If you’re a frequent ferry traveller to and from Ireland or across the Irish Sea, you’ll want to pay attention to this. Irish Ferries has launched a fantastic new loyalty programme that allows you to earn points and rewards simply for booking your sailings directly with them. It’s called the Irish Ferries Club, and it’s their way of saying thanks to their valued customers.
How Does It Work?
The concept is beautifully simple. Just sign up to become an Irish Ferries Club member (it’s completely free), and then book your ferry travel directly through their website at www.irishferries.com. With each booking, you’ll earn loyalty points based on how much you spend.
Those points don’t just sit there collecting virtual dust though. Once you actually take your trip, your points balance will be converted into pounds or euros that get applied as a discount on your next Irish Ferries booking. Talk about an incentive to keep travelling with them!
But it gets even better. The Irish Ferries Club has a tiered membership structure with increasingly lavish benefits as you climb the ranks from Green tier to Silver and then to Gold. We’ll dive into those benefits in more detail shortly.
Why Join?
Aside from the obvious perk of earning discounts on future travel, signing up for the Irish Ferries Club provides some excellent incentives:
- Exclusive member offers and promotions
- Express online checkout using your stored profile
- Priority boarding on select routes (higher tiers)
- Complimentary Club Class upgrades (higher tiers)
- No phone booking fees (higher tiers)
It’s a no-brainer if you frequently cross the Irish Sea or travel between Ireland and France. You’ll be earning rewards just for booking your sailings through the Irish Ferries website as you normally would.
The Tier Benefits Explained
So what kind of rewards and benefits can you expect at each membership tier? Here’s a quick overview:
Green Tier (Baseline)
- Earn 5 cents/pence for every €1/£1 spent
- Exclusive offers and promotions
- Express checkout
Once you spend €1,250/£1,250 you qualify for Silver Tier.
Silver Tier
- Earn 10% back in points currency
- 1 free Club Class upgrade per sailing
- Priority boarding
- No phone booking fees
Then at €3,000/£3,000 spend, you reach the Gold Tier.
Gold Tier
- Earn 15% back in points currency
- 2 free Club Class upgrades per sailing
- Priority boarding
- No phone booking fees
The higher tiers are where it gets really good in my opinion. Being able to get free Club Class upgrades every time you travel is a stellar perk, giving you access to those premier lounges, priority boarding and more space on board. At Gold, having two free upgrades per sailing is great for couples or families.
Routes Served
The Irish Ferries Club programme covers all the company’s routes, which includes some vital connections:
The Irish Sea Routes: Up to 16 daily sailings between Britain and Ireland using modern cruise ferries like the Ulysses and new ship Oscar Wilde, as well as the Dublin Swift fast craft.
France Service: Overnight sailings between Ireland and France up to 3 times per week on the award-winning W.B. Yeats vessel.
Dover to Calais: Frequent sailings (up to 30 per day) across the English Channel between Dover and Calais using the Isle of Inishmore, Isle of Innisfree, and Isle of Inisheer ferries.
With a fleet of ferries covering all these key regions, Irish Ferries has made joining their loyalty club an extremely compelling opportunity for regular travellers.
Do I Recommend It?
In a word, absolutely. The Irish Ferries Club requires no upfront payment to join, and the rewards and benefits start accruing from your very first sailing booked through their website. Even as a Green tier member, you’re earning points that translate into real discounts on future bookings.
For someone like me who tends to travel between Britain and Ireland a few times per year, having free Club Class upgrades and other goodies from the higher tiers is the clincher. Why wouldn’t I want to earn rewards while still booking the sailings I’d be taking anyway?
If you frequently cross the Irish Sea or English Channel, or travel back and forth between Ireland and France, joining the Irish Ferries Club is a no-brainer in my books. Get rewarded for your travels and enjoy better sailing experiences at no extra cost. The club is free to join, so you might as well sign up and start earning from your very first Irish Ferries booking!