How much have Isle of Wight ferry prices risen in 10 years? And how to save money!

A lovely shot of the Solent to liven up a boring price comparison blog post

This website is approaching its tenth birthday. Please don’t make a big fuss though, a simple card or an average-sized marching band will do.

To celebrate the occasion I have dug out some Red Funnel and Wightlink ferry price comparisons we did in 2013 to see how they compare to fares in 2023.

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A few caveats before we compare the numbers

• Our comparison only includes eight different fares, because these were the fares we searched for back in 2013. Academics would shake their heads and look disappointed if I suggested this was a big enough sample size for a proper study.
• We picked the cheapest fare available each time, we didn't include any optional upgrades.
• We didn't include any discount codes, either in 2013 or in 2023 (we will give more advice about Isle of Wight ferry discount codes later).
• There is more than one way to measure inflation. We used the Bank of England's Consumer Prices Index in the comparison table but we also calculated a summary figure for the Retail Price Index. If you are an economist, please feel free to explain at the bottom of the page why I'm an idiot for doing this.
• Isle of Wight ferry prices vary a little depending on how far in advance you book. I don't have the exact dates I searched in 2013 but I believe it was a few months in advance. The 2023 dates were searched for between five and seven months in advance.
• We rounded figures to the nearest pound or percentage point to make it easier to read.
• All our fares are at lunchtime, which is usually the most expensive time to travel. I was going to include a midnight sailing but we only had data for one ferry company in 2013. It yielded a similar percentage rise to the lunchtime data so I don't think the bias towards lunchtime sailings is particularly notable when we are looking at percentage changes. 
• We only looked at two car ferry crossings - Southampton to East Cowes and Portsmouth to Fishbourne.

​​If you just want to see the comparison table without the waffle, scroll down to about halfway.

Otherwise, let's begin with a snippet from Isle of Wight Guru in 2013:

a Saturday to Saturday lunchtime return in early August 2013 on Red Funnel for a car and driver came up at £161 return, compared to £106 for Sunday to Sunday.

The same test on Wightlink found...(fares of)...£178 on the Saturday to Saturday or £110 on the Sunday to Sunday.

So, how does that compare to 2023?

With Wightlink, the £178 fare has risen to £300 in 2023. If we apply the Bank of England's CPI inflation calculator to 2013's figure then £178 is worth £228 in today's money. The £110 fare has risen to £227. With the CPI applied, the 2013 figure would be £141 in today's money.

In other words, if the 2013 fare had increased in line with the CPI measure of inflation then it would be £141 in 2023. However, it is actually £227 (Ed: is there going to be a test at the end?).

Red Funnel's Saturday fare of £161 has risen to £276 whilst the Sunday fare of £106 has risen to £201. With inflation, the £161 figure is the equivalent of £209 whilst the £106 figure should be £137.

If this is making your head hurt, just skip ahead to the comparison table further down. 

Here's another snippet from this website in 2013:

...Red Funnel and Wightlink both charge a lot more on the car ferry if you are away for five nights rather than for four nights.  For example, lunchtime journeys on October 1st 2013 to October 5th 2013 cost £58 (Red Funnel) or £67 (Wightlink) whilst October 1st to October 6th would cost you about £78 (Red Funnel) or £86 (Wightlink).

And here's the same comparison done in 2023. We changed the dates slightly for a fairer comparison so that we are looking at a Tuesday arrival date in both cases:

Lunchtime journeys on October 3rd 2023 to October 7th 2023 cost £105 (Red Funnel) or £129 (Wightlink) whilst October 3rd 2023 to October 8th 2023 cost £145 (Red Funnel) or £168 (Wightlink).

Fares have increased in 10 years - but is it more than inflation?

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Our sample size is small, but we've got a good mix of travel times including seven day journeys in peak season in August and mid-week short breaks in October.

Here's the data in a lovely comparison table:

Company	Date	2013 price	2013 price (CPI inflation adjusted)	2023 price	% change 2013 to 2023 ​(not inflation adjusted)	​% change  2013 to 2023 ​(CPI inflation adjusted)
Wightlink	Early October, ​4 nights	£67	£87	£129	+93%	+48%
Red Funnel	Early October, ​4 nights	£58	£75	£105	+81%	+40%
Wightlink	Early October, ​5 nights	£86	£112	£168	+95%	+50%
Red Funnel	Early October, ​5 nights	£78	£101	£145	+93%	+44%
Wightlink	Early August, 7 nights, Saturday to Saturday	£178	£228	£300	+69%	+32%
Red Funnel	Early August, 7 nights, Saturday to ​Saturday	£161	£209	£276	+71%	+32%
Wightlink	Early August, 7 nights, Sunday to ​Sunday	£110	£141	£227	+106%	+61%
Red Funnel	Early August, 7 nights, Sunday to ​Sunday	£106	£137	£201	+90%	+47%

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Crunching the numbers (and including RPI inflation)

On average then, Wightlink's fares that we looked at have increased by 87% over 10 years (I am emphasising that this is only based on the fares that we have data on, just in case I didn't make that clear enough).

Red Funnel's fares we looked at have increased by an average of 80% over 10 years.

However, most things have risen in price over the last 10 years so it's a fairly meaningless figure on its own. 

I think the more useful column is the one with the exhilarating title of: "% change 2013 to 2023 (CPI inflation adjusted)". Phwooooarrr! 

This tells us how ferry prices have changed, allowing for inflation. If prices rose in line with the Consumer Prices Index then you would expect it to be 0%.

Based on the data we looked at Wightlink has increased its prices by 45% above the CPI rate of inflation over the last 10 years whilst Red Funnel has increased its prices by 39% above the CPI rate of inflation.

I also entered this data into an RPI calculator which is another method of measuring inflation (the Retail Prices Index). The Wightlink fares we looked at have increased by 27% above the RPI rate of inflation over 10 years. Red Funnel's fares have increased by 22% above the RPI rate of inflation over the same period.

Please refer back to the caveats at the top of the page which give a bit more context and explanation of the limitations of our data. This isn't intended to be a PHD...

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How to save money on the Isle of Wight ferry

With those increases in mind, it seems a good time to summarise our favourite ways to lower the price of the Isle of Wight ferry.

This is one of my favourite topics, and you can read the full guide in our ferry beginners guide or our guide to the latest offers and ferry discounts.

However, here's a summary for anyone who has better things to do with their time (such as picking their nose or watching a dripping tap).

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1. Book an accommodation and ferry bundle

My number one suggestion for saving money on the Isle of Wight ferry is to book it via your accommodation provider.

Most get at least some discount and some offer really good deals, including these five:

1. Away Resorts owns four holiday resorts on the Isle of Wight with caravans and lodges with hot tubs. I've seen discounts of more than 50% offered if you book a ferry via them. They own Whitecliff Bay, The Bay Colwell, The Lakes Rookley and St Helens. Read our comparison of the four resorts or save 10% via this link with discount code IOWGURU10 until the end of 2023.
2. Warner Leisure own two big hotels on the Isle of Wight, both of which are adults-only. They do a return ferry for a car and passengers for £60 at the time of writing, which is a huge saving on peak time prices. Click here for more details on their ferry offer which is valid at Norton Grange (West Wight) and Bembridge Coast (East Wight). The Warner Leisure brand is particularly popular with older visitors.
3. Four different campsites and touring parks do a good bundle deal with Red Funnel. You can stay at Appuldurcombe Gardens, Orchards Holiday Park, Waverley Park and Whitefield Forest. The price varies, but it is often considerably cheaper than booking the ferry and a pitch separately. Read our camping guide for more on what they offer.
4. Shanklin Hotel and Bayshore Hotel in Sandown both do a 'free ferry' offer for an off peak sailing. They are owned by Alfa Travel which is known for coach trips but you can get the free ferry offer on their 'self drive' holidays page.
5. Parkdean Resorts offer a discount with Wightlink and Red Funnel - although the exact level of discount varies. You can stay at any of their four Isle of Wight caravan holiday parks, including: Lower Hyde and Landguard in Shanklin, Nodes Point in St Helens or Thorness Bay which is in a quiet spot between Yarmouth and Cowes. See our comparison of the Isle of Wight's Parkdean Resorts (which were formerly Park Resorts). Thanks to John for the reminder about Parkdean!
   

The Bay, Colwell is one of several resorts which offers a good ferry discount

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2. Look for discount codes

My hunch - based on no data at all - is that discount codes for Red Funnel are easier to come by than they were 10 years ago.

Our ferry discounts page has a 10% off deal for Red Funnel and there's also an ongoing 15% off deal for Isle of Wight residents until October 2023. During Black Friday in November/December 2022 there was a 1/3rd off deal and in January 2023 there was a 25% off deal. 

I've not seen as many Wightlink discount codes of late, but they do sometimes pop up. Here's the Wightlink offers page.

If you have friends or relatives on the Isle of Wight, ask them to keep an eye out for discount vouchers which are sent through the post every few months. 

We include all the discount codes we know of on our ferry discounts page.

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3. Check your memberships

Several membership bodies give a modest discount on Red Funnel and Wightlink. It is occasionally worth signing up for a year, just to get the discount.

As of 2023, options include:

• English Heritage - 15% off Wightlink
• The AA - 15% off Wightlink
• Gardens Illustrated Magazine Subscribers - 15% off Wightlink
• Royal Yachting Association - 10% off Red Funnel, up to 20% off Wightlink
• Blue Light Card - 15% off Wightlink
• CSMA (civil service) - 15% off Wightlink
• CSSC (public sector) - up to 20% off Red Funnel
• Tesco Clubcard - not exactly a membership body, but you can swap Clubcard vouchers for Wightlink vouchers. At the time of writing they are worth triple in Wightlink vouchers but this is changing to double. 

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4. Invest in a Multilink or Travelcard if you travel often

If you live on the Isle of Wight or visit fairly regularly then I would look into Wightlink's Multilink deal and Red Funnel's Travelcard.

My brief summary is that:

• Wightlink's Multilink deal offers a fixed price return of around £60 for a car and passengers. It is only available to people with an Isle of Wight residence (although it can be your second home). You need to book quite early during peak times as there are a limited number of Multilink spaces on each ferry. You pay for five return crossings which are valid for 12 months. Or, you can get a lower price if you buy 10 or 20 returns. The good news is that you can share a pass with one other person who lives with you, but you don't have to travel with them each time. 
• Red Funnel's Travelcard deals gives you 20% off any car ferry journey, but you need to pre-pay £1000. You can also get a Red Funnel loyalty card for free, so the total discount is more like 23%. The £1000 of credit doesn't expire, unlike the Wightlink deal.

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5. Book early

This may be obvious, but booking early is nearly always cheaper than leaving it late. There are no special deals for 'last minute' bookings on the Isle of Wight ferry. They operate more like airlines with the first booking costing less than the last booking.

The only exception is that a discount code might turn up the day after you have booked your ferry. If that's the case, feel free to fall to your knees and punch the ground like Charlton Heston at the end of Planet of the Apes.

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There are other ways to save on the Isle of Wight ferry - such as booking a foot passenger ticket with a railcard. For the full waffle read our guide Isle of Wight ferry discounts. 

You might also be interested in our blog examining the old claim that the Solent is the most expensive stretch of water in the world (turns out that it isn't...).