We are leaving for London on May 24th. We plan to go to Paris on May 29 and return on June 4th. I really am upset I didn't book the Eurostar tickets earlier, because the price is almost $900 for our family of four! I went to Eurostar.com. Any suggestions for cheaper fares, or do I just have to bite the bullet?

You could try calling Budget Europe Travel Service - http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id1.html

1-800-441-2387 or 1-800-441-9413

Ask for Byron. He's very knowledgeable, and the prices are no more than you would pay direct from Eurostar.com Maybe he can help you navigate through the choices and suggest some cost-saving ideas.

Good luck!

Hi la,

I checked the prices on the UK and France sites.

Cheapest tickets are about $240 for adults and $190 for youth.

lastminute.com has tickets for £99 each, not much cheaper.

Your travel dates correspond with UK's Half Term school holidays, hence higher demand and fares. There are also school holidays around that time in many Continental countries too.

Wow that is pricey! Have you looked into air travel?

I just checked Easyjet.com and they have flights available on your dates (cheapest options if you return June 5.) Now, you'd have to spend the money getting to and from the airports but it might be worth it.

Can you open jaw?

New idea.

I just tried Europebyair.com and found that they sell "flight passes" for $99 each way that they CLAIM can be used on the Eurostar. Haven't tried this myself, but.....

bookmarking

before biting the bullet check www.eurostar.co.uk and eurostar.com again and again. And try the U.S. outlet RailEurope - i second the suggestion of Budget Europe mentioned above - have them do a manual search for cheaper fares that may not appear on raileurope.com (800-441-2387)

There's no difference between eurostar.co.uk & eurostar.com both will give you exactly the same screens & prices

If you want to find out the prices for other nationalities you have to clear out your eurostar cookies and go back to the eurostar site

on my computer at least sometimes eurostar.com works and sometimes eurostar.co.uk works and sometimes both don't work, which is why i give both sites and should say they are the same site i guess.

The currently running post about Curbing Carbon Emissions dictates that environmentally friendly folks will take the train and eschew the absurdly ozone-depelting plane. The planet's future depends on it! Hop the green-friendly train. Save the Planet!

As airlines are said to account for an incredible 15% of ozone degradation and thus contributes to global warming much more than train travel - seriously this is one reason to consider the train even if a bit more of a hassle IMO

The OP is long gone on the trip, but I really question why one will consider <$250 for a roundtrip ticket to be expensive.

You're going between two of the most important capitals in the world that's over 200 air miles apart, with water in between. And the train is fast, comfortable, city center to city center, and no airport hassle.

It's amazing that people still think just because it's a train, it should be dirt cheap. Why not think about the experience on the alternate modes of travel?

OP could have had a fare of $106 per adult return if they'd booked in advance. As it is they had to pay very nearly top dollar

early bird really does get the worm on Eurostar as more and more those $106 return fares are seemingly getting harder to get anytime practically - as Eurostar is so popular i guess if they can seel at higher price it would be foolish to give away at cheap price - pure business decision i guess.

So pick the best off-peak days - midweek and times be flexible on and book early - up to nine months in advance and be guaranteed fare.