Arriving more than 2 hours early at Eurotunnel

[bellabee]

Just wondering whether anyone has arrived at Folkestone more than 2 hours early for their Eurotunnel crossing recently.
If so, did they let you in without a fine?
Many thanks
Chris

 

[Phill D]

Can they fine you???
Turn you away may be

 

[Longjohn]

Normally just let you on if there's room otherwise they may charge a £5 or something, go for it.

 

[bellabee]

Normally just let you on if there's room otherwise they may charge a £5 or something, go for it.

Yes, we're going to. We always allow ourselves plenty of time because the journey from the Midlands is so unpredictable (as I'm sure you know .) We normally hope to be put on an earlier train, but they're currently saying:
Do not check in early
Please aim to check in between 45 and 90 mins before your shuttle time – not earlier*.

If you are more than 2 hours early you may be obliged to pay a supplement of up to £200, or asked to return later. If you are a little late checking in, don’t worry, we will just get you through as soon as we possibly can. Our sites are not large enough to allow people to wait for a significant amount of time given the new circumstances.

I just wondered whether anyone knew what was happening in practice.

'

 

[violet]

When we went out we were 5 mins early and had to drive out and then in again. When we got to the booth the second time there was a man in front of us who was 5 mins early and the assistant made everybody wait for the five minutes so the machine would accept him, though it didn't and eventually he had to drive off and re-enter.
When we returned we were about 3 hours early and were just put on the next train. No need to pay more as it was the same tariff ticket. £200 would seem a lot as you could upgrade to Flexiplus for less than that.

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[Lynne Roy]

When are off again? Enjoy

 

[Two on Tour]

Easy enough to park up at the services on junction 11 of the M20, one junction back if your early, 5 minutes to the check in booths then.

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[Richard n Ann]

We travel across in the middle of the night, when we've been early it's never a problem, sometimes they just put us on an earlier train. The problem would be if everybody was early so I can understand why they say it.

 

[bellabee]

When are off again? Enjoy

Saturday - off to Germany, but only for 3 weeks. The dog is too old to come with us and our son is looking after him for us, so we can't really go for any longer.

 

[Longjohn]

Yes, we're going to. We always allow ourselves plenty of time because the journey from the Midlands is so unpredictable (as I'm sure you know .) We normally hope to be put on an earlier train, but they're currently saying:
Do not check in early
Please aim to check in between 45 and 90 mins before your shuttle time – not earlier*.

If you are more than 2 hours early you may be obliged to pay a supplement of up to £200, or asked to return later. If you are a little late checking in, don’t worry, we will just get you through as soon as we possibly can. Our sites are not large enough to allow people to wait for a significant amount of time given the new circumstances.

I just wondered whether anyone knew what was happening in practice.

'

I have never had a problem in all the times I have crossed, suppose it must be my luck.

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[violet]

If you

Easy enough to park up at the services on junction 11 of the M20, one junction back if your early, 5 minutes to the check in booths then.

If you arrive early it seems that often you will be offered an earlier train (no extra if same tariff ticket) but that sometimes you may be asked to exit and return. The exit was incredibly easy, straight on to the back road that has parking spots and leads straight back to the Tunnel with no need to go back on the motorway.

 

[Sheddy]

We park up at the Cheriton Tesco just off the motorway J12. Good place to stock up goodies before heading to Spain for the winter.

 

[Two on Tour]

I have never had a problem in all the times I have crossed, suppose it must be my luck.

This was bought in when Covid lockdown was lifted in the UK and travel was allowed again

 

[bigtree]

I posted on Saturday of my experience, turned up early and put on earlier train, gratis. If fact when waiting in our lane the gate opened and green light , got on an even earlier one.

 

[The Wino]

It must depend on how busy they are at the time. I suspect as long as you are prepared for possibly being turned away its not going to be a problem.
That being said look what happened pre lockdown when everyone thought lets all go to the coast I bet no-one else had thought of it!

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[Longjohn]

This was bought in when Covid lockdown was lifted in the UK and travel was allowed again

Oh Ok I understand now thanks, I need to remember that as we go Thursday.

 

[garjanco]

When we crossed just over a week ago it was like a ghost train. We were really early and got on the train over 3 hours before we should have. She said it should have been the busiest weekend of the year (bank holiday weekend) but it was so quiet. Hardly seen any Brits.