Euro tunnel
Cheapest way to book. Is it well inadvance or nearer the day
Comments
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This can depend on how the bookings go. If the bookings are higher than expected prices go up but if lower than expected they go down. Prices these days are adjusted continually to try and get the booking levels the companies want.
You might get late deals but there is no guarantee of when the cheapest deals will be available or for what dates.
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My understanding is that Eurotunnel set their prices rather like the cheap airlines in that the fuller the trains the higher the price so I would think it best to book as soon as you are sure your holiday will take place. If you book direct with Eurotunnel they have a very flexible approach to changing bookings and will only make a charge if the booking price has changed since the crossing was booked. I have done this a couple of time at fairly short notice and I think the most I have paid extra is about £16. There is no admin charge. I think you may get a discount by booking through the Club however you do need to be aware that you can only change a crossing via the Club and my understanding is that they make an admin charge for doing so and I expect this is on top of any additional crossing charges. I suspect this can only be done during normal Office hours as well. Not sure what would happen if you arrived at the Terminal a couple of days earlier and asked at that point to change crossing?
David
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DavidKlyne: "Not sure what would happen if you arrived at the Terminal a couple of days earlier and asked at that point to change crossing?"
David,
That, in our experience, is a moveable feast! The year we met you at Bearsted on the way home, we turned up a day early, and were put on the next available train, at about 4pm, without charge.
Last October we did the same, similar time, but were told it would cost £50 or thereabouts.
I assume it depends on how busy they are, but both were weekdays in October from France.
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If you book through the CC Website and wish to change bookings you will be charged £20 for what usually takes about one minutes work - and only during Office hours.
Change of booking is free, however many times it is necessary, when booked through Eurotunnel and I believe at any time.
Travelling between 2000 hours and 0600 hours is usually cheapest.
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We book direct because it is easier to change as stated above. In theory it is cheaper than the Club to change your booking but on the last couple of bookings we seemed to pay about £10 - £20 for changing the return. The excuse was that it was a more expensive time slot - difficult to prove or disprove.
If you turn up on spec. you will almost certainly pay more. In fact, we usually arrive an hour or two early and when you check in they will give you a choice of crossing times - most will be more expensive.
Better to book early and change nearer the time if you have to. I don't recall prices ever going down!
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If you turn up within 2 hours of your booking they will put you on the next available crossing at no extra charge (key word - available) More than that the charge will depend on factors others have mentioned. We arrived at Calais a day early this December and were charged £9. but it cost considerably more (about £50) when we did this in Sept 15.
I try to balance early/later booking with the amount of Tesco vouchers I've got/expect to get - So far using vouchers I've paid between nothing and £10 extra at time of booking. If you have to cancel a booking, even if booked with vouchers you can rebook for another crossing within one year of your original date of booking (not the date of travel), only paying any extra if the new crossing costs more.
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