Crossing the Channel

aareon

I want to take my car to France and back in a day sometime in March (although the month doesn't matter much). I prefer to use the Shuttle but would use the ferry if I had to. Does anyone know how to save money on the crossing, in particular the shuttle fare? At the moment, the lowest shuttle fare that I have found is £69 which is too much.

I know that in the past that Eurotunnel have issued promotion codes which brings the fare right down. Are there any around at the moment?

vixarooni

ferry is alot cheaper! there are often promotions on their site for £20 there and back (eg)

not so sure on the euro tunnel, we always use that becuase its sooooo much quicker. Easiest way to perhaps do it is invite three friends and split the cost by 4, thats less than £20 each then.

or someone might know of an offer

froggy27_2

Hi there check this http://www.day-tripper.net they have offers on more or less all time. But the ferry will always be cheaper option... you can also try the hovercraft but be aware if the sea is a bit rough it's a nighmare..... (i thought i was about to die!!!)
enjoy!

lynzpower

Ive done a return for a fiver with the car dover-calais ferry.

its perfectly acceptable, and you get some good deals on board if thats what your after very good deals on the wine as I recall.

Not the onboard catering tho! Avoid, & take your own snacks if you must.

OK_Sauce

If you have any Tesco vouchers you can exchange them for deals tokens and get the fare at 75% off!
Also if you book before Jan 31st, Norfolkline are doing the crossing for £19 each way for any length away.

greyteam1959

aareon wrote:

I want to take my car to France and back in a day sometime in March (although the month doesn't matter much). I prefer to use the Shuttle but would use the ferry if I had to. Does anyone know how to save money on the crossing, in particular the shuttle fare? At the moment, the lowest shuttle fare that I have found is £69 which is too much.

I know that in the past that Eurotunnel have issued promotion codes which brings the fare right down. Are there any around at the moment?

As far as I know the cheapest you can cross on the shuttle for 1 day is £49
you have to trawl about on the booking form and pick the off peak travel times to get this price.
The benefit of the shuttle is the time 35 minutes and not 75 minutes depending on the weather !!!!
I have been using the shuttle for years and it is getting more and more expensive
:beer:

BernadetteN

Anyone trying to cross the English Channel to France by hovercraft will have a long wait - the hovercrafts did their last crossings in 2005 (tihnk that is the right year, it seems so long ago now).

Unless there is a reason such as a special offer with booking conditions, I would wait until a few days ahead to book and then you will have a good idea of the weather that might affect the ferry journey.

Eurotunnel is indeed a 35 minute crossing time. However, Eurotunnel have a habit of cancelling shuttles at little more than a few minutes notice so sometimes you can wait 2 or more hours for the next shuttle due to lack of customers, making the trip longer than the ferry - they do this especially in the late evenings. I use the shuttle to get to work and 2 out of the last 4 trips have lasted 3 hours instead of an hour including waiting time. Also in bad weather, suddenly the shuttle can get very popular as cars find themselves unable to go by ferry and swap to Eurotunnel so instead of the usual lack of customers leading to long waits, then instead you suffer long queues and long waits again.

greyteam1959

Mmmmmm fair comment that BernadetteN about the lack of Shuttles and cancellation if they are quiet.......I have been caught out several times on this one.
Sunday night can be a funny one cos if they cancel one it can 2 or 3 hours before the next one.
Their publicity blurb says they cross every 15 minutes........yes they might do when they are busy but this can drop to once a hour during quiet time