I'll be going on the Eurostar (London/Paris and back) Oct 6-16ish. I can book ahead for $86 round trip...or wait until my plans firm up....but I figure if I show up and buy a one way the day I want to go, and another one way the day I want to return....it will be really, expensive (like airlines). I wanted to be flexible, but not sure how...any ideas?
Cheers!
I don't believe the Eurostar is $86 round trip. I understand that it is $86 each way. Yes, you will save money by buying in advance and choosing the cheapest date and time of day. I was just on the RS railpasses site, and I've bought these tix before. The way I organize my trip is to: 1) buy plane tix, and 2) fill in the blanks for other travel and lodging. So make that ticket commitment after you are sure of your plans. I would buy the Eurostar tix and then make hotel arrangements. Now is a good time to get that all together before the cheapest tix are gone!
To get a good price with Eurostar you have to book ahead, and the cheapest tickets are non refundable and no changes allowed.
You cannot have your cake and eat it too, if you want flexible you will have to pay more. And if you wait and buy tickets there you will pay the very most, and I mean it can be alot more, I looked into doing a quick trip over to Paris when I was in London, while I was in London. The prices I found were in the multi hundreds!
Set a date and stick with it, you can be flexible with other stuff.
The Eurostar is not a "buy tickets at the last minute because they'll be discounted in order to sell empty seats" venue. When I was taking the Eurostar from London to Paris (round trip) in May 08 my tickets were o/a $75 per person each way (advance purchase etc. etc.) Now it's about $82 for a non-refundable advance purchase. Some poor (well, not financially) Japanese guy had to get to Paris to meet his group and it cost him $300 for a same day ticket. A one way ticket is "about" $20 more than a round trip. A flexible ticket is o/a $144 vs. $82 for a non-flexible ticket (one way). Go to www.Eurostar.com to figure out your best plan. That is unless you have money to burn in which case do you need a travel guide? (Just kidding) By the way you'll enjoy the Eurostar. Comfortable, not the hasssle of an airport AND you can bring a picnic on board, wine, soda beer and all! No baggage fees either. Shelp on all you can stagger along with. Have fun and have a wonderful trip. No matter what you decide you're bound to have a great time. Best wishes!
I strongly recommend that you purchase the tickets early since I ran into one traveler who was stranded at the station trying to figure out how to get from Nice to London since all the tickets were sold out. I helped him find an alternate route to Paris which took him a whole day of travelling smaller rail lines. But, I still don't know how he made the crossing from Paris to London. The Eurostar site had all their tickets sold for that day just before I left for Europe. When there are several alternative routes, you can wait even until just before you board a train. Especially true for routes and times when most Europeans travel on a daily routine. But, for a limited route like the Chunnel, plan and buy in advance. But make sure you are absolutely certain that you won't need to change the ticket since this will prove most costly.
