First time MH user and Spain

[EuroTrotters]

I’ve been thinking the same as others and drive to Spain I’m used to driving the wrong side of the road but what puts me off is the time it takes to get to Southern Spain, driving, costs, wear and tear, food, spends etc etc comparing it to just jumping on a plane and 2hrs later your there.

H

Brian

I will use the term " I almost commute" Between Manchester and Alicante From September - June.

I hear so many people say "I can be in Spain in 2 hours on a plane"

Factor in everything and flying can take a lot longer and cost more than people make out.*

We only live 20 mins from Manchester and around 1 hour from Alicante or Valencia Airports.

Flying door-to-door,

Yesterday: 7 hours 5 mins.

Best: 6 hours
Worst: 20 hours.

Driving:

Javea-Bilabo-Portsmouth-Manchester

Car: 35½ Hours
Motorhome: 38-48 hours

*Factor in Taxis/Transfers to and from the Airports. Or, worse, the major hassle and costs of car hire at the Spanish end.

I keep a car at Alicante Airport, it costs €300 a year for Valet Parking and Storage, €250 a year insurance and I have to pay the Vehicle Tax in the UK (I swap cars after 6 months).

Of course, your flights and ferries can be cancelled and delayed. Throwing all of our time and journey calculations out.

 

[busby]

Not sure why you have arrived at 1000 miles when it's just over that in Kilometers from Calas to Irun (1056K) ? Anyway,let me try and answer your question. In my case, a 3.5 T motorhome 2.3 euro 4 engine, I have calculated the following costs. Ferry crossing, € 75.00 (Each Way), Parking is free, using Aires that are open and free along the N10 route. Fuel costs, Calais to Irun, approx. €147.84 (Based on 1056 K @10K per Ltr. @€1.40 per ltr). Toll fares. Jct 19-23 of the A10 to get through the city of Tours (€1.80) and a further € 8.90 for the A 63 toll road south of Bordeaux, from Jct 6 to the Spanish border. As for food costs we have a fully stocked motorhome and as we now regard the food & Drink in the UK cheaper than France, we eat and drink our own stuff. So, I estimate for the two of us, as we clear France in 2.1/2 days of driving, say €30.00. As for wear and tear on the vehicle I'm not sure how to calculate this cost. So, all in all I estimate the total cost is close to €265. each way.
What is the cost of the Ferry ?

I usually pay about £295 on Cap Finistere,,BUSBY.

 

[busby]

Return travel £550 next March economy service with club discount. One month in Spain so back in April. 7 mar motorhome x 3mtrs high

Seats on the way out, inside cabin on the way home.
(A cabin outwards would add around £100.) There were no seats bookable for the return travel but would save around £100 over a cabin.

so the journey could be around £450 return.

ps: I would not recommend a economy ferry in March. It may well rock and roll a bit.

Would never do that crossing without a cabin,,even have one on Portsmouth Caen. BUSBY.

 

[busby]

I will use the term " I almost commute" Between Manchester and Alicante From September - June.

I hear so many people say "I can be in Spain in 2 hours on a plane"

Factor in everything and flying can take a lot longer and cost more than people make out.*

We only live 20 mins from Manchester and around 1 hour from Alicante or Valencia Airports.

Flying door-to-door,

Yesterday: 7 hours 5 mins.

Best: 6 hours
Worst: 20 hours.

Driving:

Javea-Bilabo-Portsmouth-Manchester

Car: 35½ Hours
Motorhome: 38-48 hours

*Factor in Taxis/Transfers to and from the Airports. Or, worse, the major hassle and costs of car hire at the Spanish end.

I keep a car at Alicante Airport, it costs €300 a year for Valet Parking and Storage, €250 a year insurance and I have to pay the Vehicle Tax in the UK (I swap cars after 6 months).

Of course, your flights and ferries can be cancelled and delayed. Throwing all of our time and journey calculations out.

My greatest pleasure of Motorhoming is the actual travelling..If i flew out all the time think i would rent an apartment..Just saying. BUSBY.

 

[EuroTrotters]

My greatest pleasure of Motorhoming is the actual travelling..If i flew out all the time think i would rent an apartment..Just saying. BUSBY.

We have a house in Spain, we mix driving and flying.

We also are fortunate in having a motorhome too.

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[PhilandMena]

I usually pay about £295 on Cap Finistere,,BUSBY.

Yes! I just saw that on the website. Almost booked out too. However, when looking for a return crossing the first available return crossing in March was £425.00 and both these prices are without a cabin. As I understand it this is the cheapest and most basic crossing with few facilities on board. I cant see many doing that crossing without a cabin, well maybe the first time but never after that LOL. Not for me.

 

[PhilandMena]

Return travel £550 next March economy service with club discount. One month in Spain so back in April. 7 mar motorhome x 3mtrs high

Seats on the way out, inside cabin on the way home.
(A cabin outwards would add around £100.) There were no seats bookable for the return travel but would save around £100 over a cabin.

so the journey could be around £450 return.

ps: I would not recommend a economy ferry in March. It may well rock and roll a bit.

Out of interest, I had a look at the costs to become a club member and came up with this. 'When joining Club Voyage there is a registration fee that is payable on application of£75 for Club Voyage France and £105 for Club Voyage Spain. There is then an annual membership fee of £75 for Club Voyage France and £125 for Club Voyage'
So £230 for fisrt year and then £125 after that to be added to the ferry cost. Guess you would need to make several trips per year to benefit from that.

 

[busby]

Out of interest, I had a look at the costs to become a club member and came up with this. 'When joining Club Voyage there is a registration fee that is payable on application of£75 for Club Voyage France and £105 for Club Voyage Spain. There is then an annual membership fee of £75 for Club Voyage France and £125 for Club Voyage'
So £230 for fisrt year and then £125 after that to be added to the ferry cost. Guess you would need to make several trips per year to benefit from that.

Depends on how many times guests use your code, BUSBY.

 

[PhilandMena]

Depends on how many times guests use your code, BUSBY.

Can you share this membership with others ? How would that work if there is a joining fee and an annual subscription to be paid. I suspect at best, friends would only get a portion of the same deal, if anything at all. And..........., if friends do share your code how does that reduce your costs ?

 

[MikeD]

Depends on how many times guests use your code, BUSBY.

Can you share this membership with others ? How would that work if there is a joining fee and an annual subscription to be paid. I suspect at best, friends would only get a portion of the same deal, if anything at all. And..........., if friends do share your code how does that reduce your costs ?

I think family/friends get 10% discount and the member gets £10 towards next renewal for the referral.

Hence the rush on Motorhomefun when a request is made for a share of the code.

Not sure about joint membership. I suspect not but I would ask BF.

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[carolyn]

There used to be an associate membership which was really good but that has been withdrawn recently. Basically the main member could nominate a 2nd person who paid a reduced fee so lots would have two on the same membership and halve the cost each year with I presume a significant saving.

 

[busby]

I only pay for fuel so the 112 litres needed to get from Som Port to dunkirk ( approx. 1250 kms ) cost me c. 124€ I don't buy in France-.There is no cost for tolls as I don't use them nor parking or food as whatI'd eat would be from in the van.Ferry is usually around 80€ but that is a flexi & would include 18€ for the dog. So 132€


Mines 30 years old & also something I worry about in France ,fortunately adac gives me the option that if I cannot repair it then it is shipped back to spain.


That's ok if you can actually sleep in a seat ? I couldn't nor can I even sleep in a cabin as the vibration, however slight annoys me.

On the occasions I've used it you couldn't even sleep in a bed in a cabin.
th
Last time we used it we starved as the wife refused categorically to pay the ridiculous prices. Not good when you have kids



I left here one Friday at 12 noon . Spent 14 hours from midnight saturday at my nephews in Essex & was in North Devon at 6pm Sunday evening.. 1510 miles. 2 drivers though from here to essex via ferry from dunkirk .

I used to do daft things like that when i as working but why rush about when your retired,,don't get it.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Would never do that crossing without a cabin,,even have one on Portsmouth Caen. BUSBY.

I wouldn’t either, I’d get lynched with my snoring.

Remember, two seats is £50 from memory. Cabins start at £65. Plus if you are club members, you only get a breakfast allowance if you take a cabin!.

 

[carolyn]

It's definitely worth getting a cabin. You have your own loo and shower for one thing. But we take our own kettle so straight away think of all the money you save on cups of tea and coffee. Take a travel mug if you don't want to stay in your cabin. Lots take a cool bag of stuff to make sandwiches for a meal or two. We always have one meal in the self service restaurant and the foods not bad.
We have our kindles, music plus a film or two downloaded, we look upon the cabin as worth every penny and part of the adventure and we arrive after a good nights sleep. We do always take one of our own pillows though as the ones in the cabinins are very hard. The chair idea sounds like a hideous ordeal. I am no longer a student.

 

[chaser]

all a bit crazy when you can go ryanair for twenty quid and use the rest for your bandb hotel.

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[2657]

all a bit crazy when you can go ryanair for twenty quid and use the rest for your bandb hotel.

Don't want to use a bnb or hotel.....I'm a camper........hotels for emergencies only.

 

[EuroTrotters]

all a bit crazy when you can go ryanair for twenty quid and use the rest for your bandb hotel.

Grabbing a bargain £20 ticket is not so easy these days.

Especially to and from Airports where Monarch used to operate.

Ryanair flights to Alicante from Manchester are fully booked at the moment with no seats available. Fully booked outbound until 1st January 2019. Two People flying basic seats and hand luggage, £475. You really do need to book in advance or be prepared to use alternative airports.

Norwegian pulled out of Manchester along with Vueling when they had rained on Monarchs parade.

Thomas Cook have taken some of Monarchs airplanes and a lot of Monarchs crew on. But flights are limited.

Jet2 are usually the most expensive as are Tui.

Leaves us with EasyJet, who I have 30 flights booked with.

I have booked for our Daughter to fly in February 2019 for £22 With RyanAir. But it cost me £140 in admin charges plus additional fare. to change my own flights to be with her.

Brittany ferries charge nothing other than the additional fare up-to 5 days before departure.

 

[gus-lopez]

I hear so many people say "I can be in Spain in 2 hours on a plane"

Yes that always makes me laugh.

I used to do daft things like that when i as working but why rush about when your retired,,don't get it.

I'm not retired until january . I just don't work I can't see the point of meandering about. I have a place to get to & can't see any reason to travel slowly .The quicker I get there the sooner I can sit down & do nothing again.There is rarely anything I wish to look at or have any interest in seeing on my way. If it wasn't for the dog I wouldn't even stop as often as I do.

The chair idea sounds like a hideous ordeal.

It is ,ask any lorry driver, that's all they used to get for an exhorbitant sum.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Grabbing a bargain £20 ticket is not so easy these days.

Especially to and from Airports where Monarch used to operate.

Ryanair flights to Alicante from Manchester are fully booked at the moment with no seats available. Fully booked outbound until 1st January 2019. Two People flying basic seats and hand luggage, £475. You really do need to book in advance or be prepared to use alternative airports.

Norwegian pulled out of Manchester along with Vueling when they had rained on Monarchs parade.

Thomas Cook have taken some of Monarchs airplanes and a lot of Monarchs crew on. But flights are limited.

Jet2 are usually the most expensive as are Tui.

Leaves us with EasyJet, who I have 30 flights booked with.

I have booked for our Daughter to fly in February 2019 for £22 With RyanAir. But it cost me £140 in admin charges plus additional fare. to change my own flights to be with her.

Brittany ferries charge nothing other than the additional fare up-to 5 days before departure.

That Said, I have just booked some flights for £34 return (not with easyjet but here are some deals)

 

[EuroTrotters]

Here

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[EuroTrotters]

all a bit crazy when you can go ryanair for twenty quid and use the rest for your bandb hotel.

Or less!

 

[Charlie9038]

We have been looking at this ferry to bilbao or drive, we have a dog so ferry is £600 each way as would need a pet friendly cabin, issue is unless you book way ahead you cant get on as height restrictions & not many dog friendly cabs. So for us we will have to drive. I have made a budget spreadsheet with 4 days travel, tolls, fuel etc and it comes out about £1800 return for a month to Valencia, on eurotunnel and £2000 on ferry if you can get one. Not much in it really, bilbao ferry would be first option but there is no availability unless i want to go in 2020!

 

[mfw]

We have been looking at this ferry to bilbao or drive, we have a dog so ferry is £600 each way as would need a pet friendly cabin, issue is unless you book way ahead you cant get on as height restrictions & not many dog friendly cabs. So for us we will have to drive. I have made a budget spreadsheet with 4 days travel, tolls, fuel etc and it comes out about £1800 return for a month to Valencia, on eurotunnel and £2000 on ferry if you can get one. Not much in it really, bilbao ferry would be first option but there is no availability unless i want to go in 2020!

Cant see how it can cost that sort of money to get to valencia - i can do it on less than 200 lts of fuel + ferry cost and cheapest route dover to dunkirk/calais at a crappy time is not expensive - and you can do it on non toll roads in 4 days anyway - newhaven is a good route for me although it can be very expensive unless you are 60 - it saves me near on 200 mls if going to spain against dover route - but if dover ferry is big enough price difference i'll use it

 

[Littlewheels]

I will use the term " I almost commute" Between Manchester and Alicante From September - June.

I hear so many people say "I can be in Spain in 2 hours on a plane"

Factor in everything and flying can take a lot longer and cost more than people make out.*

We only live 20 mins from Manchester and around 1 hour from Alicante or Valencia Airports.

Flying door-to-door,

Yesterday: 7 hours 5 mins.

Best: 6 hours
Worst: 20 hours.

Driving:

Javea-Bilabo-Portsmouth-Manchester

Car: 35½ Hours
Motorhome: 38-48 hours

*Factor in Taxis/Transfers to and from the Airports. Or, worse, the major hassle and costs of car hire at the Spanish end.

I keep a car at Alicante Airport, it costs €300 a year for Valet Parking and Storage, €250 a year insurance and I have to pay the Vehicle Tax in the UK (I swap cars after 6 months).

Of course, your flights and ferries can be cancelled and delayed. Throwing all of our time and journey calculations out.

Not to mention the Airport experience and the sit back and enjoy the flight experience, these are two good reasons not to fly.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Cant see how it can cost that sort of money to get to valencia - i can do it on less than 200 lts of fuel + ferry cost and cheapest route dover to dunkirk/calais at a crappy time is not expensive - and you can do it on non toll roads in 4 days anyway - newhaven is a good route for me although it can be very expensive unless you are 60 - it saves me near on 200 mls if going to spain against dover route - but if dover ferry is big enough price difference i'll use it

May I ask what non toll route you use?.

I use Old Maps
Itineraries Bis

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[mikebeaches]

Leaves us with EasyJet, who I have 30 flights booked with.

Interesting Trev, we've been flying quite a lot with easyJet recently, so we invested in the easyJet Plus programme, which has been good - free seat upgrades with extra legroom on all flights, plus second piece of hand luggage in the cabin, priority boarding and free fast track security. Also you can get a credit note if the fares drop any time after you've booked, before you travel.

But a few months ago - out of the blue - we received an email from easyJet, saying as one of our best customers, or some such, we've enrolled you into the easyJet Flight Club. Apparently, it's by invitation of the company only and there's no charge - you can't apply for it.

Benefits include changing flights without admin charges; changing passenger names without charges (ie you can give your flight to somebody else!). Oh and a dedicated customer service phone number, which seems to work well. So quite valuable and worthwhile in my book.

Just wondering, in view of the number of flights you've got booked, have you been invited into the easyJet Flight Club?

Oh, and as an aside, I've heard that easyJet is going to launch a loyalty scheme in 2019...

Cheers, Mike

 

[mikebeaches]

Or less!

I used to be a big fan of Ryanair, but I'm now more reluctant to book with them over the last 15 months. They appear to have become much less reliable as a result of internal industrial relations problems - with either flight crew or cabin crew going on strike.

No doubt many of the issues have been bubbling under the surface for years, but hardly a month seems to go by now without their staff in one country or another taking strike action and Ryanair cancelling swathes of flights each time. I gather it's Spanish-based crew in January. Oh and there was of course the holiday rota fiasco too.

Until the company improves it staff relations and becomes more reliable, I think I'll stick with easyJet. We're lucky that the network of routes from our local airport is almost mirrored by both companies in many cases.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Interesting Trev, we've been flying quite a lot with easyJet recently, so we invested in the easyJet Plus programme, which has been good - free seat upgrades with extra legroom on all flights, plus second piece of hand luggage in the cabin, priority boarding and free fast track security. Also you can get a credit note if the fares drop any time after you've booked, before you travel.

But a few months ago - out of the blue - we received an email from easyJet, saying as one of our best customers, or some such, we've enrolled you into the easyJet Flight Club. Apparently, it's by invitation of the company only and there's no charge - you can't apply for it.

Benefits include changing flights without admin charges; changing passenger names without charges (ie you can give your flight to somebody else!). Oh and a dedicated customer service phone number, which seems to work well. So quite valuable and worthwhile in my book.

Just wondering, in view of the number of flights you've got booked, have you been invited into the easyJet Flight Club?

Oh, and as an aside, I've heard that easyJet is going to launch a loyalty scheme in 2019...

Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike,

Yes, I am aware of the schemes you mention. No, I have not been invited to the easyjet flight club, yet!.

One thing that did happen. Our Daughter asked me for advice on booking flights to Alicante. I advised her, as it was Easter, best wait until easyjet release their flight schedule for the best prices.

Easyjet released their flights, our Daughter booked 8 Seats at around £250 return in September last year for Easter 2019.

Her Partners family just booked their flights for the same dates this week. Ryanair have only gone and added a bigger schedule of MAN-ALC flights. They paid £90 plus a couple of bags with Ryanair. Rare that happens.

Thomas cook have taken up some of Monarch's routes. Three of our friends who worked for Monarch are now with Thomas cook. All of the five pilots we know suggest, within the next two years, the flights will get better. Doubtfully lower than the Monarch days.

Finger crossed for the Easyjet invitation.

 

[mikebeaches]

Finger crossed for the Easyjet invitation.

Yes, I'm surprised you haven't been enrolled yet. I did wonder if the fact we'd invested in the easyJet Plus scheme made a difference? No idea?

I only buy tickets for the two of us and don't think we've ever had quite as many as 30 flights on the go at any one time; though I've used the airline on and off ever since it first launched in the mid-90s with the original routes from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

 

[mfw]

May I ask what non toll route you use?.

I use Old Maps
Itineraries Bis

Just put avoid tolls on satnav and it keeps me off them and on a lot of dual carriageway - there is 1 bit in france couple of miles detour runs by side of motorway for a little way then cuts inland not the best kept road though

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