SEAFRANCE FERRIES

[Patricia]

Ron I wonder whether you were a concessionary shareholder with P&O (now called unitholder) and that is why you have only once paid an admin fee? This has been the case for me and they did charge me once in recent years but they seem to have reverted back to not charging unitholders again.

[ron.]

I was a concession holder Patricia, and that thought had crossed my mind, but ceased to be a holder at the time P&O were taken over. However, since then we have continued to go over about three times a year and nothing has changed so far. It can't just be luck.

[degsy]

Not quite SeaFrance but P&O. Because we live in the North West it is much more convenient for us to travel to the Continent from Hull, usually to Zeebrugge. Every time we have travelled from Hull (and back from Zeebrugge) it has been on the exact date of the booking - we have never turned up on another day in the hope of getting a berth. I would be interested to know whether any has done this, either by accident or design, and what the response was from P&O. Admittedly, it is totally different from the Dover - Calais route with multiple crossing and is therefore much more restricting.

Also, has any one with thoughts as to getting the cheapest North Sea crossing. Should I go through Caravan Club, C&CC, via 'cheap ferries' web sites or, what we usually do, book direct with P&O web site or over the phone.

[sunbeam]

just been reading this thread and have had this thought like Andy & Adriawin have stated prices for 7.5 & 6 mtr van have you ever seen one being measured at the docks,sorry for moving away from the subject but just a thought >:-(

[Philman]

Have you ever seen them being measured at the toll booths?

 

Phil.

[Brian Kirby]

neillking - 2008-10-29 1:41 PM

"Despite the booking web-site stating that they are not amendable"

I'm always mystified by this. I nearly always book on-line and often direct with Sea France. Every time I've done so the process allows me a choice of times and a choice of fares, two of which offer amendment at a fixed low cost or nil cost. But unsurprisingly the very cheapest fare is usually non-amendable. Maybe the clubs simply don't quote that one? Or are they genuinely getting a special deal? ... That's certainly not my experience so far.

Neill

If you book through an intermediary, club or otherwise, you are taking one from a block of allocated bookings.  The block is owned by the intermediary, and is treated as booked by them.  If you wish to change the date/time of your booking, therefore, you are likely to have to go back to them to make the change.

If you book direct with the ferry operator, however, you own the booking in your own right.  As you say, there are about three flavours of ticket on offer.  The cheapest, where you are liable to a charge for any change, plus a charge if the change is to a more expensive crossing.  This is Seafrance's "Saver" fare.  The cost to change is £10.  There is then what they call the "Amendable" fare, where the sailing can be changed for £5, but you are still liable for the cost of a more expensive crossing.  Finally, what they call the Freedom fare, where there is no charge for the change, but the liability for the cost of a more expensive crossing remains.  The details are reasonably clear on their booking site, and so are the various fares.  All one has to do is look at the quoted rates for the selected crossing, and then decide the likelihood of needing to change. 

When we booked (July) we took Savers both ways, as the Amendable was £5 extra, and the Freedom more than £10 extra.  In the event we came back (October) a bit early and paid the requested £10 amendment fee.  That meant we effectively paid the same as we should have for an Amendable fare (£5 more to buy but £5 to change) but still less than for a Freedom.  I'm not complaining, but why do they bother?  The charges are piffling, and only serve to add complexity.  I suppose the answer must be "because they can".  :-)

[neillking]

Ah yes but these marketing wheezes are cheap to implement nowadays with just a few lines of computer code controlling it all. Their structure seems to address the twin concerns of a) some customers having a strong desire to avoid amendment fees and b) defending their operating efficiency and therefore net income from a widespead belief that ad-hoc changes don't matter because they are free.