Lower ferry fares

[Val_2]

Announcement on Sky business news earlier that ferry companies will be dropping prices in the near future to try and attract some custom. Seems they have had a lean summer with cheap air fares and the tunnel to compete with.

[Martinemj]

poor ferry companies ,may we all feel sorry for them??aaahhhh.

robbing ba*****s

[Stuart]

>Seems they have had a lean summer
>with cheap air fares and the
>tunnel to compete with.

Or could one major reason be that Speedferries have started to worry them? The big boys will probably never admit it but I am sure they will have been watching the growing success of the new conpany with more and more alarm.

This is just what happened with filght prices when Easyjet and Ryanair came onto the scene.

Thank you Speedferries - now all you need to do is get authorisation to carry pets and everything will be right with the world.

Stuart

[Bilbo]

there doesnt seem to be too much of a change in the pricing trends of ferry companies. You can, if you have the flexibility, as with all industries enjoy an extremely good fare from most if you can be maluable enough to suit their space needs.

last year we got a great deal last minute from condor, again i see them offering another one under their ferrydeal banner this year. this seems to have been again matched by the tunnel who may well have started the distress selling early this year. £100 return car and two seems to have set the benchmark for the eastern channel price changes.

the airline fares are a prime example of the offerings in reverse. if you know the dates you want to travel its often very cheap in advance of the dates of travel, but the closer you get to your prefered dates of travel the higher the price gets. Its like two seats for £50, four seats then at £55, six seats then at £75 and so on and so on. Fluid pricing seems to be the norm in the ferry industry, except condor who print prices in full, so the model of the airlines above applies some what to the industry until the end of season price slashing begins.

one thing is sure i wouldnt have liked to be someone who booked the ferry aspect of their July holiday say in January, as the price they paid then can quit easily be halved by waiting till a couple of weeks before. i guess we are all becoming a little bit last minute these dates and are no longer dictated to on price, its great to have choice but how many companies will survive waiting for us to make our minds up. thats when we go back to square one.

[Merteuil2]

<<one thing is sure i wouldnt have liked to be someone who booked the ferry aspect of their July holiday say in January, as the price they paid then can quit easily be halved by waiting till a couple of weeks before. i guess we are all becoming a little bit last minute these dates and are no longer dictated to on price, its great to have choice but how many companies will survive waiting for us to make our minds up. thats when we go back to square one. >>

 

...this works in reverse.  Tried to book for mid-September  crossing with P&O (shareholder brochure) on Monday but the computer connection was cut off before we completed.  Tried again yesterday and the price had risen by over 60pounds!  The quote now bears no relation to the brochure price. 

We're considering trying Speedferries, though the journey to Dover from the NW is twice the hassle.