V2RJO

It might work - it might not.
Their booking computer keeps records of PC's identity number. It comes up with my name as soon as I make an enquiry.

Two Cheap Day or Afternoon/Evening Return tickets, one bought on each side, used to be far cheaper than a Standard Return (might not be so with the present pricing structure) but they kept a record of Cheap Day Tickets that were not used on the return leg. They also keep records of the Credit Card number used and they would not sell any more cheapies to you. Ferries do the same.

Thankfully I don't have these problems - I was an original 1987 investor and get unlimited trips at £1 per crossing, bike or car (doesn't have to be my vehicle, or me driving, just as long as I am in/on it). Needless to say I have bashed the Priviledge card somewhat for my own purposes or for pals who want a quick trip for stocking up on booze! Probably done 400-500 crossings by now.
Potentialy great chat-up line "I'll take you for dinner - got your passport?" They think I must have a private aeroplane. Sadly not that rich - nearly though, I run BMW bikes!!

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Vitim Bridge Clubwww.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533442
www.sibirskyextreme.com

We always use SpeedFerries | The fastest cross-Channel car ferry | Dover to Boulogne in just 50 minutes and they have an offer on at the moment £25 for a car and 5 people if you buy a 10 trip flex voucher or £30 with one of their Super Tickets.

This includes all travel during 2009 with nothing excluded, so July & August school holidays are still as low as £25.

The only take 50 minutes to get to Boulogne and it's closer to Paris than Calais.

I've only got great things to say about this fast ferry company.

Yes, this is the guy (Kurt Stavis) who set up to challenge the Channel Pirates. It was his efforts alone which forced the Pirates to reduce their monopolistic prices to what they are today.

Speedferries need our support so they can introduce their second vessel as soon as possible.

try deleting cookies before accessing the site, the info that its you will more than likely be stored on your machine in a cookie. you can open your cookies folder & just delete the one for their site so you dont loose all your saved passwords everywhere as well.

I've used Speedferries twice this year and they definitely get my vote. Flexible returns tickets for 2009 for a bike and two passengers are now available for £38. The racks work on bikes with higher mudguards, e.g my Moto Guzzi, but will not fit a bike with a "full" mudguard, so my Harley had to be tied down with ratchet straps.
One thing P&O especially could learn from Speedferries is manners, the crew were polite, friendly and very helpfull unlike the P&O crew member who went into a rant when I asked him to tie my bike down for me in 2007.

You'll have to let that Harley go............it's just weird.

speedferries wouldn't let me on as it was rough and windy as they didn't want to damage my bike, so P&O helped out no problem.

Train is quicker though.

I managed to get on an old estonian freight ferry from Zebrugger to Ramsgate on the cheap, it was slow and a bit hectic getting all strapped down but once on board food was plentiful and there was plenty of room for a kip.

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FHLR Roadking S7S107T

I found this thread, and it helped me a bit. Unfortunately, Speedferries went out of business in November 2008, but there's plenty of cheap alternatives available, starting at around 20€ (P&O, LD). My main concern is whether it's necessary to pre-book? We're going to the UK for a month in 2010 and plan to cross the channel around June 15th, return mid July. I'd certainly prefer if I could simply show up and take whatever ferry is available next. Same goes for the Train, tickets (single) are ~40€ but I'm curious whether it's really necessary to pre-book.

The thing is: a very good friend of mine lives in Paris (I refer to her as my big sister) and we plan to visit her and stay a day or two. And I know we won't be able to make up our mind about the "day or two" issue until the very day we'll arrive at her place. Which is why I don't want to pre-book.

Any advice?

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"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting GERONIMO!"

Generaly speaking, the earlier one books, the "cheaper" the ticket.

That I figured, but my main concern is whether or not they will be fully booked in June/July. I'm willing to pay 20 bucks extra for the comfort of not having to be at the harbor at some specific time and day.

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"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting GERONIMO!"

I recently returned to the UK to collect a bike. I investigated no end of alternatives.

Booking in advance is the way forward. Timing also has an effect.

Booking about 3 weeks ahead, for November, my one way on the ferry inc bike would have been £12 Dover to Calais. On the Tunnel it was £27..

So it is twice as expensive but when that equates to £15 real money, I can live with it.

However, these were crossings around 6 am. Later in the day prices for the tunnel certainly went up.

Ease of embarkation, speed and lack of hassle are all +'s for the tunnel

However, I think about £35-40 would be my limit on a ticket if the ferry were still at £12.... Convenience has a price, too!-

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

That's been my experience, that the tunnel is twice as expensive as the (cheaper) ferries. Others seem to be able to find cheap tunnel fares but every time I've looked the ferries have always been cheaper.

Booking ahead does work but even then it's some sort of dynamic pricing lottery.

A couple of days ago I was booking a crossing for next Feb and got a quote of £38.00 return (4x4 + family) from one internet site. Checking around came up with £55.00 for the same out and back boats on another site and going back to the original site on a different computer, £76.00. All three of these searches were done at the same time.

The best I could find for the tunnel was nearly £150.00!

With the problems Eurotunnel has had over the last couple of days, with thousands of people statioary inside the tunnel (trains immobilised on the track due to hot air from one side meeting cold air from the other, creating enough condensation to short out the electrics!), with no information telling them what was going on for six hours apparently, and stuck a total of 16 hours underground, the spare water carried on the trains ran out, and zero facilities on the vehicle carraiges other than what your vehicle contains you can be a bit stuck. When its working well the underground bit is usually a tiny and quickly forgotton part of the trip.

Coming back from the Le Mans 24hrs race a few years back the trains did come to a stop due to a convoy of Ferraris, having headed home as fast as (ahem) legally possible, entering the same train at the same time, the fire warning system detected all this hot Italian exotica and decided all the carraiges were on fire! Everything stopped and it took hours for Eurotunnel staff to persuade things to reset having backed the cars out again!

Today Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown asked people not to travel unless it is essential.
He said: "When we resume service it's going to be very busy, we're not going to be able to carry everyone who's booked yesterday, today and during this week."
No services at all today either while they continue to investigate.


I prefer a ferry, it does take a bit longer but is an enjoyable part of the trip even with choppy seas! You have a number of boats available rather than if one train stops the lot stops. You can snooze, or have a last fry-up before entering the Eurozone, or enjoy the breeze hoping for dolphins

That wouldn't have helped this weekend though, since on top of the Eurotunnel problems, weather and road conditions in Calais meant they closed the port too. No one in or out, if you were on a boat in the harbour you stayed there! This backed up roads both sides of the channel, delaying things further when they did open up again.

Booking before hand is always cheaper, Eurotunnel in particular can have offers well worth taking, but you need to check their site often. Early morning crossings are usually cheapest, but watching the white cliffs disappear and France creep up out of the horizon in day light is alway nice

You can have open returns, and if you miss the one you're booked on you can usually be shunted to the next one for no or minimal charge, but rules vary, depending what you've booked of course. Book with a credit card.

St Malo, Le Harve, Plymouth and Poole are all lovely places to spend a few days, if you have a high mpg vehicle depending on your route, the longer crossings with a cabin can end up being cheaper. You could go via Jersey etc too.

Remember fuel is usually cheaper in France, and heading north toward Calais the last autoroute fuel is a fair distance before the port. Theres a lot of shopping oppertunities just south of Calais, but driving around Calais itself is not well signposted or too worthwhile IMHO. The French police like catching British holiday makers speeding to get their ferry, some days more than others (see above), and I suppose the British plod do the same? In France you just hand over hundreds of Euros though, no licence points yet!

If we could accurately forecast the future, Mjubgowski, we all would not be doing the job we are doing.

The ferries have a very high capacity. If you just arrive unannounced at your departure port, (with a stack of notes) it is unlikely you will find they have no space for a bike, except, perhaps, in school holiday periods.

It depends how much of a rush you are in and the state of the seas.

A trip over to Calais on a boat from Dover is like a mini cruise and a great way to start a trip.

We rode from the UK to Italy in the summer and spent half a day walking on the whhite cliffs before setting off on the boat. If you rush to start with, it is hard to slow the momentum down.



Steve