Hovertravel has bumped up the cost of cross-Solent travel this week by as much as £250 per year, leaving many customers disgruntled.
A day return will now set passengers back £31, which is £3 more than last week and £6.80 more than pre-pandemic rates. For period returns, which are popular with those going on holiday or spending extended time away from the Island, the cost is now £40 – an increase of £2.50.
Single fares are now being charged at £23 each way, up from £21.50.
The biggest hit is to the company’s annual season flyer ticket which has risen to £2,180 – just 3 years ago this was £1,790. For those paying monthly via direct debit, the new cost is £2,260. A 3-month flyer has increased to £640.
Flexi flyer tickets have also taken a hit, with a Flexi Flyer 10 now setting customers back £106, up from £94.50. Flexi 20 has gone up by £19, Flexi 40 by £28 and Flexi 100 by £69. The top tier package, a Flexi 250, has increased by £150.
It is the first price hike since August last year.
Hovertravel Blue fares for Island residents continue, but fares have increased here too.
A regular commuter on the Ryde-Southsea service has told Island Echo:
“Why didn’t they put up notices to inform customers of fare increases or put a banner up on the website? Their staff say that they only found out yesterday [Tuesday] when they came in to work.
“The service they have provided of late is so bad it makes this even more galling”.
In a statement, Hovertravel has said:
“Hovertravel has increased the prices of some ticket types due to rising costs in every area of its operation.
“We remain committed to offering the best value ferry service across the Solent, with the lowest prices available for online purchases.
“For island residents our HoverBlue gives an ongoing 30% discount on standard fares”.
Very soon cross Solent travel will be unaffordable for the average traveler. Nobody but the rich will be able to travel and our tourist industry will be destroyed. The ferry companies are wrecking the Islands economy!
Exactly. A bridge will stop us all from being ripped off!
Bring back Chris Bland he never ripped us off like this lot.
If the silly amongst us pay the price then Hover Travel will continue to rip us off. Build a bridge and stop the foreigners from ripping us off.
No, just ripped off his staff!
The idiots on the Island can’t fill a pothole, yet alone build a bridge.
Look how long it’s taking to repair the small bridge at Lake
I will be retired by the time they finish and I don’t retire until another 5 years.
Useless B’stards
And just what makes you think that the toll on a bridge won’t be less than the fares already charged by the ferries?
Think you’ll find if it does happen, it will be a toll bridge
It would be awesome to have good public transport in UK as an alternative to all those private companies!
They obviously prioritise profit cause they’re private. That’s their job to earn money for shareholders. Only tax-backed companies can viably run for a long-time at a opex or even a deficit and provide society with increased mobility at a good price.
So which political party will provide that?
PS
If you’re worried about money: don’t! We could also ask politicians to build good cycling infrastructure: if only 1 of every 4 Brits was able to actually cycle that would bring health benefits in terms of % GDP more than we spend currently on our entire military – that would be quite a lot of money 😀
You think that 1 in 4 people should be cycling to work? How far do you think the average person travels to get to work, and I don’t mean here on the Island? 40-50 miles is not uncommon, but how many could or would want to do that journey on a bicycle every day?
No, not the Island alone. Obviously we have more countryside. That’s for the entire nation, an average. Big cities in Netherlands will have more than 1 in 4, and countryside will be worse.
In terms of how much people travel in UK I would focus on averages and not outliers: 60% of journeys between 1-5 miles is done by car. And almost 80% of car trips are only between 5-10 miles. Men do 3800 miles per year on average which is 10 miles a day so 2 trips of 5 miles: that’s a range kids can do.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2020/national-travel-survey-2020
Of the 83% of the population who choose to take the car 75% of them commute less than 10 miles to work, with 20% commuting between 5 and 10 miles to work each day. But don’t let the facts get in your way of your narrative.
I go with Solent Cruises Saturday and Sunday from Cowes to Portsmouth £10 return and free parking.
F.F.S build a bridge and end these extorninate fares.
they are taking the p*ss.
Where is Barbeque Bob?, come on Bob speak up for Island Residents
instead of sitting on your ar*e.
In Florida there is a 7 mile bridge, so it can be achieved.
I think Florida is slightly more rich than IOW – unless we believe Tories will finally really “level up” after years of being in the government and give us a solid budget boost 😉
£31 day return – what a rip off soo hundred passengers is £3000 for probably cost of around £500 fuel and staff, our council need to challenge all ferry fares and do something useful for council tax.
Freddie the Council are crap and couldn’t care less.
Hovertravel makes a fortune out of parcels going
across the Solent on each Hovercraft crossing, they could afford
to let passengers travel for £5 each and they would be
quids in.
Hovertravel are just a bunch of greedy B’stards like the other
Ferry operators.
no they don’t- justin – do you even know how to read a set of accounts – go to companies house and you will see that Hovertravel barely makes any profit
If they are non profitable shut them down.
I won’t be paying those extorninate fares to travel approx 4 miles across the Solent to
Southsea.
It’s a private company. It will shutdown itself if it runs out of business.
But since government doesn’t provide any good public transport, their only competition is other private companies – who also want more money.
Look for a party that supports public transport, cycling, walkable “cities for people” and vote for them. Lower car dependency, decrease air and noise pollution, increase social mobility, save money on NHS by having more Brits be physically active during their journey etc.
Or keep voting for those who want to privatise transport and keep paying money to private companies, oil companies and carmakers’ CEOs.
that’s your answer is it Justin…make countless islanders redundant from their jobs of crew, ticket office staff and other people on the ground in low wages already
Under what law can the council challenge ferry fares?
Operating licence, business rates, access, carpark , beach damage, Fair market, Monopoly Commission. Maybe a few residents have a protest outside ticket office – best would be another competitive service publicly owned and run. Funny council by property across country to rent,but every opportunity they have not taken on ferries?.
Something needs to be done, if you look at wage increases it’s far less then the rising prices going on around you ,we will be crippled financially very soon If not already I for one just take these increases and will be on the streets .
This island / country has gone to the dogs
I feel like dogs would do a better job of governing, it’s the tories who have destroyed this country. 10+ years of austerity and we’ve never seen any of the rewards other than more services closing and general quality of life diminishing.
Maybe people will remember this next time they vote?
We can never have a bridge as the geology (sea bed) wouldn’t sustain one and the government wouldn’t pay billions for a tunnel so the IOW is between a rock and a hard place pardon the pun! That’s why these private companies do what they do sitting safely in the knowledge that we’ll never have a bridge so they laugh at us and think “Let’s increase costs”. Got us all by the short and curlies…..
Island Roads operatives are good at sitting in vehicles eating, sleeping and
smoking.
Does anyone bosses at Island Roads monitor operatives work output.
I am fed up seeing them parked in car parks overlooking the sea for hours on end.
Noo!!! We need to get behind business to ensure that the dividends keep rolling in!
Come on guys. Let’s support greater profits and higher payouts.
I mean, that’s literally how private companies work though?
If you want your ferry company to not chase money, vote for politicians who will provide UK with solid public transport.
Why on earth is a day ticket so much “cheaper” than a period return? It’s two journeys, one each way! Never understood this…
it is a discount for people returning the same day – would you rather the trains, ferries and others increase the charge to the period return rate, or simply increase the price to the single ticket price and charge double for a return.
use your brain – it is a discount – that is why it is cheaper
Up here in Scotland everything is a flat rate. Ferries, buses, trains. A single journey from A to B costs £x no matter what time of day, day of week, week of year and a return costs exactly double. Same with cars on the vehicle ferries. A->B=£x. That’s not even getting into the subsidies aspect which is for another discussion…
An idea.Why not set up a company on the island with islanders as shareholders and invest in purchasing a franchise and a couple of ferries.It was done in France.Anyone interested?Its not as mad as it seems!! We just need one big investor sold on the idea…”Islander ferries”.