Ferries will never be the same again (Euro Tunnel)

Member Name: spider-monkey

Product:	Euro Tunnel
Date:	28/10/01 (481 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Speed, Flexibility

Disadvantages: Price (but you gets what you pays for)

Quite simply this is the best way to get across the channel.

Ok, you pay for it. Round about £300 for a summer crossing in a standard car, when you could get a ferry for maybe £200. But, you can get 10% off immediately if you join the Points Plus scheme (at a cost of £10).

So what do you get for this extra outlay? Well, lets see.

Firstly, speed. The procedure is as follows -
1. book a ticket in advance
2. drive to the terminal (easy to get there, much less hassle than Dover)
3. give them your booking number in return for a bit of card to dangle from your rear-view mirror
4. park up and visit the facilities, or more commonly, just drive straight into the waiting lanes for the next train
5. the green light comes on and you drive onto the train, then you sit there for 35 minutes and drive straight off.

Secondly, flexibility. I nearly always come back from holiday a day earlier than planned (luck with the weather is not my strong suit...) - no problem, just catch the next train.

Last time I used them, I had to change my booking from a standard car to a high-top, as I was now carrying bikes on the roof. I was expecting a surcharge, but no. Same price. Good service considering the high vehicles require their own single-decker carriages.

It has to be said that I generally try and travel early in the morning (7-9am) or late at night (9pm on) to miss the busy periods. Maybe at other times things get delayed. But the advantages were so noticeable this year when even with a stop at customs I went from French autoroute to British contraflow in 50 minutes. Including all checking in, loading, everything. Allowing for the time difference, I was in the UK before I had left France.

Can't do much better than that can you?

[update] - and I forgot to mention that it scores over other high-speed services, and even conventional ferries, in that it's never disrupted by the weather. Add to t
he fact that trains run all night, and you'll never need to book a last-minute hotel in Northern France again. Just turn up; there will be a train.

Summary: