Crazy ferry pricing

[Jill<br><br>Jill (99)]

I was looking at prices of ferries to make a quick crossing Portsmouth to Caen.  We have to make a quick trip, there and back in 1, or 2 days, to get my daughter over for her year abroad.  I looked at prices for going overnight Saturday and overnight Sunday, as well as doing it over Saturday, spending a night there and coming back on Monday.

The cost of a return trip for 3 Saturday/Sunday is £98.  The same trip over Saturday/Monday is £247.   We still have to pay the £5 for a recliner, even though only 2 of us will be returning.  I did try for a price over Saturday/Sunday with only 3 returning and it was £212.  Bizarre - so much more for one less!

Then I just got to thinking.

If it is £98 for a return trip over 2 nights, what if one booked 2 return trips at £98?  I've worked it out that you could get the same return journeys on other nights at £98.  So, what if I had booked a return for Saturday/Sunday and another for Monday/Tuesday - totalling £196.  That would be £41 cheaper than the £247 they charge for Saturday/Tuesday.  Now that is a bit petty for £41.  But if you did it over a week and booked a return ticket for each weekend, it would be a saving of £91!  If you do it over a fortnight, you would save £131, meaning you could afford to make another fortnight trip to France!

So, has anyone tried doing the trip on two return tickets?  Or is it possible the computer at Caen on your return would notice that you hadn't actually used the ticket on the way out?  After all, you only give the ticket voucher for one half of the journey.  Would it be illegal to do it that way?

Interestingly, a single is £171.  If I was going only one way I would certainly buy a return.

Any comments on this.  If the mods decide to remove this message on the basis that everyone on the forum had cottoned onto this loop-hole and they don't want the ferry companies reading this, then fair enough - but private messages by anyone who has a comment on this if you do get to read it could be interesting.

[Clair]

Recent thread: If buy a return ferry ticket, can I use it one way only?

[dragonrouge]

Jill I too am amazed at the pricing and recently we organised matters so much that someone who was going back handled a small issue for us for BF wanted for a week end plus cabins I admit well over £400.

However just a word of advice from a very old lawyer and whilst it might come to this beware of booking return ferries and only using a one way portion only then using another return for the other portion.  Just reading your email your mind is just about telling you that this might work and you might get away with it.

I do not think BF will miss this 'conn' for that is what it is and legally you are essentially let us say committing a fraud or theft on BF and whilst they would perhaps be happy to get a single fare out of you theoretically its a criminal offence and the police could become involved.  BF for their 'reputation' might not go down this route but you never know.

[Will]

Weekend and overnight crossings always carry a price premium. If you want lower costs rather than convenience, try to travel on daytime crossings midweek. The Saturday-Sunday return crossing counts as a day trip, which is usually offered as a promotional fare. The computerised quote system has difficulties with different numbers of people on the outward and return journey on promotional fares, so if you want to do this it's best to book by phone, and explain what you need, then you may get the lower fare. Or you can book two promotional returns and one single.

If you look at the terms and conditions you will see that if you only use one half of a two-way reduced fare crossing, the ferry company reserves the right to charge your credit or debit card with the full single fare. This is a standard condition with most carriers. I don't think the law or police would need to get involved, just your card provider (unless you had been able to pay cash for the ticket, not always possible).

 

[Weedon]

Jill, you will not be surprised, I am sure, to know that this has been discussed many times on this forum.  Whilst you may be able to do what you suggest once, if you were a frequent traveller it would very soon be noticed and most probably the ferry company would do what Will has suggested and charge your card, which they are entitled to do.

I do admit though that some of the ferry prices are, to say the least, bizarre.

My favourite crossing would be Caen/Ouestreham to Portsmouth.  It  is my nearest port, I like the area adjacent to the boats and in my opinion Brittany Ferries are the nicest all-round ferry company.  But I haven't been able to afford to travel with them for a number of years.

I have tried Speedferries using their 10 crossing deal which cost £190 when I bought it.  Now that I have used up the 10 crossings I can't face driving all the way to Boulogne and now invariably go with either LD lines or Transmanche, although Le Havre and Dieppe still represent a 3 or 4 hour drive, the only bonus being that Newhaven means that I just have a 40 minute drive in England.

On the outside chance that somebody from the catering side of either LD Lines or Transmanche reads this forum........could you please put some decent food on offer to your passengers, nothing fancy just something  palatable.

[Russethouse]

Jill, have you looked at their 24 hour trips ? http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/offers/ferry/day-trips-france

You could go out on a Sat afternoon and come back Sunday evening - you just have to be back for the crossing 24 hours after you got off the boat ? I did a test and with an ordinary car, 3 out, 2 back and reclining seats on the return trip it was £77.

How far do you have to go in France ?

[Jill<br><br>Jill (99)]

We don't use Brittany ferries for our bookings, we use one of the budget companies.  Sometimes we have done our bookings through Camping and Caravanning but the return trip we are doing was £98 with ferrycheap and £212 with camping and caravanning, although I think that is because our return trip is for 3 people each way and the one I enquired about with camping and caravanning was for 3 people one way and 2 people on the way back.  2 people are more expensive than 3!

 

[Cendrillon]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

Jill, have you looked at their 24 hour trips ? http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/offers/ferry/day-trips-france

You could go out on a Sat afternoon and come back Sunday evening - you just have to be back for the crossing 24 hours after you got off the boat ? I did a test and with an ordinary car, 3 out, 2 back and reclining seats on the return trip it was £77.

How far do you have to go in France ?

[/quote]

That sounds like a brilliant offer RH

[PaulT]

Some years ago I had the daughter of some American friends spend a few days with me before going off to travel around Europe.

I drove them to Dover and foolishly I let them go up to the counter to buy two day returns. There then ensued a lengthy heated discussion between myself and the agent who stated that they were only going one way, citing the fact that they had rucksacks on their back. I told her that was nonsense and that they were being collected by friends in Kent and staying with them. Eventually, they got their tickets but the agent seemed very reluctant to do so.

Plus, we are back to France in October and my mother will be joining us a few days later via a return flight with BA to save her the long journey and because we thought we would be loaded down. We did not think that we would be as loaded as we thought so asked her if she would like to travel down with us. Whilst she thought about it I phoned BA 'if the person did not travel out on the ticket could they travel back on it'. The answer 'if you do not use the outward then there is no return'. However, at the time of booking it would have been the same price for single legs as the price for each leg of the return. Fortunately, my mother has decided that she would prefer to fly, especially as we now seem to have a full car of bits and pieces.

Paul