Hello everyone -

I tried looking this up in the archives and just want to make sure, is eurostar.com the best place to purchase the best priced tickets for the chunnel train? There are 4 of us traveling, (me, my husband, my mom and my 5 year old daughter), on short notice. We are leaving in a couple of weeks - Boston to London, spend a week in London and then take the Eurostar to Paris. Since there are 4 of us, any savings would make a difference : )

I also read that buying a roundtrip and "tossing the return" is cheaper.

When you do this, does it matter what return date you put in or does it have to be the same day? Is this common practice and have a lot of people on this board done it with no problems?

Is this going to cause immigration problems, that we bought these round trip tickets and did not come back? Everyone in our party are US citizens except for my husband who is a US resident(green card holder) and I think part of his visa application was asking for a tentatvie Eurostar reservation, to show he is leaving the UK to Paris.

We will be flying back to the US from Paris.

As usual, this board is a lifesaver - any and all input is much appreciated!

Now I just need to understand the SNCF!!! I have been reading the threads on SNCF for the past 6 hours and now more overwhelmed than when I started : )

Another question in addition to my original post. When purchasing Eurostar tickets, is the process similar to SNCF in that apart from purchasing the ticket, I also need to make a reservation as a separate step? Do they mail the ticket or I just pick it up, and if so, where?

Thank you!

In general, I have found the best prices are on the Eurostar UK web site but every so often Rail Europe runs a sale and can give you cheaper fares but it is sporadic.

It is quite true that return tickets are cheaper, far cheaper, than one ways. One of the cheapest fares I have found is a same day return mid week....if you're leaving in the morning book the morning train and then simply purchase a return late at night the same day...I just priced a trip from Paris to London and it gave me £20 each way so the return would be £40...up around $78 at today's exchange rates and they post the tickets for free....

The immigration is a non issue....to check in at Gare du Nord or at Waterloo you enter the ticket into a card reader and then there is a passport control for the departing country and a passport control for the destination country (France does the honors at Waterloo for any of the Schengen countries as all trains enter France first even though they may be heading for Brussels)...I've done it several times and never had any difficulties eating the return ticket.

One thing that used to be so...when I first entered www.eurostar.com when it asks me what country I am in, I always say UK....the first time when I said USA, they put a cookie on my computer and always directed me away from the UK site to their correspondant in the USA...at one time it was Rail Europe.

If you can't get the same day return. or want to travel later as a one way simply book the return for any date in the future making sure it includes a Saturday night stay over...fares a trifle higher than same day mid week return but only marginally so...far far far better than purchasing a one way.

Hi B,

The cheapest tickets are the one-day RT - about 30 GBP ea way.

No one cares if you don't come back.

As noted: check both the UK and the US prices at eurostar and at raileurope.

You will get an email confirmation.

You get your ticket at the station.
Bring the same CC you used to buy the tickets.

All seats are reserved. It's included in the price.
Allow about 1 hr to get tickets and go through security.

I just purchased same-day London-Paris round-trip tickets from Rail Europe and the price was $94 round trip. The regular one-way fare is $125, so even if you don't use the last leg, it is well worth buying a same day ticket. The service from Rail Europe was excellent, and I would use them again.

For a same-day return ticket, you need to book an early departure and a late return. Other cheap return tickets are possible without booking a Saturday night stay. Only one night away is required and the best prices are for Monday-Thursday for departures between 11:00 and 15:00. While it can be cheap to book a return ticket and throw away the unused portion, single tickets for travel Monday-Thursday can be just as cheap, subject to seat availability.

When you book a Eurostar ticket, the reservation is included in the price and the ticket will show your assigned seat.

The same is true for SNCF. If a ticket requires a reservation, it is included in the price and the ticket will show your assigned seat. However, if you have a railpass, then you would need to make--and pay for--a reservation separately.

How do I check for the UK and US Eurostar? When I first went to the Eurostar website it asked me whether US, UK and another country(can't remember which one). Now, everytime I go to eurostar.com, I don't have the option anymore to choose from the different countries.

Also, can someone describe the immigration process when we go from London to Paris - I think I read somewhere here that France does the check from Waterloo station. I am concerned, specifically for my husband who is not a US citizen and therefore had to get a visa that he might be questioned why he is returning to London when our flight out from Europe is going to be in Paris. Thank you for your patience...I really like the big savings but of course would like to avoid possible problems : )

Lastly, we will be traveling in France to Avignon, possibly Nice and Loire and debating which legs to take the train and which ones to drive(the one that we are seriously considering is the Paris to Avignon) as we could take the TGV to make the trip quicker - is this something I should consider purchasing with the Eurostar?

I tried going to Railsaver as consistently suggested here but the message I am getting is suggesting a France-Germany package????!!!

Thank you!

Go to eurostar.com and see what the full URL is when the homepage comes up. Right after eurostar.com you should find either US or UK. To change your eurostar registration, you first have to delete your cookies. Go to Control Panel, then Internet Options, then Temporary Internet Files. Then choose to delete cookies. Warning: Cookies for all Web sites you've used will be deleted. You may then find it necessary to take more steps to get to pages on other sites for which cookies were on file.

Since prices are fixed and do not fluctuate according to the exchange rate, you may find the best price at eurostar.com by doing a US registration.

For your train trips in France, a railpass probably won't save you any money. Point-to-point tickets are likely to be cheaper, particularly if you book far enough in advance at sncf.com to get PREM'S (discount) tickets. If not sold out, PREM'S are available for Paris-Avignon. They can be as low as E35 while the regular fare is E75. You print PREM'S yourself, Leave France as the default country and do NOT choose cancellation insurance or you won't be allowed to print them.

Hi bonzhoor
>How do I check for the UK and US Eurostar?<

On your web browser click "tools", "options".

Look for the menu that has "cookies".

Click "clear cookies".

Go back to eurostar.com and choose your options.

>I tried going to Railsaver as consistently suggested here but the message I am getting is suggesting a France-Germany package????!!!<

Did you click "only if it saves money"?

Aaaah...now I am getting something that makes sense - thank you! Sorry for this dumb question but relatively new to this...what exactly does "point to point travel" mean. Is that a ticket that specifically states the departure and arrival city, rather than a railpass that you can use for any trip that doesn't specify actual places?

exactly

TimS -
"If not sold out, PREM'S are available for Paris-Avignon. They can be as low as E35 while the regular fare is E75"

are those fares you quoted from Paris to Avignon one way or roundtrip fares?

>>>>"You print PREM'S yourself, Leave France as the default country and do NOT choose cancellation insurance or you won't be allowed to print them."

What if I want to purchase cancellation insurance? Is it worth it? And if I do, how do I get the tickets?

Thank you again for all the help from all the wonderful people on this board!

The fares I quoted are single (one-way) fares.

MorganB, who lives in Paris and posts regularly on this board, has created a thread which is a guide to buying tickets on sncf.com. If I remember rightly, he doesn't think buying cancellation insurance is worth it because of the narrow conditions for being able to claim it. However, if you want it, then your only choice is to have your PREM'S ticket mailed to an address in France (like your hotel). On the other hand, you can choose to pick up regular fare tickets at the station.

PREM'S may be available for some of your other routes, too. If a route requires changing trains and one leg offers a PREM'S, book the legs separately so you can print the ticket for the PREM'S leg.

On sncf.com you can book tickets up to 90 days in advance. To have the best chance of getting PREM'S, book as soon as the 90-day window opens.