Buying a ferry ticket at the port or online?

[Weinsbergaman]

Hi all,

We're flying out on Monday to collect our motorhome from Germany.

As I don't know how long we'll be there checking things over etc I haven't booked the ferry crossing as they seem to adhere to the booked time much more than they used to.

My question is would I be better booking online on the journey or waiting until I get to the port and pay at the booking office? Which would be the cheaper option? BTW I'm plannig on going to either Calais or Dunkirk, which one would you choose?

Thanks Antony

 

[Lenny HB]

Book on-line, you might have a heart attack when you find out the prices at the port.

Calais is only 15 miles further so not much in it, we use Dunkirk when picking up a van as our dealer drives it to the port & it's a bit closer. Last time I looked DFDS's price had gone up a lot probably get a better deal with P&O or MyFerryLink from Calais.

 

[Weinsbergaman]

Thanks Lenny, Calais, online it is.

 

[SteveandSue]

When we returned from our ski trip in Feb we booked the night before through the Caravan Club on line, we got a price of £34 for a 7 metre van from Dunkirk.

 

[gloworm]

Hi Antony, if travelling from Germany check out ferry from zeebrugge to Hull, may be a bit more expensive than calais but a lot less mileage,

Eric

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Weinsbergaman]

When we returned from our ski trip in Feb we booked the night before through the Caravan Club on line, we got a price of £34 for a 7 metre van from Dunkirk.

Wow, that is cheap. I'm not a member of any organisation yet. Haven't decided whether it's worth it or not. I suppose that's another thread.

Hi Antony, if travelling from Germany check out ferry from zeebrugge to Hull, may be a bit more expensive than calais but a lot less mileage,

Eric

Hi Eric,

Yes, thought about that one and yes it is much more expensive at over £240.00. With the price of deisel at around 89p per litre a few extra miles is well worth the saving. Thanks for the thought though.

Thanks Antony

 

[Lenny HB]

When we returned from our ski trip in Feb we booked the night before through the Caravan Club on line, we got a price of £34 for a 7 metre van from Dunkirk.

That was cheap when I was looking in Jan a return was £150.
Was your crossing at silly O'clock?

 

[SteveandSue]

Hi yes it was early hours of the morning but we could of had 8am for not much more- we wanted to avoid traffic on our drive back north.

 

[WillH]

Having worked in the ferry industry I can confirm that the highest prices you will pay will be at the port, our staff could only access brochure prices, no offers were available. The only exceptions I can think of are CalMac, Orkney, and Shetland ferries as these are government operated and heavily subsidised .

 

[namwaldog]

Hi Antony
Congratulations on new van!! A few years ago I nearly got stung by booking at the port but went outside the office and booked online and got the fare much cheaper but the ferry companies now seemed to have got wise to this and appear to charge a premium for sailings booked online within the next 24/48 hours depending on the company. I find that P&O have a 24 hr embargo whereas DFDS had a 48 hour one.
Have a play around with different dates/times to get a feel for how they work.
You could always stay over there a couple of days to get the better deal on the ferries.

Another anomaly I uncovered just a few days ago was that I wanted to book with P&O whilst at Chateaudun and used my ipad with a uk based 3G sim in it and got the price in Sterling but didn't book it there & then as there was a bad cellular signal so I then went to McDonalds France and used their wifi and got the price in Euro's. including a 20% off offer from Calais ( CALAIS20)

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Weinsbergaman]

Hi Antony
Congratulations on new van!! A few years ago I nearly got stung by booking at the port but went outside the office and booked online and got the fare much cheaper but the ferry companies now seemed to have got wise to this and appear to charge a premium for sailings booked online within the next 24/48 hours depending on the company. I find that P&O have a 24 hr embargo whereas DFDS had a 48 hour one.
Have a play around with different dates/times to get a feel for how they work.
You could always stay over there a couple of days to get the better deal on the ferries.

Another anomaly I uncovered just a few days ago was that I wanted to book with P&O whilst at Chateaudun and used my ipad with a uk based 3G sim in it and got the price in Sterling but didn't book it there & then as there was a bad cellular signal so I then went to McDonalds France and used their wifi and got the price in Euro's. including a 20% off offer from Calais ( CALAIS20)

Thanks for the tip. Maccies it is then on the way home. Small fries & a Latte..ummmmm

 

[Sheddy]

We used Myferrylink from Calais last week and booked online. If you go to their website you can select the currency you want to pay with, on the top right hand corner of the booking page next to the language selection box.
Our van is 8.5m long.
We found that selecting Euros we were quoted €62 and in pounds £55, at the current exchange rate it was a £10 saving paying in Euros with a no fees card.
I think you need to book it at least a good 24 hrs before the sailing to get the best web price, and try and avoid travelling back on a Monday morning.
Cheers