Cycling UK Forum

Came across an odd situation a few weeks ago with Brittany ferries, didn't know which day i'd be coming back From Caen to Portsmouth.
So had to book a day fare turning up a few hours before the evening departure.

No trouble getting a seat, i checked at an internet cafe before i went down to Caen port, tickets were available at £55 single for cyclists with reclining chair.Fair enough i had £55 or more than the equivalent in euros.

I head down to the port, £55 ticket please, sorry that is a Uk price only and only available if you booked it on the net, our price for French travellers is 89 euros.French travellers, or anyone leaving from Caen,always pay more i was told.

They ended up helping me out, they phoned england and booked the ticket for me from England, and charged me 70 euros i think, the exchange rate was poor.It was 1 euro 10c at that time for £1-
I am only writing this to highlight different prices and hope it helps future travellers coming back from France.

Similar experience last year. Portsmouth to Caen, morning crossing, 40 something pounds. I turned up to catch an afternoon crossing on the way back and was charged something like 80 Euros I think, certainly much more than the outward fare. They explained that the afternoon crossing is popular and therefore more expensive.

Interesting logic here
Do petrol stations charge more at busy times?

What on earth can their reasoning be - other than to make as much dosh as possible?

Brittany ferries charges differ depending on the the time of day and which day of the week.

Cross channel fares can be a bit of a minefield, it never seems to be clear where or when to get the lowest fare.

delport wrote:I head down to the port, £55 ticket please, sorry that is a Uk price only and only available if you booked it on the net, our price for French travellers is 89 euros.French travellers, or anyone leaving from Caen,always pay more i was told.

I had the same on the Ijmuiden-Newcastle link a month ago. The price charged for the Britisch was just 60% of the price for Germans. So I booked via the *.co.uk website. Bording with my £-based ticket and a German Identity Card wasn't a problem.

I have the impression, they are still calculating with 1,60€ per £.

Cheers

Edwin

edwin wrote:

delport wrote:I head down to the port, £55 ticket please, sorry that is a Uk price only and only available if you booked it on the net, our price for French travellers is 89 euros.French travellers, or anyone leaving from Caen,always pay more i was told.

I had the same on the Ijmuiden-Newcastle link a month ago. The price charged for the Britisch was just 60% of the price for Germans. So I booked via the *.co.uk website. Bording with my £-based ticket and a German Identity Card wasn't a problem.

I have the impression, they are still calculating with 1,60€ per £.

Cheers

Edwin

Yes the euro conversion rate to £ is very poor, i think it was actually 77 euros i gave them for a £55 fare.

The odd thing is we in Britain feel we are being overcharged for everything, in comparison to our neighbours in europe.
It seems this is one thing we do cheaper in Britain.
Portsmouth port do internet prices at their booking hall if you just turn up.France don't do this, that appears to be the difference.
I had a discussion with the staff at Caen port and this seems to be what is causing the variable fares for the same journey.
Portsmouth also do an overnight cruise to Caen.

...so, if you have browser-equipped device with you, you can always buy from the .uk site - even in the ferry terminal, in Caen!

Yes the euro conversion rate to £ is very poor,

I noticed that food on board is even more expensive if you pay in euros than if you pay in pounds.

This happened to me some 35 years ago with the old Townshend Thorenson ferries. It was more from France than England. I remember writing and complaining and they explained it was because the fares were set at the beginning of the year and then moved with currency fluctuations. The explanations nowadays seem a bit more complicated - but nonetheless, it remains cheaper to leave the UK than France!

simonineaston wrote:...so, if you have browser-equipped device with you, you can always buy from the .uk site - even in the ferry terminal, in Caen!

Yes, exactly, that is what the Caen ticket sales man said to me at the port, he said go back to the internet cafe 14 miles away or whatever and book there.
He said you were looking at the uk webpage, not the french brittany ferries page to see the £55 price.
I said well i wanted to read the details in English, so naturally you end up on the Uk page, no point looking at the french language page if you aren't fluent in the language.

matt2matt2002 wrote:Interesting logic here
Do petrol stations charge more at busy times?

What on earth can their reasoning be - other than to make as much dosh as possible?

No but airlines do, and train companies, and hotels etc etc. In fact any business who can see an opportunity to make a quick buck

beetroot wrote:

matt2matt2002 wrote:Interesting logic here
Do petrol stations charge more at busy times?

What on earth can their reasoning be - other than to make as much dosh as possible?

No but airlines do, and train companies, and hotels etc etc. In fact any business who can see an opportunity to make a quick buck

Or, to look at it another way, they all give you discounts off the full fare to encourage you to travel at less busy times. Unlike petrol stations.

Just to let you know, having seen the mention of Harwich and Newcastle sailings, I've been dealing with DFDS and they are closing bookings for foot passengers and cyclists, but keeping the sailing available for those travelling with a car - basic commercial reality but a rather ridiculous contra-sustainability position, you need to be travelling by car to use the ferry - as they have space on the vehicle deck (less freight at present?) and cars are more profitable to carry.

They won't 'declare' no-bike dates as position is constantly changing with their yield management software optimising the ticket prices and modal mix. So it looks like book early (before thay drop shutters on non car) or take pot luck at last minute to grab any places that are not taken.

Another issue which will hit soon is the move out of Stranraer by Stena, to Cairnryan, about 5 miles further down the Loch, and not at present a nice road to share with the massive traffic in trucks from Ireland, which will then be travelling to join the A75. There is a disused rail line to Cairnryan which was used to service the military traffic in years past, long since lifted.

Has lead to an interesting discussion on the fast and 'small' passenger ferry options which could replace some of these barely profitable long-sea ferry routes, by ditching the vehicle carrying option, although UK/Northern Europe culture is locked in to vehicle ferries - in HK you get fast foils and catamarans to Macau and Guandong covering substantial distances in a few hours. Recent developments in Scotland are doing this with very small boats (12 passengers) but slashing journey times dramatically - eg Glasgow-Campbeltown - 2 hours rail/road & sea (carries bikes).