Hidden Red Funnel Summer 2026 Fare For Cheap Isle of Wight Ferry Travel

15/7/2026

Click here to
book Red Funnel
for £60 (day return)
or £120 (overnight return)

We've recently found out about a hidden discount from Red Funnel, which could save you a pretty penny on Isle of Wight ferry travel in July, August and September 2026.

In short, you can get a period return ferry with a car and passengers for £120 or a day return for £60. On some journeys that will save you £100+. On other journeys, there are better offers available, which we'll get to later.

The £60 day return offer is plastered all over the Red Funnel website and is no secret - but the £120 overnight deal is hidden away. This is the one that made my eyebrows lift up by at least 3cm.

It takes a bit of explaining, but the actual discount is a simple one to get and doesn't require you to learn a secret language or complete a sudoku.

How do I get the Red FUnnel £120 deal for summer 2026?

You can get the £120 fare from this Summer Sailings page on the Red Funnel website.

When you arrive on the page you'll notice that the £120 deal isn't mentioned - it's just a promo page for the £60 deal, which is already featured on our main ferries discount page.

However, if you put overnight dates into the booking form on the page then it will give you the £120 fare. Those prices don't appear on the usual booking form on the home page.

I suspect this has been included to discourage people from booking two day returns and then not using all of the journeys. I do know that Red Funnel are aware of it though, so it's perfectly legit.

The biggest savers with this offer will be those who are travelling on Fridays and Saturdays during the school summer holidays. Here are a couple of extreme examples of what you could save:

Ferry date and time	Standard fare, without any discounts	Discounted fare
August 8th - 15th, depart and return at 1000/1030	£343.50	£120
August 21st - 28th 2026, depart and return at 1000/1030	£350.50	£120

These prices are correct at the time of typing and assume that you don't use other offers, such as our 20% off deal. We've deliberately chosen the most extreme savings - it often won't be as much as this but it should still be a good savings

What's the catch?

There are some terms and conditions, which might scupper this deal for you:

Both of your journeys need to be in the morning or evening. Specifically, it is 'available on sailings from Southampton between the hours of 0600 to 1000 and 1700 to 2359, and sailings from East Cowes between the hours of 0630 to 1030 and 1730 to 2359'. It will show as 'sold out' if it's not valid.
You need to book by 31 August and travel by 30 September 2026.
There are only 10,000 cheap fares available over the summer - so the offer could be pulled early. Red Funnel has potential capacity to carry about 200 cars on about 35 journeys per day (i.e. 7000 cars), but most sailings don't sell out and many people will have booked before this offer started.

Is this the cheapest way to get to the Isle of Wight this summer?

As mentioned, if you're planning on visiting the Isle of Wight for a week during school holidays and want to arrive on a busy day (i.e. Friday or Saturday) then this offer could easily save you £100 or perhaps even £200.

However, in other circumstances it is beaten by better offers:

You can currently save 20% off Red Funnel with our exclusive discount. You need to book by 31 July and travel by 31 December for this one. For some crossings, this will be significantly cheaper than the £120 return fare. For example, I searched for an overnight return on a weekday in mid-September 2026 and found that the 20% discount took the price down to £70 return.
Wightlink is currently offering a discounted off peak fare for Isle of Wight residents called the Sunset Flyer. I'm not 100% sure why a journey on a ferry is described as a 'flyer' but let's not quibble over details. Over the summer, it'll cost you £98 return. As mentioned though, this offer is just for journeys starting from the Isle of Wight, whilst Red Funnel's deal is for holidaymakers as well.
Some accommodation providers may be able to beat the £120 fare, as they get given special discounted rates from Wightlink and Red Funnel. If you're staying with Away Resorts, Parkdean Resorts or Warner Leisure Hotels then I would check what price they can offer you. In some instances, their discounts are as much as 50% - 70%. Most accommodation providers offer a discount of about 15% - 25%, but it does vary.

See our guide to accommodation + ferry bundles for more information.
If you aren't bringing the car, then it's a whole different kettle of fish. Start with our guides to cheap foot passenger fares with Red Funnel and Wightlink.

Holiday parks, such as Nodes Point, can often get you a mega discount on the Isle of Wight ferry

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