Eurostar to Paris
Hi
I plan to travel from London to Paris on a Sunday in September. I will arrive in London, ex Oxford, about 11am and see there are Eurostar trains at 12.02, 12.29 and 13.00. I wonder if is necessary to book in advance or just get to St Pancras as quickly as possible and buy a ticket then? Are there any cost advantages either way? Any comments will be appreciated. Akarana |
Eurostar to Paris
"Spencer" wrote in message
... I plan to travel from London to Paris on a Sunday in September. I will arrive in London, ex Oxford, about 11am and see there are Eurostar trains at 12.02, 12.29 and 13.00. I wonder if is necessary to book in advance or just get to St Pancras as quickly as possible and buy a ticket then? Are there any cost advantages either way? Any comments will be appreciated. I would never just turn up at a station to get any train without having made a reservation, let alone for an international service. What on earth would the benefits be? In any event, the cheapest tickets are always the ones paid for in advance. If you just turn up you would probably have to pay full price. Buy them now online then relax, safe in the knowledge that your trip is booked. Ian |
Eurostar to Paris
"Spencer":
I plan to travel from London to Paris on a Sunday in September. I will arrive in London, ex Oxford, about 11am and see there are Eurostar trains at 12.02, 12.29 and 13.00. I wonder if is necessary to book in advance or just get to St Pancras as quickly as possible and buy a ticket then? Are there any cost advantages either way? Any comments will be appreciated. I haven't used Eurostar since they moved to St. Pancras, but they used to require you to check in half an hour ahead of train time. So you'll need to allow for that when reserving. Ian F.: I would never just turn up at a station to get any train without having made a reservation, let alone for an international service. What on earth would the benefits be? Well, duh! On earth, you get on the first train available. And on services that don't require reservations, you get to pick your seat. I would never reserve in advance unless there was a good reason to do so. In any event, the cheapest tickets are always the ones paid for in advance. Sad but true. And that *is* a good reason to do so. -- Mark Brader, Toronto "Don't anthropomorphize evolution: It hates that." --John Freiler |
Eurostar to Paris
Mark Brader" wrote in message
... Well, duh! On earth, you get on the first train available. And on services that don't require reservations, you get to pick your seat. I would never reserve in advance unless there was a good reason to do so. Well, duh! Obviously I didn't mean local services, which I use on spec most days. I'm talking about travelling any distance. Why stress yourself out, having to get to the station early enough to queue for a ticket and then pay top price? Just book it in advance. Ian |
Eurostar to Paris
Mark Brader:
Well, duh! On earth, you get on the first train available. And on services that don't require reservations, you get to pick your seat. I would never reserve in advance unless there was a good reason to do so. Ian F.: Well, duh! Obviously I didn't mean local services, which I use on spec most days. I'm talking about travelling any distance. So am I. Why stress yourself out, having to get to the station early enough to queue for a ticket and then pay top price? Just book it in advance. Why stress yourself out, having to decide in advance what time to travel and then having to get to the station in time to catch that train? Unless the pricing is such as to make the other choice impractical, that is. -- Mark Brader "Never re-invent the wheel unnecessarily; Toronto yours may have corners." -- Henry Spencer My text in this article is in the public domain. |
Eurostar to Paris
Mark Brader wrote:
Mark Brader: Well, duh! On earth, you get on the first train available. And on services that don't require reservations, you get to pick your seat. I would never reserve in advance unless there was a good reason to do so. Ian F.: Well, duh! Obviously I didn't mean local services, which I use on spec most days. I'm talking about travelling any distance. So am I. Why stress yourself out, having to get to the station early enough to queue for a ticket and then pay top price? Just book it in advance. Why stress yourself out, having to decide in advance what time to travel and then having to get to the station in time to catch that train? Unless the pricing is such as to make the other choice impractical, that is. Yes, I agree. I look back with regret to past times when one was able simply to go to a train station, buy a ticket, and get on the first available train - more or less whatever one's destination - certainly for journeys less than an hour or two. Nowadays to get a ticket for a reasonable price it seems one must plan a journey weeks (or even months) ahead. Everyone seems to accept this huge inconvenience as normal and necessary - I've never really understood why. It's one of the reasons I much prefer travelling by car, politically incorrect though it is. -- Mike Lane UK North Yorkshire |
Eurostar to Paris
Ian F. wrote:
[] I would never just turn up at a station to get any train without having made a reservation, I do it all the time in the UK. I'm not sure if you can do this on eurostar however... which I thought was the only train service in the UK which required reservations... What on earth would the benefits be? Flexibility. -- (*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "The fact is that when I compose I never think of and never have thought of meeting the listener." -George Perle (RIP 2009) |
Eurostar to Paris
Ian F. wrote:
Mark Brader" wrote in message ... Well, duh! On earth, you get on the first train available. And on services that don't require reservations, you get to pick your seat. I would never reserve in advance unless there was a good reason to do so. Well, duh! Obviously I didn't mean local services, which I use on spec most days. I'm talking about travelling any distance. I often just turn up for long distance trains in the UK, without a problem. I'd say I book in advance half the time, other occasions I can't. Why stress yourself out, having to get to the station early enough to queue for a ticket and then pay top price? Just book it in advance. For leisure travel, yes, but I often need need the flexibility. I never find buying tickets at train stations here a problem, and the main stations have plenty of machines. (Indeed, I often wonder why people queue and assume they have particular questions about tickets, etc.) Even for leisure travel, the cheap advance purchase tickets may have disappeared. I couldn't get any cheap tickets for the Barcelona-Valencia trains for example- not a surprise as it was holy week. This was compounded by none of their long distance machines working at Sants and us having to queue for an hour just to get a damn ticket. -- (*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "The fact is that when I compose I never think of and never have thought of meeting the listener." -George Perle (RIP 2009) |
Eurostar to Paris
Mike Lane wrote:
[] Yes, I agree. I look back with regret to past times when one was able simply to go to a train station, buy a ticket, and get on the first available train - more or less whatever one's destination - certainly for journeys less than an hour or two. I have never bought an advance ticket for a journey from Manchester for less than two hours- even on leisure, the savings wouldn't be enough to merit it- and on many of the routes advance tickets can't be bought. The closest journey time where I do often buy advance tickets would be Manchester-London, which is around 2 hours 5 minutes. -- (*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "The fact is that when I compose I never think of and never have thought of meeting the listener." -George Perle (RIP 2009) |
Eurostar to Paris
"Martin":
Why ask for advice and then argue with it when you get it? Why not see if the person asking for the advice is the same person arguing with it? -- Mark Brader, Toronto | "I don't have a life; I have a program." --the Doctor | (Michael Piller, Star Trek: Voyager, "Tattoo") |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:54 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
TravelBanter.com