Wierd eurotunnel pricing ?

[dcb]

Go out one day, come back next day £60. Fair enough.

Go out one day, come back a week later £150. WTF ?

I am tempted to buy two of the overnite tickets, spaced a week apart,
use only the outward on the first one, the return on the second
and save myself £30.

Or go on the ferry !

Any hints'n'tips most appreciated.

[calibrax]

The cheaper rate is because of a cut-price promotion to encourage day trippers.

As for buying separate day tickets, they are wise to that trick... it's not allowed.

[Riley Blue]

It's never been competitive with the ferry companies; I've never found a reason to use it. Pity Speed Ferries has gone, the 'vomit comet' was always the most fun way to cross. Nowadays, I'll take a ferry with Club Lounge and Priority Loading upgrade anytime.

[DJP]

Riley Blue said:

It's never been competitive with the ferry companies; I've never found a reason to use it. Pity Speed Ferries has gone, the 'vomit comet' was always the most fun way to cross. Nowadays, I'll take a ferry with Club Lounge and Priority Loading upgrade anytime.

My experience has been the opposite: Everytime I've used it, it's always been cheaper than the ferry.

[Busa mav]

DJP said:

My experience has been the opposite: Everytime I've used it, it's always been cheaper than the ferry.

Same here , I will never suffer a ferry again.

[iguana]

As a very regular tunnel user I've never got my head around it either, out one day back the next always cheap, shove 1 more day on it & it doubles, then after 5 days it goes up again & if you think your prices were high try sticking a trailer on, a booking for later that wk can go from from £120 2 dayer to £350 for an extra day.

[Conscript]

DJP said:

My experience has been the opposite: Everytime I've used it, it's always been cheaper than the ferry.

What's the trick then? Are you just always using it out of seasons or something? I have never ever seen ET cheaper than the ferry. I looked again this year as were going away to France and a single ticket on the ET is the same price as a return ticket for the ferry.

[DJFish]

We're off in a few weeks, using Tesco points, a long weekend cost us £3.

[Riley Blue]

Conscript said:

DJP said:

My experience has been the opposite: Everytime I've used it, it's always been cheaper than the ferry.

What's the trick then? Are you just always using it out of seasons or something? I have never ever seen ET cheaper than the ferry. I looked again this year as were going away to France and a single ticket on the ET is the same price as a return ticket for the ferry.

That's pretty much been my experience too. MyFerryLink is offering Dover-Calais day trips for £29 return or £35 each way for any duration. What's the best EuroTunnel can offer for these trips?

[HoHoHo]

dcb said:

Go out one day, come back next day £60. Fair enough.

Go out one day, come back a week later £150. WTF ?

I am tempted to buy two of the overnite tickets, spaced a week apart,
use only the outward on the first one, the return on the second
and save myself £30.

Or go on the ferry !

Any hints'n'tips most appreciated.

Great idea however unfortunately you can't go out on one ticket and back on another.......... it's in their T&C's and their number plate reading technology is expecting you to return on a given date - you don't you return on anther date and you're charged to get back to the UK.

[Qwert1e]

Do ferries use the same pricing structure?

If not, there seems to be an easy answer to the problem.

[DJP]

Conscript said:

What's the trick then? Are you just always using it out of seasons or something?

Dunno. Going again at the end of July, so pretty much peak season. Was still cheaper than the ferry.

If it wasn't I wouldn't use it.

I think it has a lot to do with how far in advance you book and what time of day your crossing is.

[pingu393]

HoHoHo said:

Great idea however unfortunately you can't go out on one ticket and back on another.......... it's in their T&C's and their number plate reading technology is expecting you to return on a given date - you don't you return on anther date and you're charged to get back to the UK.

Possible way to do it?

Go out on EuroTunnel and come back on a ferry. Unless they talk to each other, the return leg of the EuroTunnel could be excused by "my car was stolen in France". Not sure how you could excuse not using the oubound leg on the ferry.

Anyway, I use Tesco points and have never paid using real money yet. I overpay Tesco vouchers (usually just a few Tesco pounds) and go during the cheap rates during the night. Last time it was £115 worth of tickets bought with £120 worth of vouchers which cost £40 of Tesco points.

Edited by pingu393 on Wednesday 9th July 00:25

[hidetheelephants]

pingu393 said:

HoHoHo said:

Great idea however unfortunately you can't go out on one ticket and back on another.......... it's in their T&C's and their number plate reading technology is expecting you to return on a given date - you don't you return on anther date and you're charged to get back to the UK.

Possible way to do it?

Go out on EuroTunnel and come back on a ferry. Unless they talk to each other, the return leg of the EuroTunnel could be excused by "my car was stolen in France". Not sure how you could excuse not using the oubound leg on the ferry.

Anyway, I use Tesco points and have never paid using real money yet. I overpay Tesco vouchers (usually just a few Tesco pounds) and go during the cheap rates during the night. Last time it was £115 worth of tickets bought with £120 worth of vouchers which cost £40 of Tesco points.

Edited by pingu393 on Wednesday 9th July 00:25

I'd have thought it would be possible to do this, although I don't see the point of telling them anything at all, never mind the 'dog ate my car/homework was stolen by parisian Roma gang' speil. Presumably similar offers are flogged to continental types to encourage trade the other way, so you'd be missing the return leg not the outbound; missing the outbound would probably invalidate the ticket. Some of the T&Cs are ridiculous.

[anonymous-user]

I usually go with DFDS seaways, Not as fast but if you book in advance you can get the crossing for 15 quid.

[Riley Blue]

That's one of the reasons I use the ferry. After a four hour drive to Dover, an hour and a half's rest with a reasonably decent meal waitress served followed by a comfortable lounge with coffee and newspapers seems a civilised way to travel compared with the tunnel.

[Motorrad]

pingu393 said:

Possible way to do it?

Go out on EuroTunnel and come back on a ferry. Unless they talk to each other, the return leg of the EuroTunnel could be excused by "my car was stolen in France". Not sure how you could excuse not using the oubound leg on the ferry.

Anyway, I use Tesco points and have never paid using real money yet. I overpay Tesco vouchers (usually just a few Tesco pounds) and go during the cheap rates during the night. Last time it was £115 worth of tickets bought with £120 worth of vouchers which cost £40 of Tesco points.

Edited by pingu393 on Wednesday 9th July 00:25

Then you run the risk of them charging you the full single fare which will be punitively high and you agree to that in their T&Cs.

[Craigyp79]

Motorrad said:

pingu393 said:

Possible way to do it?

Go out on EuroTunnel and come back on a ferry. Unless they talk to each other, the return leg of the EuroTunnel could be excused by "my car was stolen in France". Not sure how you could excuse not using the oubound leg on the ferry.

Anyway, I use Tesco points and have never paid using real money yet. I overpay Tesco vouchers (usually just a few Tesco pounds) and go during the cheap rates during the night. Last time it was £115 worth of tickets bought with £120 worth of vouchers which cost £40 of Tesco points.

Edited by pingu393 on Wednesday 9th July 00:25

Then you run the risk of them charging you the full single fare which will be punitively high and you agree to that in their T&Cs.

Best way to do it is book a 24 hour return ticket on the Tunnel (These are the cheapest tickets, singles are usually way more expensive) and then a single ticket back on the ferry. They do not talk to each other and unless you're doing it every week you'll be fine.

[liner33]

Riley Blue said:

That's one of the reasons I use the ferry. After a four hour drive to Dover, an hour and a half's rest with a reasonably decent meal waitress served followed by a comfortable lounge with coffee and newspapers seems a civilised way to travel compared with the tunnel.

We treat the chunnel the same way , arrive early , have brekkie there , take our coffee back to the car and wait/board the train , stop the car and put an episode of Blackaddder on the dvd and by the time its finished you are in France on the motorway.

Used to do the ferry it was always packed and chaotic with lots of waiting around, the chunnel seems so much easier

[Shaoxter]

Their pricing is stupid and I can't see how it makes sense for them either - surely it's better to spread out demand throughout the week rather than encouraging everyone to take weekend trips?

Anyway I always use Tesco vouchers.