So firstly this problem is my fault, however Eurotunnel’s response is just obnoxious.

Was booking eurotunnel last night at 11 for crossing today, usual process of filling in lots on information, got to payment part and price went from £71 to £163, I now learn this was was it was past 11pm so counts as next day as it’s midnight in France. So I have to book for Thursday as I’m not paying £90 extra.

Called eurotunnel this morning and get totally fobbed off, they really don’t care at all. Nothing “they can do” except charge me full price, cannot pass me to anyone more senior, just said “send an email”. Prices depend on how full the train is, rubbish. It’s fixed at £163 for same day, the price more than doubled between 10.59 and and 11.01

There is nothing to warn you that tomorrow starts at 11pm. Most websites fix the price for a period (e.g. 10 mins) to allow you to complete your booking.

So next time I do need to take the car I’ll go by Ferry. Flying and renting a car (£25 a day) is competitive price wise anyway. I’ll just make sure I do all I can not to travel with them and of course tell everyone I can about how obnoxious they are. 👿

Prices depend on how full the train is, rubbish. It’s fixed at £163 for same day

Price is based on how long before travel you book, how much free space a departure has, historical booking patterns, predicted load and time of year.

£163 is the ‘peak’ price for a departure on a given slot on a given day but will vary during the year based on the above.

It’ll be pretty much the same model the airlines use.

It’s a shame their servers are in France but I’m sure there’s something early in the process that says prices are indicative until you get to a certain point in the booking?

@wwaswas – thanks for showing an interest.

No, price goes to £163 at 11.01pm for all crossings the “same day” – not based upon anything except the time. Perhaps there is something that says price isn’t confirmed until payment but most other websites I’ve used allow you to complete your booking within a reasonable period of time. Also it’s very cute to start tomorrow at 11pm

BA don’t change the price three quarters of the way through the booking. I can book BA same day the price doesn’t change vs day before, £17.50 with airmiles whether booked in advance or same day for example. Same with cash bookings.

Airlines are different as there is competition. Eurotunnel behave like a monopoly. In fact 15 years ago I met the Finance Director and a monopolistic pricing policy was just what he was hoping they could roll out after putting the ferry companies out of business or at least severely weakening them / his competion.

sorry, I was trying to say that the £163 max is probably true at this time of year – I suspect it’s higher in August.

My experience is primarily in the ferry industry – a large number of them will have a ‘book on day of departure’/go show price which is, in effect, the same as their most expensive and flexible fare – they close off all cheaper fares either on day of departure or ‘x’ hours before.

They know that a large proportion of people who book on the day have to travel and will pay regardless.

It’s unfortunate but it’s just how it is, even on routes where there’s competition.

You could have switched to the ferry for today?

I’d be frustrated too but I don;t think anyone in their call centre is going to be able to override the price for the reasons that you have.
You do know that Eurotunnel own all the SeaFrance ferries now, too? 😉