Cali classification for ferry bookings

[DM]

We've yet to pick up our Cali (fingers still crossed for 1 March) but we are exitedly planning some trips. We are hoping to travel to both the continent and Ireland this year so I've been looking into ferry and Eurotunnel costs. I've noticed that there is a significant price differential between cars and motorhomes. The variation is between 20% for a short channel crossing to as much as 40% for a crossing from Liverpool to Dublin.

Most ferry companies make provision for a large car being upto about 2.35m tall and 6m long. A Cali easily fits within that. DFDS helpfully clarify the difference between a car and a minibus (upto 8 seats is a car) but not between a car and a camper.

In terms of dimensions we could legitimately book the Cali as a large car. I believe it is classified as a car on the registration document - is that correct? The saving on an Irish Sea crossing is hundreds of pounds but I do not want to risk turning up and being denied boarding or made to pay again.

So I'm looking to seasoned members out there for advice as to whether you do,are your Cali as a car or a motorhome. Are the ferry companies happy to transport Calis as large cars or do they insist we pay for them as motorhomes?

 

[Muppet006]

We have been on many ferries in our California and always as car, it has never been an issue and never been questioned about it.
One of the benefits of having one as opposed to something bigger I suppose.

 

[GrannyJen]

Eurotunnel I select campervan. Their height differentiation limit is in any case 1.85m.

 

[barry]

We have been on many ferries in our California and always as car, it has never been an issue and never been questioned about it.
One of the benefits of having one as opposed to something bigger I suppose.

+1 for ferries (channel and western isles)

 

[DM]

Eurotunnel I select campervan. Their height differentiation limit is in any case 1.85m.

Bit more research. Eurotunnel have probably got us . They have a category for cars over 1.85m which is "Any vehicle under 6ft/1.85 metres in height used for private, tourist, leisure or business travel only.". So you'd think we qualify. And that category is 25% cheaper than a camper van. But they do have a camper an definition which states "Any vehicle which includes living accommodation" which probably has us bang to rights.

Has anyone got away with booking a Cali as a car over 1.85m?

 

[GrannyJen]

I travel frequent miner, or tunneller, or whatever it is with Eurotunnel so it makes very little difference to me. An £11 each way supplement for being over 1.85m and avoid travelling peak still makes it the easiest and cheapest way to travel for where I live.

 

[bvddobb]

still makes it the easiest and cheapest way to travel for where I live.

The few times we have crossed to the UK we have always found that DFDS Dunkirk-Dover was the cheapest option, always cheaper than Eurotunnel (at least at the times we wanted to cross). And they have always let us book as a car, shorter than 6 m, lower than 2.35 m.
When you try to book there as a minivan or camper, we have found that they have less crossings open, and they are always more expensive. We have been in a situation, e.g. on the return from Camperjam, where we with several others were in the normal car queue, and some other VW vans in the camper queue... They probably had booked the more expensive option. We had the same crossing nonetheless.

We always try to book ahead on line and then book as a car, never as a minivan or camper. Never had an issue when we showed up with our pre-book papers. Perhaps because the staff on site doesn't want to bother changing bookings. It may be different when you show up and buy a ticket on site.

 

[Robin Brooke]

Quick question for you Eurotunnel veterans, we are off on our long roadtrip (a year) in mid-April and will use the tunnel, but have no prior experience with it.

Should we book now/early, or is the price pretty stable close to departure date and therefore leave it till late march to book?

 

[TigerSki]

Always worth booking Eurotunnel as soon as you can as it tends to get more expensive towards departure. Never noticed a drop in price closer to the date. We have booked to go in March and have booked under 'campervan'.

 

[WelshGas]

Quick question for you Eurotunnel veterans, we are off on our long roadtrip (a year) in mid-April and will use the tunnel, but have no prior experience with it.

Should we book now/early, or is the price pretty stable close to departure date and therefore leave it till late march to book?

As far as I am aware the prices are fixed, but spaces go quickly so if you want a particular crossing then book ASAP.

 

[Robin Brooke]

As far as I am aware the prices are fixed, but spaces go quickly so if you want a particular crossing then book ASAP.

Thanks WelshGas.

The one thing we will have is time (long road trip), so we can be quite flexible on time of day, or even +-1 day. If the prices are fixed then we'd use the flexibility to wait till closer to the departure before booking. Anyone else know enough to confirm whether prices are fixed or change based on demand or other factors?

 

[jts46]

We always book as a caravelle

John

 

[Geoff York]

always book cali as a car never ever had problems on dfds dover calais dover dunkirk....no probs with p and o dover calais and hull to rotterdam.
cheap crossings with caravan club at times...always worth checking on line...caravan club pand o direct---guarantee you will get 3 different prices for the same crossing.
as ever...book well in advance for best prices

 

[CYCLOPATH]

We use Brittany ferries, and cars have to be less than 1.85, so at 1.99 a Cali can not be a car.
I did check wether motor home or van was cheaper, and in the lowest category, the price is the same
When we travelled Larne tot Cairnryan, I tried to book as an under 2 m car, but when it saw my number plate, it would not let me proceed!

I thing we do do to save a bob or two , is put the bikes in the van for the crossing, a bit of a squeeze, but then put them on again the other side.
Twice coming back, we have got in the que, not had time to take them off, and no questions were asked, so we didn't bother to remove them

 

[adinalee111]

always book cali as a car never ever had problems on dfds dover calais dover dunkirk....no probs with p and o dover calais and hull to rotterdam.
cheap crossings with caravan club at times...always worth checking on line...caravan club pand o direct---guarantee you will get 3 different prices for the same crossing.
as ever...book well in advance for best prices

The first time we went with DFDS in the Cali we took advice from a post on this forum and we booked as a car, hoerever we got stopped at checkin as the car deck is much lower than 2m on some of their ships and the vans go in with the trucks, motorhomes tec.. this was peak season ( June) and there was no room left on the larger deck and we had to pay a £115 surcharge and wait four hours for the next ship. You may get away with this off season but I would never risk it again personally.

 

[bvddobb]

The first time we went with DFDS in the Cali we took advice from a post on this forum and we booked as a car, hoerever we got stopped at checkin as the car deck is much lower than 2m on some of their ships and the vans go in with the trucks, motorhomes tec.. this was peak season ( June) and there was no room left on the larger deck and we had to pay a £115 surcharge and wait four hours for the next ship. You may get away with this off season but I would never risk it again personally.

That may well have been one of our posts. If so, we're very sorry for your inconvenience.

Of course, we never meant to say: 'book as a car under 1.85m high, and under 4.5 m long', which is their standard car category if we remember correctly . Because then, of course, the Cali won't fit the reserved space...

If you book DFDS as a 'non-standard car', you can give your dimensions, and then there is a category 'under 6m long, under 2.35m high'. Once you have booked as such, there is a room reserved as such, and obviously, a Cali fits there!

You still don't have to book as a minivan or motorhome... There is this car category that fits the Cali!

 

[DM]

I'm resurrecting this thread as I need to book a channel crossing. Eurotunnel has both a 'car over 1.85m' and campervan category. The latter is 25% more expensive.

Has anybody booked Eurotunnel as the 'car over 1.85m' gory recently? Any issues if so?

 

[andyinluton]

You will have to book as campervan - their system checks a database against your registration number, if you are registered as a MotorCaravan you will not have any choice about it. Its not 25% more, its a flat rate of £11 per crossing irrespective of the original fare.

I have used the tunnel a fair bit & my booking strategy is always to go for a cheap fare later than you actually want to cross. Turn up early & 99% of the time they will put you on an earlier train, occasionally they give you the choice of pay extra to go on an earlier train rather than changing for free, if they do the fare is still no more than what you would have paid if you had done that with your original booking. It also means you have a contingency for turning up late.
I wouldnt recommend it though if you really do have to be on a 3pm crossing on a Friday afternoon in August.

 

[DM]

You will have to book as campervan - their system checks a database against your registration number, if you are registered as a MotorCaravan you will not have any choice about it. Its not 25% more, its a flat rate of £11 per crossing irrespective of the original fare.

I have used the tunnel a fair bit & my booking strategy is always to go for a cheap fare later than you actually want to cross. Turn up early & 99% of the time they will put you on an earlier train, occasionally they give you the choice of pay extra to go on an earlier train rather than changing for free, if they do the fare is still no more than what you would have paid if you had done that with your original booking. It also means you have a contingency for turning up late.
I wouldnt recommend it though if you really do have to be on a 3pm crossing on a Friday afternoon in August.

Great advice - many thanks.

 

[GrannyJen]

Great post by Andy.

Like him, book late, turn up early.

My crossing this time, booked on the 11.50 from Calais, turned up just about 10am into check in, was in a moving train at 10.20.

One of those nice things, left Ypres at 0830 CEST .... was on the M20 leaving Folkestone at 1100 CEST.

 

[andyinluton]

Jen that only 2 hours early, we book an 8am return from Calais and turn up sometime the evening/night before, we drive straight from by Girona to Calais in one hit & never know how long it might take. Usually get on a train within an hour of arrival

 

[DM]

its a flat rate of £11 per crossing irrespective of the original fare.

Not any more sadly. I just priced up a crossing for a couple of weeks time.

5 day return
Car over 1.85 = £158 return
Campervan = £197 return
= +25%

Standard return
car over 1.85m = £200
Campervan = £250
= + 25%

 

[GrannyJen]

I noticed that.

I think that Andy may have a frequent tunneller as I do... with one of those it is non-peak £43 plus £11 supplement for a single journey.

I don't know how often you intend to travel across but if it's more than twice then you may want to think of frequent tunneller, 10 journeys to be taken in a year, £430.

 

[Shadrack]

Happy new year to all
I have been looking at my options to take my Cali into Europe for the first time this year. I have read many posts now as to the classification when booking. There does seem to be vast differences in costs depending on how it's booked.
I have just looked at the Aferry site and found that if you select the 'Specific car & model' option, the California is listed under VW. So after selecting I tried a few sample crossing times and found that the cost was the same as the smallest car?

Am I missing something?

 

[Jabberwocky]

Happy new year to all
I have been looking at my options to take my Cali into Europe for the first time this year. I have read many posts now as to the classification when booking. There does seem to be vast differences in costs depending on how it's booked.
I have just looked at the Aferry site and found that if you select the 'Specific car & model' option, the California is listed under VW. So after selecting I tried a few sample crossing times and found that the cost was the same as the smallest car?

Am I missing something?

Hi Shadrack, I just made an enquiry (Dover/Calais) via Aferry and a Cali came out the same cost as a Golf if you, as you say, select the 'Specific car & model' option. You may have found a loophole! The cheapest DFS return fair is £98 in Jun/July for a 'Specific car & model' option i.e. a Cali and £124 for a "Motorhome" 6m x 2.35m. So this could be a result!

I also looked at Frequent Tunneller tick on the Eurotunnel site. It looks as if you can book minimum 10 tickets (single) for £440 with no specific vehicle specified. Tickets lasts a year and are transferable to another driver (you have to specify when purchasing tickets). Potentially this looks a bargain even if you don't use all the tickets. Worth investigating further.