Seafrance: Special Offer?

[Gardian]

Amidst the regular slagging-off that Ryanair and the other l-c carriers get on this forum, in the press and in Brussels, I was interested to see a Seafrance ad in one of the weekend Travel sections.

'Bastille Day Special' (or something like that) - from £19 each way in July or August: book by 25/7.

So I thought, I'll have a little look.  Early Aug, 08.00 - 09.00 out of Dover, returning 2 wks later.  After four 'no availability' responses, I was eventually offered an 01.15 dep out of Dover for £29. Return same price.

Thought I'd try the 'regular fare' option and was offered what I originally asked for at £170 round trip.

My point in all this is that we constantly read about what bad guys Ryanair are for charging £5.43 airport tax instead of the £3.27 that it should be and advertising flights at £9.99 each way (or whatever).  Will the bureaucrats in Brussels be picking up Seafrance for misleading advertising?

As some will know from previous posts, I have no special brief for Ryanair, other than as a satisfied regular, customer.  Equally, I have nothing against Seafrance and understand fully their desire to fill space.

[BJSLIV]

I think you are being a bit unfair on this offer .

The terms are for sailings in August and September. If you want to go out in September there are plenty of sailings at £19 and a few (not many) returns at £19, with plenty at £29. There is even a fair bit of availabilty towards the end of August at £29, though not many returns.

A £48 / £58  return doesn't strike me as too bad, its comparable with the Fight The Pirates lot, though less flexible.

And there are no surcharges lurking in the woodwork!

[Jc]

At the moment both Seafrance and P&O have special offers available.The Seafrance is cheaper but restricted to off-peak crossings;P&O are £9/crossing more but no restriction on crossings.

[Gardian]

Sorry folks - I probably didn't make myself clear.

To be honest, I couldn't care less if they were offering a crossing a tuppence ha'penny - I'm down here and I ain't going back unless I absolutely need to (and then I'll almost certainly take a flight).

Simply trying to say that the l-c airlines get loads of flak over so-called misleading advertised prices ............ and then what do you find with the cross channel ferries?  Surprise, surprise.  Same thing.

OK, with the airlines there's all this govt tax, airport tax, O'Leary tax, but at the end of it all, there's a bottom line that you're being asked to pay and you can take it or leave it. With the cross channel ferry operators, you get a 'come-on' advert and then no availability at a civilised time of the day.  To get a crossing at the time of day that most people who might respond to the ad, you've got to pay  a lot more than the 'headline' offer. Without intending any libellous comment whatsoever (!!!!!????), it's just as 'misleading' as your day-to-day Ryanair / Easyjet ad.

I say again, I wonder whether Brussels will be giving the same amount of stick to S/F and (possibly) P & O?