Eurotunnel Cali Premium over car

[secret lemonade drinker]

Ferry for me! Have you read about how much water leaks into the tunnels each hour...I'd rather float on top thanks

 

[Lambeth Cali]

I tried to be clever and booked ours on Eurotunnel as large car of the appropriate dimensions using the reg number unknown option. However, the barrier wouldn’t open with the booking number and we got diverted to a booth and then made to go into the terminal to pay the £250 excess which was more than if I’d booked it correctly. Ba****ds!

Wow.
Yeah, guess it’s worth paying the approx £50 extra

 

[Ting Tong]

So what would the cost have been if you had booked correctly and when did you book it please?

It was end of Aug 2021 and was £190 each way with a 3m trailer …. I was made to pay another £250 as the ANPR clocked us as a campervan. It would have been £280 each way.

 

[s2bear]

Might have to delve into the detail on this.

My question is whether it matters if you hold those shares in an ISA or SIPP? And, how would you prove your shareholding?

Mrs Acer wonders about the mechanics of how you actually get that discount when booking online? (Maybe there’s room for a discount code when you’re making a booking. We can’t remember.)

Obviously, we’ll let you know if we get around to looking at this.

From what I’ve read you need to make sure your custodian registers the shares in your name. I’m going to speak to Hargreaves Lansdown as I have an ISA there. Will let you know my findings.


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[s2bear]

Ferry for me! Have you read about how much water leaks into the tunnels each hour...I'd rather float on top thanks

WTF - No! How much water?!?!


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[secret lemonade drinker]

WTF - No! How much water?!?!


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• Why it leaks: Water from the rocks above the tunnel drips through and mixes with groundwater. This is because any tunnel built below the water table will have some water intrusion, especially during construction.
  
  
  
• How it's managed: The water is collected at drainage stations along the tunnel and pumped away. There are two major pumping stations in the UK, each with four pumps that can move 1,000 cubic meters of water per hour. The water is monitored to ensure it's not environmentally harmful and to protect the pumps and pipes from corrosion.
  
  
  
• What to expect: You might see wet patches in the tunnel, but this is normal.
  
  

In December 2023, the Channel Tunnel experienced flooding near Ebbsfleet International in Kent, which disrupted Eurostar and Thameslink services.

• Security & Safety When Travelling - Eurotunnel LeShuttle™
  Does the Channel Tunnel leak? The answer to this may surprise you. The tunnel does leak, but it is designed to. Seawater from the ...
  
  Eurotunnel
  
  
  
• Eurostar services back on track after tunnel flooding | ITV News
  31 Dec 2023 — Video footage showed water pouring into the tunnel The company has not revealed what initially caused the leak. The pro...
  
  ITVX
  
  
  
• Channel Tunnel celebrates 30th year - BBC Newsround
  3 May 2024 — Yes - the Eurotunnel was actually designed to leak. The water naturally comes through slowly and is collected at drainag...
  
  BBC
  
  
  
• Show all
  

 

[briwy]

Overnight Caen crossing is great - book a Cabin and you'll still be £150.00-£200 better off I reckon.
We can only travel in School holidays so I feel the pain of hiked prices.
Dinner on the boat, a couple of beers before bed, a restful night in a cabin and breakfast before we arrive. I'm ready to set off on the 9 hour drive.

Or save a bit and do an afternoon crossing arriving about 10:30pm, book a cheapish hotel and get an even better nights sleep.
Wouldn't go any other way.

Agreed normally. We have used the Caen crossing a lot in the past. However, coming back a couple of weeks ago it was really bad to the extent that the restaurant was closed as stuff was flying around all over the place. As we are normally heading south it makes sense but might now reconsider after this last crossing and use the tunnel again. It does mean another 200 miles or so plus more tolls but we have had a few bad ferry crossings now.

 

[Whistler]

We used to like the tunnel but after our last trip where we were sitting at the embarkation point and the French tunnel staff went on a wildcat strike. Apparently the €1000 Christmas Bonus wasn’t enough and they wanted €3000. Being sent to the Calais Ferry terminal with all the other traffic and queuing for 2 and half hours just to check in is an experience I do not wish to repeat.


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[edocali]

I tried to be clever and booked ours on Eurotunnel as large car of the appropriate dimensions using the reg number unknown option. However, the barrier wouldn’t open with the booking number and we got diverted to a booth and then made to go into the terminal to pay the £250 excess which was more than if I’d booked it correctly. Ba****ds!

I had thought many times of trying that. Thanks for sharing your experience

 

[edocali]

Has anyone tried using two cheap short-trips instead of one long stay ticket, throwing away 2 journey legs ?

 

[briwy]

Has anyone tried using two cheap short-trips instead of one long stay ticket, throwing away 2 journey legs ?

That used to work well with quite a saving but I think they cottoned on. Last time I looked at it it wasn't worth doing.

 

[Agnes_Cali]

We used to like the tunnel but after our last trip where we were sitting at the embarkation point and the French tunnel staff went on a wildcat strike. Apparently the €1000 Christmas Bonus wasn’t enough and they wanted €3000. Being sent to the Calais Ferry terminal with all the other traffic and queuing for 2 and half hours just to check in is an experience I do not wish to repeat.


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Happened to me years ago. First, they sent everyone to waiting area, then after 3h offered ferry tickets. Wouldn't it be easier to mention it straight away?

I don't think, they will ever see me again at Eurotunnel.

 

[s2bear]

Has anyone tried using two cheap short-trips instead of one long stay ticket, throwing away 2 journey legs ?

I think they reserve the right to charge you extra if you don’t use up the other half of the ticket.


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[Ting Tong]

Has anyone tried using two cheap short-trips instead of one long stay ticket, throwing away 2 journey legs ?

Yes i booked 2 x P&O short stay booze cruises 20 years ago when I towed a boat behind a big Hymer and they had some offer on for about £50- it’s alright outbound but there’s something in the T&Cs saying they can charge you full rate if you don’t come back. I preempted this by using a prepaid credit card with no residual funds but heard nothing further. The return didn’t work because I hadn’t used the outbound so had no ticket and I had to buy a single but shopped around the Portacabins in Calais and came back with SeaFrance: surprisingly they didn’t offer booze cruises to Dover.

 

[s2bear]

• Why it leaks: Water from the rocks above the tunnel drips through and mixes with groundwater. This is because any tunnel built below the water table will have some water intrusion, especially during construction.
  
  
  
• How it's managed: The water is collected at drainage stations along the tunnel and pumped away. There are two major pumping stations in the UK, each with four pumps that can move 1,000 cubic meters of water per hour. The water is monitored to ensure it's not environmentally harmful and to protect the pumps and pipes from corrosion.
  
  
  
• What to expect: You might see wet patches in the tunnel, but this is normal.
  
  

View attachment 129685
In December 2023, the Channel Tunnel experienced flooding near Ebbsfleet International in Kent, which disrupted Eurostar and Thameslink services.

• Security & Safety When Travelling - Eurotunnel LeShuttle
  Does the Channel Tunnel leak? The answer to this may surprise you. The tunnel does leak, but it is designed to. Seawater from the ...
  View attachment 129688
  Eurotunnel
  
  
  
• Eurostar services back on track after tunnel flooding | ITV News
  31 Dec 2023 — Video footage showed water pouring into the tunnel The company has not revealed what initially caused the leak. The pro...
  View attachment 129686
  ITVX
  
  
  
• Channel Tunnel celebrates 30th year - BBC Newsround
  3 May 2024 — Yes - the Eurotunnel was actually designed to leak. The water naturally comes through slowly and is collected at drainag...
  View attachment 129687
  BBC
  
  
  
• Show all
  

Thanks. It’s nice to be informed but sometimes ignorance is bliss I guess.


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[s2bear]

All this ferry talk reminds me of my last trip back from Bilbao - it was ROUGH.
my 10yr old son was just getting over a fractured finger. It was lengthways - he’d caught it in a tree root falling in river dart country park some weeks earlier.
Anyway. We’re in the restaurant and he’s looking pretty green around the gills so I took him back to the cabin. He leaned into the bathroom holding onto the metal door jam, at which point the ship lurched and the door closed onto the same finger. It hurt him so much he couldn’t even scream, just trembled. Ships doctor came and sorted him out. Obviously this was all my fault as I was ‘in charge’

Maybe I’ll just pay for the tunnel and stop moaning.


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[Parkinjm]

And nice simple boats, used them twice, you can lay up and sleep by the fort in Newhaven before and after

And you can park in the aire at the port in Dieppe if you catch the evening crossing. I arrived at 10:30 pm, parked up then a ten minute walk to the bars for a sherbet.

 

[briwy]

And you can park in the aire at the port in Dieppe if you catch the evening crossing. I arrived at 10:30 pm, parked up then a ten minute walk to the bars for a sherbet.

The overnight at Newhaven is fine but the aire at Dieppe we found very noisy and didn't get any sleep.

 

[AdamsFamily]

Agreed normally. We have used the Caen crossing a lot in the past. However, coming back a couple of weeks ago it was really bad to the extent that the restaurant was closed as stuff was flying around all over the place. As we are normally heading south it makes sense but might now reconsider after this last crossing and use the tunnel again. It does mean another 200 miles or so plus more tolls but we have had a few bad ferry crossings now.

I've been on a ferry with very similar experiences - and its not a pleasant experience.
I've done the "is it worth driving to dover" calculations and for the very rare times I have had a bad crossing, I'd rather avoid the extra 8 hours/400 miles drive (to Dover and then Calais to Caen) just to get back on track. And given the prices touted on here for the tunnel, I'll be saving a fair bit if I add the extra fuel cost in.

 

[The Fockers]

This all puzzles me because the California is shorter and narrower than a full size RangeRover. The only dimension that it's bigger is height. But then a RR with a roof rack would be taller.

 

[pjm-84]

Try turning up on the day. Mrs got the return ferry time wrong from Caen so we missed it and had to track up to the tunnel and got charged £200 for a one way travel in a car.... this was back in 2011

 

[Tomato]

Probably a gas risk/inspection surchage (ripoff) for campervans and motorhomes.

This is what I was told by Eurotunnel staff - they have to go into a different carriage due to gas. So I removed the gas bottle took all the California badges off, covered the gas sticker on the back with a country sticker and booked it in as a 6.1 - saved a fortune. Also allowed me into camper banned areas (like Monaco)

 

[Kernowboy]

Ripoff - yes. Different carriage - no, at least not in my experience; always been in with all the other cars with roof boxes, vans etc.
How do you get around the registration plate coming up as a campervan when you book, or when ANPR kicks in at the tunnel if you go the reg unknown route to book as a 6.1?

 

[rod_vw]

We used to like the tunnel but after our last trip where we were sitting at the embarkation point and the French tunnel staff went on a wildcat strike. Apparently the €1000 Christmas Bonus wasn’t enough and they wanted €3000. Being sent to the Calais Ferry terminal with all the other traffic and queuing for 2 and half hours just to check in is an experience I do not wish to repeat.


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See the latter part of my post #5 of this thread.

 

[KevH]

Try Newhaven to Dieppe. Not many people seem to know about this crossing so it's fairly quiet with much shorter queues.

And 20% discount if over 60 when you book by phone