Keith T Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Just been reading my latest Saga magazine (!!!) and notice BF are advertising in that with 'savings up to 15% for Saga customers.......apply to vehicle and passenger elements of....saver and fully flexible fares......' Don';t know if this willactaully result in any better than previous offers, and havent done any research as BF are too far away from our normal route to France. links as follows: www. saga.co.uk/brittany or 0871 244 0121 quote 'saga' Might be of use to some of us I guess! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 in answer. why travel the long way round and not pay the plain over the top prices being asked for my britney ferries. will for one thing i don,t like being ripped off. the second is that i have a motorhome to travel. OK i don,t like to travel much on uk roads as after 30 odd years of doing so they don,t have much to offer. On the french side, will i spend one night at the bay of seals and went SWFF so that was good, then a slow drive up to the port, the crossing was 2 1/2 hours so no need of a cabin just got the book out had something to eat and drink and dover was in view. just over 3 hours to get back to yeovil with a pit stop. was it worth saving the 200 pounds. you bet it was. michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simian Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Personally I (and it would appear the majority of posts) also consider the BF fares to be a rip off. However if the Dover/Calais route proved to be more expensive because of extra mileage and assuming it suited my itinerary, then I would take the ripoff alternative,I'm just not rich enough to stand on a point of principle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francisgraham Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 simian - 2011-04-09 5:31 PM Personally I (and it would appear the majority of posts) also consider the BF fares to be a rip off. However if the Dover/Calais route proved to be more expensive because of extra mileage and assuming it suited my itinerary, then I would take the ripoff alternative,I'm just not rich enough to stand on a point of principle. Obviously £200 is more important to some people than others but personally I'd rather spend a bit more and have the convenience of using the most convenient sailing, and it would appear that, from my attempts to book, so do hundreds of other people. If someone would rather drive all day than spend a bit extra, that's their privilege and I won't be calling them fools as we who prefer the other option were called. I have to say though that I find the term 'rip-off' objectionable. I've just paid over fifty pounds for a first class meal in a first class restaurant. It certainly wasn't a rip-off as I considered it very good value. It was expensive and that's the term that I'd use for the longer channel crossing. But how can anyone accuse Brittany Ferries of 'ripping off' people. Do you know their operating costs? Do you know their profit margins? P & O gave up on the Spanish crossing because they couldn't make money but I have no doubt that the same people crying 'rip-off' on here, would have called their fares 'rip-off' just because they were relatively expensive. 'Rip-off' has become the new slogan for anything that anyone thinks is expensive or is more than they want to spend! It's use is usually unintelligent, unfair and unreasonable. If a company tells you that something is £100 but, when the bill comes, it's £120 and they won't budge, that's a rip off. But if you accept a price and it's delivered at what was promised, how can you have been cheated, or ripped off? To those who are happy to drive, to those for whom saving money is important, carry on driving, but do not insinuate that those taking a different view are foolish or are happy to be 'ripped-off'. We balance the cost against the advantages and make a value judgement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francisgraham Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Tomo3090 - 2011-04-07 8:15 PM Just priced up a one way ticket from Bilbao to Portsmouth for the begining of May £490! I can get a one way ticket from Calais for £50.00 and there's no way, even with the cost of fuel through France will it cost anything like that. Talk about ripping people off! And some people are paying it! The boat on the 9th is full and the one on the 7th only has less than five berths left. recession? What recession? Portsmouth/Bilbao is a journey of over 500 miles. Dover to Calais is about 20 miles so the Bilbao sailing is 25 times farther. Plus, on the Bilbao sailing the price would include a cabin, in effect a hotel room for an overnight stay. So for a distance 25 times farther, with a cabin thrown in, it costs only ten times more but like many others you shout 'rip-off'. How can you justify that? Yes, it's expensive, but it's a totally different product! This is a perfect example of what I said above where, because something is more than someone wants to pay it must be a 'rip-off'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Two,possibly three, important considerations in my view - 1 Actual cost, taking into account milegae/fuel savings against ferry fare 2 total time for travel 3 relaxation! Ref the first two, it depends where you start from in the Uk I guess, as well as where you want to end up - ie France/Spain. If the latter, then if you live in the western half (possibly northern part as well) of Uk, then surely it may show savings on paper, though you do have to factor in the overnight stops (unless going onto 'free' aires, I suppose). As far as the relaxation factor is concerned, then for me, I'd rather have the extra time on the ferry, then drive all out for maybe 2 days, and maybe save actually very little in cost anyway? For us, living in the South East corner, Dover is the obvious choice,probably even if we were to go to Spain, and each year I check the price comparison to us Newhaven, but for the last three years there's no contest as time-wise less convenience. However, again, surely it's 'horses for courses', and what suits us, may well not be evryones choice. Just as well, I guess, for the sake fo the ferry companies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Two,possibly three, important considerations in my view - 1 Actual cost, taking into account milegae/fuel savings against ferry fare 2 total time for travel 3 relaxation! Ref the first two, it depends where you start from in the Uk I guess, as well as where you want to end up - ie France/Spain. If the latter, then if you live in the western half (possibly northern part as well) of Uk, then surely it may show savings on paper, though you do have to factor in the overnight stops (unless going onto 'free' aires, I suppose). As far as the relaxation factor is concerned, then for me, I'd rather have the extra time on the ferry, then drive all out for maybe 2 days, and maybe save actually very little in cost anyway? For us, living in the South East corner, Dover is the obvious choice,probably even if we were to go to Spain, and each year I check the price comparison to us Newhaven, but for the last three years there's no contest as time-wise less convenience. However, again, surely it's 'horses for courses', and what suits us, may well not be evryones choice. Just as well, I guess, for the sake fo the ferry companies! PS Sorry pressed button twice, as first time didnt show anything to say it was actualoly going, and seem to take ages anyway!!! (!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 Hi, Just got price from P & O ferries out 25/5/11 @ 0940, rtn 24/6/11 @ 1250 total cost £76. So a massive saving over Brittany ferries of £450 to get me to France Cherbourg from Portsmouth. Now that leaves me with £374. So extra 500 miles total for Ports/Dover + Calais/ Cherbourg and return @ 6ml/L or 27mpg costs about £110 (Diesel UK £1.40+France £1.25/L). So we still end up with approx £264 in our pockets for meals out etc. And for those who have unlimited resources, Yes I have used P & O to Bilbao when we go to Spain and was happy to pay reasonable prices. But last year when I needed to home during the French fuel strikes, Brittany wanted around £700 one way. Now that in my mind is quite expensive and I felt akin to kick them when they are down. I feel that their prices are in general high. I am sure that some will say that this attitude is supply and demand or good business sense. BUT I for one will remember the companies attitude and when competition returns, as sure it will, they will not get my money even at reduced prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadsett Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I'm new to motorcaravans - but used to cross frequently for camping trips. Portsmouth or Newhaven for Brittany/Vendee/Basque coast but short crossing for everywhere else (even Languedoc) - always a good run Rheims/Dijon/Lyons whether using autoroutes or RN's. Then I discovered the A104/N104 and even the Loire was accessible via Calais. Have a choice coming from Essex but have no alternative to Dartford whichever port I use - the trick is in the timing!! Now it'll be shuttle every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadsett Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I'm new to motorcaravans - but used to cross frequently for camping trips. Portsmouth or Newhaven for Brittany/Vendee/Basque coast but short crossing for everywhere else (even Languedoc) - always a good run Rheims/Dijon/Lyons whether using autoroutes or RN's. Then I discovered the A104/N104 and even the Loire was accessible via Calais. Have a choice coming from Essex but have no alternative to Dartford whichever port I use - the trick is in the timing!! Now it'll be shuttle every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.