Anyone familiar with Chunnel?

[Fatbelly]

I've always used ferries to get to mainland Europe in the past but this year I want to use the Channel Tunnel. I will book my outward trip in advance but I'm not quite sure when I will be returning. The flexible fares are just silly money.

Does anyone know if I can just turn up at the French side, or will they demand Muchos Euros if I do that?

[temporaryescapee]

I always use the Chunnel.  If you book a cheaper, later backstop crossing, you can turn up early and they give you a price for an earlier crossing.  It is basically the difference between your cheap backstop and the going rate for the crossing you are moving too ( if one is available).  All quick and easy.

[Sven]

Used it for the last 2 years. Its so quick & easy.
Last year on the return route, we'd planned to travel up to Calais ( about 600 miles) & find an F1 or similar to stay for the night. We'd booked the tunnel for the next morning, but decided to see if we could get on. We were a day early & they charged us 12euro to get on, which was fine by me. ( cheaper than a night in B & B).

[Fatbelly]

thanks, boys.

[Arto]

I use Eurotunnel for both motorbike and motorhome crossings. I use my Tesco vouchers for this as a a £30 bike crossing only costs a £10 voucher.

If you phone Eurotunnel if you know you're going to be early or late,  the staff are very helpful, for example last year when I came back a day early with the Vee, I called and they gave me a range of times and costs including no further cash to pay options, although I did have to wait an hour and a half to cross at no cost.

If you want to use your Tesco vouchers, look up your crossing price on Eurotunnel's website, surrender the right amount of vouchers to give you the rewards token equivelent at 3 X the voucher face value, for example my summer trip cost £23.50 of vouchers to get the £70 rewards tokens I needed.

Tesco post the vouchers to your home, then phone Eurotunnel on the number given on the bumpf with tokens, get your reference nuber, fill in a single page form , include the deals tokens in the envelope and post special delivery to eurotunnel, simples and job done.

After a day or three you'll get an email confirmation for your crossing. It is actually essier to do than it sounds, I haven't paid for a crossing in several years, making two bike and two mootorhome trips per year.

[doboy]

cannot beat p&o for bikes . its not as fast as the tunnel but a lot cheaper [ using code 9632 ]  and they will put you on if you are up to 2hrs early or 2 hrs late for free [ but any later and u have to pay extra ] ...and if you travel a good way to Dover like I do it gives you that hour and a half rest...

[Fatbelly]

Thanks, I'm not really familiar with Tesco vouchers. Contrary to popular belief Tesco are not everywhere so I don't shop with them.

Last time I had to sue P&O for damage to my bike they tried every dirty trick to avoid paying up, I got my money in the end - don't trust the swines!

[WeeStromer]

I converted to the tunnel in January. It's so much easier, no need to strap the bike, shorter travel time compared to the ferry, and always seem helpful if you have to ring them.
I think it's a bit hit & miss on the price for travelling outside of your booked time. I arrived an hour early once, I was offered to travel early, but pay €29 for the privilege. another time I arrived nearly 6hours early and travelled straight away for free.
What about booking two return crossings, one for your outbound trip and one for the return. on both booked crossings you won't turn up for one leg of the journey but it should keep the cost down. It's just a thought, not tried myself but I've heard of people doing this.

[Fatbelly]

I think I'll just book the latest date return I can use. if I want to return early then I'll worry about it at the time.

[Arto]

if you're coming back early the trick is to phone them when you're an hour or two away, they'll give you the best price/free options then, if you just turn up you can get stung for a few bob. Eurotunnel in France +33 2100 2061 Eurotunnel in the UK +44 1303 82061

[SimonW]

What about booking two return crossings, one for your outbound trip and one for the return. on both booked crossings you won't turn up for one leg of the journey but it should keep the cost down. It's just a thought, not tried myself but I've heard of people doing this.

I have a sneaky feeling you're not 'allowed' to do this and that they check whether the outbound ticket has been used when you present the return ticket. It might even say this in the T&Cs, so best to check first. I might be wrong, but it would be worth checking first to avoid getting stung for a full price one-way ticket.

[hookie]

I've done this several times and never had any problems. They say they can charge for a single fare for not using the return but I've never heard of this happening to anyone. I have heard of this happening on some of the ferry companies and peope have found a mysterious extra charges on their credit/debit cards some time later. If you get to the terminal a lot earlier than you booking and sign in for your scheduled time and then go to the help desk they will usually get you on an earlier crossing if one's available and I've never been charged extra for this. I suspect they take the view to keep traffic moving if space is available.