Red Funnel's Black Friday 2024 Discount - Is now the time to book?

Red Funnel's Black Friday discount is their biggest of 2024

Get 1/3 off
Red Funnel
for Black Friday!

Red Funnel has just launched its Black Friday offer for holidays in 2025. You can get 1/3rd off if you book by December 6th 2024, and can travel right through until November 3rd 2025.

You can also get:

• a 40% discount on the ferry if you book your accommodation via Red Funnel as well. They usually offer a 25% discount if you book accommodation, so they've bumped it for Black Friday.
• a foot passenger period return on the Red Jet throughout 2025 for £25 (or £22.14 for a day return)
• a foot passenger period return on the car ferry to East Cowes throughout 2025 for £16.74 (or £15.46 for a day return)

But is it the cheapest deal for an Isle of Wight holiday?

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Is Red Funnel's Black Friday offer a genuine discount?

The short answer is yes.

We've all become wise to the fake Black Friday discounts, with prices that are inflated the week before just so they can be lowered a few days later. However, Red Funnel's Black Friday deal is a genuinely good one.

Throughout the year, Red Funnel offers discounts of 10% to 25% via discount codes (including the booking form on our ferries guide).

They haven't offered a 1/3 off at all during 2024, so this is about as good as it gets. They did the same offer for Black Friday 2023.

Of course, we can have long arguments about the standard cost of ferry travel to the Isle of Wight, but within this context it is a decent deal.

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Is this offer the cheapest way to get to the Isle of Wight in 2025?

Well, that depends.

There are (at least) four alternative options that may be a cheaper way to get to the Isle of Wight in 2025 than using the Red Funnel's Black Friday deal. 

1. Accommodation + Ferry bundles

Getting an accommodation + ferry bundle will often beat the Red Funnel Black Friday price. You can find many of the best bundles on this page.

For example, you will often get discounts of 50% or more if you stay at a holiday park owned by Away Resorts (The Lakes Rookley, St Helens Coastal Resort, Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park, The Bay Colwell Bay) and Parkdean Resorts (holiday parks called Landguard, Lower Hyde, Nodes Point and Thorness Bay).

There is also a stonking deal for tourers and campers where you book a ferry + pitch via Red Funnel. We found a five night holiday for four people during the school holidays in August for £220 - including the pitch and the ferry. You can choose from four decent campsites and touring parks.

Big name hotel chain Warner also offer a big ferry discount. The maximum price is £90 return, which will often beat the Red Funnel discounted price.

If you are going for an independent hotel, give them a call or check their own websites as they often get a good discount.

Guests at The Lakes Rookley get a whopping great discount on the ferry

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2. Book a Day Return

If you just plan to visit the Isle of Wight with your car for a day (or visit the mainland for a day) then you may find that the 1/3 off deal isn't the best price.

That's because Red Funnel often do a more generous discount via its Big Book of Savings.

These are sent out five times a year to every Isle of Wight residence and regularly include a day return deal for about £50 - £60. At the moment, you can only book until 17 March with these vouchers but there is a good chance that they will do something similar later in the year.

We checked prices for a peak time day return with a car in August 2025 and found that it was about £66 - £70 with the 1/3 off.
 
Of course, mainlanders need to find an aunt on the Island who is willing to hand over her discount booklet. The Big Book uses unique codes so we don't share them on this site.

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3. Travel as a foot passenger

As mentioned earlier, this Black Friday promotion also works on foot passenger travel. You'll only pay £16 - £25 for a period return if you book it before December 6th.

It would work particularly well for a couple bringing their own bikes to the Isle of Wight for a week's cycling holiday. They would pay just £16.74 each, as bicycles are free on the Isle of Wight's ferries (note: this only applies when you travel as a foot passenger, it's more complicated if you attach the bikes to your car as it can make your car longer and push you into the next price band).

The Isle of Wight's buses are pretty decent in my experience and are included in the capped bus fares that you get in the rest of England (with the exception of the open top buses). See our public transport guide.

It gets more complicated if you are doing a day return as a foot passenger. The Black Friday price might be the cheapest, but Red Funnel did several offers during 2024 where you could get a day return for £12.50 to coincide with big events.

Bringing your bike? You can take it on the ferry for free

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4. Get a Wightlink Multilink Deal

Of course, Red Funnel isn't the only option for getting to the Isle of Wight.

Honestly, I would be surprised to find any standard Wightlink fares that were cheaper once you factor in the 1/3 off deal for Red Funnel. I haven't yet seen any details of a Wightlink Black Friday deal, although we know they are doing an offer from 29 November 2024 as there's a big countdown clock on their site. You'll be able to find it on this page.

However, there are ongoing Wightlink deals that will work out cheaper than Red Funnel's Black Friday offer for some people.

The first is the Wightlink Multilink deal for cars, which will get you a return journey with a car for about £70 (ish). This offer is only available to those with an Isle of Wight residence and it requires you to travel five times a year. You can read our full guide here or read Wightlink's guide.

The second is the Wightlink Multilink deal for foot passengers. This offer is available anyone, but you buy a book of five return journeys that need to be used within a year. See or guide or Wightlink's guide to how it works.

Some of Wightlink's deals will beat the Red Funnel Black Friday deal