Guernsey / Jersey ferries

[prv]

Weather permitting, we're off to the Channel Islands in a couple of weeks. The plan is for my friends and I to leave the boat there so that my parents can come out a few days later and use it. I'm now looking at our arrangements for getting back.

We will probably be coming back from Guernsey on Sunday the 29th, and the obvious choice is the Condor fast ferry to Poole then train back to Southampton. I would just go ahead and book this now - except for that "probably".

If the weather is bad for the Channel crossing at the beginning of the week, our backup plan is to slip everything onward a few days (as far as we can before one of my friends has to be back for a wedding), so we might end up needing the ferry on the Tuesday or Wednesday instead. Also, we've visited Guernsey, Herm and Sark before but not Jersey, so there's a chance we might change our plans and end up leaving from St Helier instead of St Peter Port (my parents are happy to join the boat in either port).

Can anyone comment on
1) whether there's any danger of the ferry home being full if we don't book until a couple of days before?
2) whether a booking can be modified online from a Guernsey - Poole crossing to Jersey - Poole?
(Just buying an additional Jersey - Guernsey ticket if we find ourselves there is far more expensive - Jersey to Poole and Guernsey to Poole are both £109 for the three of us, but Jersey to Guernsey would be another £85 on top.)

I have also looked at flying straight back to Southampton via Alderney, which would be convenient, but most flights are sold out except first thing in the morning. We'll probably come into St Peter Port last thing Saturday and I'd like to have Sunday there to pack the boat up, have a nice lunch, etc.

Cheers,

Pete

 

[Giblets]

You could always jump on the Commodore Clipper back to Pompy then train to Southampton.

 

[prv]

You could always jump on the Commodore Clipper back to Pompy then train to Southampton.

Those are overnight crossings, and don't run on Sundays anyway.

Pete

 

[Goldie]

I have also looked at flying straight back to Southampton via Alderney, which would be convenient, but most flights are sold out except first thing in the morning. We'll probably come into St Peter Port last thing Saturday and I'd like to have Sunday there to pack the boat up, have a nice lunch, etc.

Flybe and Blue Island have regular flights from Guernsey to Southampton too.

 

[dom]

Why not fly Guernsey Soton @ £129 Sat 18:00?

https://blueislands.airkiosk.com/cgi-bin/airkiosk/I7/81015lfa

 

[prv]

Flybe and Blue Island have regular flights from Guernsey to Southampton too.

https://blueislands.airkiosk.com/cgi-bin/airkiosk/I7/81015lfa

Cheers, I'll have a look. Was only aware of Aurigny to Southampton.

I do prefer the idea of having most of Sunday in StPP, but skipping the train leg in the UK certainly has some appeal.

Pete

 

[colhel]

Seeing as you'll be foot passengers, i think you'd be very unlucky not to get a space. Then again, the 30th is a Bank Holiday so maybe you won't.
A pretty useless post really. Sorry.

 

[dom]

You're a young bloke Pete, so cld drag yourself to the a/p replete with hangover for an 8:30 flight on Sun (£109), or a 15:30 one @ £79?

Incidentally I paid way way more than this on G/W flights a few years ago. Lucky you!

 

[Angele]

I'll second what Dom and Goldie say.

When I have crew joining or leaving in either Jersey or Guernsey, then it is always more convenient (and often only marginally more expensive) to fly to Southampton than it is to take Condor to Poole.

Plus greater choice. E.g. 6 flights a day each way between Jersey and Southampton vs one fast cat to Poole and one conventional ferry to Portsmouth.

Unfortunately, the prices of those flights do tend to rise the closer you get to the day. So best to book earlier if poss, but you mention a lot of variables.

 

[prv]

Unfortunately, the prices of those flights do tend to rise the closer you get to the day.

Normal for flights of course - but it raises another question I should have asked. Do the ferry prices change in a similar way, or are they more or less fixed whenever you buy them?

Pete

 

[Angele]

Normal for flights of course - but it raises another question I should have asked. Do the ferry prices change in a similar way, or are they more or less fixed whenever you buy them?

Pete

Well, they definitely vary them according to demand. I have observed that on many occasions in the past, and a quick look again just now confirms that. Whether that is anticipated demand (how many they expect to sell) or actual demand (how many they have already sold), I do not know.

But, how they move in respect of a given date as you get closer to that date, I do not know. Never tried observing that with Condor.

 

[dom]

But, how they move in respect of a given date as you get closer to that date, I do not know. Never tried observing that with Condor.

Nobody knows for sure: airlines for example deploy closely guarded data algorithms and mathematical models which take account of past history, holiday dates, availability on the chosen and surrounding flights, availability of seats on competitor airlines, hits on their websites, mobile apps and so on.

This data is then boiled down into a predicted statistical outcome and a confidence interval around it. The airline then uses this output to optimise its marginal revenues and operating income. Ferry companies do the same, just in a less sophisticated way.

Naturally software is around trying to bust these algos. These work to a point, but the algos subtly change and include some randomness with the specific intention of making their pricing hard to read.

 

[LadyInBed]

Sunday in St PP! Isn't it shut?