FINZ

Has anyone ever purchased tickets for the Chunnel train from London to Paris while in London? Do you pay a lot more for doing so?

I know you can purchase tickets ahead of time on the Eurostar website however, I was wondering if we chose to do this last minute, would it be feasible or just ridiculously expensive?

walkinaround

1. i recommend booking ahead as you will get the best deal. there may be "last minute" deals but they require a bit of hunting and luck. treat a trip on the eurostar (as far as preparation) as you would a flight.

2. it's not called the "chunnel"

111op

I think that it would be ridiculously expensive if you buy at the absolute last minute. But if you've a day or two in advance, it may not be too bad. These are priced like airline tickets.

I can just offer you the story of one personal experience -- for the July 4th long weekend, I did this, and I probably bought my ticket about two or three days before online. The ticket was about 100 pounds. One leg was the about as cheap as it could be, but the other leg (a Monday morning return) was about 75 pounds.

For comparison, note that according to the Eurostar website, the cheapest roundtrip is, I think, 59 pounds (29.50 x 2, I think).

If you show up at the very last minute to buy tickets, I'm pretty sure that you'll be screwed. That said, I think that I did that once also and bought a one-way ticket. That was a couple of years ago.

ealing_calling

Hi -- plan ahead, and give the UK booking phone number a call to find out about availability & prices.

There are only so many cheapie seats (right now the lowest prices are £59 daytrip, or £59 roundtrip with a Saturday night away). Once the cheap seats are gone, they're gone.

Get the timetable info online before calling. Another good thing about talking to a rep is you can request seats (table seats, window etc.) Only bad thing is a £5 service charge; but, you'll save way more than a fiver by planning ahead. Be flexible and I bet you'll get some great seats -- then, just pick up your tickets at Waterloo an hour beforehand (this is what I'm doing next month).
HTH

ealing_calling

Here's the number:

011 44 8705 186 186

open during UK business hours + some eve's.
HTH

elberko

When should I expect to find the best prices for Eurostar travel end of January, 2005?

~Liz

111op

Well, presumably you can start looking now -- look through the fares page online. You'll probably never see a fare that drops below 59 pounds round-trip, so if you get it, obviously you can book.

When I was booking a couple of weeks ago, I remember seeing a Glamour special for 2 for 50 pounds round-trip each.

You've a pretty idea as to how cheap the tickets can get.

ira

>...When should I expect to find the best prices for Eurostar travel end of January, 2005?<

60 days in advance.

salleynev1

Always book 21days in advance for the best fares on Eurostar. The compulsory day return or the compulsory Saturday night away gives the best fare at £59return
www.eurostar.com

PalQ

Don't neglect comparing prices available thru RailEurope in US. Previous poster says 59 pounds currently cheapest round trip. Yet the cheapest ticket now available thru RailEurope is $90 round trip - certainly cheaper than 59 pounds and similar restrictions. Youths under 26 can get $45 one ways here. Or you can currently go first class each way for just $90! Anyway the cheapo tickets are hard to book even in advance some times so if you just show up you may pay much much more as the cheap tickets in fact are few in allotment on many trains. If interest in US prices, etc., i'd call Budget Europe (800-441-9413, a Raileurope agent who i always go thru for my passes, Eurostar, etc - they're experts and will explain all to you. eurostar web site may well also have cheap tickets, but i'd compare to RailEurope's prices as these prices were set before the dollar tumbled significantly, making prices in US dollars more attractive. (about 1.90$ to s pound at an excellent exchange rate)

Robespierre

I'm confused. If "it's not called the 'chunnel'," why does this article do just that?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/d...00/2511653.stm

(As do numerous other Google hits.)

walkinaround

robes...

to be more accurate, i should have stated, "it's not called the "chunnel" in europe".

it was just a cultural aside rather than to be critical of the poster, hence the smiley face after the comment.

i don't know why that bbc article calls it the chunnel... it is a very old article, though. most other references are probably either by americans or for an american or mixed audience.

if i told my coworkers here in london that i was taking a trip to paris on the chunnel train they would look at me very funny...like i was from another planet.

maybe others have more insite into why it is not called this europe as it is in the US. or perhaps it was but the nickname didn't stick for some reason. anyone know? my only guess is that the word "chunnel" may have had negative connotations due to the budget overruns and other problems of mismanagement.

maybe the fathers of the big dig in boston do not wish the project to continue to be called the "big dig" as this term conjures up images of waste and mismanagement. just a thought...

Patrick

I have a friend, a native of London, who still lives there and works there. We email frequently. He has often said things like "last Tuesday I chunneled to Paris for the day, taking my grandson" or "had to take the chunnel to Paris for a business meeting". Maybe he finds it less pretentious than saying "I Eurostarred to Paris" or maybe it's simply easier than saying "last week I took the train that goes through the tunnel under the English channel to Paris".

Maybe like here in the US, not all Europeans use the same expressions?

flanneruk

Journalists tried to popularise "chunnel" (shorter in tabloid headlines). It didn't take off, and the BBC's usage merely proves, yet again, how out of touch journalists often are with the real world.

There's always the odd eccentric and we're pretty tolerant of real foreigners coming out with strange English. But native English speakers, like Americans or Australians, sound really, really silly (indeed quite pretentious) if they use fake slang. It causes us to cringe in a way no oddity in clothing or political opinion ever could.

An American poster on this board likened it to a Briton in the US talking about "Frisco"

walkinaround

thanks, flanner. i figured you'd be the one to straighten this one out.

strange though how most americans know it as "the chunnel". Still not sure why it stuck there when it failed to here.

maybe the term is frozen in time there as it probably had a lot of press in the US when it first opened but hardly any thereafter.

adamhornets

If you want to push the boat out, go first class - you can get some good deals by booking in advance or going to web sites such as Last Minute.com

You get bigger seats, free meal and free drinks. Enjoy.