Eurotunnel has published its 1999 fares on the Internet–priced in Euros with local currency conversions.
The fares are also
available through Eurotunnel’s Call Centre and travel agents.
This latest move by Eurotunnel suggests that European use of the
Internet is coming of age–a fact confirmed by a recent telephone survey
of consumers in the UK, Germany and France. The survey,
commissioned by Dell, Ziff-Davis and Yahoo!, says that seven million
Europeans will begin to use the Internet over the next six months.
Higher Prices
Among the Eurotunnel fares are summer Apex fares for July and August
that offer major savings on peak prices for people booking and paying
before March 31, 1999. However, summer peak fares are up by
around 25 per cent.
Travel from the UK to France, a distance of some 21 miles
coast-to-coast (further from London to Paris), between “6:01 a.m. and
10:00 p.m.” July 9 to August 31 on Fridays and Saturdays will cost #279
return, up from #220. At current rates of exchange the new fare is
around $460.
To put this in perspective: return air fares from London to
New York and back–a distance of around 6,000 miles–are currently
available for #136 ($224). In other words, it costs twice as much to
cross the Channel as it does to cross the Atlantic.
Eurotunnel notes that fares have increased because the abolition of Duty
Free has ended what it calls “the distortion of the market” and will mean
that transport operators have need to charge a price for transport “which
reflects the costs of provision.”