Ferry or Train (1 Viewer)

[hilldweller]

, or ferry, cheaper.

Mike and Nic.

Not only cheaper but that hour and a half to celebrate the start of your holiday.

It's great seeing the white cliffs disappear and Calais appear. It's the aperitif to the holiday.

The bonus is, on return, it takes only 30 mins to get home.

 

[pelican]

We use the ferry no problem for the dog.
Tried the euro tunnel recently pre booked arrived in plenty of time very slow processing through dog control so too late to catch booked train.
Ferry gives you a good break away from the van. Don,t see the point of pilgrimage to cite europe just get back in the van and go

 

[pelican]

Ferry every time for us don't like having to suffer ear ache for a day or two after using the tunnel. The pressure wave you get when you enter the tunnel causes the problem.

If I was taking a dog the tunnel is probably the better option.

Interesting about pressure wave as dogs ears are far more sensitive than humans.

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[pelican]

Train for me... every time.

The ferry is so yesterday...


JJ

Why do you say that?

 

[Lenny HB]

Interesting about pressure wave as dogs ears are far more sensitive than humans.

When I was younger I used to suffer with sinus problems that effected my ears. If a plane did a steep landing after stacking I would get ear ache for 3 days or more.
Planes don't effect me now but with the tunnel it's probably a 1 in 3 or 4 chance.

 

[Podney]

Ferry if you like being sick.

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[Bailey58]

We've just used both, tunnel out, ferry home as we had no return booked and, apart from saving £70+ on the ferry, we needed a longer rest after the usual slog through northern Europe from Denmark. The dog just sleeps when we leave her in the van.

 

[champers]

Deffo the train ... No hassle ...35 mins and you are there with no time to drink that coffee

Ps we have paid less than the ferry had quoted with the train

 

[EuroTrotters]

Brittany Ferries my friend with my 10% discount code.

Or tunnel with Tesco

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[Wh05apk]

I suspect the decision comes down to how often you travel, if you can use frequent traveller tickets at £58 each way, surely the cost is significantly less?
For us the speed and convenience of the tunnel wins evertime, from entrance to the tunnel, to being parked up at cite europe its 1 1/2 hours max, with the ability to get slightly earlier/later trains depending on traffic conditions

 

[suavecarve]

To clarify the Frequent Traveller scheme. 5 return journeys are required (10 tickets) and they can be shared by 2 people who dont know each other. You can buy more than 5 return tickets. The down payment for 5 return journeys is £440 but this assumes you are a car. As you are a motorhome there is an £11 surcharge per trip (10 trips is £110). This is the bog standard price. Now if you want to go on holiday in High season there is a further surcharge rated at £10 £20 or a maximum of £30 per journey (out there or back) This is paid by the person who is booking the crossing not the initiator of the scheme. So the absolute maximum you can possibly pay on the scheme is £85 one way.
You can adjust your tickets yourself on line and if you originally bought an £85 ticket and want to change it to £55 ticket then they automatically give you a refund.
Turn up early for your £55 journey and, space permitting, you are offered the opportunity of the appropriate surcharge (if there is one) to get on an earlier train.

Joining the scheme was simple, I put a post on here, I got a reply, we made a time to be on the phone together (it wasnt necessary but we didnt know) I filled the form out and paid, he transferred his money over to my account and 5 minutes later we are both booking our tickets for the summer. The tickets only last 365 days so you will lose them after that time. You can be in more than 1 Frequent traveller scheme at a time, so my tickets run out out in September but if i wanted to go to xmas market i just start another one with somebody else so only have to do 2/3 at a time.

All in all it is the proverbial piece of wee wee

 

[Minxy]

Pretty concise explanation there @suavecarve just a note that the prices are a little bit more than when you (and your FT partner) signed up last year, they are now:

• Crossing cost: £46 per single crossing (car) so £460 minimum (10 single crossings)
• Motorhome/camper supplement: £12 each way means minimum single crossing cost is £58
• Supplements depending on time/day of travel: £20 or £30
• Dogs/Cats/Ferrets (each pet, each way): £18

https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/tickets/types/frequent-traveller/

https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/tickets/types/frequent-traveller/frequent-traveller-times/

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[Louis]

Pretty concise explanation there @suavecarve just a note that the prices are a little bit more than when you (and your FT partner) signed up last year, they are now:

• Crossing cost: £46 per single crossing (car) so £460 minimum (10 single crossings)
• Motorhome/camper supplement: £12 each way means minimum single crossing cost is £58
• Supplements depending on time/day of travel: £20 or £30
• Dogs/Cats/Ferrets (each pet, each way): £18

https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/tickets/types/frequent-traveller/

https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/tickets/types/frequent-traveller/frequent-traveller-times/

So it could cost a motorhome £88 per single trip in the tunnel? Just curious, booked return ferry for August @£138. Not a lot in it but is it more convenient on the Eurotunnel??

 

[Minxy]

So it could cost a motorhome £88 per single trip in the tunnel? Just curious, booked return ferry for August @£138. Not a lot in it but is it more convenient on the Eurotunnel??

It could cost that yes, but there are actually very few days/times that the £30 supplement would be payable, there are plenty of times/days so you are not really that limited at all ... have a look the supplement times/days and you'll see what I mean, it isn't hard by any means to get crossings for £58, we've never had to pay a 'travel time' supplement once.

 

[suavecarve]

Pretty concise explanation there @suavecarve just a note that the prices are a little bit more than when you (and your FT partner) signed up last year, they are now:

• Crossing cost: £46 per single crossing (car) so £460 minimum (10 single crossings)
• Motorhome/camper supplement: £12 each way means minimum single crossing cost is £58
• Supplements depending on time/day of travel: £20 or £30
• Dogs/Cats/Ferrets (each pet, each way): £18

https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/tickets/types/frequent-traveller/

https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/tickets/types/frequent-traveller/frequent-traveller-times/

Bollloxx Ferry for me then !

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[suavecarve]

So it could cost a motorhome £88 per single trip in the tunnel? Just curious, booked return ferry for August @£138. Not a lot in it but is it more convenient on the Eurotunnel??

Only cost me £110 return for 2 return journeys but i did pay a £30 supplement for the other so £360 for 3 return journeys

 

[WESTY66]

I expect you are already aware that if you are a Tesco Clubcard member you can use your points for Eurotunnel. We always get to France free which has a nice feel to the start of a trip.

As a newbie, I never knew that!! How does that work? I've booked Ferries and Chunnel loads of times for my tours on the Bike but I don't recall any options to use Tesco Clubcard (then again I never looked) Could be handy as the MoHo is definitely more expensive than the bike

Ady

 

[Tigertom]

Train

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[TerryL]

As a newbie, I never knew that!! How does that work? I've booked Ferries and Chunnel loads of times for my tours on the Bike but I don't recall any options to use Tesco Clubcard (then again I never looked) Could be handy as the MoHo is definitely more expensive than the bike

Ady

First off check the crossing you would like on he Eurotunnel site https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/home and make a note of the cost. Divide it by 3 and round it down to the nearest £5 to give the value of the travel voucher you need e.g. if the fare is £190 you need a travel voucher for £60 and you pay £10 by card.

Then go to the Tesco Rewards site https://secure.tesco.com/clubcard/boost/eurotunnel-le-shuttle/UK-003223.prd and order a voucher using your Tesco points to pay for it. You currently get £15 worth of travel voucher for £5 of Tesco Reward vouchers. If you sign in with your Clubcard the site knows what vouchers you've got and can allocate them for you otherwise enter the numbers manually.

Note: you can only book starting from Folkestone, either a return or a single trip outbound. We usually book an approximate return date and amend the ticket on the way back - it' easy to do. Don't try to book a return and not use the Outbound portion - that isn't allowed and automatically cancels the ticket.

Wait for the voucher to arrive in your email inbox, usually within half an hour but can take longer. It also comes with instructions on what to do next, which is;

Call Eurotunnel on the special number provided and ask for a Tesco voucher ticket. They will ask for the voucher number (the one in the email, not your Tesco Reward vouchers) then go ahead and book your crossing. You make the cost up from your voucher by credit card - if you've got a pet you have to pay for that, the Tesco voucher won't cover it. (It's a rip-off but that's another story!)

It's actually easier than it sounds, we normally can get the lot done within half an hour.

 

[chaser]

Not only cheaper but that hour and a half to celebrate the start of your holiday.

It's great seeing the white cliffs disappear and Calais appear. It's the aperitif to the holiday.

The bonus is, on return, it takes only 30 mins to get home.

Home before you started on tunnel

 

[burtonbird]

No dog and always take the tunnel. But some years ago travelling back from Caen with a dog the vet gave me a mild sedative for her and she slept all the way.

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