Late Booking

[Kontiki]

Has anybody any experience of booking a ferry/tunnel to Europe at short notice? Have you ever managed to get a good deal when doing this? Really hate having to plan & book to far in advance just to save a few quid, would much prefer to be able to ring up & book at short notice & go (thinking about a couple of days). One year we did just book the one way then rang up the different ferry companies when we wanted to come back & got a good deal with Sea France, they were one of the few helpful companies. By that I mean I rang them & said what's the best deal they could give me sometime within the next week, many of the ferries wanted me to tell them the dates I wanted. I have very rarely been on a ferry or the tunnel which have been full, there must be free spaces so is there a way to take advantage of them?

 

[Lee]

When we book we only book a single trip and normally go out of normal times when the prices are lower, it also suits us as we have found going late at night, we miss the traffic on the M25 and we get to France and then sleep at Wissant so we are fresh for the journey south.

I have looked at P&O and found that the prices are a little more expensive than the price I have looked at for our sailing in January but not excessively.

When we are ready to return I look on line at the ferries for normally about a week ahead and haven't found the prices out of the ordinary.
Obviously you have to stay away from weekends and public holidays.

 

[jagmanx]

I have found that using the tunnel

If booking within a week you seldom get a good price..
But by choosing mid week and maybe late afternoon early evening you usually get a sensible price.
The tunnel has the advantage in that it cuts down crossing and exit time.
Also if you turn up a bit early (1hr) you will often get on an earlier train.

Yes the tunnel is more expensive but we save so much on other items (camping in particular) that we are "devout tunnelers":wave:
We use 1 of 2 overnights very close to Calais or a 3rd about 1 hr away.

Also we do not really enjoy Ferries :boat: No thanks !

 

[RichardHelen262]

If you try to book the tunnel on the same day the price goes up through the roof but booking a couple of days before doesn’t add to the price

 

[Wooie1958]

We only do the ferry so we`ve no experience of the tunnel.

We now use P&O but in the past found that some of the best deals we ever had was with My Ferry Link.

I normally only book ( 1 way at a time ) online 2 or 3 days in advance and usually get a decent price for a sensible o`clock sailing.

I`m happy with £55 - £65 for a one way trip with a 7.5m Motorhome, 2 Adults, 0 Kids and 0 Pets.

If there`s a Promo Code like last time " FREE FUEL " it knocked the ferry price of £60 down to a very reasonable £45 with the FREE FUEL £15 cash back.

The best prices i`ve found are Dover to Calais on Thursdays and Calais to Dover on Tuesdays.

We very often get put on the earlier ferry but if we don`t we just drive to the queue lane, get the kettle on then watch the comings and goings.

 

[big tom]

Just had a look at PO Dover Calais tomorrow 16.25 £70.80 6.5 m two people cheaper in the middle of the night.

 

[Les Haro]

DFDS online 'book now' allows you to alter the initial date, +1 day at a time, and gives you the cheapest crossing for that day without you having to pay now.
I only cross at the lowest rate which is generally at night and also miss the Dartford charge which is Free 10pm till 6am.

 

[delicagirl]

i live near yeovil and this summer travelled from Poole to Cherbourg return with Brittany Ferries. I have no idea if this is cheaper in the long run (saving me driving 200 miles to Kent and further 300 miles Calais to Cherbourg way) but it was stress free. There is a free shower and cassette emptying at Poole and tis only 50 miles from my home.

 

[delicagirl]

duplicated the previous post .....