Brittany Ferries fares.

LeTouriste
LeTouriste Forum Participant Posts: 348
edited July 2018 in Caravan & Motorhome Chat #1

being annual users of the Portsmouth-St Malo-Portsmouth ferry route to France, and having changed our VW Touran for a VW Caravelle, I decided to plan two return trips - one with the Touran and caravan, and one with the Caravelle and caravan.

Both vehicles fell within the 5 metre length band, but the caravelle is higher than the Touran by about 35 cms., although it is still significantly lower in height than our caravan at 2.65 M.  There is no provision for vehicle width or weight differences, so those factors do not count.

This leaves the unchanged caravan height itself as the only  effective criteria for setting the fare.  So why has the Caravelle created an increase of £60 for the return trip?

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown Forum Participant
    edited July 2018 #2
    The user and all related content has been Deleted User
  • LeTouriste
    LeTouriste Forum Participant Posts: 348
    edited July 2018 #3

    I have in the past been on Brittany Ferries own forum.  Perhaps this might be a good place to start.  It could be that they use the same criteria for charging for the height of solo cars, and simply add on the height/length when a caravan is included.    From observing how many caravans are towed by large vehicles, BF are unlikely to consider a change that could dent their profits.

    I wonder if any travellers understate the height of their Towcars, on the basis that the caravan height is the deciding factor for placing their outfit aboard the ship?   We have seen BF staff using measuring tapes to determine a vehicles actual length at check-in, but never seen any height checks taken.

  • Tammygirl
    Tammygirl Club Member Posts: 7,957 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited July 2018 #4

    Its a mystery how ferries work.

    Why on some crossings do MH's get charge more than a car and caravan when the MH is only 6.5m long and the same height as a caravan. Car and caravan as a unit  is significantly longer yet can be cheaper.

    Years ago when I worked in a travel centre booking ferries it was all about the height and length of the unit, the bigger you were the more you paid simples, nowadays it has so many variations, offers, codes etc. still not fair but what can you do other than challenge the companies.

  • redface
    redface Forum Participant Posts: 1,701
    1000 Comments
    edited July 2018 #5

    When I left Pompey for Bilbao, maybe with a different ferry outfit, they measured not only the length but also height of my outfit with a loading gauge.

    They said this was to ensure that I was loaded onto a deck with sufficient headroom.

    They also checked the overall length with a wheel measure.

    The price I paid was not changed from the guestimates given when the booking was made.

    So I feel that the overall train size is measured to ensure a decent packing order on board.

    Surprised to hear that there may be price difference but could there have been a question of peak traffic/low traffic volumes affecting the pricing?

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