Spirit of Tasmania fares

I'm comparing the cost of being with or without a 4.8 metre camper trailer. No problems with the cost of the car or the cabin, but as soon as you put even something small on the back of the tow bar the price goes through the roof !!

It drives me Wild too Max but it's my understanding the cost of cars is subsidised by the feds and you pay full whack for a trailer. Our Tassie friends will probably know better than I do but i vaguely recall it's something to do with the ferry being treated as a highway extension. Why anything towed is treated differently doesn't make sense but it just might be the feds getting cute.

I have need of a small trailer to handle my inflatable boat. One trip there and back would be a lot more than the trailer is worth so I got a second one custom built and will leave the first one in Tassie with a mate. Don't imagine you have that option. :(

Cheers
Mark

I think you're right Mark, about the trailer not being subsidised, even though a large Winnebago or similar would be.
No, we don't have the option of a second camper trailer - have thought of leaving this one on the mainland all the time to save costs, but we also use it regularly in Tasmania during the summer, so need it both sides of Bass Strait - one of the penalties of relaxed island living I guess !
Cheers

The subsidised fares were originally put in place after the Port Arthur massacres, to help stimulate dwindling tourism.
I guess that they don't see taking your own accommodation as much of a benefit compared to using B&Bs etc.

To determine if it is a rip off or not, you would have to check it against the cost of other shipping companies sea freight charges, you may be surprised!

Shaker, the subsidies have been on since the introduction of the latest ferries. I don't know if there were any subsidies for the previous ferry.

The commonwealth government just increased the subsidy a bit after the massacre.

Does a rebate mean that we can apply for some of the fares back from the Government after we travel?

Phil

No Phil, Spirit take it off the fare they quote and charge, and claim it back on a monthly basis.

Mh

It's right on the ticket. But you never know. Maybe I missed one.

Thanks

Phil

Yes, if you reckon it's a rip-off then price shipping your rig with one of the other shipping lines.

Yep, you've actually confirmed my point.
Because cars are subsidised but trailers/caravans are not, it would actually be cheaper to take two cars than a car and camper trailer - go figure !!
But the underlying point is that for any Tasmanians travelling for a few months each year, as we do, the up front cost is anywhere from $1400 to $2400 depending on what you are towing, BEFORE you start your holiday - that's a bit more expensive than driving out of the garage in Melbourne and picking up your first tank of fuel.
Having said that though, it's a relatively small price to pay for living in paradise for much of the year :-)

Quote "Because cars are subsidised but trailers/caravans are not, it would actually be cheaper to take two cars than a car and camper trailer - go figure !!"

Motorhomers towing with an A frame make use of that idea. They remove the A frame from the towed vehicle, stash it in the motorhome, the husband drives the motorhome on and the wife drives the fully subsidised car on.

They do not publish a schedule of fees these days. You have to use their calculator to find out the fares. They published a fee schedule when I first went over and it was easier to figure out your costs with that. Back in those days qualifying vehicles had a fee for a vehicle up to 6 metres. When you exceeded 6 metres you paid that fee for the first 6 metres and then a fixed price by the metre (or part there of) over that 6 metres. If you multiplied that cost per metre by 6 it was a hell of a lot more than the fee for the subsidised first 6 metres of your rig.

Subsidy for cars is $208 and for cars towing a caravan $408.

"Because cars are subsidised but trailers/caravans are not, it would actually be cheaper to take two cars than a car and camper trailer - go figure !!"

I figure that two cars as $208 each is $408, or one car and one caravan $408. Seems fair enough to me. Does a camper trailer not come under the same classification as a caravan?

Mh

No, that's not right.
I don't know how they work out the subsidies, but the price for my Hilux alone is $89 each way, but once I add the van (less than 5 metres) it goes up by $239 to total of $328.
For a trip taking TWO cars it would cost a total of only $178 each way, which is $150 less than car plus camper - that's the bit that doesn't make sense to me.

It might be worth asking them Wildmax. They don't show any itemisation on tickets (or didn't on ours) so we can't see what we are getting. From the Government website it is meant to work out the same.

Mh

No need to ask. I see there is a schedule of fees back on their web site - try this link

The standard fare for family vehicles is $89 if less than 5.3 m or $99 up to 6.0 m

If you tow a van or drive a motorhome it is $109 for the first 7.0 m plus $73 for each additional metre or part thereof.

If you tow a boat it is $308 for the first 7.0 m plus $73 for each additional metre or part thereof.

So it pays to car-top your boat.

For anyone looking at the subsidies I have posted in this section, I have made a typo. $204 not $208 is correct as per my earlier post. My extension was correct on the correct amount.

Make your camper pedal power like a rickshaw and pedal it on board booked as a "car"? :O LOL

Mh

Has paid for their millions of profit !

sealink profit

And at least Tassie is worth every cent you spend getting there unlike KI that we found to be the most over-hyped place we've been camping (running for cover now before a few of the EO members who love the place respond :))

Wicket,

Assuming an average of 2.5 sailings per day, it's a profit of around $9,000 per sailing. Lots of loss making sailings in the off season especially in winter.

It's hard to see how they are gouging and ripping off people.

For the investment made $4M profit isn't very good at all.