P&O launches £20 booze cruise day fares to France

P&O Ferries has launched day fares from the UK to France for just £20.

The cheap deal means Brits can cross the border for their cheap booze and cigarettes without having to pay much.

Usually costing more than £100, the new deal is on offer until next month, when travelling from Dover to Calais.

The website says: "Take a day trip to France on our Dover to Calais route for just the port tax of £20 when you book by 11th March 2022."

Brits can travel with up to nine passengers, taking a car or motorcycle, and can then save up to 50 per cent while duty-free shopping for alcohol, perfumes and other things.

There’s a huge Carrefour supermarket just five minutes’ drive away which sells everything from wine and cheese to jewellery and clothes as well as The Cité Europe shopping centre in the terminal.

Make sure to bring your passport into the shop and pay with a credit card.

Not every store offers duty-free shopping, but the ones that do tend to advertise it with a sticker in the shop window or at the till.

Once you’ve filled your basket over the €100.01 threshold, ask the cashier for a tax refund form at checkout - that’s “une détaxe” in French. 

You'll have to avoid the temptation of tucking into any goodies you've bought too, as everything must stay wrapped up in its packaging until you're back in the UK.

Anyone buying duty-free goods will need to “validate” their tax refund form to prove they’ll be consuming them at home, instead of France.

It's worth remembering that there are limits on how alcohol, tobacco, and other purchases you buy before having to pay tax in the UK.

This includes

• 800 cigarettes
• 200 cigars
• 400 cigarillos
• 1kg tobacco
• 110 litres of beer
• 90 litres of wine
• 10 litres of spirits
• 20 litres of fortified wine (for example, port or sherry)

Even better, France recently eased their travel restrictions for vaccinated Brits, who no longer need a negative Covid test to enter the country.

You still can't visit France if you haven't had both jabs, unless you have extenuating circumstances.