Eurotunnel prices

[Steph1]

I have just been on the Eurotunnel website to try to book a crossing. I did the crossing stating that I lived in France and the total came to 228 euros which equates to £203, I did the exact same crossing stating that I live in England and the total came to £160, which is a difference of £43. Is there any reasonable explanation for this and has anyone who lives in France stated that they live in England?

[mint]

No to your last question.  It's difficult if you're paying by credit card because then the credit card address would be in France.

Only thing you can do is, book only the one way, France to UK and then, when you are in the UK, ring them up and book the return journey.

I have done that and even the dog travels free UK to France.

[PaulT]

It is nice to know that there is at least one thing that we in the UK are not ripped off over.

Eurotunnel seem to have a fixed exchange rate - look at the cost for frequent travellers. Seems to be at the same levels, Euro / Sterling as when the exchange rate was higher.

Probably the ideal situation - the lows of one currency is bouyed by the highs of the other.

Paul

[tuppence]

P2. when I wanted to renew my frequent travellers tickets, and living in France, it was 550€ compared to £390 so I used my Mums address in the UK to save a lorra, lorra money!! I haven't bothered this year as I don't make so many journeys back to the motherland. My friends came over in June, were quoted almost £200 return on the shuttle, so they came over on LD Lines Norman Arrow return £60, big difference don't you think?

tuppence

[PaulT]

[quote user="tuppence"]P2. when I wanted to renew my frequent travellers tickets, and living in France, it was 550€ compared to £390 so I used my Mums address in the UK to save a lorra, lorra money!! I haven't bothered this year as I don't make so many journeys back to the motherland. My friends came over in June, were quoted almost £200 return on the shuttle, so they came over on LD Lines Norman Arrow return £60, big difference don't you think?

tuppence
[/quote]

I agree it is a big difference - and exchange rate of 1.41. My point was that they do not seem to have amended the different prices in line with the change in rates.

And a £140 difference would make me think twice - but prices do depend upon time of day and how much in advance you book.

Paul

[Fay]

Sweet 17 - I am intrigued. How come the dog travels free?

[mint]

Don't know, Fay.  Charged I think £30 or €30 for dog (can't remember which and anyway it's more or less the same nowadays) France to UK and nothing UK to France.

Thorough check-up of documents on French side but could hardly get anybody to look at her passport UK side.   

[chirpy]

When you pay by credit card do EUROTUNNEL CHECK THE CARD'S ADDRESS --CAN THEY IN FACT GET THIS INFORMATION??[8-)]

[Fay]

Hi Sweet 17 - ah, yes, I understand now. Yes, they only charge for the admin of checking an animal into the UK.

[Llantony]

Interesting!  I'm about to book.    I was thinking of checking whether the £ price differs from the euro one.  It would be obvious we live in France from the crossing dates but would anyone check?  It might be better to book crossings separately.  It's very expensive with trailer anyway.  Also we are taking the dog so I hope the one way charge is correct.

I have a credit and debit card with UK address.  You have to give an address that corresponds with the one your card is registered at, so there would be a check - maybe automatically at your card issuer.

[Fay]

Hi Llantony

The one way charge is correct - the cat in the pic just completed her 21st return tunnel crossing (accompanied by me, her driver, of course). I can take her out of the UK for free but have to do the vet thing (within the 48–24 hour 'window'), pay the £30 when booking, and check her in at the Tunnel on the way back to England. This last bit takes a matter of minutes unless you are stuck behind someone whose paperwork is incorrect, in which case...

[chirpy]

WHAT IF MY SON IN THE UK PAID FOR THE TUNNEL ALTHOUGH TICKET FOR MY USE ONLY AND WIFE???

[Fay]

You are supposed to have the card with you that was used for the booking. If you go through a manual check-in they would ask you for it. If you go through a self-check-in you are supposed to be able to key the booking ref in as an alternative to putting the card in, but I've never done that as I have my card and it's quicker/easier.

I don't know what would then happen if they then did a check, since you (and your son I guess) would be in breach of contract. A ban? Made to lick Tunnel clean wit' tongue? I imagine you would at least find yourself missing several trains and charged the excess.

[chirpy]

well i will try and book from france ith my card andgive sonn's addressin uk-see if booking reference is given.

will ley you know as 40euro saved--a lot to a retired person in france with falling value of sterling when my small pension arrives here.

[Fay]

Personally I would be a bag of nerves if I were to do this.

What it comes down to is that, by buying the ticket, your son is entering a contract which is governed by law. Eurotunnel's Terms and Conditions make that clear. And by travelling on that ticket you are doing so under false pretences. So all three of you would, effectively, be breaking the law or at least a contract to which your son agreed.

Now, while I am sure that they wouldn't want to make an example of a pensioner, I wouldn't be surprised if they were to ban you from future travel.

That notwithstanding, I'd rather save the 40 euros some other way and travel guilt-free. So hope I didn't give the impression in the previous post that I thought it was worth a try.

[mayday]

Hi

The price is just about the same

[chirpy]

hi,

I was not using son's card but his address.

anyway I rang and asked if I could pay in £ as it seemed on their internet site  (ET),that you could not if you typed in that you live in France.

lady said I COULD PAY IN £ sterling and said she would book me on the phone.

When she quoted the prices i was dearer than advertised on their site BUT she said those bookings at the paricular price were all finished.!!!

 

seems to me abit of a fiddle by them!!1 HAD CALCULATED £140 RETURN BUT SHE OFFERRED AT £153!!!

You just cannot win and to cap it all they sent me an e-mail with first crossing 4 days too early.!!!!

You just cannot get the listening staff these days----they must be on a [:P] bonus for sales!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![8-)][:@][:(][6]

[Fay]

Sorry Ab, my mistake, yes you did say with your card in your most recent post.

[chirpy]

well some don'tlisten and some don't read properly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![:P]

 

Only joking Fay ---don't want to upset someone else with my sense of humour----although you must have a sense of humour

 

 

 

 

 

to live in Northamtonshire!!!!

 

and Picardie.

 

 

must be a rich person living in Buckingham or Croughton or perhaps Stowe/Silverstone[:D][:P]-------

you see I have been evicted from all of these places!!!!!!

Actually I worked in SIGMA paint factory in Buckingham and lived in Croughton for4 years before I was head hunted to return to god's country   ----Newcastle ---WELL THE BEER IS BETTER THAN NORTHAMTON LAGER.[B][B][B]

 

[Fay]

Not rich at all, Ab, a hard-working freelance travel writer and editor (so sense of humour working well as I smile at myself for not having spotted the change of plan in your posts) lucky enough to divide my time between a very beautiful part of the English countryside (none of the places you mention) and the gloriously lovely Baie de Somme. But unlucky in that the reason I can do this is because I was widowed horribly young and my wonderful man had taken care to make sure I would not end up a bag lady.

[goose]

We came through the tunnel 2 weeks ago and just as I was going to put the booking ref no in, the machine gave me my ticket. Apparently it uses car number identification and this has happened to us twice before so I should have remembered (blame my age for this !!!!! ). It was still quite a shock at the early hour of the morning (7 am).

My husband usually books the tickets so we always have his credit card to hand but I suppose if I get used to being "recognised", it will all go wrong and they will then ask for the card!

[mint]

So, Ab, how would it be if you son bought the tickets for you and was going to give them to you as a "present"?  Nothing to stop you giving the boy a bit of pocket money when you see him (only the amount happened to correspond to the cost of the tickets), would that be allowed?

What made me a bit cross was buying some things from Amazon UK only to have the goods charged at French TVA because I live in France (sorry, repeating myself now as I wrote about this on another thread) but some things linger unpleasantly in the memory, don't you think?

[Alane]

They really won't make you lick the tunnel clean with your tongue. A colleague of my wife's went across in the summer and proudly told her how they had worked out that it was much cheaper to buy two day returns, one for going out and one for coming back and only use outward half of each ticket (return leg was a day return from France).

My wife warned them of the tales of dire consequences posted on here but they went ahead and we were waited for the tales of woe on their return.

Nothing happened - all went smoothly for them and they wern't surcharged later either.

I wouldn't try it myself, particularly as the Frequent Traveller tickets are cheaper anyway but it clearly isn't the case that everyone trying this stunt will be taken to task.

[Fay]

Just did a quick google and found this on 'the other' site:

"I thought I would try this wheeze some years ago and as the fares were so cheap I purchased two day return tickets for different dates. Went out on the first one and obviously didn't turn up later that day for the return trip. Arrived at Calais two weeks later and presented my return ticket for that day."Ah but you did not come out from Folkestone this morning!! Oh yes I did said I. This went on for about five minutes until she said you aren't going anywhere unless you purchase a new one way ticket. It was a bank holiday Monday in the UK and my "cheap" ticket cost me £210 one way. Not to be recommended."

Mind you, that was two UK-outbound day returns, which would be a bit of an instant give-away.

Someone there (hearsay, I know) says that ET does operate a blacklist system

[Alane]

Yes, it would be a bit obvious to try to come back on the return leg of a day return when the outward leg hadn't been used. These folk were a bit cannier and had worked that one out for themselves.

They may of course just have been lucky.

I'm not condoning what they did but just give it as evidence that these companies aren't all knowing. Personally the thought that my return trip might be in jeapoardy and I'd have to wait hours just to save a few pounds doesn't appeal much.