Eurostar vs. Easyjet

I wouldn't count Eurostar out just yet.

From city center to city center, Eurostar is faster even with the delays at immigration.

To fly out on EasyJet, you've got a relatively expensive train ride down to Gatwick. And then you've got to get from CDG or Orly airport into Paris--if that's your intended destination.

The Eurostar is just seamless from London's center city into Paris' center city. Less than 3 hrs.--faster than above.

Much less than 3 hours - it's two hours and 20 minutes.

So much less hassle and time to/from airports, and so much better for the environment too. Plus way more comfortable. There's no competition between the two for me on this route. Eurostar all the way.

I'd still take a train before airplanes. You get to move around, vs being quite cosy with your neighbor, restaurant cars, and seeing the countryside. I love European trains and always think London to Paris or Belgium/Holland is better on the Eurostar.

As for the British, welcome to life going through the Non-EU line. Another Brexit perk.

There was an article by Simon Calder in Friday's Independent newspaper entitled the Fresh Air Express about how Brexit caused passport checking delays force Eurostar to only sell 3 seats and leave 2 empty out of every five.

Amsterdam even worse. 72 percent of seats on trains leaving Amsterdam must remain empty.

Tough for any company to make any money when they are forced to carry a train half full of air instead of paying passengers around.

I will always choose train over plane if I have a choice and if it makes sense. Less hassle, more comfortable, and more fun. If you want quiet and don't want to be forced to stare at someone for several hours, pick a first class solo seat. That's how I roll with Eurostar and have never regretted it.

Eurostar may indeed be 2h20 min, but they now ask you to be at the station 90 minutes before departure. So basically all the annoyances of air travel, but slower...

I think Eurostar should just send the UK and French governments an ultimatum. Get rid of the security theatre, and permit passport control on board. Currently Eurostar is more expensive, and less successful as it could be, and other railways aren't even touching the tunnel with 200 mile pole...

When talking about air travel people always remember the 90 min early and the distance to and from the airport; but they always tend to overlook that most of us are not going to arrive at the train station 5 min for departure and while the stations are generally in the city the trip to the hotel still takes time.

Yes the train is a lot more carbon friendly but I just dumped a ton of carbon getting to Europe, so it really doesn't work in my mind to worry too much (if I wanted to make a meaningful difference I would have stayed home or sailed to Portugal and started taking the train at that point).

Once a train ride hits 4 hours in length, look at flights; thats appears to be when the travel time begins to even out.

Of course there is no beating the romance of the rails .... especially in the dark, in the tunnel between London in Paris.

Nigel, I didn't realize they were being forced to sell fewer seats because of passport checking slowdown.

that's the main part of the article, trains are leaving emptier than they should because of logistics.

what I don't understand is that last month when I entered the UK through Heathrow, I stood at a machine that scanned my passport and my face and opened the gate. there were no personnel and no stamping, that's really all that is needed. You go in, you go out. Easy enough for a robot.

the NYT noted recently that in France they have declared flights of less than 2.5 hours illegal if there's a train that does the same route.

Phread, but for Eurostar you not only have departure from the UK border control which might be electronic gates by now but you have French Border control to go thru before you get into the waiting room. I am guessing that is where the Brexit/political slow-downs are.