Eurotunnel

[benyeats]

Hello,

I am trying to book a trip on the Eurostar for a hoon round France in late May. Seems to me that the cheapest way to do this is buy two one day supersaver returns and not use the return for each one i.e.

1 x Folkstone to Calais to Folkstone at £50
1 x Calais to Folkstone to Calais at £50

Has anyone done this, are procedures in place to stop you doing this ?

Ben

[rich1231]

yep did it loads when i worked in Brussels...

9Euros was my lowest fare i managed to wangle

[benyeats]

rich1231 said:

yep did it loads when i worked in Brussels... 9Euros was my lowest fare i managed to wangle

Sounds good. The fare conditions have some clause to prevent this, do you know if this was in place when you used to do this ? if so I guess it is not enforced.

Ben

[TonyHetherington]

I know my company used to do it but for some reason they stopped. It never bothered me because I was never paying but I assume it was for a reason.

I had heard somewhere that they use the car number plate to work out if you do that (it would be quite easy to do), but unsure if that's an urban myth or not.

[puggit]

I'm pretty sure they've clamped this down out of existence, but not sure how they can prevent it...

There are definitely ANPR points as you go on to the train - but are these government owned or Eurotunnel?

Try www.speedferries.co.uk instead

[Corpulent Tosser]

I travel by air quite a lot at my own expense and I considered doing just what you are suggesting (in fact I have done it a couple of times) I spoke to a friend who works for a business travel company and what I was told is that the terms and conditions do not allow you to do this and if it is noticed then your credit card can be charged for a single instead of the cheaper return.

It is however unlikely to be noticed if it is a one or two time occurance, which is why I have only done it a couple of times.

I guess though if you pay cash for the tickets they would have no way of getting any additional money out of you.

[puggit]

Corpulent Tosser said:

I travel by air quite a lot at my own expense and I considered doing just what you are suggesting (in fact I have done it a couple of times) I spoke to a friend who works for a business travel company and what I was told is that the terms and conditions do not allow you to do this and if it is noticed then your credit card can be charged for a single instead of the cheaper return. It is however unlikely to be noticed if it is a one or two time occurance, which is why I have only done it a couple of times. I guess though if you pay cash for the tickets they would have no way of getting any additional money out of you.

I also travel frequently by air, but on company expense. However I'm tasked with always finding the cheapest fare - we use a travel agent to help us (who then charge a fee ).

The travel agent is always looking to see if a return is cheaper then a single! (but it never is, so I've never used it).

[Corpulent Tosser]

City Star,
Aberdeen to Stavanger,
single 250 + tax = over £300
return with Sat night stay £150 + tax = £206

What's That All About ??

As I fly out Monday and return Friday I buy tickets returning a week ahead all the time, it is a bugger keeping track of it at times

[RobM77]

The other thing to try would be to buy the second return ticket when you arrive in Europe. You can't ring up Eurostar/Eurotunnel France and pay with an English debit/credit card, but you can obviously buy one in person in France with your English card. I did this recently with Eurostar and got it much cheaper. Typically, the French fares are the same figure in Euros, or a little less so they're at least 2/3rds cheaper. Rip off Britain at its most obvious! Obviously though you've got a risk of not being able to get the right ticket, and booking in advance from England is the safer option.

[puffpuff]

I bought a block of five return crossings on SpeedFerries for £190, i.e. £19 each way. It's now gone up to £25 each way but still cheaper than the alternatives.

[RobM77]

puffpuff said:

I bought a block of five return crossings on SpeedFerries for £190, i.e. £19 each way. It's now gone up to £25 each way but still cheaper than the alternatives.

Ferries?

[Bruce Fielding]

The other thing is that the train you want to get isn't available this way, Ben. I know - I tried over a month ago! Rats!

[Jonna_Rex]

Tunnel takes about 20 mins or so, so it´s very fast. But the prizes are a bit ridicilous, too high if you ask me. Sure you can always book advance and get it cheaper. Ferries are cheaper and apparently quite alright.

[cptsideways]

And the 3 quoted late evening night times NEVER exist (on the multiple times I've used it) they just queue you up for the hourly one thats 3 of them running late

[targarama]

I've done this several times a year for years now. Never had one comeback. I try to be a bit clever though, especially after realising they don't really care that the car reg you're in matches the booking form reg.
- On way out use girlfriends credit card, her car reg. Then arrive in my car. They've never said a word.
- On return use my credit card, and the proper car reg.

I'll be doing the same this year. If you get caught you pay the full fare singles - which if you're on a 7-10 night summer jaunt is no more than the £300 quid odd they wanted for a 'proper' return ticket anyway.

If I got caught and asked why my car never came back I'd say it came back on an AA truck or something.