Poster: A snowHead
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Just wondering how much time to leave for hold ups.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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07:45 Christmas Eve 3.5 hours delay due to an 'incident'. Turned our 12 hours door to door to 16 ):
Longest delay we have ever had since tunnel opened.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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20-30 minutes lost at border control @ 9pm ish on Friday 16th Dec.
And it seems that they have now stopped bumping for free so if you do get there early you just to have sit it out.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Layne, I always book a much later (by which I mean the cheapest!!!!) crossing than I intend to take, I have never been charged any extra to get on an earlier crossing from Folkestone to Calais, but last couple of times returning have had to pay a fee, £23 this time as we arrived at 1.30pm instead of booked 1am crossing, got on the 2.50pm train.
even though that is the most expensive I have had to pay, still not so sad as I think the original difference in cost was about £60!!!
on the way out this year (17th dec) we were delayed by about 3hours due to "passport checks", on the way back yesterday it took us about an hour to get through check in and passport control, but we were then straight on to the train.
though it did mean I did not have enough time to go into the terminal and claim our free bottle of wine for the voucher we received on the way out, via the xmas cracker gift promotion stand. hopefully a fellow snowhead can testify if I have missed out on a tasty freebie or if was like drinking antifreeze!!!!!
M25 west side was a mess, with massive delays being reported, ended up coming off at Reigate and going through the suburbs and getting on to the m4 at heathrow to get home, still put an extra hour on but at least we were moving!!!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Quote: |
@Layne, I always book a much later (by which I mean the cheapest!!!!) crossing than I intend to take, I have never been charged any extra to get on an earlier crossing from Folkestone to Calais, but last couple of times returning have had to pay a fee, £23 this time as we arrived at 1.30pm instead of booked 1am crossing, got on the 2.50pm train.
even though that is the most expensive I have had to pay, still not so sad as I think the original difference in cost was about £60!!!
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We were due to return 08:20 on Christmas day for a fare costing £72 (in Sept). For reasons I won't bore you with with we arrived at the terminal at 01:30. There were departures at 02:20 and 04:20 iirc before ours. They wanted to charge £97 to go on either of the earlier trains. So almost one and half times the original cost of the ticket. Obviously I didn't keep a note but I suspect the 02:20 or 04:20 were little or no more expensive at the time of booking. £97 was probably the drive up price. In other words, they were charging us for a complete new ticket.
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@Layne, you would have thought at that time of the morning you arrived at the terminal, the most they would have bothered about was an admin charge.
I would be interested to hear from other regular channel users to find out if it is more usual to be charged on the way back from France than on the way out, as that seems to be my experience lately. Also, does it make any difference if you use self check in or deal with someone in a kiosk.
on the way out, I was dealt with by an operator in a kiosk (no charge), but used self check in coming home and was asked to pay £23 if I wanted to travel earlier.
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We travelled over at about 8pm on Tuesday 20 December and it took just over 1 hour to get through security checks/etc at Folkestone.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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terrygasson wrote: |
@Layne, you would have thought at that time of the morning you arrived at the terminal, the most they would have bothered about was an admin charge.
I would be interested to hear from other regular channel users to find out if it is more usual to be charged on the way back from France than on the way out, as that seems to be my experience lately. Also, does it make any difference if you use self check in or deal with someone in a kiosk.
on the way out, I was dealt with by an operator in a kiosk (no charge), but used self check in coming home and was asked to pay £23 if I wanted to travel earlier. |
I would be interested also.
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So, arrived at the Folkestone check in half hour before it was supposed to close. Now sat in queue for train forty mins after we were supposed to go. Reason given unforeseen capacity problems. What's that supposed to mean? Anyone know?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@andy1234, probably a carriage with a broken door that couldn't then be used.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Was there much of a queue at French immigration on the way out what with recent spate of terrorist incidents?
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Thanks Hells Bells! Certainly the queue next to our car for the toilet seems to have attracted a horde of people!!
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You know it makes sense.
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@andy1234, it could also have been toilets out of order. I've been on a train with an empty carriage before.
@Hurdy, queue wasn't too bad on 22nd December. It was very busy but moving freely.
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