Island Echo always welcomes letters to the editor, which may of course not reflect the views of the publication and its staff.
“I recently booked a day return car journey from Fishbourne to Portsmouth, traveling mid-week. I made an economy price booking, as I have always understood that you can amend these bookings but not cancel them. The total cost was £59.
“I wanted to amend the booking to an earlier ferry after all, so imagine my surprise when I got to the checkout after making the amendment – and realised that Wightlink wanted to charge an extra £15 fee for the change, a 25% increase in the total fare. This seems extortionate when you consider that the whole thing is done online, so there is no substantive cost to Wightlink for making the amendment. Unbelievable.
Article continues below this advertisement “I am seriously considering moving across to Red Funnel on principle, even though Southampton is further away from my destination. Not only do they offer a proper discount to Islanders through vouchers etc. They also seem to think about the customer, not just try to screw every last penny from islanders who need to travel to the mainland.
“Wightlink users be warned”
Liz
Isle of Wight
Whilst I agree it costs Wightlink nothing to process an amendment (being done on line), we all should know by now, that when you book economy, advance, etc. – be it rail tickets, hotel rooms, etc. – there is always a penalty to make alterations. Personally, I don’t think this is unfair.
Like Red Funnel, I would imagine that Wightlink’s prices vary dependant on what time you travel. Was the time you amended your crossing to in a peak period? If so, that is how they would justify the price increase. Red Funnel would also have charged the difference.
Red funnel do exactly the same thing. If the ferry you change your booking to is more expensive then you pay the difference.
The whole fare structure of both companies is an absolute nightmare. You have no idea how much it is going to cost until you try to make a booking.
It’s all about prior preparation. If you book in advance on off peak times, you will pay less, there is an option for a flex ticket If you not 100% sure on timings allowing changes. Or the budget ticket that doesn’t allow changes.
Like everything in this world the more you pay the better choices you have.
We booked a flex ticket the other week in case our plans changed. When we amended to an earlier ferry the same day we were charged. I thought the pont in paying extra in the first place was so that you could make changes??
Always used to be the case that if you turned up before you booked s
Pre lockdown I was travelling once weekly, Yarmouth to Lymington. A day return on a week day early morning, returning no later than mid morning on the same day. The price fluctuated very little, depending on whether I could get on the 6am or had to go on the 7am. Back then I actually used the phone to book! One particular day they attempted to charge 50% more. Reason given. I would be benefiting of having an uninterrupted view of the Americas Cup racing. I informed this doughnut the racing was confined to the Southsea area & I wish to sail to Lymington. Both crossings before the start time!! He wouldn’t move on the price so I drove to fishbourne office & made a discounted booking there!!
I am surprised at this! We often travel Fishbourne to Portsmouth with our car, admittedly usually overnight, and have never had a problem arriving early or even late. We arrived 2 hours early a few weeks ago, and they put us straight on at Portsmouth, no charge. They always make every effort to accommodate us. I think perhaps they are stricter in peak seasons, but otherwise most accommodating. Are there caveats in the Terms and Conditions for day returns?
Wightlink “acquired” an extra £26 from me when I had to amend two bookings.
First time I changed a vehicle crossing to a cheaper one and the £4.80 credit I had on my account just disappeared into the ether.
The other week, Late on a Friday night I booked a pedestrian crossing for the next day. On the day we had a family crisis so I went onto my account to amend or hold the booking and £20.80 disappeared in a puff of something. The online system did not give me any chance to change the date of travel. This may be because I did not give 24 hours notice – which was not possible as I had booked the ticket less than 24 hours previously.
This appears to be a company that holds islanders to ransom and them blatantly steals from them.
Just turn up, if there us room they will put you on any ferry. I have never had any trouble in quite times.
surely this is to be expected? otherwise everyone would just book at the cheapest times of the day, then ‘amend’ it later on
Maybe next time just arrive early, if there’s space they will fit you on.
If you amend your booking online, you don’t get charged this amendment fee. You ammended your booking to an earlier ferry which is a higher priced sailing.
It tried to for us the other day. We just turned up early and got on.
I wonder if you had turned up for a cheaper priced sailing they would have said “Oh hang on, we owe you some money because you have turned up for a less expensive crossing”? I wonder if their competitors would say the same thing? Hmmm.
I travelled on a cheaper crossing and Wightlink kept the credit balance I had on my account.
The costs are not hidden. When you make the booking you accept the conditions.This is a nothing story.
Build a bridge, fixed link.
Yawn! Boring.
All you get is a limp apology if they change your plans, how about compensation as they are quick enough to take your money.
Time to build a bridge.
These Ferry prices are a joke.
Don’t make amendments online, turn up at port and they are usually happy for you catch an earlier or later ferry if there are availability’s. Just smile and be polite!!
The Portsmouth to Fishbourne 2pm crossing on a Friday is frequently delayed, most recently by 45 mins on 2 occasions. The excuses from Wightlink week after week are quite creative but it doesn’t compensate for inconvenience for the many passengers who are subsequently late arriving on the Island.
As already mentioned sailings at different times vary in price and if you change your sailing to a more expensive time then obviously you will have to pay the difference. But of course if the sailing you change to is cheaper than your original sailing they will credit your account with the difference.