Channel tunnel (2 Viewers)

[ivorantony]

Hi
We have used the tunnel many times over the last 10 years but usually book a complete round trip with return dates,

We intend to travel in January meandering through France/Spain /Portugal but with no fixed return dates,
So my question is do Eurotunnel do a open return ticket? Or leave booking the return a few days before needing it,
I have looked at the tunnel website and cannot find that information,

obviously I appreciate that was I to book my return trip near the departure date I would incur a sizeable increase in the fare
So does anyone know the time frame to book my return trip to avoid this,
Many thanks for your imput,

 

[Four of us]

Its easy just to book your return when you're about ready to come back, and as long as you do it several days ahead it shouldn't work out more expensive.

 

[Lenny HB]

Check your travel insurance a lot of policies are invalid unless a return is booked

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[tuscancouple]

So my question is do Eurotunnel do a open return ticket?

Simply answered "no", however every return trip has an open return as you can phone up to change the date of return at any point. Only charge will be if you stray into so called "peak" travel time.

This is what we always do and the insurance need to have a return date is resolved,

Mick

 

[tonka]

What Lenny said.
Check travel insurance as it's sometimes in the small print ref return trip.
I always used to do single trips and then just book a trip back a few days before until i found out about the insurance clause.

If your insurance is ok then just book online at least 48 hours in advance, never leave it until the day or less than 24hours as they sting you big time.,

 

[ivorantony]

Many thanks for that guys,

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[tuscancouple]

If your insurance is ok then just book online at least 48 hours in advance, never leave it until the day or less than 24hours as they sting you big time.,

I'm sure we've had this discussion before on here however, there is no charge unless the new booking moves the original booking into peak time. We've sat in Cite Europe many times, phoned ET and changed the time at no additional charge. Traveller type may affect this.

Mick

 

[tonka]

I'm sure we've had this discussion before on here however, there is no charge unless the new booking moves the original booking into peak time. We've sat in Cite Europe many times, phoned ET and changed the time at no additional charge. Traveller type may affect this.

Mick

Should have made myself clearer, I was refering to booking 2 x singles and making the return crossing..
Out of interest.. I mostly use the Ferry and book the cheapest, often late / early crossings.. These are usually set to the fixed date and time. On last trip we decided to come home a few days early and first time i had looked to change the booking. It was only £2 !! BUT a £20 amendment fee. However still made the whole crossing a reasonable price so i was happy..

 

[Reallyretired]

We never book a return, always a few days ahead for theretun

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[LesW]

So my question is do Eurotunnel do a open return ticket

When I've used the tunnel on my motorbike, I've bought their 'Flexiplus' ticket, it's a lot more expensive than a regular item, but you can just turn up and get on the next convenient train.

No Idea if you can use it with a moho, but worth checking.

 

[Minxy]

You could see if someone ones to open a 'Frequent Traveller' account with you which will make the cost a lot less and give you full flexibility with very little extra cost if you change it - the extra only comes into play usually if you go into a different price band (eg peak) but with a max increase of £20 so not a lot. The cost is £46 I think (based on a car) plus a £12 supplement for a motorhome, so £58 each way for the non-peak crossings which encompass a longer time period than those on a ferry. You have to buy a minimum of 10 single car tickets for £460 (you can get more if you want) and then just pay the extra £12 per crossing for a motorhome when you book each one. You can have 2 people named on the account who can be total strangers but for each crossing ONE of them HAS to be travelling for the ticket to be valid.

 

[Solwaybuggier]

I'm sure we've had this discussion before on here however, there is no charge unless the new booking moves the original booking into peak time. We've sat in Cite Europe many times, phoned ET and changed the time at no additional charge. Traveller type may affect this.

Mick

Not our experience - although maybe because we paid with Tesco vouchers?? - trying to change on the same day we were quoted £100+ extra last year. No problem the day before, though.

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[Minxy]

I'm sure we've had this discussion before on here however, there is no charge unless the new booking moves the original booking into peak time. We've sat in Cite Europe many times, phoned ET and changed the time at no additional charge. Traveller type may affect this.

The only time I've ever come across that is when using a Frequent Traveller ticket, otherwise it's expensive to change at short notice.

Not our experience - although maybe because we paid with Tesco vouchers?? - trying to change on the same day we were quoted £100+ extra last year. No problem the day before, though.

Tesco vouchers don't make a difference, it's the fact that it's a normal ticket rather than a Frequent Traveller one.

 

[TinaLes]

I was recently informed by a regular Tesco Voucher Funster on a field in south Wales, that if using Tesco vouchers to book with ET, that you had to book a return ticket, you cannot do single tickets out & return?
But I suppose even if when using Tesco vouchers and having to book both outward & return journeys, then hopefully you could "amend" the return ticket date to another if done a few days beforehand and outside peak times?
Say Yes peeps
Les

 

[Minxy]

I was recently informed by a regular Tesco Voucher Funster on a field in south Wales, that if using Tesco vouchers to book with ET, that you had to book a return ticket, you cannot do single tickets out & return?
But I suppose even if when using Tesco vouchers and having to book both outward & return journeys, then hopefully you could "amend" the return ticket date to another if done a few days beforehand and outside peak times?
Say Yes peeps
Les

That's partly true, using Tesco vouchers you can book just a single outward ticket if you want but you cannot book just a single return ticket with them as all journeys MUST start in the UK. You can, if you book an outward only, or outward and return, amend any of the travel dates/times - there used to be a 24 hour minimum period between the amendment and travel date/time but I haven't used them for a few years so not totally up to speed on that. Oh the other thing to bear in mind is that you will get hit with extra cost of the crossing for doing this and it isn't normally cheap!

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[Solwaybuggier]

That's partly true, using Tesco vouchers you can book just a single outward ticket if you want but you cannot book just a single return ticket with them as all journeys MUST start in the UK. You can, if you book an outward only, or outward and return, amend any of the travel dates/times - there used to be a 24 hour minimum period between the amendment and travel date/time but I haven't used them for a few years so not totally up to speed on that. Oh the other thing to bear in mind is that you will get hit with extra cost of the crossing for doing this and it isn't normally cheap!

Yes, Les, you can do it, and pretty easy online.

We were booked last August, got down south quicker than expected and rang up to see if we could travel that evening rather than 12.20 the next day. Certainly they said, but it will cost £121. We declined, and stopped near the tunnel - rocked up early the next morning, the screen offered us earlier options. 10.20 was again £121, 11.20 was no charge.

Just back from France yesterday - our crossing on Sunday was booked for 09.20. Amended online 10 days in advance, easy process , and we paid just the extra £17 for a more popular crossing.

 

[gus-lopez]

I always thought it was the vehicle insurance that had a problem with no return booked, Not travel insurance ? Must have been dreaming.

 

[Minxy]

I always thought it was the vehicle insurance that had a problem with no return booked, Not travel insurance ? Must have been dreaming.

Some vehicle insurance companies may have limits, but I suspect you may be thinking of vehicle insurance policy that include breakdown cover as some of the breakdown cover may have limits on how long you can travel abroad for.

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[Willhamburger]

Frequent traveler definitely the way to go. I share mine with a neighbour.

 

[chaser]

I always thought it was the vehicle insurance that had a problem with no return booked, Not travel insurance ? Must have been dreaming.

Not vehicle insurance, or breakdown but definitely travel health insurance

 

[animal]

Hi
Been using Tesco vouchers for our tunnel crossing for the last 4 to 5 years and only difference if your changing the return date is you have to phone, you cannot do it online. We normally end up changing our return date but you just have to make sure its done at least 24 hours before you need to travel or you pay full price again. Most times it's been free to change as its been a later in the month, think the most we have paid is £19 when we came home early and had to have a mid day crossing as the early ones were full.

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[Solwaybuggier]

Hi
Been using Tesco vouchers for our tunnel crossing for the last 4 to 5 years and only difference if your changing the return date is you have to phone, you cannot do it online. We normally end up changing our return date but you just have to make sure its done at least 24 hours before you need to travel or you pay full price again. Most times it's been free to change as its been a later in the month, think the most we have paid is £19 when we came home early and had to have a mid day crossing as the early ones were full.

Strange how everyone’s experience is different - we changed our return journey online a couple of weeks ago, and that was with a Tesco vouch booking. Previously we’d always changed by phone- I wonder if it’s a recent thing you can alter Tesco bookings online?

 

[Grianan]

Yes, Les, you can do it, and pretty easy online.

We were booked last August, got down south quicker than expected and rang up to see if we could travel that evening rather than 12.20 the next day. Certainly they said, but it will cost £121. We declined, and stopped near the tunnel - rocked up early the next morning, the screen offered us earlier options. 10.20 was again £121, 11.20 was no charge.

Just back from France yesterday - our crossing on Sunday was booked for 09.20. Amended online 10 days in advance, easy process , and we paid just the extra £17 for a more popular crossing.

we had identical experience coming down from Ayrshire ... £78 to travel same night rather than next morning. We did it but have learnt for next time

 

[Marty Gilly and Pup]

Tunnel often jocks you on to an earlier train, often at no cost within the off peak. However we have also been offered a twenty min earlier train at £20. Declined.

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[Minxy]

We were booked last August, got down south quicker than expected and rang up to see if we could travel that evening rather than 12.20 the next day. Certainly they said, but it will cost £121. We declined, and stopped near the tunnel - rocked up early the next morning, the screen offered us earlier options. 10.20 was again £121, 11.20 was no charge.

If you arrive early and want to change your crossing to no more than 1 hr, 59 mins earlier you can usually get it for no extra cost but as soon as you go into 2 hours or more you usually get hit with a charge, this is because, I believe, they have an 'agreement' that if they can get you on an earlier crossing within 2 hours they will FOC, obviously subject to availability.

 

[Minxy]

Tunnel often jocks you on to an earlier train, often at no cost within the off peak. However we have also been offered a twenty min earlier train at £20. Declined.

We've had similar but usually only if it's fallen into a peak period, eg going out before 4.00 pm.

 

[Marty Gilly and Pup]

We've had similar but usually only if it's fallen into a peak period, eg going out before 4.00 pm.

We always do off peak. Last time we were jumped forward 90 mins for free when parking up for the wait. “if you go now”. Poor dog had just got out for the pee he never had.

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