Eurostar - London to Paris - $500? HELP
 

I am looking up fares for the Eurostar train and everything is $500 for 2 people round trip London to Paris. This seems really expensive. HELP.

I have tried sncf.com and eurostar.com and raileurope.com, and everythin is saying $250 roundtrip per person.

Again try BETS (800-441-2387) as the raileurope web site often doesn't list cheaper fares as being available when in fact they may be - this happened to me recently - if BETS says only $500 then it's probably true, at least from the RailEurope standpoint - RE markets Eurostar tickets in US. Round-trips are as low as $90 p.p. Mon-Thu and cheapest of weekends $150 r.t.

I have not booked through this site (yet) but had a discussion with another Fodorite who used it: eurorailways.com can't hurt to see what they have.

Why don't you fly with Ryanair?
Much cheaper - try www.ryanair.com

I tried Ryanair.com, and they don't have london to paris.

Flying is a great idea though. Any ideas for other airlines/webstes on flights from london to paris?

Yes, take EasyJet or BMI.

http://www.flybmi.com
http://www.easyjet.com

EasyJet flies from Luton, BMI from Heathrow. Both land at CDG. Heathrow is a bit quicker and easier to get to than Luton, but it's no big deal to get to Luton.

railconnection.com is one of the best eurail ticket sites. I used to work for them...their profit margins are very very small, thus you get a better deal.

I just checked our (their) site. YOu are going to be out of luck I am afraid...eurostars are exactly what you priced them out as. Are you sure there are no easy jet or ryanair flights. That seems a bit off. You may have to leave from somewhere other than Heathrow (Gatwick, etc) but I know they exist.

Flying is much cheaper? I wonder. Cab to the airport, be there well before departure, take a plane to the next airport, hire another cab? I did the math last year while in London and found that the Chunnel would have saved me both time and cold, hard cash. Unfortunately I figured that out later, after waiting 3 hours for a delayed flight, getting to Paris, paying a small fortune for a cab, then waiting again for the flight back. After we finally got back to London we were kept an hour on the ground because of a security snafu somewhere. Next time I will certainly take the train.

try this out, maybe it will help you.

Author: Robespierre
Date: 03/08/2006, 03:35 pm
Eurostar is offering a promotion through the Telegraph newspaper for people to book two for one tickets to Paris and other locations. It came out to 58 GBP for two people, round trip! Fantastic bargain.

http://eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisure/la..._promotion.jsp

You have to get the passwords for the promotion though, which are available here:
http://www.buyonegetone.co.uk/exclus...-telegraph_134

Make sure you follow the instructions carefully. The rates are only available on certain times and days, so if you're flexible this could save you a good chunk of change!

I just checked the raileurope prices, which were 120 p/p r/t 2nd class for travel mon thru thurs leisure fare.
when we took the same trip 2 years ago it was 90 p/p, so a 30 increase in that period of time is not unreasonable, and BTW the 2nd class trains are very nice.

Whoadude, I'm not 100% sure, but I think that deal had to be booked by March 28??

Lesm, what day & time are you trying to travel?

It must be more expensive to travel Sunday - Thursday? Unfortunately, those are the days i need to travel.

I am travelling Sun. Dec 31st - Thurs. Jan 4th. I know I get actually book these dates yet, but I am trying to get an idea on prices by looking up other closer Sun - Thurs trips.

Why don't you try Ryanair from London (Gatwick)- Dublin and then from Dublin to Paris. Works out same as train ticket price if you prefer to fly and don't mind connecting. Its about 70 euro r/t from Dub-Paris and about 40GBP r/t from London to Dublin

And its not more expensive if you take public transport to the airports (you don't have to taxi).

Ok, don't panic yet as you stated it's too early to book your actual dates.

Did you try eurorailways.com ? See what they have for a Leisure Saver Roundtrip

No need to take a circuitous route on Ryanair - EasyJet or BMI will be fine.

If you have more time than money, National Express will deliver you there by bus even cheaper: http://www.nationalexpress.com

Oh, I just tried Eurorailways, and they quoted $300 for 2 people round trip. Much more reasonable than $500.

THANKS.

That's great, but PLEASE keep in mind that I have never used that site myself! I think Travelgirl2 was the person who used it with success.

Where is Robespierre? He is an expert at this stuff!

BMI LHR-CDG-LHR your dates, £84 per person, £168 for 2, = US$320.