Im going to have a moan as im well peed off... Maybe my own fault but still grrrrr... :mfr_lol:
As some of you know I went to France for New Year..... WELL....
After reading some posts about saving money I thought I would try it... I bought '2' cheap day return tickets for the trip to keep the cost down...
29th Dec Outward, Folkestone - Calais - Folkestone (Cheap day return ticket) =£25
3rd Jan Return, Folkestone - Calais - Folkestone (Cheap day return ticket) =£25
Thought I had got a good deal considering it was a last minute decision to go....
BUT!!
Got back to Calais today on way home and was not allowed to use the ticket I had bought. The reason was that I had not used it for the outward journey so the return was not valid... It cost me a further €114 that about £95 to come home :cry: I could have got a ferry but I had an appointment I wanted to get back for.
Maybe I should have bought the 2nd ticket as Calais - Folkestone - Calais but because we have to put which country we are from and our bike reg I dont know if that would work..
If anyone else have done this in the past and was able to travel, I guess Eurotunnel have become wise to this loophole and stopped it happening....
I wasn't the only one as a few folks in cars behind me had the same problem..... :sad:
Debs, I had to read that twice before it sunk in what you had done, I understand your logic in buying the tickets, it was certainly worth a try but I can understand why they weren't honoured.
Shame though, it would have been an excellent deal
I was gutted :sad:
I had seen others on here saying about buying just 2 cheap day returns :(
Eurotunnel can rip you off if its a last minute thing as well.....
Cost me 110 euro one way a couple of years back, when I offered to accompany a mate back over ( he'd booked the train, i'd got a ferry ticket :gun_bandana:
Quote from: Debs on January 03, 2013, 06:55:49 PM
Im going to have a moan as im well peed off... Maybe my own fault but still grrrrr... :mfr_lol:
As some of you know I went to France for New Year..... WELL....
After reading some posts about saving money I thought I would try it... I bought '2' cheap day return tickets for the trip to keep the cost down...
29th Dec Outward, Folkestone - Calais - Folkestone (Cheap day return ticket) =£25
3rd Jan Return, Folkestone - Calais - Folkestone (Cheap day return ticket) =£25
Thought I had got a good deal considering it was a last minute decision to go....
BUT!!
Got back to Calais today on way home and was not allowed to use the ticket I had bought. The reason was that I had not used it for the outward journey so the return was not valid... It cost me a further €114 that about £95 to come home :cry: I could have got a ferry but I had an appointment I wanted to get back for.
Maybe I should have bought the 2nd ticket as Calais - Folkestone - Calais but because we have to put which country we are from and our bike reg I dont know if that would work..
If anyone else have done this in the past and was able to travel, I guess Eurotunnel have become wise to this loophole and stopped it happening....
I wasn't the only one as a few folks in cars behind me had the same problem..... :sad:
Hi Debs, yes have done it many times but you must do the return as calais-folkstone-calais, you can still put in UK as place of residence and the number plate is optional so leave it blank.
Brittany ferries stung me a few years ago. Book return tickets Portsmouth LeHavre in uk and was quoted £40 more than if I booked the same tickets in France - I had friend check price for me.
Rip-off UK still alive and kicking I see!
It's actually more expensive for the Cloggies to travel to Hull from Europoort than it is for Brits to travel there
I'm old fashioned me I am, I would have gone by :boat:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!A life on the ocean wave is a life indeed for me
Quote from: Lonewolf on January 03, 2013, 07:04:34 PM
Debs, I had to read that twice before it sunk in what you had done, I understand your logic in buying the tickets, it was certainly worth a try but I can understand why they weren't honoured.
Shame though, it would have been an excellent deal
:agree: its one of those things Debs, the tickets are issued on a very specific route basis.
I've only used the chunnel once on the bike and have to say found it a very quick, easy and painless experience.
I'm old fashioned me I am, I would have gone by :boat:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!A life on the ocean wave is a life indeed for me
[/quote]
Hello 'sailor' :mfr_lol:
Having grown up abroad (Sweden, Belgium) I have crossed the Channel/North Sea more times than I care to remember.
In terms of ease of crossing the Tunnel has it every time and sometimes it is even cheaper than the ferries.
More usually the ferries are cheaper but not by that much any more.
If you want a break from riding and don't suffer from motion sickness then ferry will be yer best bet.
If time is of the essence the the Tunnel is best.
Ferry from arrival at Dover to leaving Calais Docks is normally around 3 hours.
Tunnel from arrival at Folkestone to leaving Coquelles is around 1 hour 15 mins.
With the Tunnel you can also arrive up to 2 hours early and if there is room, travel early.
But if you arrive late for either, you will get hit with a penalty fee and may be charged FULL PRICE for the next crossing.
All of them charge less if you book early enough and the prices rise as it gets busier and closer to the day of travel.
Known busy periods start off more expensive but this is a normal demand driven pricing structure.
If you choose to travel at the same time as everyone else then yer gonna pay through the nose for it.
Over the years I've heard of all kinds of schemes for "beating the system" and they all fail because people brag about it and then lots of people try it, so the companies involved take steps to block it. Sorry Debs but I guess you just timed it wrong. Sounds like plenty of others were trying it too.
I've never tried to work the system, or perhaps more accurately I work with the system and travel at non-peak times and dates.
We visited Belgium for a day-trip with the car on Sat the 1st Dec and it cost £59 return with the Tunnel.
The following Saturday was £120 for the same trip.
Pit of a pain Debs but Stena work the same way, can book a day return ticket for £25 but it does state in their terms & conds.. that the return trip will not be honoured if the outbound trip has not been used, same reason as the Eurotunnel, to discourage people buying 2 day return tickets as it's a lot cheaper than buying an ordinary return ticket.
Standard return ticket on my local Belfast - Cairnryan is around £80+, 2x day returns is £50 and you'd be taking 4 journeys???
Personally I can't see their logic in charging so much for standard return tickets when they can do the day returns for bargain prices.
Galls me too but they have you over a barrel and not much you can do about it unfortunately.
:agree: with you all...
Bad timing & trying to beat the system all back fired on me. :mfr_lol:.. Well least I now know... I like the tunnel as its so muh easier.. I used to always go by P&O from Dover but after having to strap the bike down over the seat has slightly stretched the leather.
Next time I will just make sure I travel late at night to get the cheapest fare. :yes:
Or you just buy a return ticket from France to England next time.
As long as they are stupid enough to sell return tickets cheaper than one-way why would anybody buy a single anyway? :yawn:
Nothing wrong with beating the system. Especially if the system is as brainless as theirs.
Of course if you try to cheat the system, you have to expect to get punished for it. :ohplease:
They have you there too Mecki.. copied from Stena site, don't know if the others are the same but likely...
The Stena Line Terms of Business, together with these special conditions apply to all bookings and travel.
All day trips are subject to availability and on sailings specified.
Customers not returning on the sailings specified above should purchase a standard single or appropriate return fare. Abuse of this day trip by car may result in a surcharge of £150 being made. Outward validated boarding authority must be retained and surrendered at check-in for the return sector of the journey along with return ticket.
Full payment is required at time of booking.
No refund is due if the booking is cancelled.
All travel must be completed within the time stated.
Pack of robbing *+"*'s... Just make you bend over and take it up the :asshole: without the courtesy of a bit of Vaseline... :wacko:
Just one of the many things that bugs me as living here I have to get a ferry to the mainland first then another ferry and another mugging to get anywhere fun and sunny...
Sorry to hear that Debs .... apart from the bad bit at the end how was the rest of the trip ? France at Xmas / NY .. any good ? :smiley:
yeah cummon Debs... how was the trip ?
Quote from: alibx11 on January 04, 2013, 04:30:10 PM
Customers not returning on the sailings specified above should purchase a standard single or appropriate return fare. Abuse of this day trip by car may result in a surcharge of £150 being made.
How do you read out of this that if I buy 2 return tickets that I get charged extra if I don't use the return part of the first one?
I would interpret that as,'if you don't return on the same day and try to use that ticket on a later date instead we'll charge you £150 extra', and not as 'if you buy a return ticket from us and don't use the return part we will charge you £150 extra if you ever try to use our services again'.
Do you get blacklisted or something if you don't return?
I don't think this would stand up in court. :no:
Mecki, I know of a couple of boys who tried it on a weekend trip to Scotland, they booked 2 day return tickets, one for the Friday they wanted to go out on and one for the Sunday when they wanted to return. I think they got away with the outbound trip but the booking home wasn't honoured as they hadn't taken the outbound trip on the sunday morning to validate the return journey.
Had to pay for an expensive return at the terminal, as they always charge you more again there than booking online.
They can argue the terms and cons, if you get a bugger at check in, and then again you can be lucky and get someone who lets you go on anyway, it's a chance you take.
Quote from: olde coney on January 05, 2013, 08:59:02 AM
yeah cummon Debs... how was the trip ?
It was great thanks OC..
I prefer to ride over there than in this country.. Car drivers tend to be more respectful towards bikers.
I just spent New Year over there. Really want to move there than stay in this country.. :yes:
I know what you mean, car drivers seem to be more bike aware/oriented....roads are good too :yes:
Quote from: alibx11 on January 06, 2013, 12:23:14 PM
Mecki, I know of a couple of boys who tried it on a weekend trip to Scotland, they booked 2 day return tickets, one for the Friday they wanted to go out on and one for the Sunday when they wanted to return. I think they got away with the outbound trip but the booking home wasn't honoured as they hadn't taken the outbound trip on the sunday morning to validate the return journey.
Had to pay for an expensive return at the terminal, as they always charge you more again there than booking online.
Sounds the same as Debs's story.
They obviously bought the wrong ticket and therefore got caught out. For return tickets it is important where the outbound journey starts. If you buy two return tickets with the same departure port then of course they won't accept the ticket at the destination if you didn't travel on the outbound journey.
It is so simple really. If you buy one ticket Folkstone - Calais return and the other one Calais - Folkstone return 2 days later you won't have any problems whatsoever.
Of course if they only sell cheap return tickets from the UK outbound and not from France (or the outbound trip has to be in the morning and you want to travel in the evening) then you'll have to bite the bullet and buy a regular ticket for the return journey.
I just don't believe that they will try to prevent you from travelling with a proper outbound return ticket just because you didn't use the return part of another ticket some time in the past.
Quote from: olde coney on January 06, 2013, 03:28:10 PM
I know what you mean, car drivers seem to be more bike aware/oriented....roads are good too :yes:
You are dead right Mecki, I have done it many times, never a problem.
You would need to buy the tickets on separate credit/debit cards and even that may not help any more as the ferries are now using ANPR to pickup who you are.
It may still work but it's days are numbered.
Quote from: mecki on January 07, 2013, 12:39:46 AM
They obviously bought the wrong ticket and therefore got caught out.
I must have, but thats me being to bloody honest :mfr_lol:
I think its days are numbered for UK Residents to buy a Calais - Folkestone - Calais ticket... They will soon catch on to the loop hole :censored: :asshole: Eurotunnel :mfr_lol:
More by luck than judgement when I went over I actually bought the return leg whilst over there - as availability is so easy I would definitely recommend that approach for future, and then you can at least prove you're in the right country for the outbound leg.
Geoff
Quote from: Boomer on January 07, 2013, 12:14:07 PM
You would need to buy the tickets on separate credit/debit cards and even that may not help any more as the ferries are now using ANPR to pickup who you are.
It may still work but it's days are numbered.
It doesn't matter if they know who you are and which tickets you bought before.
Nobody can force you to travel or charge you for not travelling the inbound journey of a return ticket.
And each ticket you buy is a new transportation contract.
I am sure that if they try to sue you for more money because you bought a return ticket and decided not to use the inbound part or you go to court because they refused to fulfil their part of the contract and forced you to pay more for the outbound journey they will loose.
Quote from: Debs on January 04, 2013, 02:52:29 PM
.. but after having to strap the bike down over the seat has slightly stretched the leather.
Sure it is the strap and not something else......................... :innocent:
Which is why I don't strap over the seat. Like we said before, use a bracket either side (your bull bars should be ok for it)
Quote from: Debs on January 07, 2013, 12:19:55 PM
I must have, but thats me being to bloody honest :mfr_lol:
......... so honest that you bought two dodgy day returns instead of the correct ones :whistling: :surrender: :innocent: :grin:
There was nothing dodgy about them :wacko: They were 2 genuine tickets.. I just bought the wrong return ticket :mfr_lol: