Dover to Calais fares

[radamfi]

Just looked at the P&O web site and I notice that that the fare for a bicycle appears to be £19.50 for all sailings but seems to be £29.50 for foot passengers. Does that mean it is really cheaper to take your bike?

 

[NeilWatson]

Just looked at the P&O web site and I notice that that the fare for a bicycle appears to be £19.50 for all sailings but seems to be £29.50 for foot passengers. Does that mean it is really cheaper to take your bike?

Certainly looks that way!

 

[causton]

Do you *have* to turn up with the bike? What if it got "stolen while you were on your way" or something

 

[radamfi]

DFDS are even cheaper at £15 for bikes. They don't allow foot passengers.

Cheaper fares with a bike might make sense because cyclists don't use the foot passenger terminal.

 

[D1009]

DFDS are even cheaper at £15 for bikes. They don't allow foot passengers.

Cheaper fares with a bike might make sense because cyclists don't use the foot passenger terminal.

Yes but an extra £10 just to use the terminal?

Another example of competition driving down fares.

 

[radamfi]

Yes but an extra £10 just to use the terminal?

Another example of competition driving down fares.

DFDS don't have to maintain or staff a foot passenger terminal, so their costs will be lower. Pedal cyclists just ride onto the boat. Do P&O use a bus to transfer foot passengers onto the boat? That would also cost money. Eurotunnel charge £16 for their escorted cycle shuttle which is the nearest you can get to a being a foot passenger on Eurotunnel.

 

[jopsuk]

Do you *have* to turn up with the bike? What if it got "stolen while you were on your way" or something

If you're travelling with a bike, you have to use the vehicle entrance and load via the vehicle ramps, as with other cross channel ferry routes. If you turned up without a bike they'd treat you much the same as they'd treat a driver turning up without a car...

 

[D1009]

DFDS don't have to maintain or staff a foot passenger terminal, so their costs will be lower. Pedal cyclists just ride onto the boat. Do P&O use a bus to transfer foot passengers onto the boat? That would also cost money. Eurotunnel charge £16 for their escorted cycle shuttle which is the nearest you can get to a being a foot passenger on Eurotunnel.

P&O use buses at Dover because for a variety of reasons to do with safety, security, border security etc they don't want random people walking through the vehicle loading areas where pedestrians are prohibited. If you're on a bike though you're OK apparently.

 

[jopsuk]

Buses are used between terminal and boarding ramp at other channel ports as well, often because it's a long way between the too through a port area busy with vehicle movements.

 

[stut]

P&O use buses at Dover because for a variety of reasons to do with safety, security, border security etc they don't want random people walking through the vehicle loading areas where pedestrians are prohibited. If you're on a bike though you're OK apparently.

You do get a dedicated route by bike, though, that by-passes the main road through. Near the terminal, there's a gate that you get buzzed through that takes you straight to a portacabin mainly used for rebookings when things go wrong (which, irritatingly, means the queue can be quite slow-moving). You get your boarding pass here, and find yourself right by where the queues are all aligned, and get directed to a dedicated one (at the point where people get out and mill about anyway). It's actually not badly done.

(The cycle boarding at Harwich, which involves going with the rest of the vehicular traffic over the concrete ramps and twirly bits over the railway line, is far scarier!)

 

[gordonthemoron]

(The cycle boarding at Harwich, which involves going with the rest of the vehicular traffic over the concrete ramps and twirly bits over the railway line, is far scarier!)

it certainly is

 

[jopsuk]

Never actually been by bike onto a ferry- though going on and off at Portsmouth, St Malo and Ouistreham this month at all three the bikes just went via the main car access (though in their own lane in the final marshalling area)