We are coming in mid March to Paris on the Eurostar from London. We have train tickets to return to London the night before our flight back to the US. I'm concerned that with the transportation strikes, that are spotty but ongoing, that we may not be able to return and then miss our flight. Should I pay the fees to change our train tickets to return an earlier day? I wish I had a crystal ball to see if the strikes will be happening then but since I don't I'm reaching out to you! This will be our first time to France and I hate to cut our time there short. I haven't followed news in France before this and don't know if there is a history of striking patterns that would be helpful in making my decision. Thanks in advance
Posted by
Rural Georgia
2195 posts
A good place to start would be to go to the Eurostar page and follow the messages. This may give you a sense of what to expect.
The biggest transportation union has called for a break to regroup and service is better now, but there's no guarantee it will stay that way. I believe that Eurostar was not as severely affected as other service.
It's a gamble. I would sit tight for the moment. I think the fact you already have tickets will work in your favor.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7887 posts
You can consider waiting to pay the high walk-up fare ON the day before, or this far out, you could buy the cheapest seats on the cheapest departure time the day before, and have both sets of printouts in your pocket.
Posted by
Jackson
89 posts
When I was there in December the Eurostar was affected. The day I traveled several trains had been cancelled .
The good news is that the cancellations are announced several days, or longer, in advance. They will notify you, but it is better to just check the Eurostar site to keep updated. On any given day, some trains will run.
If yours is cancelled then you can change to any other train at no charge.
I’m not sure how already having tickets works to your advantage during a strike except that you have locked in your fare.
I wouldn’t buy any extra tickets but just be prepared to take an earlier or later train if yours doesn’t run.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank you to all of you for the input! Really appreciate it!