Changes to Paris/London Eurostar tickets
 

During our trip to Europe this Sept., we plan to take the Eurostar from Paris to London and back .

We want to buy our tickets in advance (we will have a France 'N Italy rail pass) for the passholder fare. My understanding is, when we do that, we have to specify a specific departure time (e.g. 13:04). My question is, what happens if, by chance, we miss that train? Do we have to buy completely new tickets in order to take a later train that same day? What's the penalty (if any) in this situation?

Thanks in advance,
Jennie

I strongly suspect that, as with an Apex airline ticket, if you have bought a "cheap" rather than a "flexible" ticket, you would have no right to travel on a later train, but would have to throw yourself on the mercy of the desk staff. But like an airline, they probably don't want stranded passengers hanging about, so would probably put you on a later train, if there was room. Maybe try emailing [email protected] to find out about the cancellation policy for the type of tickets you are interested in. I believe that the most expensive tickets are fully changeable without penalty.

You might also consider contacting the agency that sold you the passes/tickets

Thank you very much for your replies.

We are flying into Paris and then heading directly to London via the channel tunnel. I'm a little nervous about having to commit to a train leaving at a specific time (what if the plane is delayed for some reason?). But, I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Thanks again, I appreciate it.

Jennie

We were in Paris last month and missed our Eurostar train to London by about 5 minutes (due to problems with the train from Giverny). We went to the counter and a very friendly agent put us on the next train (an hour later). There were no extra charges - she simply printed boarding passes for the new train for us. I did have a feeling that it might depend on the agent, though, since the gentleman next to us did not seem to be having quite the same luck.

Hey, thanks Buffy. That makes me feel better that the POSSIBILITY does exist of not being totally out of luck if we're delayed. I'll try to plead my case and hope I get someone in a good mood that day. =0)

Jennie