Latest posts for the topic "Eurotunnel"

Eurotunnel

Thu, 2 Aug 2012 22:26:02 GMT

Just looking at the prices for the tunnel this Jan and was wondering if anyone had bought the overnight return ,,GBP29 and not used the return leg ,,much cheaper than buying a single

Re:Eurotunnel

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 08:23:10 GMT

No reason why you cant do that....

There are problems on planes when you buy a return and not buy the first leg but then want to return ;)

Re:Eurotunnel

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 09:08:09 GMT

Yep, no reason why you cant do that. It's cheap like the budgie -)

Cheerz,
Stefan

Re:Eurotunnel

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 09:44:22 GMT

Daved - GBP29 return is incredibly cheap!

We did something similar once with the ferry over to Ireland. We bought cheap day return pedestrian tickets over there and then stayed on and came back with family in the car a week later. We weren't supposed to do it but no-one seemed to have found out and we never got told off. And it was much cheaper than buying single tickets.

Perhaps you should phone them up and make an anonymous enquiry about it, but I don't really see how they could enforce your return after a week or whatever they specify. I mean, your car might break down and have to spend time in the garage getting fixed, or somebody might be too ill to travel back etc.

Re:Eurotunnel

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 10:21:06 GMT

I'm not sure that you can. I investigated the same idea (Book two UK->France->UK returns) with ferries, and at that time, it wasn't feasible.

If you book a second cheap daytrip from the UK (for your return leg) then you can't 'materialise' in France having 'missed' the outbound leg or similar excuse, because you've clearly managed to get there somehow. They will say you have to buy a standard single.

If you have a foreign bank account and a legitimate foreign address, then you can get round this by using your foreign plastic and address to book a France->UK->France return and missing out on the return (from the UK) leg.

But if you only have a UK address then you book your second UK->France->UK trip, but arrive at Eurotunnel Calais conspicuously not having made the outbound UK->France leg i.e. you 'materialise' in Calais. Even if you tried it with different companies (e.g. Eurotunnel out and P&O back) you'd still have the problem that it's logically impossible to get to France without first having crossed the channel on a ferry/Eurotunnel.

They may even be on the lookout for this: You book two UK->France->UK day returns and if you don't turn up for the trip home then they 'flag' that you're probably going to try it on with the second booking. Remember, they'll have you car registration. So when you 'materialise' they know what you've tried to do and just turn you away. After all, it's your problem, not theirs - your the one stuck in France with your car insurance running out; no valid ticket home; and no option but to pay the full whack for a single ticket.

And even if you got away with it because you had a foreign address/plastic, I suspect that they would eventually pick it up when you crossed the Channel subsequently. "Sorry, Mr.X, but this car should theoretically still be in France ... could you just park over there and answer a few questions?". Remember in these days of heightened security, this sort of anomaly might cause you all sorts of problems.

This was about five years ago, so things may have relaxed since then.

Re:Eurotunnel

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 12:51:40 GMT

Iceman wrote:No reason why you cant do that....

There are problems on planes when you buy a return and not buy the first leg but then want to return ;)

I think you need to inform the airline asap when you haven't used the first leg otherwise they might cancell your reservation. happened to my Mum once when she came to Switzerland with one way ticket, took a train to Paris but her flight from Paris home was actually a return one (it was cheaper) and she didn't use the first leg.

Re:Eurotunnel

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 17:39:08 GMT

There is something in the T&C's which says you may be charged a standard ticket if you don't use the return leg of a cheap day ticket. Whether this is enforced I do not know.

Re:Eurotunnel

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 20:42:23 GMT

well food for thought ...I will enquire and let you all know...all I want is the one way trip as I don't know yet when I will return,,so I can always come back on the ferry

Re:Eurotunnel

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 21:05:55 GMT

Well, I reckon it's time they got rid of the trains and tarmacked the tunnels. They are only 31 miles long, so even if they restricted you to 60mph you would be through quicker than the trains. Just charge a fixed fee of say GBP10 to use it and you will see the end of ferries.

Imagine the fun you could have with a V8 or V12 :twisted:

Re:Eurotunnel

Sat, 4 Aug 2012 08:36:40 GMT

Imagine the pile up in the tunnel when some numpty gets it wrong!

Re:Eurotunnel

Mon, 6 Aug 2012 16:37:07 GMT

felthorpe wrote:Imagine the pile up in the tunnel when some numpty gets it wrong!

....and with the majority of them being holiday bumpties who don't travel as much, that would definitely happen a lot.

Re:Eurotunnel

Mon, 6 Aug 2012 18:06:10 GMT

Essentially they can't force you to use the return leg of a return ticket.

The only issue might be is if you tried to use the return leg of a ticket if you hadn't used the outbound portion. Even then you could argue you missed the train & got the ferry.

Re:Eurotunnel

Mon, 6 Aug 2012 23:08:45 GMT

And then they politely say "I'm sorry Mr. X but this isn't a valid ticket unless you've travelled on the outbound portion. I'm afraid you'll have to buy a full-price single." Since my earlier posting I asked someone I know who tried this and this is exactly what happened to them. Although it was 5-6 years ago, and on a ferry crossing, I'm not sure that much has changed, but you might be lucky ...

Re:Eurotunnel

Mon, 6 Aug 2012 23:13:18 GMT

I only want the outbound ............

Re:Eurotunnel

Tue, 7 Aug 2012 09:22:29 GMT

Apologies. I got the wrong end of the stick. I thought that you were hoping to come back on another cheap day return. But I assume that you're out for a while and will just book a standard single.

Re:Eurotunnel

Tue, 7 Aug 2012 14:58:07 GMT

One option might be to buy two returns one starting in England & one in France & just use the outgoing portion of each.