Le Shuttle rule change voiding tickets for late arrival
Discussion
Apologies if this is old news, but read about this in the Telegraph today.
It seems that Le Shuttle have changed their rules to "give customers more flexibilty and control'.
The upshot of this appears to be that if you arrive less than 60 mins before your booked departure time, they will void your ticket and require you to purchase a new one at that days rate.
That seems to me a bit naughty given that they have in the past just popped you on the next crossing or even an earlier one to suit themselves. It's a bit of a worry given the impossibility of accurately predicting a travel arrival time in this country and the general length of journey to get to Calais on ones return, distances easily and often in the hundreds of miles.
Quite how Le s
ttle can state the policy change offers more flexibilty and control escapes me.
Article here: https://archive.ph/a911M
It seems that Le Shuttle have changed their rules to "give customers more flexibilty and control'.
The upshot of this appears to be that if you arrive less than 60 mins before your booked departure time, they will void your ticket and require you to purchase a new one at that days rate.
That seems to me a bit naughty given that they have in the past just popped you on the next crossing or even an earlier one to suit themselves. It's a bit of a worry given the impossibility of accurately predicting a travel arrival time in this country and the general length of journey to get to Calais on ones return, distances easily and often in the hundreds of miles.
Quite how Le s
ttle can state the policy change offers more flexibilty and control escapes me.Article here: https://archive.ph/a911M
andygo said:
Apologies if this is old news, but read about this in the Telegraph today.
It seems that Le Shuttle have changed their rules to "give customers more flexibilty and control'.
The upshot of this appears to be that if you arrive less than 60 mins before your booked departure time, they will void your ticket and require you to purchase a new one at that days rate.
That seems to me a bit naughty given that they have in the past just popped you on the next crossing or even an earlier one to suit themselves. It's a bit of a worry given the impossibility of accurately predicting a travel arrival time in this country and the general length of journey to get to Calais on ones return, distances easily and often in the hundreds of miles.
Quite how Le sttle can state the policy change offers more flexibilty and control escapes me.
Article here: https://archive.ph/a911M
This only applies to daytrip or overnight bookings. For evrything else, you can be up to an hour late.It seems that Le Shuttle have changed their rules to "give customers more flexibilty and control'.
The upshot of this appears to be that if you arrive less than 60 mins before your booked departure time, they will void your ticket and require you to purchase a new one at that days rate.
That seems to me a bit naughty given that they have in the past just popped you on the next crossing or even an earlier one to suit themselves. It's a bit of a worry given the impossibility of accurately predicting a travel arrival time in this country and the general length of journey to get to Calais on ones return, distances easily and often in the hundreds of miles.
Quite how Le s
ttle can state the policy change offers more flexibilty and control escapes me.Article here: https://archive.ph/a911M
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Sounds offside to me.
I don't think it applies to the Flexiplus tickets though (if that's any consolation)
Sounds like a ploy to get people to buy flexiplus which is generally a hefty premium over normal price. I don't think it applies to the Flexiplus tickets though (if that's any consolation)
@doofus still a bit uneccessary though IMHO.
Edited by andygo on Thursday 17th April 17:59
andygo said:
Sounds like a ploy to get people to buy flexiplus which is generally a hefty premium over normal price.
@doofus still a bit uneccessary though IMHO.
Are you saying you want the flexibility without buying a ticket that costs more to allow for it?@doofus still a bit uneccessary though IMHO.
Edited by andygo on Thursday 17th April 17:59
Dingu said:
Are you saying you want the flexibility without buying a ticket that costs more to allow for it?
No, I'm saying that it seems a bit harsh to remove the ability to be a bit late and still cross rather than have your ticket voided. A more reasonable approach would be to use the prepaid price to be credited to the new day rate cost if you were late.I’ve started using flexiplus for this reason, it is a bit of a rip-off, but takes any stress out of the trip and you generally drive straight onto a train. Having said that, it was a complete shambles at the end of February half-term.
When I last looked, the cheapo ticket said departure time plus 60mins, middle ticket stated departure time plus 4hrs. So it may be correct that they don’t want you appearing hours before the booked slot and would rather stick you on a later train.
When I last looked, the cheapo ticket said departure time plus 60mins, middle ticket stated departure time plus 4hrs. So it may be correct that they don’t want you appearing hours before the booked slot and would rather stick you on a later train.
That's very naughty of them, I use The Euro tunnel for day trips on business 2 or 3 times a year and sometimes I don't make my slot. I'll have to buy flexiplus now which I guess is the point, but it feels like a bit of a rip off, particularly as the 'old' system seemed to work well. Just another example of common sense and pragmatism being removed from daily life
andygo said:
Dingu said:
Are you saying you want the flexibility without buying a ticket that costs more to allow for it?
No, I'm saying that it seems a bit harsh to remove the ability to be a bit late and still cross rather than have your ticket voided. A more reasonable approach would be to use the prepaid price to be credited to the new day rate cost if you were late.Thankfully we still have the ferry option, last month I crossed with P&O, next month also with P&O, with speedy boarding it works for us and cheaper too.
I will only use Le Shaftall if I am forced to and only as a last resort, awful company to deal with.
stinkyspanner said:
That's very naughty of them, I use The Euro tunnel for day trips on business 2 or 3 times a year and sometimes I don't make my slot. I'll have to buy flexiplus now which I guess is the point, but it feels like a bit of a rip off, particularly as the 'old' system seemed to work well. Just another example of common sense and pragmatism being removed from daily life
Have you tried turning up late for a plane? rhamnousia5 said:
stinkyspanner said:
That's very naughty of them, I use The Euro tunnel for day trips on business 2 or 3 times a year and sometimes I don't make my slot. I'll have to buy flexiplus now which I guess is the point, but it feels like a bit of a rip off, particularly as the 'old' system seemed to work well. Just another example of common sense and pragmatism being removed from daily life
Have you tried turning up late for a plane? stinkyspanner said:
Very good! It's not really the same though is it? For one thing everyone is going the same route and the Euro tunnel has always recognised that some people will be early and some late and has managed to get people across efficiently if there's capacity. Now it just seems like a money grab
I’m not sure it’s that simple. If everyone knows they can turn up whenever they want then it becomes a logistical nightmare to manage. Makes far more sense to have a lower priced fixed journey only ticket and a dearer more flexible one, probably with discounts based on how early you buy. That’s how most other forms of mass transport works. That includes the whole of the rail network in the U.K. Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff