Eurostar tickets ~ do we book them before leaving Australia?
 

Okay - I'm really confused here......
I've added up that the cost for 2 adults & 2 children (7yr & 10yr) on a one way ticket from London to Paris (purchased through www.railplus.com.au before leaving Australia) is approx $576 AUD. I then hopped onto the Eurostar website and did a rough estimate of the cost if purchased through the website. I was blown away to discover that it was only going to be approx $234 AUD. Am I doing something wrong with my adding up? Am I correct in thinking that we don't need to get a ticket (unlike EURAIL!) before leaving Australia?
Any info would be helpful with regard to this please.
Thanks

Eurostar tickets work like airline tickets, book in advance to get the cheaper fares, buy on the day and you'll pay a lot more.

Regards.

Yes....
I did notice on the website that Eurostar tickets are expensive closer to travel times. Here, in front of me I have a brochure for www.railplus.com.au - the prices are way, way more than on the eurostar website, and they are set eg adult fare one way standard is $225, 2nd adult is $195 & children are $78ea AUD. Is the Eurostar website set up for use by travellers residing in another country, but planning to travel between the UK/France/Belgium or just for residents of those three countries? Here in Australia, we have to purchase Eurail tickets/passes before leaving - does the same apply for Eurostar tickets?
Ta

It will probably also be cheaper to get returns, and don't use the return half (Eurostar seem perfectly OK with this). Don't forget, the more restrictions you're prepared to accept on refund/exchange, the cheaper it will be.

Really?
The cost of a 'leisure day trip' (return) according to Railplus is $156 AUD - much cheaper on the Eurostar website I'm guessing? How do they check whether you've planned to 'really' return or not? Will we have problems later on when we try to get a one way ticket back into London at the end of our trip ie. 3 months later? Do they keep a record?
Thanks for your help.

If you need a return then it probably will be cheaper to buy a return for your actual dates provided you do so in advance but check day return prices anyway.
Also avoid peak travel times.

Eurostar is generally cheaper than the various other websites.

I presume you can buy them before you go via Eurostar...

Buy them early and save a bunch. Closer to the travel date, price really goes up.

If you buy in advance you may get a one way fare of £35, if you wait until you reach the UK, the odds are you'll pay nearer £179

as for "Am I doing something wrong with my adding up?", the answer is probably not as the .au company is an agency which has it's own (excessive) markup

Thanks for that, I thought as much. This really is a total learning experience. I think we'll definately need a holiday after all of the brain drain that goes into organising and budgeting.
Thanks

Am I missing something?


Why don't you just book through the Eurostar site?

In principle, I would always go to the horse's mouth, so to speak. On the single/return issue, I stand corrected - here's what the man in Seat 61 (fount of all wisdom on trains) has to say:

http://www.seat61.com/Pop-up-eurostar.htm

sashh,
My point is that Eurail must be booked before we leave Australia - does the same apply for international's wanting to travel on Eurostar? Call me dumb, but we've never travelled before.
My thoughts are to book through the Eurostar website, I'm wanting to check the above before I do.....