Eurostar to Paris

Martin wrote:

On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:24:53 +0100, (David Horne, _the_
chancellor (*)) wrote:

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.

Not if the train is full.

That's the price paid for flexibility. I've not been on a long distance
train which I couldn't get a seat on for ages.

--
(*) 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)

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...

I've not been on a long distance
train which I couldn't get a seat on for ages.

Nor have I. Beacuse I book in advance! ;-)

On the odd occasion when I can't travel I have either changed the booking
and paid an additional fee or chucked the ticket away. If the reason I can't
travel is important enough to mean I can't travel, then la-di-dah re. the
money.

Ian

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...

For leisure travel, yes, but I often need need the flexibility.

I never travel on trains for leisure, always for business. But I plan in
advance and rarely have to make changes. YMMV given your profession, of
course.

I agree re. ticket machines - huge queues at ticket offices, rows of un-used
machines. Most odd.

Ian

Ian F. wrote:

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...

I've not been on a long distance
train which I couldn't get a seat on for ages.

Nor have I. Beacuse I book in advance! ;-)

That's unfortunately not a guarantee. The only times I've had a problem
with seats has been when the previous service was cancelled- all the
people on that service with reservations would have lost them.

On the odd occasion when I can't travel I have either changed the booking
and paid an additional fee or chucked the ticket away. If the reason I can't
travel is important enough to mean I can't travel, then la-di-dah re. the
money.

I've done the same- bought cheap tickets and then discarded them. But
your original question was that you couldn't see any benefits in just
turning up. Well, maybe you can't, but for me it works all the time- and
affords flexibility and the ability to travel on a whim. As I pointed
out, I often do book in advance when I can commit to particular times.

--
(*) 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)

Ian F. wrote:

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...

For leisure travel, yes, but I often need need the flexibility.

I never travel on trains for leisure, always for business. But I plan in
advance and rarely have to make changes. YMMV given your profession, of
course.

Yes- a rehearsal might finish early, or a meeting might very well go on
longer than planned- happens all the time. If I do get to the station 90
minutes earlier than planned, then that's an hour of my time wasted.
Once you figure in the savings for an advance ticket, it's often not
worth it. Now, if it's a nice station- not such a problem- if it's
Birmingham New Street....

--
(*) 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)

Martin wrote:

On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:31:33 +0100, (David Horne, _the_
chancellor (*)) wrote:

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.

If you start a bit further south of Manchester, where the journey time to
London is under two hours, it is still worth booking in advance. AFAIR it
was you who recommended doing it )

Indeed it is, but I was being specific to Manchester. It's always worth
booking in advance when you don't mind being inflexible, and for leisure
travel that's often the case. I'm simply pointing out that there are
plenty of reasons which I (and other travellers have) for not booking
advance at times.

--
(*) 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)

In message , Ian F.
writes
"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
Yes, book in advance for the cheapest tickets, and remember to check if
the return tickets are cheaper than the singles.

And allow time for your Oxford train to be late, especially on a Sunday
when they do repairs to the rail lines. The 13.00 is probably the one
to go for.
--
---
Sheila Page

Martin wrote:

On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:58:09 +0100, (David Horne, _the_
chancellor (*)) wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:31:33 +0100, (David Horne, _the_
chancellor (*)) wrote:

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.

If you start a bit further south of Manchester, where the journey time to
London is under two hours, it is still worth booking in advance. AFAIR it
was you who recommended doing it )

Indeed it is, but I was being specific to Manchester. It's always worth
booking in advance when you don't mind being inflexible, and for leisure
travel that's often the case. I'm simply pointing out that there are
plenty of reasons which I (and other travellers have) for not booking
advance at times.

Your two hour rule is too rigid.

I wasn't making any rule, I was responding to another poster's "hour or
two" comment, which doesn't apply from Manchester.

It's worth booking in advance, whenever there
is a substantial fare saving to be made.

No- it's worth booking in advance whenever there is a substantial fare
saving to be made, _and_ when you can be flexible.

--
(*) 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)

On Apr 18, 11:44*pm, Spencer wrote:
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

Have you tried the eurostar booking website? I ask because September
is quite a ways off right now and sometimes when I've tried to book a
ticket so well in advance, I haven't been able to because of my
earliness.
The main advantage of booking in advance is for cheaper fare. Allow at
least 2 weeks prior to departure to try and secure a cheap rate.

The other advantage is availability (within desired budget). Often,
trying to book a cheapie, say, 3 weeks in advance, has resulted in
been unable to get said ticket for desired time because all said
tickets are sold out.

One other pint which may not need mentioning is that the eurostar
website can, on occasion, take on the manner of a con-artist.
Recently, I wanted to book a special offer, so I clicked on the
specific special offer link. Brussels-London for just 59 euro p/p
return. I filled in the forms specifying my preferred dates and time
of journey (I was nearly a month in advance) and was surprised to be
asked for 730 euro, despite having selected the cheap fare options.

"aquachimp" wrote in message
...

One other pint which may not need mentioning

Pints always need mentioning! Just two hours until my first one! ;-)

Ian