Ferry cancelled
We’re due to sail from Plymouth to Santander on the 3 May (obviously not now) and return mid June. We booked the ferry via the CAMC has anyone in the same position? The reason I ask is the club have informed me that if I cancel I will lose my deposit but the return journey will still stay booked? So I’m now waiting for the ferry in May to be cancelled by BF and take it from there I’ve tried to change dates on BF website via manage my booking but the booking reference given by CAMC is not accepted with a message to contact my agent. I must say the CAMC are not very helpful.
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If booked through CAMC then BF website 'Manage bookings' will not work for you.
It's a case of wait and see. If cancelled by you, then you have opted out of your contract and would/could lose the deposit. If cancelled by them and ultimately CAMC then they have opted out of the contract and you should get your money back.
I'm not saying it will happen, but try not to accept a voucher. Who knows if that company/business will still be operating at the end of this mess.
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I booked my ferry crossings direct with BF, the one they have cxld for 14th April they gave me a voucher valid for 2 years and if i rebook during July 2020 a 20 pct discount, my return ferry booked for 23rd June is a BF flexi ticket, i have only paid deposit thus far but with a flexi ticket booked direct you can keep pushing the date out in which case the date for full payment also gets pushed out, i have been told by BF that i can do this indefinitlely, mine are only Portsmouth - Caen, if i were to cxl my inbound ferry i would lose my deposit which is not that great, i appreciate plymouth - santander is much more expensive. I think BF thus far have been very fair , but these things in my experience are always muc difficult if you book via a 3rd party and things start to go wrong. good luck
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Sharon, both your outward and homeward ferry bookings are likely to be cancelled. Sit tight and wait for that to happen. The Club is working through things in date order and will contact you to discuss your options. If your booking is with the Club it's no use contacting the ferry company.
If you have paid for Red Pennant insurance I am told you can cancel that and get the money back, but for the ferry bookings my understanding is that you are likely to get a voucher to use for fresh travel within the next two years and not likely to get a cash refund. But I could be wrong !
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f you have paid for Red Pennant insurance I am told you can cancel that and get the money back, but for the ferry bookings my understanding is that you are likely to get a voucher to use for fresh travel within the next two years and not likely to get a cash refund. But I could be wrong
this is exactly what happened to me for RP and BF
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Hi
If you have booked a return crossing and the outward journey is cancelled, surely it would mean that they have broken your contract. If you can't get there- how can you get back ? I understood that if companies cancelled sailings/bookings, you were entitled to a full refund ?
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i would have thought this to be true if you had booked a package holiday thru them, but as far as they are concerned mine were 2 independant bookings and for all they know i could now have booked to go out via the tunnel and back via BF. As for full refund have not gone down that route because we intend to go when conditions improve so as it stands i have a voucher valid for 2 years and if i book a ferry during july 2020 will get 20 pct discount and as they will both be flexi tickets i can keep moving the dates out, a bit of a faff but hey all this right now is a bit of a faff
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Hi I have the same problem, should be going out on 15 April Portsmouth to Bilbao booked through the club and back 15 June Santander to Portsmouth. The club rang me last week to say outward ferry cancelled and I will get a voucher, with 2 years life NO option to get my money back which I was very shocked about. I asked who had got my £440 ish Brittany ferries or the club, she did not know and said it was the ferry companies rules. I made the booking with the club and thought it was them that was responsible for my booking and cancellation policy. Anyone got any thoughts on this. By the way my return booking as not been cancelled yet but will probably get the same treatment. God willing I will be able to to use the vouchers in the future but what if I cant. PS we are both 73 ish.
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I do hope you will be able to travel at a future date . After all 73 is really quite young. This virus will one day be over and I am sure you will be able to resume your travels and make use of your credit note. Stay safe for now.
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See the T&C`s in the Overseas Travel Brochure, there is a subtle difference between booking transport only versus a package which includes transport and campsites. In our case we booked a return crossing to Spain + campsites and have a full refund.
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PND 123, I agree with you. If we booked a return crossing at the same time and the first one has to be cancelled by BF, the second one is of no use . The chances of being able to get to and stay in Spain for the same duration ie rearranging both trips, are I would have thought, highly unlikely. We have more or less have booked the same dates as you but can only consider rebooking to return before September as we have other holiday plans for September.
We would not want to drive down from the north of England, through France and into Spain. We ve done this before but as only my husband tows, it can be quite stressful and it is a long way. That’s why we booked the Portsmouth -Spain crossing in the first place .
Vouchers for are ok if we are able to use them but there’s no certainty that we can . I wonder if they’re transferable?
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Are you saying you will never go abroad again? Not even in 2021 or 2022?
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According to the Which website, these are the consumer rights re a ferry being cancelled by the operator....
If your ferry service is cancelled or departure is delayed for more than 90 minutes, you should be offered the choice between:
1. an alternative sailing at the earliest opportunity at no additional cost
2. reimbursement of the ticket price within seven days.
Obviously, the ferry operator is being driven by UK Foreign Office travel advice, and/or the advice from the destination country. I understand this policy re cancellations is similar to what applies to airlines and travel companies, but that their trade bodies are keen to promote 2 year vouchers, largely because most airlines and tour companies would go out of business if they had to refund cash for the myriad of cancelled trips. Same applies to ferry companies.
I read somewhere that although some other countries have temporarily changed legislation regarding allowing vouchers, at this moment in UK, the consumer is still entitled to a refund. But one may have to press that point.I’m due to travel Portsmouth - Santander on 1st May, which I expect to be cancelled by BF, but in any case, CMHC will presumably contact me as I booked through them.
Some interesting points made about return journeys though!
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Ian, Did you just book the ferry with the club, or the ferry and any sites at all.
I booked ferry and sites and received a refund back to credit card, for my 2nd May departure
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Has anyone actually got their money back from BF? I booked directly with BF, we were due to travel on 25th April to Santander and I have just received my email and voucher from them. Our return date is 29th June. If everything is back to normal by then my sailing won't be cancelled and I will have to try to get a refund or make another booking. We aren't sure if we will be able to go in the future so would prefer my money back. What are my chances?
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Denise, I doubt you will get cash from Brittany Ferries.
As your outward crossing has been cancelled you already have a voucher for further travel within two years.
If your homeward crossing is eventually cancelled you will get another voucher for travel within two years
If your homeward journey turns out to be NOT cancelled you can amend it on line to some future date this year, and then if you wish amend it again to another future date in 2021, or even amend again for 2022.
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Problem is its a lot of money tied up and out of our control. Next Spring we may be in the same position again, none of us know when the virus will strike again! I have written to them via the contact form and will see what they say. I would prefer to have the choice as to where I go in the future.
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Further update re my BF booking made thru CCMH for 1st May departure plus 4 site night vouchers. By Wed 15/4 as I hadn’t heard from club, I used LiveChat to contact them. I was immediately informed I would get a refund as BF had cancelled the ferry that day. But that ‘refund’ was 75% credit to my card and 25% voucher valid for 2 years. Site night vouchers refund in full promised on return of vouchers.
I’m still of the opinion (based on info on Which website) that I am entitled to 100% credit card refund, but club said BF would not do that. I am mulling over whether to challenge this, simply because who knows when Overseas travel will be feasible again.
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personally i think this is a good deal. i booked ferry direct via BF, mine was an April crossing, BF cancelled automatically and gave me a voucher for the full amount valid for 2 years, not complaining as only short crossing to Caen £265, but i guess if you have a long crossing to Santander and you have some £500 + at stake then this could make a differance in what you think is a good deal.
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Be interesting to see what you get. Some are saying that vouchers for France come with 20% extra and vouchers for Spain with 15% extra added on. Others are crying in distress because they didn't get that response at all. Perhaps the responses are evolving ?
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this is part of email i received from BF re travel voucher
Furthermore, in light of the disruption you have experienced we would also like to offer you a saving on future travel when used in combination with the travel voucher(s). A discount of 20% will apply to sailings to France and 15% on travel to Spain when using the exclusive booking link below. And, as we understand you may wish to wait before making new arrangements, we're holding this open until 31 July 2020. This will enable you to take advantage of these savings on travel either later this year or into 2021
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David we had a Bilbao crossing booked through BF, should have gone Wednesday
BF cancelled it and we got an email straight away with a voucher at the bottom of it valid for 2 years. Our home coming ferry was under the new booking system so I've just changed the date of that, only paid deposit so far but will keep changing it until we are sure we can travel.ET, we got an email after the first one cancelling the ferry and voucher to say that if we rebook by the 31st July we would get a further 15% discount.
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ET, we got an email after the first one cancelling the ferry and voucher to say that if we rebook by the 31st July we would get a further 15% discount
But surely the 15% is only good if you book a trip this year as you have to do it before the 31st july and at that time i dont think the timetable etc for 2021 is available. I have a flex return for 22 June 2020 , only paid deposit, which I have just moved to November 2020, could not see how you could book 2021 dates ???
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I guess they are encouraging folk to book for this autumn, which we may well do by booking a flexi trip direct with BF then if we can go (I don't think it will be possible) we can just keep moving the date forward until next Spring dates are launched.
It would mean we get a good rate for the crossing on top of the discounted rate for using a friends code.
If I remember correctly doesn't the Autumn/Winter timetable come out mid to end July
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