Eurostar

We booked directly with Eurostar. Why book with a third party?

Why don't you check the prices at both www.eurostar.com and lastminute.com and see if there is a difference?

Book direct with Eurostar, then if you have any issues, these will be easier to resolve.

Book 6 months in advance for the best prices and avoid travelling Friday and Sunday nights and Monday morning, if possible, as these services are busy.

Definitely book direct with http://www.eurostar.com/
I can see no advantage with booking with anybody else, and plenty of potential disadvantages (price mark-up, limited information, ....).
Unless you want a through ticket from xxx --> London --> Paris --> yyy, a service Eurostar does not offer. In which case go to https://loco2.com/ which can provide such tickets without a mark-up.

Make sure you select "print at home" tickets. You get a PDF file by e-mail which you print out yourself and contains a barcode which will open the ticket barriers and let you in. Couldn't be simpler.

In fact Eurostar does offer tickets from xxx--> London ---> Paris. I wouldn't have known except for the expert advice on The Man in Seat 61. You must choose the English version of the website (explained at link below) to get that option though.

http://www.seat61.com/UKconnections.htm

Option 1: Buy a Eurostar through ticket...

...from 130 UK towns & cities to Paris or Brussels.

At www.eurostar.com you can buy a through ticket between 130+ UK towns & cities and Paris, Lille & Brussels, in either direction.

These through fares are usually much cheaper than buying separate tickets, as Eurostar have negotiated special rates with the British train companies. The rates negotiated by Eurostar tend to be cheaper than even the special fares to London International described in option 3 below.

To see which stations these are, go to www.eurostar.com, select the United Kingdom version of their site (wherever you live!) & use the online booking form, selecting a station from the UK listing.

Advantages of buying a through ticket: Your whole journey will be covered by the international railway conditions of carriage, known as 'Convention Internationale pour le transport des Voyageurs' or 'CIV' . Amongst other things, this means that if your UK train is late and you miss a Eurostar through no fault of your own, you will be re-booked on the next available departure even if you ticket is theoretically non-changeable. A useful protection!

Booking opens 12 weeks (90 days) before departure if the journey includes a British train. Eurostar itself opens up to 6 months ahead - if you want to secure a cheap Eurostar ticket before bookings open for British trains, just book the Eurostar on its own then add a ticket for the UK part later by phone as explained here.

If you're going beyond Paris or Brussels for example to Switzerland, Italy or Spain, instead of booking from London to Switzerland, Italy or Spain at www.loco2.com, simply book a ticket from your local UK station to Paris at www.eurostar.com, then book a ticket from Paris to Switzerland, Italy or Spain at www.loco2.com. Alternatively, book from London to your final destination at www.loco2.com then call Eurostar's domestic travel office to get the cheap rate for the UK leg as explained here.

How do these Eurostar through tickets work? After booking, you get a print-at-home ticket for the Eurostar itself and a reservation code to collect the UK ticket from the self-service ticket machines at your UK starting station. For longer distance travel (for example, Manchester to Paris) they are only valid on the specific UK train which directly connects with your Eurostar, so if you want to stop off in London for any reason, you should buy separate tickets as shown in option 3 below.

You MUST use the United Kingdom version of eurostar.com, wherever you live... You can buy these through tickets in either direction, so for example you can buy a one-way or return ticket from Paris to York or from Brussels to Bath. But at www.eurostar.com you must select United Kingdom or change the site setting to UK English at top right so that you make the booking in pounds sterling on the UK version of Eurostar's website. These 130 UK regional destinations do not show up on the French, Belgian, Dutch, US, or Rest of World versions of their site because UK train companies won't accept euros or dollars and Eurostar won't speculate by taking euros but settling in pounds. There are no problems in booking on the United Kingdom version of Eurostar.com even if you live in France, Belgium or overseas.