France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

daesal

Also, if they have a systemic policy of upping prices to take advantage of "trapped" customers with credit notes why was my booking for 2021 (same itinerary and dates +/- a few days) within €3 of my 2020 booking and others have experienced the same?

"+/- a few days"
I dont know your exact dates but perhaps that is why it was within a 3e .
If you change to a cheaper but less convenient day (say tue) then sure your costs will go down , but sometimes this is not possible or it costs too much to take the time off work to get the midweek ferry.
It is then not a like for like swap , and Irish Ferries get paid peak fare for an off peak day.
I agree ,as far as business strategy goes it is a short term profit. But then again taking advantage of customers is never a great long term policy! possibly losing once loyal customers in the future.

Nekarsulm

blackwhite wrote: »

Is that not just the difference between coming back on a Friday in 2021 instead of a Monday in 2020?

We've always noticed it's cheaper to travel early in the week, instead of on the weekend

But 17th August 2021 is a Tuesday ......

I am not applying a 2020 Credit note to a 2021 sailing.
We sailed with them last August, using the tickets we had paid in full for back at the start of the year. ( paid in full by mistake, instead of paying the €100 deposit)
So they had the €900+ in their account for 8 months before we sailed.

Peckham

I'm booked on the equivalent crossing in 2021 to the one I was booked on in 2020. It's the middle Sunday in August, Cherbourg to Dublin. Price last year was €550 (car, 5 people, 1 cabin). For 2021 it's €590.

blackwhite

Nekarsulm wrote: »

But 17th August 2021 is a Tuesday ......

I am not applying a 2020 Credit note to a 2021 sailing.
We sailed with them last August, using the tickets we had paid in full for back at the start of the year. ( paid in full by mistake, instead of paying the €100 deposit)
So they had the €900+ in their account for 8 months before we sailed.

Read it wrong - was looking at 17th 2020 v 20th in 2021

54and56

daesal wrote: »

I'm glad some people have had an ok experience but if you read reviews on Trip Advisor and other review sites it becomes apparent that a lot of people have had very bad experiences. It may be a business model and marketing and I might be cynical but if the company allready has our money in the form of "credit" then there is no incentive on them to release competitive pricing.

For high volume commodity type services like ferry/train/airline people who are bothered to leave a review tend to be those with some form of (justifiable or otherwise) gripe. RyanAir are a great example. I've been flying with them since they had old 2nd hand Romanian bone shaker jets and the amount of complaints people made about them (and still do to a lesser extent) when they had a gripe of some sort (paying extra for bags, paying a penalty to have their boarding card printed, left stranded for days after a flight was cancelled etc) and they still grew to become one of the worlds most successful airlines.

I do get the temptation for IF to up their prices somewhat given they know they have a huge amount of credit outstanding with customers who can't as easily switch to Stena or Brittany. There may well be some of that going on or they may just be upping their prices to reflect higher operating costs e.g. Covid cleaning, less capacity to facilitate social distancing, more bureaucracy etc?

Anyone know if Stena and Brittany customers are also complaining of higher pricing for comparable trips 2021 Vs 2020?

SusanC10

Anyone manage to book yet with IF using Tesco Tokens as part-payment?
Rang this am and they said that they would need to call me back.

54and56

daesal wrote: »

I dont know your exact dates but perhaps that is why it was within a 3e .

July Friday sailing Dublin to Cherbourg 2020 and the same 2021. Only change is that this summer my daughter was 15 and a child whereas next summer will be 16 and an adult which could have made it more expensive but didn't.

I carried a watermelon

I phoned Irish Ferries this morning and booked the ferry for 2021. Glad to have it crossed off the list.
The deposit payable is now €150. I had €100 credit from last years booking so I had to pay another €50.
No fees for me for booking over the phone.

tfeldi

SusanC10 wrote: »

Anyone manage to book yet with IF using Tesco Tokens as part-payment?
Rang this am and they said that they would need to call me back.

I spoke to someone at the hotline earlier and also just messaged through the web chat: Basically, they haven't loaded the Tesco Clubcard tokens into the system for next year yet. This will happen in 'due course'. They didn't have a time line. They offered a work around whereby you add the club card code later but best talk to them if you want to go down that path.

SusanC10

tfeldi wrote: »

I spoke to someone at the hotline earlier and also just messaged through the web chat: Basically, they haven't loaded the Tesco Clubcard tokens into the system for next year yet. This will happen in 'due course'. They didn't have a time line. They offered a work around whereby you add the club card code later but best talk to them if you want to go down that path.

Thanks for that. Did you book and get a Booking Reference?
It would be great to just get it done and be able to add the Token Code at a later point.

tfeldi

SusanC10 wrote: »

Thanks for that. Did you book and get a Booking Reference?
It would be great to just get it done and be able to add the Token Code at a later point.

No, I haven't done it yet. Still debating with myself if I prefer the workaround now or the more straight forward option later. If you want to book now, just get the approach confirmed again by them beforehand. Would be good to have it in writing. The webchat allows you to get the communication sent by email but I didn't select that option.

tfeldi

tfeldi wrote: »

No, I haven't done it yet. Still debating with myself if I prefer the workaround now or the more straight forward option later. If you want to book now, just get the approach confirmed again by them beforehand. Would be good to have it in writing. The webchat allows you to get the communication sent by email but I didn't select that option.

Looks like you can book now with Tesco points.

SusanC10

tfeldi wrote: »

Looks like you can book now with Tesco points.

Great ! Did you do it online or by phone ?

tfeldi

SusanC10 wrote: »

Great ! Did you do it online or by phone ?

Online. the feature is there now, but have not submitted the booking.

SusanC10

Booked IF. Just over €1,600. Out on a Saturday late June. Leaving France on a Friday mid July. 2 Adults, 2 Kids, 1 car with roofbox, 4 Berth Cabin with Window and Flexi.
Glad to have it booked. Something to look forward to. Fingers crossed.

Heroditas

SusanC10 wrote: »

Booked IF. Just over €1,600. Out on a Saturday late June. Leaving France on a Friday mid July. 2 Adults, 2 Kids, 1 car with roofbox, 4 Berth Cabin with Window and Flexi.
Glad to have it booked. Something to look forward to. Fingers crossed.

We booked easier this evening. Out Friday the 25th June, back Sunday 10th July.
Seems a bit dearer than last year but I have the credit from our deposit this year so hopefully they'll apply it to the balance.
As you say, something to look forward to now.

yiddo59

54and56 wrote: »

Anyone know if Stena and Brittany customers are also complaining of higher pricing for comparable trips 2021 Vs 2020?

Just checked Brittany Ferries online and our 2020 booking with them out of Rosslare last Monday June and leaving Roscoff back to Cork on 2nd Friday July would cost just short of €100 more in 2021.

fdevine

IF Dublin to Cherbourg return (Tues 29th June - Monday 12th July 2020), car, 3 adults, 1 child, 4 berth club cabin both ways and free flexi worked out at €1686 which IIRC is only maginally more than last year. Had to call to get the deposit from this year transferred & pay the extra €50 to the now higher deposit but done & dusted and counting down the days. Got early booking & group scheme discounts on accommodation which is working out slightly cheaper than last year so at €2.5k total it's balancing out the same as this years postponed holiday

Bjfl

Just a quick question for all the knowledgeable folk on here. Looking to book Irish Ferries for our holidays to France in 2021. I have a deposit from our cancelled ferry this year. Do I need to ring up and book over the phone or can I book online and hope I can get the deposit transferred over after. Thanks

Pataman

Bjfl wrote: »

Just a quick question for all the knowledgeable folk on here. Looking to book Irish Ferries for our holidays to France in 2021. I have a deposit from our cancelled ferry this year. Do I need to ring up and book over the phone or can I book online and hope I can get the deposit transferred over after. Thanks

You have to ring them. It's a quick process( when it's finally answered). Have all your dates and travel info ready.

mrskinner

Does IF have a charge for telephone bookings?

So if IF have a retained deposit €100 from last year they are reducing this if you have to phone book to reclaim this deposit!

SusanC10

mrskinner wrote: »

Does IF have a charge for telephone bookings?

So if IF have a retained deposit €100 from last year they are reducing this if you have to phone book to reclaim this deposit!

I wasn't charged to make the booking on the phone this year. I presume that was because they said that in order to use Credit and Tesco Tokens that it must be made on the phone.

lafors

Was looking to book our ferry for next year but when I go through the online process it doesn't give an option for deposit payment, it seems to be looking for full payment upfront?

How did the rest of ye get the €150 deposit payment option instead and pay in full 60 days before sailing?

Heroditas

lafors wrote: »

Was looking to book our ferry for next year but when I go through the online process it doesn't give an option for deposit payment, it seems to be looking for full payment upfront?

How did the rest of ye get the €150 deposit payment option instead and pay in full 60 days before sailing?

It's at the very end when you go to pay. You have two options visible on the screen - full amount or deposit.

lafors

Heroditas wrote: »

It's at the very end when you go to pay. You have two options visible on the screen - full amount or deposit.

Hmm on the last screen for me when you put in your card details it has process payment. When you put the card details in and press that do you mean there's another screen after it? Thanks

Soulsun

Folks any suggestions on which site would be suitable for first time camp site users.

SusanC10

Soulsun wrote: »

Folks any suggestions on which site would be suitable for first time camp site users.

How far are you ideally willing to travel from Cherbourg/Roscoff?

54and56

SusanC10 wrote: »

How far are you ideally willing to travel from Cherbourg/Roscoff?

And what age are your kids assuming you're travelling as a family?

Soulsun

54and56 wrote: »

And what age are your kids assuming you're travelling as a family?

2 or max 3 hours.., young kids

Soulsun

54and56 wrote: »

And what age are your kids assuming you're travelling as a family?

6 , 7 and 10