CRD-01 wrote:I was just wondering what are your recommendations rergarding the options when choosing. Flexi sure costs more, but is it worth the extra.
I am taking the van.
Kel
This question has no connection with taking, or not taking , a van.
“Spirit” or “Flexi” are simply two different fare structures for your personal accommodation on board.
Spirit is a fair bit less expensive, and has some charges involved if you subsequently want to change or cancel your booking, however, remember that it can be changed online without a fee. To further clarify this, if you have a “spirit” booking and want to change the date, do it yourself online and it will cost you nothing; phone the staff, or go to their counter, and it will cost you $50 for the privelege of having them do it for you.
There are a couple of other “traps” that can cost you money:-
1. Within each of the “Spirit” and “Flexi” fare structures, they have different “Tier” levels that they refuse to divulge in full detail. (phone them and ask for details if you doubt me)
As bookings come in for a particular date, the fares go up.
For Example, we book a cabin with a porthole. If we make our booking early, we can get that for $169 per head. If there are a few bookings before us, we will have to pay the next level of $186 per head. If you are booking when they already have a lot of bookings , you pay $246 per head.
To check this yourself, go through the online booking system, note the cabin fee on chosen date, then use the feature that allows you to advance one day at a time, and note the variation in cabin fees. Try to get them to disclose this in full detail for you
2. Before you start a booking, measure exactly the length of your tow vehicle, the length of your van, and the combined length of the two when hitched. Remember that the tow coupling over hangs the tow ball, so the total length of your rig will be a little less than the sum of the two individual lengths.
Make certain that ,toward the end of the online booking process, the total length they show is actually the same as your measured combined length when hitched. One millimetre over a complete metre will cost you another $71. Our vehicle comes in a range of models and lengths, 2door and 4 door, and the SoT computer system does not ask for car length or model in our case. It just uses the length for the longest model, which takes us from 10.98 metres to about 11.5, and this would cost us $71 each way if we were not awake to it. We get around this by working out how much they have over estimated our length, and then deducting this from our declared caravan length to get their computer to show 10.98 metres. I have phoned them to check the legality of this, and they agree it is correct. Beyond reluctantly agreeing to this fact , I have found them loath to give information relating to shortcomings in their system that rip us off.
I tried to edit the above post to add more information, and after much one finger typing, I was told “no more edits”.
