Frequently Asked Questions

Making a booking

• When is the cheapest time to travel?

  As with all things, tickets become more expensive closer to the sail date, so generally, the further in advance you book, the cheaper your ticket will be. There are also price hikes around peak season, such as during school holidays, or when the weather is at its best in certain areas, so avoid travelling during these times in order to avoid paying the steeper prices. We also regularly have discounts and sales, so be sure to sign up to our email newsletter to be the first to hear about them!

• Should the driver be included in the number of passengers?

  Absolutely! Passenger is just the term used to describe anyone who travels on a ferry, so the driver is definitely a passenger too.

• Why is my vehicle type not present in the drop down menu?

  Either the ferry company does not allow your vehicle type or the option to book it online is not available. This can vary from one Ferry Company to another. Please contact us for further information.

• How do I book a different vehicle in each direction?

  Sometimes this is possible when booking to book different vehicles in each direction - if you cannot find this option when making your purchase, then it may not be possible with the route you are taking. However, you can still just book two single routes separately instead.

• How do I book a different number of passengers in each direction?

  Not all ferry companies allow different passenger numbers to travel in each direction in one booking. If the option is not available for your chosen route then we suggest making 2 single bookings.

• Can I get a group discount?

  Discounts are sometimes available when there are more than 5 vehicles or more than 9 foot passengers travelling. Please contact us so that we can arrange a group fare.

• If travelling in a rental car and don’t know the make, model or registration, how do I book?

  In most cases it is permitted to travel with a rental car, providing you have permission from the rental company to take their vehicle on a ferry. You should select vehicle type as ‘other’, enter the dimensions you expect the vehicle to be and then enter vehicle registration as ‘unknown’. Some ferry companies however may charge you on arrival at the port to update the vehicle registration stored for your booking.

• How do I know if I should be travelling as a freight vehicle or not?

  This varies from one ferry company to another however as a general rule, any vehicle carrying commercial goods and vehicles designed to carry commercial goods should travel as freight. If in any doubt then please contact us.

• I’m pregnant, can I travel by ferry?

  This varies from one ferry company to another however as a general rule you are permitted to travel at up to 28 weeks pregnant (at time of travel). Women who are more than 28 weeks pregnant at the time of travel may be required to produce a medical certificate of fitness to travel therefore we advise that you contact us prior to booking if you are going to be at 28 weeks or more at time of travel.

• Do you offer residents discounts?

  Resident discount is available on some routes, however each company and crossing has different regulations about who they feel qualifies for this discount. If you want to see if you qualify on a certain route, then please use our fare finding tool to check

• Do you offer Student or OAP discounts?

  Whilst this is only applicable on certain routes, yes you can use Student or OAP discounts - to see if you qualify on a certain route, please check our fare finding tool for more information

• Can I book an open return?

  When booking your return journey, you will see an option to book with an open return where your travel dates would go. If, however, there is no option here to pick an open return, then this route does not offer open returns. Be sure to check using our fare finder tool before booking.

• Why are there no sailings for when I want to travel?

  There are several reasons for there not being any ferries available on the route that you want - it could be because there are no tickets left for this ferry, it is too early for the timetable to have been released yet, or that ferry does not run at that particular time or indeed on that day at all. However, there are likely to be many other ferries available, so be sure to check out other routes and operators!

• How do I pay for my booking?

  All tickets must be paid in full at time of booking. We accept all major payment cards, some local payment methods and PayPal. We generally do not allow bank transfers to be used as payment method though may accept on a case by case basis.

• Why can't I get a price or pay in my local currency?

  Whilst we do try to show prices in local currency, we are only able to collect payment for tickets in the same currency that is stated by the supplier. We do try our best to ensure that we keep you informed throughout the booking process of any currency conversion, and how much money you will be charged for.

• Do you send out tickets?

  There are no physical copies of tickets, only the email confirmation, which you can use in exchange for boarding passes or tickets when you arrive at the port. If you do not have your email confirmation with you when you reach the port, you will not be allowed to board the ferry, so make sure that you have access to it!

• I haven’t received a confirmation email, now what?

  Once you've made sure that you haven't lost it in your spam mail, log into My Account, verify your email is correct, and then have the confirmation email re-sent to you. If you cannot find this on your account, or for some reason cannot log into your account, then please get in contact with us so we can send you another confirmation email.

• Information about ticket availability

  Direct Ferries shows data related to the tickets availability, based on the updated information constantly provided by the ferry companies. Although the data reflects the amount of seats available, on different routes, the same way it is offered by the different operators, Direct Ferries is not responsible for incorrect representations, during the booking process, of this data.

• Do you work with all ferry operators?

  Whilst Direct Ferries is constantly expanding its list of ferry companies that we get to work with on a domestic and international level, we do not at this moment in time work with every single ferry operator in the world. Our list of operators we do work with is constantly being expanded, so keep checking back here if there is a particular ferry company you are looking for.