Lisa2464

With all the time spent this site you would think I would have picked up on the fact that I needed to book this ticket early!!!!
I looked at the Eurostar website about
2 1/2 weeks ago when I started planning my trip and saw that I could get a round trip ticket for London-Paris for 150 Euros.

You may imagine my surprise yesterday when I went to book my ticket for next Friday only to find out that the cheapest rate is now 300 euros!! And there are 2 of us!!
Up to this point things were going oh-too- smoothly.

So here is my question ...do I chalk this up to a really dumb mistake and cough up the extra 300 euros or is there another way to buy cheaper seats? If I buy them in London can I get a better deal and how would I do that? Can my hotel in London help out?? Should I buy my seats asap so I know that I have a seat???

According to the Eurostar website I could leave at 5:30 am but I'm not willing to do that. I am trying to go to Paris on a Friday (next Friday!)and back to London the following Tuesday.

Thanks for any and all help!

WillTravel

Does it have to be Eurostar? There are often cheap budget flights on that route, with a number of carriers, and some flights even leave from Heathrow. Maybe you can get one of these if you act quickly.

Patrick

I'll second that suggestion. I just checked the Easy Jet site and you can still get seats mid day from London Luton to CDG in Paris for just over 31 pounds each on next Friday. Even with transportation to and from the airports, it will be hard to top that price.

PalenqueBob

If you could leave on thursday you can get a $90 round trip (good Monday-Thursday on any train). Eurostar prices sold in the U.S. have recently been dramatically lowered to compete with discount airlines such as EasyJet and RyanAir. But the cheaper Eurostar fares are sold in allotments - certain number on each train only. In the US you can buy a Leisure I fare for travel on any train any day, subject to availability, for $90 each way (Lon-Paris or Brussels); round-trip not required; not changeable or refundable. In UK you can buy a 59 pound return fare but no cheaper one-way fare, according to their brochure good through Sep 27, 03; in fact it says one ways are the same price as Leisure I returns. From Paris the same fare is 69 euros. So you can save by buying there - to check on how feasible availability may be I'd say to call Eurostar UK's info line 1233 617575 and ask! Web: www.eurostar.com.

Lisa2464

Because we had planned to take Eurostar, I hadn't really looked into flying. I will call today & see what I can find out.

Lisa2464

Good news! Thanks to more great Fodorite advice, I am booked on the Eurostar trains I wanted ( 10 am and 11:45 am!) The best outcome of this is that I have paid 78E round trip - leisure 1! This is half the price of the tickets I saw on the web 2 weeks ago at 150E and much less than yesterday's web rate of almost 300E.
As recommended here, I called Eurostar UK directly and made my leisure 1 reservations. Now I am sure my seats are probably right next to the bathroom or are somehow the worst seats on the train but who cares!!