Brittany Ferries - Plymouth to Roscoff - Anyone know how to obtain discount fares?

[Organiste Titulaire]

Hello

I am planning to travel from Plymouth to Roscoff this Summer but the Brittany Ferries website is quoting £765 return (including 15% off if booked by the end of Jan!!)!  Anyone know how I can get a cheaper price? (I am not a property owner). Brittany Ferries seem to be charging ridiculous prices for the luxury of a Western Channel crossing!  

My details are:

Plymouth to Roscoff

18th July @ 23.30

Standard car with rear mounted cycle rack

2 adults and 2 children (5/7)

4 berth cabin

Roscoff to Plymouth

2nd August @ 23.30

Standard car with rear mounted cycle rack

3 adults (not 2) and 2 children (5/7)

4 berth cabin

I normally use Speedferries, but now live in North West England. We are travelling to Quimper, so Plymouth/Roscoff would make more sense for us and avoid a 350 mile drive from Boulogne to Quimper!

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

Neil

[Russethouse]

You could try travelling in the day and try to keep away from Friday and Sat day/night.

You might also try the Portsmouth St Malo crossing (although it may be dearer) its a pleasant do- able drive to Quimper - we have done it several times.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

The BF 'Property Owners' deal is actually available to anybody. We've used it for about 20 years and only owned property for about 12 months of that. BF claim up to 30% discounts. You also get discounts off restaurant meals & free continental breakfasts.

You could also consider the 'middle Channel' routes through Caen and Le Havre. I don't know their fares but I believe they are cheaper than the 2 Breton routes and only add 2-3 hours drive compared to St Malo

[cooperlola]

These people

http://www.aferry.to/

are very good if only as a means of comparing prices, and seeing all the routes and timetables available.

[Will]

I think one reason for the high cost is that you have a different number of people travelling on each leg, so the automated system may be treating it as two single journeys. Three possible solutions - get an online quote for a return for five people each way, and for the leg with two just make the excuse that one has dropped out; get an online quote for a return for four people and book the fifth as a one-way foot passenger (that's a bit more 'official', the foot passenger will have to board separately but can disembark in the car); and third, phone the reservations service to see if they can offer you a better deal. That third option has worked for us under similar circumstances (as have the other two on different occasions, though none on that particular route).

Because you have five people you may find that the system is booking you into - and charging for - two cabins. Five in one cabin is pretty tight anyway, but if you insist on having just the one cabin then book a 4-berth cabin and (if booking for five) a reclining seat - that way the right number of people will be accommodated.

Of course, summer travel, overnight crossings, and weekend travel (Fridays count as weekends) are all expensive options whichever carrier you use.

I think Albert might find that the discount club has changed recently - you need to have an address in France, although you will probably no longer be asked for proof such as a utility bill in your name (but the company reserves the right to ask for verification) and the meal discounts seem to work differently onboard this year, despite what it says on the web site.

 

[Anton Redman]

Work your way through date and time combinations. In 2006 we found a pair of return crossing which were just about worthwhile going to Plymouth when we were visiting friends near Crapstone ( as in the Vinnie Jones advert) . I believe one of the crossings is used to swop crew who have been on the run down to Spain and is normally cheaper but a bad day in the week

Edit - Isabel has advised that we were visiting friends in Buckland Monachorum and made several detours to avoid passing through Crapstone or vice versa

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

[quote user="Will"]

I think Albert might find that the discount club has changed recently - you need to have an address in France, although you will probably no longer be asked for proof such as a utility bill in your name (but the company reserves the right to ask for verification) and the meal discounts seem to work differently onboard this year, despite what it says on the web site.

[/quote]

Edit: The "are interested in purchasing a property" bit disappeared when I highlighted it so I've just switched to plain bold.

Will, I'm basing my statement on the BF Web site that says:

Our Property Owners' Travel Club has been designed especially to offer substantial savings to those who own or are interested in purchasing a property abroad.

How this works with the notes on the form I don't know. As Will points out,  they  say :

Application should be accompanied by an overseas property address. Proof of property ownership may be requested at anytime during membership.

But immediately followed by

In certain circumstances, at Brittany Ferries sole discretion, membership may be accepted without proof of property address or ownership.

I don't know how long that clause has been there, but we've never been asked for any proof of ownership. In fact, apart from half an acre of field (building plot) we've never owned any property in France, although we could always supply a contact address via relatives.

[Will]

Up to about seven or eight years ago the POTC was free for all, anybody could join (like the similar Cercle Voyageur equivalent which was operated by the French end of the company but now seems to have disappeared from the web site). Then, about the time we joined, they wanted a French address, verified by utility bill in your name or copy of the notaire's attestation, to prove that you actually were a French house owner. That condition stayed there on and off (but only for new joiners, not existing cardholders) until a few months ago - although not everybody was asked for the proof - when the present extremely vague system came in. Similarly with the meal discounts. Since about November last, just before the brasserie system came in, the onboard staff stopped accepting the POTC cards in the onboard restaurants, wanting cabin keys or travel tickets instead, with bar codes they could scan. You still get the discount, but not necessarily through POTC. The website hasn't changed, but this has been confirmed by the BF press office. This is based on experience, some 5-6 individual crossings over the last few weeks, on the Caen and St Malo routes.

I think one of the best benefits of POTC is the free or half-price day cabins.

[KathyF]

[quote user="Will"]

Up to about seven or eight years ago the POTC was free for all, anybody could join (like the similar Cercle Voyageur equivalent which was operated by the French end of the company but now seems to have disappeared from the web site). Then, about the time we joined, they wanted a French address, verified by utility bill in your name or copy of the notaire's attestation, to prove that you actually were a French house owner.....

I think one of the best benefits of POTC is the free or half-price day cabins.  [/quote]

Thanks for explaining that, Will. I now know how a Francophile friend of ours became a member eithout owning a house. When we joined 5 years ago, we had to send a copy of the attestation to prove our ownership and I naturally assumed that had always been the case.  Mystery solved. [:)]

I'd agree entirely that the reduced rate/free cabins are a big bonus, which we make use of every time we come across.

[clarksinfrance]

first of all find someone who belongs to BF property owners club, and ask for their membership number (it can now be used as many times as they like), and try to book again using that, or does your trip have to be Plymouth - Roscoff? Have you tried LD Lines from Portsmouth - Le Havre? usually much cheaper, but depending where you set out, and where you want to finish, it can become a trade-off between price saving, and time taken. My experience in high summer is that LD is upto 80% cheaper.