Ferry to Spain summer 23

[SBD]

Just looked at going to Spain next summer, wife & daughter want to take pushbikes, son & I want to take motorbikes.

Ferry prices seem to be well over a grand for 2 pax & pushbikes, £1400 for two motorbikes, £1600 for 4x4 with pushbikes attached, assuming a cabin both ways.

Is this normal or is there a discount code I’m missing somewhere?

Thx

 

[wessie]

In high season, probably. Prices operate like airlines, once the ship starts to get full the price goes up and they have been taking bookings for several months.

I booked in June this year for Sept 2023. Return is £465 for me & the bike including a cabin, Plymouth to Santander. Of course, this is not peak season and I booked as soon as they released 2023 dates.

There is a discount scheme called Club Voyage but it is not as generous as it used to be for new subscribers. Existing members (most on better terms from when they signed up) might share their code for you to get a 10% discount on the ferry cost (not cabin). You should also try shifting your dates and routes if possible as this can affect the price.

 

[SBD]

Thanks Wessie, think we’re tied to university holidays, but we’re looking at some options.

Can fly with pushbikes for £350 for two. Might be better as the airport is nearer where they want to go.

Riding down there, not hyper attractive, twenty hours each way…. If that were the holiday, fair enough, but it’s either a thrash or several days.

Other option is to fly down and hire bikes, cheaper than taking your own. (Unless you figure in the depreciation!) Daft.

 

[Cyber]

Where in Spain... Have you looked at hire costs? They are not cheap.
In fact 5 days + flights + agro and your at the same price as the ferry.

 

[SBD]

Thanks, quick look suggested that hire might well be cheaper, but it’s not why I bought a GS…

 

[HGS]

I booked in August this year for 21 June 2023 using a F&F code kindly supplied from here
2 persons in a 4 berth inside cabin 2 x motorbikes
Came to £830.20
Also booked another 4 berth cabin for 3 persons and 3 motorbikes
£1121.80
We divided it up by 5 ,so £390.40 each
It's possible they have an scale, goes up in price as the boat fills up ??

 

[John Armstrong]

Ferry in early September 2023 booked a few months ago was £705 for a motorbike, me, a cabin each way on the "flexi" option.

 

[autogs]

For 300 quid more I have ferry single occupation and 4 nights half board near the picos, booked last year,going in oct this year

Sent from my SM-A226B using Tapatalk

 

[SBD]

Thanks guys, appreciate the helpful comments and the pm’s.

Cheers

 

[GADGET]

Portsmouth-Bilbao 4th May, 2 persons,Outside Club cabin with free premium lounge and 8m MoHo. £610. One way.

 

[Mr Bean]

Thanks guys, appreciate the helpful comments and the pm’s.

Cheers

I've used these twice before (under a different name - BMW Motohire), assuming it's still run by Mark & Lindsay Comer.

Rented one of the apartments in Teba, along with a bike, and been very happy with the overall cost and service. Flown to Malaga, picked up at the airport and a hours journey to Teba to the apartment and Bike.

From memory last time I used them was 2016 and the cost was around £1,000 for a 7 day apartment and LC GS rental, incl. insurance and airport collection.

https://bmwbikerentals.com/about-us/

 

[Davey B]

Am I reading your opening post as a total cost of £3k for the 4 x 4 and push bikes plus the two motorbikes ? If so, have you looked at borrowing/hiring a 2 bike trailer, strap the push bikes to it. All of you drive to 2/3 down France on autoroute, you and the lad hop out, get the motorbikes off and ride the rest while Mrs drives ? I suspect it could be done for £1500 rtn incl a couple of overnight stops

 

[SBD]

Am I reading your opening post as a total cost of £3k for the 4 x 4 and push bikes plus the two motorbikes ? If so, have you looked at borrowing/hiring a 2 bike trailer, strap the push bikes to it. All of you drive to 2/3 down France on autoroute, you and the lad hop out, get the motorbikes off and ride the rest while Mrs drives ? I suspect it could be done for £1500 rtn incl a couple of overnight stops

Hi Davey, no, I think that would be doubling the 4-berth cabin, but even so, it was much more than we expected.

We’re in Kent so the Tunnel is an easy option for crossing the channel. Hadn’t thought of the bike trailer approach, thanks for the idea.

 

[Davey B]

You can check the cost of tolls online (About £110 each way, towing) From Kent, you could easily get to the Spanish border in a long day, down thru Spain the next, so 1 night hotel. 1100 miles to Alicante, avoid motorway diesel at €2.05 a litre, get an app that takes you 300 m off the autoroute to €1.75 a litre. £200 each way on fuel. 1 night in a decent hotel with breakfast....£150 each way. Total is c£1000. Trailer hire ? Might be as easy to buy, use and sell on.

 

[ktompkins]

Spain Ferry. Is the Premium Lounge access worth buying? Has anybody purchased/used the service and comment on what is included for food, etc?
Thanks

 

[AustinW]

If it’s the lounge associated with Commodore or premium class cabins, no it’s not. We treated ourselves to a Commodore cabin last year, which is really really nice but if it wasn’t for the whopping discount it wasn’t vfm. The lounge is at the back of the boat on the same deck as the CC cabins. The view is good but the windows were filthy, the seats just the same as anywhere else on the boat. There’s free coffee/tea/chocolate from a machine that takes those pods and some little free biscuits. Coffee was ok but there’s only so much you can drink. It wasn’t even particularly clean. Exclusive wifi was rubbish too although I did see someone on a zoom call or something for ages so it did work and they may have managed to hog the bandwidth. Oh, and most of the lounge users gave us a ride berth in our biker gear.

So, unless you can drink a lot of coffee and like sitting with snooty folk, don’t bother.

 

[Barnoe]

with Ferries, they work out the prices so that its cheaper to go the long way round.
I'm having the same problem going into East Europe.

 

[Khulu]

with Ferries, they work out the prices so that its cheaper to go the long way round.
I'm having the same problem going into East Europe.

Where in eastern Europe are you heading?

I can't help you with ferries as I rode to Bulgaria and back (my only ferry was across the Danube).

 

[Barnoe]

I was going from Hull to Rott but the price is 4x Dover.
with the Hull crossing being 12 hours plus the cost, its cheaper to ride around.

My furthest point is Czech Rep. with rides in Austria and Germany planned. (from July 28th and back home on 12th August)

 

[ktompkins]

If it’s the lounge associated with Commodore or premium class cabins, no it’s not. We treated ourselves to a Commodore cabin last year, which is really really nice but if it wasn’t for the whopping discount it wasn’t vfm. The lounge is at the back of the boat on the same deck as the CC cabins. The view is good but the windows were filthy, the seats just the same as anywhere else on the boat. There’s free coffee/tea/chocolate from a machine that takes those pods and some little free biscuits. Coffee was ok but there’s only so much you can drink. It wasn’t even particularly clean. Exclusive wifi was rubbish too although I did see someone on a zoom call or something for ages so it did work and they may have managed to hog the bandwidth. Oh, and most of the lounge users gave us a ride berth in our biker gear.

So, unless you can drink a lot of coffee and like sitting with snooty folk, don’t bother.

Thanks. I thought much the same but you have confirmed my thoughts.