Book Train Travel from London to Paris
This is a guide to help you book rail travel (Eurostar) from London to Paris and beyond. This guide contains tips, hints and inside knowledge.
Steps
- Go to the relevant web-site www.eurostar.com as no other company operates on this route.
- Decide when you would like to travel. Note that Eurostar tickets can be booked up to 120 days (approximately 4 months) in advance. Thalys and TGV can be booked 90 days (3 months) in advance.
- Enter the preferred departure station and destination, along with preferred dates and passenger types (adult,senior, child and youth). A recent web-site update now shows all trains for your date of travel making it easier to compare all fares. Click 'Search'.
- Your outbound journey options will appear. There are various options for you here ranging from Class of Service to how flexible/refundable your tickets can be (dates/times only).
- Simply select the fare next to the relevant train time under your preferred ticket type.
- Once you have chosen your outbound train select your return. What you can have is defined by your outbound in terms of fare. For example you can only pick Business both ways or if you select a fixed fare out you can only select a fixed fare back.
- Provide passenger information. Eurostar does not require passport information but correct names do help.
- Select how to get your tickets. Collect from the station e-ticket machines or print at home. Note that a recent web-site development prevents Print at Home for bookings where travel is within 48 hours. These tickets can only be collected from the e-ticket machines.
- Regardless of your class of service you can select where you sit during your journey. Choose that all important forward facing seat!
- Next is a review page and the T&C's tick box.
- Then it's the payment page (possibly the longest payment page ever!).
- Once payment details are entered, be careful! There is one more final review page (it states 'booking confirmation' at the top and can be mistaken for the completed booking), read it carefully to ensure everything is correct. This is the point of no return! Remember to scroll down and click the final continue button.
- Then it's the Mastercard or Visa page.
- Once completed a Confirmed Booking page appears. Here you will be given your 6 letter booking reference. Two e-mails will be sent to you.
- Using the e-mail or web-site log into the booking and print off your PDF travel tickets. There is a square barcode at the bottom of the page. This is what you will need to scan at the check-in machines at the station.
Tips
- If you are looking for the best fares and are not concerned about the dates there is an 'availability calender' under the latest deals tab that does the work for you. Note: that this calendar only books for adults. To add youths, children or seniors remember the travel information and start again from the normal 'book online' page.
- If your ticket states you depart from London and you wish to board at Ashford and you know your service stops there you may do so, but ensure you check-in in as you would do from London.
- There is currently an irritating problem with entering telephone numbers. Please be careful of the input. It should read: 00441233123123. If you encounter difficulties highlight the whole contents of the box, delete and try again. Also ensure there are no unnecessary spaces.
- Eurostar fares from UK stations (London, Ashford & Ebbsfleet) are the same. All services start from London St. Pancras but not all serve intermediate stations.
- Minor spelling mistakes for names do not cause a problem with checking in or travelling. Titles do not show on tickets either.
- Be careful what you choose! The fixed fares are cheaper but don't expect to be bailed out if the unexpected happens.
- References on tickets can be hard to spot. They are located just below the arrival time on the ticket. Look for, example PNR:QRSTUW (six letters).
Warnings
- If you have travelled out on a return ticket it is not possible to amend the return segment online. This has to be done via telephone or at the station.
- Note that names cannot be amended so don't bother asking. This is not Eurostar being pretentious this a European Rail 'international condition of carridge'. There is no facility to do it.
- Oh, and they can be collected with a Tesco club card, or any other card for that matter.
- Be wary of making a booking starting with a Thalys journey in Amsterdam, Koln, etc. There is no print at home facility for these tickets and no ticket collection facilities at non-Eurostar stations. It is best to book with Thalys or ensure you have your ticket posted well in advance.
- Large adverts on the printed PDF tickets can take up a lot of ink.
- You can book UK domestic rail tickets at the same time as your Eurostar ones. Strangely 86 days in advance. These can be a bit hit and miss. There are seriously bad system limitations with domestic rail tickets and can be a real pain to amend so try not to. Especially if you are travelling in a day or two.
Things You'll Need
- Passport or national ID card. (you cannot travel using a driving licence. You are crossing an international border, by what means is not relevant!)
- Visa, if applicable.
- The buffet car can be pricy. You are free to take food onboard with you. Even liquid!
