Like others we use Tesco points so thats the best option for us. I wonder if P&Os prices will rise whilst SeaFrance is in a state of limbo/uncertaintly ?
It's personal preference but I don't like the tunnel.
We have 2 snowboarding trips (driving) planned this year and have booked the tunnel for one, Norfolkline/DFDS for the other.
The tunnel would have been £155 with Tesco vouchers, paid £135 cash with C&CC discount, DFDS (with CSMA discount) was £48, that's a pretty big saving, we are able to leave earlier for that second trip so that will make up for the time, plus we can eat on board rather than having to stop one end for food and a break. The only time we've used the tunnel before we had something like a 4 hour delay due to technical problems so it wasn't exactly fast anyway!
PS there's no customs on arrival with a ferry, you just drive off same as the train.
The only way to get the discounted tunnel fares is to use Tesco vouchers, there's no way to by-pass it I'm afaid.
We use the tunnel as we have dogs and one of them was severely frightened on a ferry on the one occasion over the past few years - never again! You can't beat sitting in your own motorhome, having your a drink/lunch/breakfast/dinner etc (just get it ready for when you go load) and then drive off the other side without any delay.
Apart from the above, we much prefer the tunnel - less aggro having to 'fight' to get a good seat and no 'annoyances' from other passengers, not 'captive' for such a long time. It is easy to amend your booking at no cost (except any difference in the crossing cost), able to get an earlier crossing usually without any charge, and not penalised if you're late, plus you have up to 24 hours to re-book your crossing if you can't go on your intended date/time. Using the Tesco vouchers, we usually don't have to actually pay more than a couple of quid extra per crossing (excluding the cost of the dogs), so our tunnel crossings haven't cost us much at all 'in real money' terms, probably less than £20 for 10 crossings!
We used to shop in Tesco's and used the club card points until a friend suggested we try ASDA and Morrisons both of these are quiet near where we live, and as a result we hardly ever go to Tesco anymore as we find them so much more expensive than either of the other 2 supermarkets.
Even though we don't get the club card points anymore we still feel we make unsubstantial savings against Tesco prices.
Just be-careful that you don't get carried away with the Club Card as the points you get obviously cost you money they like anyone else aren't there to give money away free.
We also have a Tesco CC but have stopped using it in favour of a couple of other credit cards which give us actual money back around 1% so double check there really are some good deals out there.
Most posts implies they book their crossing in advance.
in my experience by taking up Norfolk lines offers around the time of the NEC caravan show I can get a crossing Dover Dunkerque for any time of the year.Car & caravan return for £58 & no charges for altering travel dates if need be
I have also found that lower prices in ASDA or ALDI far outway the cost of TESCO shopping
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Topic: Euro-tunnel v Ferry
