Eurotunnel - advice please!

[stringbean]

We're planning a camping trip in France this summer and are thinking about using Eurotunnel, largely because it's cheaper than the ferries, which are getting extortionate. We've always used the ferry in the past, but have no experience of Eurotunnel, so would like to hear others' experiences - in particular, if it's worth paying for the Flexiplus upgrade. Many thanks!

Hi

Sorry I have no idea about the tunnel basically because it is always so expensive! Really surprised to see that you think ferries are expensive. Last summer we got ferries from Dover (Sea France I think) for about £60 return. We went last week too and it was £46. Have you tried cheapferry.com? Mind you if you are going from Portsmouth you would need a 2nd mortgage.

Personally I prefer teh ferry anyway because it gives the boys a bit of time to run around.

Hi Stringbean

We drive down to the South of France several times a year and we always use the tunnel.

This is for a couple of reasons - one, DH and I are not ferry fans and two, we use Tesco clubcard rewards and it means we pretty much travel for free. Tesco vouchers are worth 4 x their face value for Eurotunnel, so if you have £25 of vouchers, this buys you £100 towards Eurotunnel.

Don't bother with the flexiplus, the tunnel is very flexible anyway, especially if you are a standard height car (no roofbars and roofbox or bike on the top).

Basically, if you arrive before or up to 2 hours after your scheduled departure, they just put you on the next available crossing. You do sometimes have to wait a bit, but never too long.

It is quite boring on board but as it is so fast, the time passes slowly and you are on and off in about 40 minutes.

We often take the time on the tunnel to eat - a tip is don't put your picnic in the boot as depending on where you are put within a carriage, you sometimes can't open your boot due to the car behind being so close!

Do ask if you think of anything else, lots of people on Mumsnet use the tunnel.

x x x

We make about 5 return trips on the tunnel each year. Wouldn't use ferry at all now, takes too long and doesn't have the flexibility as azernak says.

You don't have the faff of getting the kids up on deck - they can get out and stretch their legs in the carriage. Means I can travel easily with 4 dcs by myself.

Agree about not bothering with Flexiplus. Waste of money imho.

Tunnel is great, no sea sickness which is good for us.

Have done tunnel a few times and have always been put on the next train when we have arrived and we are not a standard car but a motorhome. We make a pot of coffee in the carpark read to drink when on the tunnel and useually have breakfast, as we get early train.

This year the service has put in vehicle recognition and when you arrive at the machine it announces your name and offers you the next few trains - some though you may pay extra to go earlier.

Use it all the time. It's great. Never had any problems. Just about to book for May and July today!

Maybe I should reconsider...

Always use the tunnel. Have never paid a penny for it yet, as Tesco vouchers cover the cost.

Never bothered with flexiplus... you get about a 2 hour slot anyway. Longest we ever waited in a queue was 9am on a Saturday morning, when it took about an hour.

Many thanks to you all for your replies - it's really helpful to hear your experiences, and also that the upgrade is not worth considering. We have some Tesco clubcard vouchers, and have been saving them with a tentative view to using them on the tunnel, so I can definitely see us going that route this year.

Mumof22222222222boys, my comment about expensive ferries is because we live near Portsmouth, so that has always been our default option in the past. You're right about the 2nd mortgage - no idea how they manage to justify the prices. Considering that we will have to drive for a couple of hours to reach the tunnel anyway, I will investigate costs on the ferry from Dover as well. Must admit, though, I'm a bit sold on the idea of the tunnel now!

It really depends when you go on the train as to how much it costs - we have gone return in the summer at 10pm for less than £150 return

If you plan a couple of months or so in advance you are looking at under £100 return.

I have just paid £122 for a return ticket on the tunnel at the end of May. I didn't actually pay that as I had enough Tesco vouchers to pay in full.

Lunar - any spare vouchers?

Yeah H... but the person named on them has to be in the car!

We also go with our caravan and pay using tesco vouchers. We had a 2 hour delay last summer as the tunnel gets hot inside and if the weather is warm the trains don't cool down enough so they put hold on crossings to allow them to cool. Knowing this I would now avoid crossings in the middle of the day and either travel early morning or evening when it's cooler. You might find those crossings cheaper too.

Thanks Welshdeb - that's useful to know.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the tunnel. I hate boats/ferries, I get horrendously seasick. We use Tesco vouchers also and its always cheaper travelling off-peak (early morning/late afternoon/evening)

To break up the journey and to travel at off-peak time we have booked a cheap hotel next to CiteEurope (or is it EuropCite, can't remember!) and had dinner there and done the same on the way home (after filling up the car with French groceries from the Carrefour) to come home.

Also agree you don't need the flexipass, if you miss your time they just pop you onto the next train 20mins later.