.

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[quote user="Iceni"]

Either way the price is irrelevant.

John[/quote]

What dribble!

We did a cost analysis and found the Dover route with an overnight in a cheap hotel to be about 30€ cheaper than a 5 day trip Roscoff to Plymouth, so not worth the extra miles/time. Anything longer than 5 days in the UK and Dover run looks more inviting. Obviously if money were no object then there would be no competition, BF every time to get to the west country.

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