Eurotunnel

Just looking at the prices for the tunnel this Jan and was wondering if anyone had bought the overnight return ,,£29 and not used the return leg ,,much cheaper than buying a single

No reason why you cant do that....

There are problems on planes when you buy a return and not buy the first leg but then want to return ;)

Yep, no reason why you cant do that. It's cheap like the budgie -)

Cheerz,
Stefan

Daved - £29 return is incredibly cheap!

We did something similar once with the ferry over to Ireland. We bought cheap day return pedestrian tickets over there and then stayed on and came back with family in the car a week later. We weren't supposed to do it but no-one seemed to have found out and we never got told off. And it was much cheaper than buying single tickets.

Perhaps you should phone them up and make an anonymous enquiry about it, but I don't really see how they could enforce your return after a week or whatever they specify. I mean, your car might break down and have to spend time in the garage getting fixed, or somebody might be too ill to travel back etc.

I'm not sure that you can. I investigated the same idea (Book two UK->France->UK returns) with ferries, and at that time, it wasn't feasible.

If you book a second cheap daytrip from the UK (for your return leg) then you can't 'materialise' in France having 'missed' the outbound leg or similar excuse, because you've clearly managed to get there somehow. They will say you have to buy a standard single.

If you have a foreign bank account and a legitimate foreign address, then you can get round this by using your foreign plastic and address to book a France->UK->France return and missing out on the return (from the UK) leg.

But if you only have a UK address then you book your second UK->France->UK trip, but arrive at Eurotunnel Calais conspicuously not having made the outbound UK->France leg i.e. you 'materialise' in Calais. Even if you tried it with different companies (e.g. Eurotunnel out and P&O back) you'd still have the problem that it's logically impossible to get to France without first having crossed the channel on a ferry/Eurotunnel.

They may even be on the lookout for this: You book two UK->France->UK day returns and if you don't turn up for the trip home then they 'flag' that you're probably going to try it on with the second booking. Remember, they'll have you car registration. So when you 'materialise' they know what you've tried to do and just turn you away. After all, it's your problem, not theirs - your the one stuck in France with your car insurance running out; no valid ticket home; and no option but to pay the full whack for a single ticket.

And even if you got away with it because you had a foreign address/plastic, I suspect that they would eventually pick it up when you crossed the Channel subsequently. "Sorry, Mr.X, but this car should theoretically still be in France ... could you just park over there and answer a few questions?". Remember in these days of heightened security, this sort of anomaly might cause you all sorts of problems.

This was about five years ago, so things may have relaxed since then.

Iceman wrote:No reason why you cant do that....

There are problems on planes when you buy a return and not buy the first leg but then want to return ;)

I think you need to inform the airline asap when you haven't used the first leg otherwise they might cancell your reservation. happened to my Mum once when she came to Switzerland with one way ticket, took a train to Paris but her flight from Paris home was actually a return one (it was cheaper) and she didn't use the first leg.

There is something in the T&C's which says you may be charged a standard ticket if you don't use the return leg of a cheap day ticket. Whether this is enforced I do not know.

well food for thought ...I will enquire and let you all know...all I want is the one way trip as I don't know yet when I will return,,so I can always come back on the ferry