Brittany ferries
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Linda
Brittany ferries
From the CTC newsletter I was given to understand that Brittany Ferries were changing the way you book bikes on to their ferries immediately (last August) so any idea why their website still only allows you to book 1 bike per booking? Also, why is it so expensive now to take a bike on the ferry? Years ago (I'm talking Townsend Thorenson) bikes were free and we went as foot passengers. Can CTC help out here?
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Simon L5
Re:Brittany ferries
Linda - I've brought this to the attention of the National Office, and trust that they will get back to me
SL
SL
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horizon
Re:Brittany ferries
Linda: you missed my posts in the summer about bargains with Brittany Ferries. Four people with bikes travelling together could take a car free (with the bikes on top and at the rear).
Car + four bikes + four people = approx. £550
Four bikes + four people = approx. £560.
If you cannot follow the above calculation, please post a reply.
Car + four bikes + four people = approx. £550
Four bikes + four people = approx. £560.
If you cannot follow the above calculation, please post a reply.
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Linda
Re:Brittany ferries
I would quite like to share a cabin with my other half, albeit I will have to fight him for the top bunk.
I don't want to take a car. Where do you suggest I leave it for the next three weeks?
There are only 2 of us.
If you think £550 is cheap, please sling me a few fivers and then you then check out Speedferries.com.
Just try putting that my requirements in the website and you will see what I mean.
I don't want to take a car. Where do you suggest I leave it for the next three weeks?
There are only 2 of us.
If you think £550 is cheap, please sling me a few fivers and then you then check out Speedferries.com.
Just try putting that my requirements in the website and you will see what I mean.
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Bi-frame
Re:Brittany ferries
The advantage of book twice for two people with bikes is that you get the online discount of £10 twice. If you book two people as one booking the discount is still only £10... Hope no one from Brittany Ferries works this out!
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Bi-frame
Re:Brittany ferries
Sorry, the beginning of that should've read "The advantage of having to book..."
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Linda
Re:Brittany ferries
This would seem to be good news but, as I want to go overnight and can't book a package without accommodation (twice) this doesn't solve the problem unfortunately. For the rest of you I hope Brittany aren't reading this too!
I daresay all this could be sorted if I ring to book but a) I would like the online discount and b) at the moment I'm just planning so don't want a firm booking, just to look at the options to decide.
... and re. typos (I now see I have2!). Could the message box be expanded horizontally a bit?
I daresay all this could be sorted if I ring to book but a) I would like the online discount and b) at the moment I'm just planning so don't want a firm booking, just to look at the options to decide.
... and re. typos (I now see I have2!). Could the message box be expanded horizontally a bit?
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horizon
Re:Brittany ferries
Sorry Linda it was tongue in cheek but accurate nonetheless. Brittany Ferries is prohibitively expensive and we no longer use them, preferring to get to Portsmouth. They have the longest routes so inevitably someone has to pay for the fuel etc.
The figures by the way I got in the summer. No-one seems to be pertubed though by the fact that taking the car is cheaper than not taking it.
Another hint: there is a website that puts BF travellers in touch with each other to share cars etc - you could try this. Holiday home owners get discounts as well which they can share.
The figures by the way I got in the summer. No-one seems to be pertubed though by the fact that taking the car is cheaper than not taking it.
Another hint: there is a website that puts BF travellers in touch with each other to share cars etc - you could try this. Holiday home owners get discounts as well which they can share.
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A V Lowe
Re:Brittany ferries
The ability to book small groups of cyclists has been sorted - but not yet online as the website is only 'patched' with a package of changes at certain times in the year.
LD ferries from Portsmouth are considerably cheaper it seems, and book cycles online.
P&O also have to one at a time booking problem, and we need to lobby them on this plus Stena for not having any bike booking online for their ferry which forms part of the North Sea Cycle Route.
Brittany's deal does, it has been pointed out, also forgotton that you can have one bike carrying more than one person.....
These booking regimes are discriminatory and I hope that as many of you as possible complain to your MP and your MEP (as the free movement of the European citizen around the EU is enshrined in the Treaty of Rome - Article 7 I think). We also have the OFT to consider as they have recently reprimanded Ryanair over their failure to comply with the Montreal Convention for Air Passengers rights. Thereb may be an OFT issue in charging more for less (even if it is only £10) and there might be some interesting arguments to establish the principles used to set the prices.
More winter lobbying it seems.
LD ferries from Portsmouth are considerably cheaper it seems, and book cycles online.
P&O also have to one at a time booking problem, and we need to lobby them on this plus Stena for not having any bike booking online for their ferry which forms part of the North Sea Cycle Route.
Brittany's deal does, it has been pointed out, also forgotton that you can have one bike carrying more than one person.....
These booking regimes are discriminatory and I hope that as many of you as possible complain to your MP and your MEP (as the free movement of the European citizen around the EU is enshrined in the Treaty of Rome - Article 7 I think). We also have the OFT to consider as they have recently reprimanded Ryanair over their failure to comply with the Montreal Convention for Air Passengers rights. Thereb may be an OFT issue in charging more for less (even if it is only £10) and there might be some interesting arguments to establish the principles used to set the prices.
More winter lobbying it seems.
Re:Brittany ferries
Linda wrote:I would quite like to share a cabin with my other half, albeit I will have to fight him for the top bunk. I don't want to take a car. Where do you suggest I leave it for the next three weeks? There are only 2 of us. If you think £550 is cheap, please sling me a few fivers and then you then check out Speedferries.com. Just try putting that my requirements in the website and you will see what I mean.
Dave Baxandall contributes this ( by email ) . . .
I was in this situation myself last summer, on the Portsmouth - St Malo overnight ferry. The solution was to buy 2 tickets, one for 1 person, 1 bike and 1 twin cabin, the other for 1 person, 1 bike and 1 reclining lounge chair. Needless to say, you don't actually use the lounge chair - you both occupy the cabin. The cost as I recall is exactly the same as it would be if the system allowed you to book everything you wanted on a single ticket, as the cost of the unwanted lounge chair (£10) is exactly cancelled by the bonus of the second online booking discount.
Last edited by Graham on 17 Jan 2007, 2:05pm, edited 1 time in total.
Graham: I think we may be missing the point here. Four people with bikes costs MORE than four people with their bikes on/with a car. This is because each person is booked separately whereas the four people in a car are booked as a package. The problem of cabin booking is relatively minor compared to this environmental outrage. All the ferry companies do it this way. It also reflects the fact that as Linda said, it is still very expensive for one person to take a bike anyway.
This is a perfect consumer issue for the CTC to take up. One reason the CTC may be unaware of it is that it really only affects families and the sight of a family of four heading off to Brittany on their bikes is rare; friends travelling in a group may just book their own tickets and not notice. I still cannot be sure though that everyone reading this thread has understood the issue fully - remember the car goes free! Just tell your friends that they can take a car for free across the channel in the middle of August.
This is a perfect consumer issue for the CTC to take up. One reason the CTC may be unaware of it is that it really only affects families and the sight of a family of four heading off to Brittany on their bikes is rare; friends travelling in a group may just book their own tickets and not notice. I still cannot be sure though that everyone reading this thread has understood the issue fully - remember the car goes free! Just tell your friends that they can take a car for free across the channel in the middle of August.
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Hugo
<quote>Also, why is it so expensive now to take a bike on the ferry?</quote>
Book in as a pedestrian, leaving your bike out of sight and when the bow doors open.... cycle down in and park your bike..... and you will not have any trouble.
Answer: bike free
What their website says and what the passenger does being two different things entirely.
They have been playing this little game with cyclists for years.
Book in as a pedestrian, leaving your bike out of sight and when the bow doors open.... cycle down in and park your bike..... and you will not have any trouble.
Answer: bike free
What their website says and what the passenger does being two different things entirely.
They have been playing this little game with cyclists for years.
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Dai