RailEurope protection plan--is it necessary/recommended?

The larger question would be do you need RailEurope instead of booking directly with Eurostar.

Both Eurostar and RailEurope offer the same train schedule at the same prices. Is there an upside to booking directly with Eurostar? And can one print off the tickets at home--which RailEurope offers?

No, there's no upside to booking directly with Eurostar; everything is the same and both sites sell e-tickets. I usually would not pay for Rail Protection Plan on a ticket that is probably costing you under $200. Strikes are usually announced in advance, along with the opportunity to cancel or rebook any tickets reserved for the strike date, if the strike actually affects your train. If you're stranded somewhere else because of a strike, and can't reach the Eurostar, then Eurostar won't help you.

Thanks so much everyone! As you can see, I'm new to this site and having seasoned travelers giving advice tremendously helps.

FYI you can print tickets at home from the Eurostar site if you book through them.

Hi,

I did that RailEurope protection plan only once. It was ten dollars then. To me it's a waste of money. No way I am going to lose my pass, esp now in the way I travel.

You need to read the conditions for the protection to determine if it is worth it to you. For example, I noted this line:

Travelers are responsible to pay the difference in price between the exchanged product(s) and the new booking. In case the price of the new ticket / pass is lower than the original product, the difference will not be refunded.

Now it's worth something to be guaranteed a credit towards a change. But if you miss your train (... I have not satisfied myself that this is a covered condition, but maybe it is?) and have to buy a high-priced last-minute fare, they are only promising to credit you with what you already paid. You could have spent the same amount (in total) to buy a high-priced last-minute fare at the last minute, and not (making this up) paid for a cab in a futile attempt to get to the station in time ... Personally, I try to avoid exposure to ticket booth lines with advance purchase, not just to save money.

Your time might better be spent searching this forum for past posts about how far in advance Eurostar tickets go on sale, and how to score the lowest fare ... I mean in the way we all try to get a good, advance-purchase deal on air tickets. BTW, did you check for delivery charges or fees from RailEurope? It's hard to find anyone here with a good word for them.

I purchased and printed off the tickets from RailEurope-their fee was $7.95, vs $7.00 for Eurostar. Since I'd already saved my info on the RailEurope site, I went with them.

Rick Steves is partnered with RailEurope so I felt pretty confident going with them. Also, we leave in less than 3 weeks, so advance purchasing wasn't an option for us.

"Rick Steves is partnered with RailEurope" - exactly...so the advice offered by RS staffers is completely unbiased, right?

Look, all I did was come to this site to ask a few questions not get into some sort of discussion about Rick Steves and his staffers and RailEurope. Frankly, I know nothing about any of that. Some very helpful people posted comments and I based my decision on that and reading many positive reviews about RailEurope.

I will be more than happy to let you know of my experience once my trip is over.

Rail Europe is a ticket reseller with highly inflated prices and is best avoided. I can't imagine where you have read so many positive reviews as this company is trashed routinely on this and other travel websites. As RS sells this product, the information needs to be balanced. Just trying to warn you before you make any further purchases is all...

Thank you for the warning. The cost of the tickets was the same on both sites, so in this instance, the price wasn't overinflated. I will keep this in mind for future travel.