For a number of years now, the main organisers of the Isle of Wight Scooter Rally, VFM, have negotiated a discounted ferry crossing via the Red Funnel ferry company. Now rival ferry operators Wightlink have woken up and are trying to jump on the bandwagon, but their offer is not all it seems to be…
As with other members of the BSRA, VFM are a bunch of scooter-riding enthusiasts who organise some of the national scooter rallies here in the UK.
As with other events throughout the year, the Isle of Wight Rally has its fair share of local businesses and bandwagon jumpers trying to claw a portion of the scooterists pound, as you’d expect.
The thing is, Wightlink have been approached in the past to negotiate a discount for scooterists attending the rally, and have refused. And it’s not because they don’t offer discounts either, because we’ve travelled over on the bank holiday weekend in previous years and had friendly bikers in the ferry car park give us details of a discount code they’ve been given for attending a motorcycle rally on the island!
So why are we dismissing the Wightlink deal this year then? Well firstly Red Funnel have remained loyal to scooterists for a number of years now, and their deal (which must be booked in advance via their Red Funnel website) offers a scooter with rider and optional pillion a return crossing for £29, throughout the weekend.
On the other hand, Wightlink are only offering a 20% discount on their (higher) fares between 26 August and 2 September, and the deal is NOT applicable on the Friday or Bank holiday Monday – the two days that most scooterists will be travelling to and from the island!
So there you have it folks, I’m sure we won’t be the only ones choosing with our wallets. We’ll also be supporting the official rally, camping at Smallbrook Stadium near Ryde, where the scooter custom show is being held, as well as the main entertainment, the dealers market and more too. Have a safe ride and see you on the island!
Another tip for your readers – if you’re not camping at Smallbrook then have a chat with your hotel/B&B as they are likely to have their own negotiated ferry rates. We take our scooters over in a van so don’t qualify for scooter/rider discounts but our hotel has a discounted rate and has organised the Red Tunnel tickets on our behalf – we’ll just reimburse the hotel when we check out and settle our room bill.