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There is only one way to maintain low ferry crossings and that is to break up the cartel that is running the channel ferries.

Speed Ferries is trying to do just that. SpeedFerries offers amendable bookings from £25 one-way, for a standard car including up to 6 passengers, on the all year Dover-Boulogne fast ferry service.

As you can see they only do Dover - Boulogne at the moment, but other routes are planned for the future. All the feedback I have seen has been good, so please give them your support if you can.

http://www.speedferries.co.uk/

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I wholeheartedly support Speedferries, but would it not be possible for them to hold their prices permanently at £50 return throughout the year? We wanted to go across at Easter and discovered that their price was about £70, whereas P&O were doing an offer at £60, so we chose P&0.

 

Jaybe

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the price varies as to how booked up the crossing is and and how close you are to going.Easter, a popular time for many people will mean the crossings get booked quickly.

we have found just altering the times in and out on the same day can alter the price.

Its still a whole lot cheaper then the opposition and the further ahead you plan the more likely your cost will be £50.00 for a return journey.

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We live 10 mins drive from Poole and our house in France is near Angers. I could not consider driving all the way to Dover and then all the way from Boulogne to Durtal just to save money. However much I would like to support Speedferries I think the extra costs involved would reduce the gap between what we pay now and the cheap fares. We are held to ransom by Brittany Ferries now - perhaps Speedferries would like to operate from Poole and put back the day time services that BF have cancelled causing us to have to drive to Portsmouth.

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Nelson, in reply to your question. Speedferies is a new discovery for us and will be featured on our travel website when it is refurbished.

 

We have no connection what-so-ever to Speedferries and nothing to gain by recommending them.

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its quite amazing the level of support built up for speedferries, although your already seeing others beat their only selling idea - cheap ferries. surely this will not stand the test of time. like airline before them the numbers will reduce as the costs are appreciated and with time the pricing goes up due to catering for demand closer in to the sailing. basic business. it seems the only company that i find offering sensible pricing and publishing their prices in the brochure are Condor Ferries. You just cant ask for a better service and the frequent traveller club saves me a fortune on top. dont get the earlier comment about being held to ransom by brittany ferries. if you're clever enough to find this forum you should wise up and find other websites like condorferries. constant whining... the options are out there.
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[quote]its quite amazing the level of support built up for speedferries, although your already seeing others beat their only selling idea - cheap ferries. surely this will not stand the test of time. like ai...[/quote]

Yes we now use Speedferries! For these reasons:

1 Price

2 Faster service than conventional ferries

3 Faster on and off than conventional ferries.

4 Friendly staff.

5. We travel with pets and their checking in service is second to none! They are very courteous, efficient and considerate in every way to our two old cats. Thie is very important when you have been travelling all day! We have had some very abrupt people deal with us on the conventional ferries and their scanners are often really old fashioned and it takes forever to find the microchips. They seem to blame us for their own inefficiency!

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have always used ordinary ferries and paid very expensive prices(even with discounts) so this company is providing a real alteranative at a very good price.

We have booked for June and have made substantail savings on our original planned crossing. We hope that Speedferries are successful in bringing realistic prices to cannel crossings.

 

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I've been recommending them to anyone enquiring about B&B at our place in Normandy, telling them that the saving is well worth the extra drive.  Last year we lost several potential bookings when people then checked the ferry price and decided not to take a short break after all.  For starters this year we have a 7 night booking for 2 rooms in the second week of September - made firm by the fact that I suggested Speedferries to the lady and she got a return trip for £38.50.

So even though I've only used them once myself, they're certainly helping my business here in France!  Long may they survive and grow.

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Just like to voice our support for Speedferries too.

We travelled with them in February and the service was great and as mentioned before very friendly staff.

We would travel by them on our next visit in April but they are down for maintenance.

Extra competition will help ensure reasonable prices.

Mind you, somewhere to get "duty frees" would be nice.

So, if you want any drink or cigs to bring back, stop in a supermarket before getting to the port.

Saying that, I think they are working on that and intend some sort of retail outlet from May (maybe on board?).

Enjoy whats left of the Easter break

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  • 3 weeks later...

Travelled for the 1st time with Speedferries recently - out 1st, back 8th all for £34. Bargain price. Agree with previous posts, very friendly staff.

Big downside over convential ro-ro boats is the time taken to load and unload - some of the manoeuvres req'd to park are very interesting - resembled a floating multistorey car park!

Also, we have used the ferry to have a hot meal - not an option here although time against this.

All said, get disagree with the price nor the actual time for the crossing.

Will use them again in December but for the Summer, it's Sea France as we shall be travelling with a large trailer. Height of Summer £90 return - out and back on the last sailing of the day.

Regards

Andy

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  • 2 weeks later...

I support Speedferries, but just thought I'd mention something about the freeticket offers!

Having bought a number of tickets before and being eligible for a freeticket and Mr W wanting to go over for a few days to take over wood for shed or something, I though that a Wednesday Dover to Boulogne  on 11th May and Saturday back may just be right.

But has to be Tues, Wed or Thursday each way and booking now not even £38 or £50...but £68 for those few days ( £10 extra for booking on the phone )

I am not sure what booking for school holidays will be this year, so worth checking.

Still cheaper than the tunnel , but is a little more than we thought!

 

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[quote]I support Speedferries, but just thought I'd mention something about the freeticket offers! Having bought a number of tickets before and being eligible for a freeticket and Mr W wanting to go over f...[/quote]

I am sorry you have missed out on the cheapy offers but Speed Ferries did say on their website that once the allocation of bargain basement fares had gone then the rest would be dearer.
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All is not lost, because of the fares war on the short sea crossings there are competitive fares to be had. For example, P&O have extended their unrestricted £30 single fare offer and Seafrance are offering £25 single fares. I am sure if you do a little research there other cheap fares from the other carriers,  also even Eurotunnel have £49 single fares.

All the above are thanks to Speedferries and long may they continue.

Baz

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  • 1 month later...
We told some friends about Speed Ferries and they booked a crossing for August for £50. The next day we tried to book an identical crossing and were quoted £90 so we arranged to travel with P&O for £86. We are going to France for a few days tomorrow and have only paid £38 return with Speed Ferries so it just depends when you book and what time you want to travel. Therefore it pays to be flexible with your date and time of crossing. All the operators seem to offer very good deals on occasions and are much cheaper than even a year ago with the exception of Eurotunnel.
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[quote]We told some friends about Speed Ferries and they booked a crossing for August for £50. The next day we tried to book an identical crossing and were quoted £90 so we arranged to travel with P&O fo...[/quote]

Friends of ours travelled out with Eurotunnel yesterday and the xxx thing was 3 hours late! Yes it is Speed ferries for us!

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Having bought a number of tickets before and being eligible for a freeticket and Mr W wanting to go over for a few days to take over wood for shed or something, I though that a Wednesday Dover to Boulogne  on 11th May and Saturday back may just be right.

But has to be Tues, Wed or Thursday each way and booking now not even £38 or £50...but £68 for those few days ( £10 extra for booking on the phone )

I don't quite understand this posting.  Free is FREE, so why are you quoting £38, £50 and £68?  I got a "free" ticket in December, to be used before the end of this year.  I fully understood the conditions that it was Tues, Wed or Thurs only, and not in July and August.  That's fine, we want to go the the UK for a long weekend in Oct/Nov so those dates and restrictions are OK.  But are you now suggesting that you have to pay?  I was only aware of a £10 charge if I book the ticket and then make alterations to it.

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We've just got back from a short half-term break in northern France, courtesy of the December free ferry offer, and it was completely free...... only booked a few days before we went; they gave us the date/time we requested outwards,  & the return crossing allocated was a sailing later than we'd asked for, but fine.

So no problems taking advantage of the offer so long as you keep to the T & C's; obviously amendments, or booking on the phone rather than via the email address given on the December booking, will give rise to the £10 charge, but otherwise FREE!

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  • 3 weeks later...

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