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I seem to recall pre-covid that booking ferries was a bit of a minefield and that booking direct wasn’t the best option for good prices - is that still the case and if so, what is the go-to booking website
Also mindful of P&O being evil last year - are the other companies less evil or are they all wrapped up together - basically can I and should I make an ethical purchase here
2 adults, 4 children, vw caravelle, mid august - out on an early crossing, back on and evening one preferred
I used directferries.co.uk last year a couple of times with very little hassle. Dunno if the prices were higher or lower but it made it fairly easy to compare. I stayed away from P&O for obvious reasons. Irish Ferries seemed to be the cheapest option, although don't expect a luxurious crossing.
although don’t expect a luxurious crossing
It's a 70 minute crossing, not a cruise. Who cares about the level of 'luxury'?
If you can avoid P&O, best do do so, (ex-employee), however, neither they nor Irish Ferries have been good to their staff in the past.
Use the tunnel? Roll on, snooze, roll off in france 35mins later without worrying about the weather. You can use tesco clubcard points to help bring the cost down
Tunnel every time.
As you’re concerned about the ethics perhaps you should worry about the environmental impact as well and holiday in 🇬🇧.
I’m afraid the minute you step out of the UK for a holiday all ethics are lost though you can always post on here to make yourself feel better.
It’s okay I don’t have any ethics either this year as will be long haul to California in March for a holiday x4.
Oh and your oil burner of a VW will cheer up the sparrows no end.
I book direct, but then we get a pile of cashback from P&O via my wife's work. If we didn't I'd be calling / emailing Nutt travel in Coleraine. Consistently out-quote everyone else I've tried.
We did an early crossing last year on eurotunnel, but the rules on taking food, together with everything in the terminal being closed for the night meant we disembarked starving & immediately stopped for breakfast. This year, we are going on the ferry. It will save us over £100 & we can eat on board.
We've found Irish ferries the cheapest for us (car with bikes on the roof & caravan, first 3 weeks of July).
You can either use Tesco vouchers or get 10% off most crossings with caravan & motorhome, or camping & caravan club (not Irish ferries on C&CC though).
Be aware currently for tesco vouchers and the ferries (P&O) there's a restricted time period you can book. I looked before Christmas for May but was told I could only book until mid January as they were looking into contract renewals. I ended up booking the tunnel for May for only £14 due to using vouchers for the rest!
I booked p&o direct. 9% cash back via Quidco at the moment. Eurotunnel worked out nearly twice the cost.
Worth checking the old Norfolk Line (now DFDS) route to Dunkirk.
If you're heading slightly East (we were going to Switzerland when we used it) it saves a few miles and a few tolls to make up for the longer crossing and you head SE through Belgium and Luxembourg before back into France. Not always obvious on first read of the map.
The reduced mileage is more obvious if heading to Belgium, Netherlands or Germany.
It used to be the cheapest route and was full of Polish and Czech workers heading to and from. I don't know how prices compare now it's DFDS who I think are as evil to staff as PO and Irish Ferries.
Why not the tunnel? We have not used a ferry to France since it opened.
the rules on taking food
In our experience no-one actually checks what is in your sarnies or whether you have tonnes of sausage