Eurorail Chunnel
 

We're taking a 9:30ish Eurorail from Paris to London...arriving at around 11:30. The question is...is breakfast and/or lunch served on the train?

I'll bet the next post is from somebody correcting the OP's use of the words "Eurorail" and/or "Chunnel."

But don't stress over it - eurorail.com will gently redirect you to eurail.com, and &quot;Chunnel&quot; is used almost daily on the BBC web site. I got 720 hits by googling <b>chunnel site:bbc.co.uk</b>.

If you mean the Eurostar and you are traveling in first class, then yes you will be served a meal at your seat. With a 9:30 departure, you'll get either a breakfast or a &quot;brunch&quot; type meal. When I take the 8:39 Eurostar to Brussels, I'm served a nice, hot breakfast with several cold options...croissants, cheese, fruit, etc. Surprisingly, the coffee served at your seat in first class is fairly decent. I don't know what it's like from the bar car.

If you're not in first class, then no meal. You can buy some things on the train, but I don't recommend them. So eat an early breakfast at the hotel. Or pick up some croissants or pastries from the local bakery or cafe in Paris and then have lunch in London.

Sorry that I don't know the answer to your question...

...but sooner or later, someone is likely to &quot;correct&quot; your use of slang that is somewhere between misinformed and just flat out wrong.

You're taking the <i><b>Eurostar</b></i> which crosses through the <i><b>Channel Tunnel</b></i>.

Eurorail is, presumably, a word you have made up yourself, derived in part perhaps, from <i><b>EurailPass</b></i>, a trademark of the marketing consortium <i><b>RailEurope</b></i> which sells rail passes and tickets for trains on the dozens of different national rail companies which operate in Europe.

Best wishes,

Rex

I don't think Eurailpass is a trademark of RailEurope, one of several Eurailpass wholesalers in the U.S. RailEurope sells Eurailpasses as do the other outlets - the name is no doubt trademarked but probably by the Eurail Commission sitting i think in Utrecht, Holland, which sets the prices and conditions for the passes. Raileurope does originate and presumable trademark some Eurail named two country passes but i think not the Eurailpass. I stand to be corrected if wrong.

You were off by one post, Robes... ;)

And I think it likely that PalQ has provided information that is accurate, and mine is not.

Yes, but I'm the only one who actually answered the OP's question! ;-)

True, but we had to deduct ten points for &quot;If you mean the Eurostar...&quot;

And rex, I said &quot;and/or&quot; so I should be awarded full marks. :))

Well, I do wonder why the lot of you were so compelled to discuss the OP's choice of words without even TRYING to answer her question!

I answered the part I knew about. I've never been on a late-morning Chunnel departure on the Eurorail.

Many novice European rail travelers assume that 'Eurorai' or Eurail has their own trains in Europe, not knowing that the Eurailpass simply is honored by most European train lines in the 18 participating countries (Romania being the newest and 18th member) - so it's ironic that trains through the CHUNNEL, or as purists say the Channel Tunnel, are amongst the few in Europe that do NOT honor the Eurailpass - compounding the OP's befuddlement of the Eurorail system. And lammon, please don't think i'm ridiculing you as it's a common and understandable mistake for novices and yes we all understood the OP's question and could have dwelt on that except those of us who are quite familiar with European trains like Robespeter and Rex and moi can't let it pass. Only the other train expert, BTike actually answered the question. Brits on this forum seem to mainly cringe at the word Chunnel so i'm happy to see Robespeter point out the folly of these complaints.
Anyway back to OP - in second class yeh you can buy expensive snacks at the bar car but feel free to bring your own food and drink aboard as many other 'standard' class travelers do.

I forgot to add that in first class you will also be offered champagne, red or white wine, or beer, even on the breakfast runs (in addition to still or sparkling water, juice and so on).

Hi mom,

If you don't have breakfast before you leave, you can pick up something to nosh on at the train station.

Cheaper than buying the same stuff on the train.

((I))

The one advantage to the buffet car on Eurostar is that it gives you an excuse to stretch your legs and get away from anyone whose conversation might be annoying. You might also get a less obstructed view outside.

Takeaway catering at the gare du Nord tend to get a bit crowded at the best of times, so I wouldn't rely on stocking up there unless you get there in plenty of time.

I'd lay in some biscuits and fruit the night before just in case, then anything you can get on the station and the train (getting coffees wouldn't be a great problem) would be a bit of a bonus.

If you're not going first class your best bet would be to get something before you get on the train. The onboard range isn't that wide and it's expensive.

There are several stalls on the Gare Du Nord that sell all the usual bits and pieces, however I would use the shops in the parade opposite as there is more choice and it's cheaper.

There's also lots of good places to eat around Waterloo once you get here, but it depends on how much luggage you have whether you'd want to use them.

Also; don't get your knickers in a knot over what the damned train is called - We pie eaters and the cheese-eaters call it the Eurostar (which is it's brand name). As far as we're concerned the &quot;chunnel&quot; would be the actual tunnel itself.

The only terminological thing to worry about is the difference between the Eurostar and the Shuttle (which is the car carrying service).

I wholeheartedly agree that if you are not traveling first class then buy yourself something at the train station before you get on. The food served in the bar car is not really appetizing. (It's also really expensive!!!)

And......if you have just recently purchased your tickets through RailEurope in the US or Canada, a First Class ticket no longer allows for a hot meal. Only Business Class now.

The RailEurope web site right now still says that Leisure 1st Class travelers get:

High quality meals/refreshments served at the seat
Breakfast until 11:00am: choice of hot or cold continental breakfast
Lunch 11:00am - 2:00pm: three-course meal
Afternoon meal on the train departing between 2:00pm - 4:30pm
Dinner from 4:30pm: three-course meal with a choice of two main dishes

Goldwyn: where did you get your information about the lack of meals or is RailEurope's site wrong?

I thought that restriction pertained to Thalys, not Eurostar. Seems very weird; what's the rationale behind it? I still wonder whether the Thalys staff would refuse to serve someone who bought their ticket that way.

I have seen nothing that says all first class passengers on both Thalys and Eurostars get complimentary meals at their seats - with the possible exception of the Amsterdam-disneyland route exception listed on REurope site, which i believe BTike says he got.
Passholders pay about $35 supplement on Thalys in first class vs about $12 or so in 2nd class and the difference is supposed to be because it includes a meal at your seat.

I've never bought a RailEurope ticket (and I'm a she not a he). But I've taken the Thalys going to MlV a couple of times and never been on a first class ticket where they didn't offer everyone a meal.
Ditto for Eurostar...I've never ridden first class in Eurostar where a passenger was not offered a meal and beverages. Nor has my husband and between us, we've been on Eurostar *at least* 100 times in the last 18 months.

PalQ: You are right. I had checked last week and saw that Raileurope has four new classifcations that I was not familiar with. Namely, Economy, Freedom, Comfort and Premier. Much different than what is on the Eurostar site and what I had bought before from Raileurope. So I checked each to see what the difference was. The Comfort class which I assumed was the old Leisure classification clearly stated the meal was available for a fee. In fact when clicking on details under each class a chart came up and it is much different to what I am seeeing now. So I called the 1-800 number for verification.

The Chicago office of Raileurope was the contact I made and that service rep clearly stated the old Leisure fare is now called Comfort and the meal was available for a fee.

Now I see the website is changed. So who knows which is right.

Perhaps I`ll phone them again.

RailEurope site still says meals are included at seat for Leisure (cheaper) first class tickets as of today. The RE Chicago women must have misspoken i assume or they are negligent in updating their web site - also very possible!

Update on meal in First Class now called Leisure Select. Verified by the Chicago Rail Europe office on Monday that the hot meal IS included in the price of the ticket. Staff advised me that the website at one time was incorrect and then updated to show what should have been there all along.

Anyway I have received my small 3&quot; x 8&quot; ticket by FedEx in a rather huge envelope.......big enough to accommodate the TravelSmith Catalogue which I did not request. Perhaps that is why they charged me $19 Canadian to send that little ticket.

Q- do you also have to pay the VAT (different name in Canada - GST?) on tickets ordered from abroad - i understand you do in Canada? If not would make US sales maybe cheaper than going thru RailEurope in Montreal?

Actually, Leisure Select is one of the two types of First Class, the other being Business Premier (which is more expensive). Once you're on the train itself, the difference between the two is marginal--most Business Premier benefits relate to pre-boarding services (flexible ticketing, fast track check-in, lounges, etc.). If you look at the Eurostar.com seating plans, you'll see the seating setup for BP and LS are the same. We've been seated next to BP travelers while traveling LS and vice versa. They try to put the two FC categories in separate cars, but it doesn't always work that way.

PalQ: Good question......do not know if the GST (Goods &amp; Services Tax)is included in the price of the ticket. I just paid the fare listed on the website plus the shipping charge of $19 Canadian. And that RailEurope site for Canadians is out of Chicago. I tried to pay in US Dollars as the exchange they are giving for Canadian Dollars is about $12 too high. But they wouldn`t let me do that. That could be the GST that is factored in.....it`s 6%.

BTilke: The last time I booked a single seat (with no table) in First Class it was called Solo. Now the RailEurope staff called it Isolated when I asked for that type of seat just a few days ago. Who does these things???

I don't know. There seems to be a desire with changing the names of things. The Thalys people are even worse, for a while they were renaming their fare categories every few months, even though the fare structure for each category remained unchanged.
Solo, Uno, Isole, anyway, you have the seat to yourself. Just make sure it isn't a solo seat facing another solo seat--I hate those, you get less leg room (esp. if the facing traveler has long legs) and no foot rest.

BTilke: That seat configuration all by itself can only be called Solo or the new name, Isolated. That other single seat that you speak of is still called Club 2 and comes with a table. And I agree about the leg room. I always move from my single seat to a Club 2 empty if available because of the table.

PalQ: Went back and checked the Shipment Manifest that came with my Eurostar ticket and behold ........on the very bottom of the Summary it shows the price of the Leisure Select in Canadian Dollars and below that Tax?GST shows 0.00 Canadian. So obviously they do not charge GST on foreign orders. Must be some sort of ruling under the US and Canada`s NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).