OK folks....what am I doing wrong? I'm trying to book a one way train ticket Paris to London for Sunday November 20th. The least expensive fare I can find is $150 one way. Ouch! Is that just what it is because it's on a Sunday maybe?

Margy

It's impossible to tell what you're doing. But €150 is about the standard single fare.

Tell the system you want a return, coming back the following day. Doing that, it keeps offering me fares around £25 each way. £50-£60 is the normal prebooked return fare: you get much higher costs quoted if you're just looking for a single.

Then, after you've arrived in London, throw the return away. There's no sanction.

Thanks so much! I knew there had to be a trick...

The return fares look way more doable.

hmmmm...after taking another look, it appears that even by selecting round trip, there are two different fares for each segment. It is a bit cheaper....$135 as compared to $150 though. I sure can't find anything for the prices you've found for that date.

Well, I keep on getting prices around £25 each way. Are you sure you've set all the options for leisure and the cheapest class?

However, there's a cookie on my computer that tells Eurostar I'm based in Britain, and I can't get it to assume I'm based outside the UK or France.

I suppose it's possible Eurostar have decided to limit those £60 returns to local bookings. But there'll be greater experts coming on the board later this morning who'll understand the nuances far better

Yes....I am selecting the leisure and cheapest class. Perhaps the difference is because my trip is orginating in Paris?

Hi margy,

You want the SAME DAY return tickets.

23.5GBP each way in 2cl.

Thanks for all of your input. I must be challenged today though because no matter what I do, I can't seem to get a fare lower than $135 for a trip originating in Paris, for a US resident on a Sunday (11/20). When I try the same day return, it's $150.

Sigh.

Did you try deleting your cookies and booking your ticket on the UK version of the website (claim that you reside in the UK)?

UK/US are occasionally not equivalent. In general, UK seems to offer cheaper fares, but that's not a hard and fast rule.

Right now, if I go to UK, the outbound at 8:07 am is 23.50 pounds. The return at 8:09 pm is 50 pounds.

I did some extensive Eurostar pricing "tests" in July to satisfy my own curiosity. I'll see if I can find the thread for you.

I did delete the cookies and try it claiming to be a UK resident...but can I actually purchase a ticket with that claim? Don't they check residency for payment and when you use the ticket?

You can check this thread if you're so inclined:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34510103

The moral is keep trying, and there're no guarantees that fares will come down -- just like buying an airline ticket.

Good luck.

Well, as recently as July 2005, booking as UK resident is fine.

I booked my ticket this way, and I also booked my ticket this way in 2004.

They do not check your residency on the train, and a credit card is all that's required to buy online.

To see if booking as UK resident is worthwhile, don't forget to use the current exchange rate.

As I said, I found that UK offers better rates, but people have said that that's not universally true.

At http://www.eurostar.com saying I am an American on leisure travel, I get $95 on Leisure Select for a return.

Saying I am from the UK on Leisure travel, it is £23.50 on Standard for a return.

Saying I am from the UK on Business travel it is £138.50 for a Standard for a return.

These people are as bad as the ones that sell health club memberships.

Keith

I wrote in the thread I cited:

"Trains could become special for no discernible reason to me. Right now, you can get the cheapest round-trip fare at 59 pounds for 7/2-7/4 if you pick the 15:11 and 9:10 trains (29.50 each), but yesterday these trains were just like any other trains."

In other words, check your prices one day and the next, and the same trains could have wildly different prices.

Just try to remember that and not panic.

Raileurope in US has the $94 day return and as many have said in this forum there seem to be no controls on whether you actually return or not - available on every train but may be impossible to book on Sundays if they can sell out at higher prices. But can try: www.raileurope.com. RE also charges a $15 booking fee and a mailing fee i believe so factor that in. Otherwise you seem to be getting RailEurope $dollar prices on www.eurostar site - RailEurope actually often has cheaper prices than in UK but not on weekends when it only has the $150 one-way (or round trip at same price) - in which case you could get a $170 first class one way i believe. 60 and over can get $90 one-way any day under 26 $75 down to $45 - but again limited supply of those discounted tickets.

Or, you could take the easy way out and call the experts to book it for you. That's what I've done to get peace of mind! You'll pay a slight handling fee, but you'll know you got the best fare, and you'll have tickets in hand shortly. We used these folks, and highly recommend them. Their website is under construction, but here's what it says:

Budget Europe Travel Service, Inc. (BETS)
2557 Meade Court
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-1304 USA
Toll-Free Phone: 800-441-2387
Toll-Free Phone: 800-441-9413
Phone: 734-665-8116 or 734-668-0529
Fax: 734-665-5986

Currently, our Web site is undergoing reconstruction and will be back up soon! In the meantime, if you would like to order European rail passes or rail tickets, or if you have any questions about European rail travel, itinerary planning, or the cost of rail passes and rail tickets, please call BETS, the RAIL EXPERTS! We’ve been putting people on the right track since 1978!

Maybe it was just my tough luck, but not a single agent I called could match the Eurostar/UK fares.

But your mileage could of course vary.

Raileurope's extremely cheap prices for their $90 one way or round trips would inevitably seem to have to change - just seem too low to continue. So as you can make a reservation for up to nine months in advance and be guaranteed that fare you can lock in these incredibly great fares by buying before they inevitably go up. A $90 round trip fare for next July may be an absolute steal.