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We're heading to France in early Sept and I'm looking to book our tickets soon.
We're still debating whether to take the tunnel of ferry
1) I see both offer 'flexi' tickets that let you jump on an earlier/later train/ferry if your timings are off. Are these worth the extra £?
i.e. If you're on a fixed ticket do they just let you go early anyway and likewise would you have to buy a new ticket if you missed you boat/train?
2) Any good tips on how/where to get the cheapest tickets for either?
Thanks!
Sailing to/from Dunkerque is cheaper than Calais, and they're about half an hour apart on the other side.
I only use the Tunnel, the Flexi tickets are about 3x the cost and I never use them if I'm paying for holidays etc as I tend to work to a timetable I've set. They are very useful on the rare occasions I've not paid for the crossing when my return times are a bit less structured.
I've found that if the tunnel isn't busy then they will allow you onto an earlier crossing, assuming you haven't got a cheap midnight crossing and try and get on the peak time 5pm or similar. They will sometimes charge you for the change if they think you are taking the piss.
I've heard they have started sending people away to a holding carpark somewhere if they turn up too early nowadays though to prevent the carparks filling up on site. I've not seen it though.
tunnel has been fine for us going out 2 weeks ago (on the Sunday, mind) and returning last Friday. Just turned up about an hour before departure and off we went after about 45 mins delay. I wouldn't consider using anything else now
If you're traveling on a not full on busy day then the tunnel will give you a 2 hour leeway either side of your booked time.
Dont bother with Flexi.. I cant see much value
We turned up early to cross to France but had to wait for our alloted train. We turned up early on the way back but straight onto a train.
I think the only value would have been in being later than planned, but they still let you onto the next avaliable train if you are late?
We sailed DFDS and I booked flexi for the return. Flexi entitles you to travel 72 hours either side of your booked crossing at no extra cost, space permitting. The flexi ticket cost about £20 more.
In future I will book the cheapest ticket on the day I want to travel and add the flexi option. This is likely to be cheaper than the crossing I actually want. This year we turned up 24 hours early for an 11am sailing and had no bother getting on. In the current climate ferry companies do not want you hanging around in Calais taking up space.
I got on early for both my crossings P&O Dover-Calais this summer despite having the standard tickets for the cheapest crossings of the day (4 hours ear on the return and straight onto the next boat). Also got a deal for a £20 food voucher which considering it was just me got me a good breakfast and a couple of sandwiches for later, so worth checking around for offers.
my experience (only ever buying the cheap non-flexi tickets) is that if you are upto 2 hours early they generally let you on the next available ferry-train. Any earlier then they will offer you a place if you pay an up-charge. We recently were booked on the 5.15 pm ferry from Dover but got there at 3.15 and were put on the 4.10 ferry. However, it still didn't leave until 5.30 due to all the disruption but hey ho! On the way back we were booked on the 1.30 am tunnel but got to the terminal at 9pm. We were offered the 11.30 train for no charge, but for an extra £54 we took the 9.30 train. If we had bought a flexi ticket or an earlier ticket it would have cost at least this much extra so not worth paying for it at time of booking IMHO.
We never buy flexi tickets on p&o Dover/Calais and Calais/Dover and have never been charged to board early - sometimes by a couple of hours. Never been late though so not tested that yet. We generally book an hour or so later than we intend to travel just in case we get stuck on the motorway. Not sure we've ever caught the ferry we were booked on. That's always out of season mind.
If they have spare capacity I always assumed it would be in their interest to get you on early.
The standard tickets alow you 2 hours either way for free, so it's really not worth buying the flexi tickets.
Even if you do turn up late it's normally either £20 or £30 charge to change anyway depending on the time of day.
Was £75 for us to get on an earlier train yesterday but that was still cheaper than a flexi ticket. If we didn't need to be back I wouldn't have bothered and just had a bit longer in Calais.
Ditto above, on the tunnel we always get the cheapest tickets then aim to arrive roughly at the right time. We sometimes just drive on, sometimes get charged about £30 (it's always the middle of the night though, not exactly rush hour).
Slightly off topic but I'd recommend an autoroute tag thing (from [url= https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/ ]here[/url]). Mine had some teething troubles on the way down (thread [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/french-toll-roads ]here[/url]) but it worked flawlessly on the way back and was well worth it for the zero hassle in the middle of the night.
We went fixed (£38 return for over size car, with four bikes on rack and two canoes on roof) with P&O. On the way there we waited for 'our' sailing, walked around the Dover cliffs - and when we arrived spoke to others and realised they were adding anyone on who turned up early...
On the way home, times were all over the place to the Calais issues, and so we literally drove through security and straight on to whatever ferry it was, again their choice.
I booked 2-3 days in advance for a midmorning ferry and paid £70; was delayed leaving the house by 24 hours and was charged another £60 to change it on the phone - they were very busy. Dover to Dunkirk.
on the way back, I booked a 0100 ferry about 12 hours in advance for £43. I showed up at 2100 and was moved to the 2300 crossing. They were very quiet - quite a few spare places on the boat I think. Calais to Dover.
moral: I probably wouldn't buy a flexi ticket and if you can travel overnight you can go cheap even with a same day booking.
this was with dfds. some of their boats are a bit tired but others were nice enough. don't know what P&O are like.
Done the tunnel a few times on Feb half term (mrs is a teacher).
Arrived a bit early on the way out and been put on the next available train. Arrived very very late on the way back (6+ hours because of autoroute fun) and been waved straight on the next train no problem.
All on fixed tickets!
you can use quidco on dfds and maybe P and O too