Have Eurotunnel outpriced themselves?

[Baz]

I have come to the conclusion that Eurotunnel are pricing themselves out the Special offers market. They advertise everywhere that a £98 return journey fare is available at present. It is not until you read the small print that it becomes clear that you must travel out of Folkestone after 5pm and return from Calais before 11am. I would imagine that unless one is prepared to travel at night or have a destination close to Calais that any additional overnight stops would make these fares pointless. I have been looking for a 5day trip and the cheapest is about £178 or £ 198 for an open ticket free of any amendment charges. I realise that there are far cheaper Ferry crossings available but at this time of the year I prefer the Tunnel. Maybe they do not mind increasing their debts, but at these prices I would imagine for most crossings the trains are running pretty empty.

I know that there are sometimes special offers in the local papers around the Dover, Folkestone and Hythe areas and if anyone knows the promotional codes could they kindly let me know.

Baz

[Teamedup]

I rarely even bother ringing them these days, a couple of years ago they quoted around 600 odd euros and I got crossings for a third of that.

So yes, they are too dear and any deals never apply to us anyway.

[Blackadder<IMG src="http:forums.livingfrance.comimagesline.gif"><BR>Blackadder<BR>Keighley and Creuse]

I enjoy the speed and efficiency of Eurotunnel but sometimes baulk at the price. In summer i will generally go for the cheapest ferry, it didn't wotk in July when we spent 6 hours waiting for the ferries to catch up with passengers after bad weather, how much do you put on a 6 hour delay that seriously upsets your plans for a few day trip to see Le Tour?? For Winter we daren't risk a ferry due to the higher likelyhood of bad weather and delays/cancellations.

I have no problem with the late departures/early return as we have got used to the odd overnight in a cheapo hotel (room for the 4 of us incl breakfast fro less than £40) and then a leisurely drive to the Creuse the next morning.

Horses for Course I guess

[Alane]

Judging by the near empty shuttle trains that we have travelled on over the summer I would say that they have overpriced their fares. I am surprised that the £98 fares didn't make a difference but we travelled out on Friday evening on several occassions and the trains were never anywhere near full. For me the it's the "return before 11am" that is offputting meaning that I effectively lose a day of my holiday. When the fare was first published it was a "return before 2pm" if I recall correctly which wouldn't have been too bad. With the demise of the Property Owners Club maybe this will be the only economical option.

The only time that we have experienced the sort of traffic that they need to generate was on Good Friday morning when we went over for the Easter break - that was complete chaos.

I did read in the business pages earlier in the year that the new board voted in by the shareholders had decided to increase revenues by upping the fares, it seemed such a mad idea that I assumed it was just incorrect reporting.

 

Best Regards

Alan.

[Alcazar]

<<<I did read in the business pages earlier in the year that the new board voted in by the shareholders had decided to increase revenues by upping the fares, it seemed such a mad idea that I assumed it was just incorrect reporting>>>

Obviously Conservativs then? I remeber the tories doing the same to east coast main Line fares in the 80's when the new IC125 units increased the loadings. Instead of paying for more trains, they put the fares up to dissuade pasengers

Alcazar

[Kevinmc]

Let's not jump to conclusions. I had to change one of my bookings last week and in conversation heard that one of the rumours at Eurotunnel is that they're going to introduce the modern 'passenger loading' type software that the budget airlines and Speedferries are using. So, with a bit of judicious planning, Eurotunnel could become the cheapest option. 

 

[Alane]

Kevinmc

I think you mentioned in an earlier post that you were a Property Owners Club member - did they give you any clue as to what the replacement scheme might be? When I spoke to them just after the first announcement the staff seemed to be in the dark on this although they did suggest that I shouldn't buy more POC tickets than I would use before the announcement of the new scheme in November.

Best Regards

Alan.

 

[Kevinmc]

Alan,

No direct information on the new fares, the booking staff are probably being kept in the dark as well, but the feeling is that they have got to remain competitive with the other channel crossing companies.

We'll have to await P&Os announcement this morning to see how that influences things. Although P&O appear to be planning cuts in service, I read at the weekend that Norfolk Line are putting more ships on the channel, as they find it a profitable route ???

Back to Eurotunnel, points aren't normally credited to the account until the journey has been taken, but they're going to credit all bookings to the account prior to the deadline.

The person I spoke to seemed positive. Whatever happens, they're not going to fill the tunnel in.

 

   

[Blackadder<IMG src="http:forums.livingfrance.comimagesline.gif"><BR>Blackadder<BR>Keighley and Creuse]

I go with Norfolk Line quite regularly now, its a nice leisurely 2 hour crossing, I'm out of the habit of doing everything at 100mph and if i miss a few hours of my 2 week break, so what, I'm much less stressed!

We get on board and have generally eaten a good meal in their canteen before we have even left Dover. We then sit and read or watch a movie ( a full movie as we have 2 hours!!!) at the other end we wander back to car, no point rushing like most seem to, and out French journey begins, All very civilised....and the point is....

We have been delayed a couple of times for a few minutes for either P and O or Sea France and I thought it may be that they pay a premium to the Port Authority to get on time crossings, eating away at their profit margins.

Give Norfolk Line a go, its a relaxed start to what is supposed to be a relaxed time abroad??

Hey, and I have no shares in anything except the dead cert from 2years ago MYTRAVEL, buy at 30 p a share and watch your wealth rise....now worth 5.4 p a share...Yahoo.

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