Friday, March 30, 2012

Another Eurostar Ticket Question

We%26#39;ll be flying into Paris from Venice this fall and want to take the Eurostar to London, returning to Paris 3 days later. Because the flight might be delayed, I%26#39;m reluctant to book a nonexchangeable ticket on Eurostar. With the semi-flexible option, I can exchange %26quot;before departure%26quot; for a fee. Does this mean before the scheduled departure of the train I%26#39;ve booked or before I actually leave Paris? For example, if we book a train leaving Paris at 1400, but find that our flight from Venice will be 3 hours late (or worse, cancelled due to bad weather)such that we can%26#39;t make that train, do we need to change the ticket before 1400, and if so can it be done by phone? Or can we just show up at Gare du Nord sometime after 1400 and get a ticket for a later train?




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You would have to phone them beforehand.



Make sure the airline knows you have this connection to make, and chase them for any extra cost you may incur. Provided always that you have adequate time to make the transfer from aircraft to Gare du Nord. And be at Gare du Nord half an hour before train time.




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You can find answers to your questions on the Eurostar website (and it%26#39;s always best to rely on the official source).





If your tickets are exchangeable, you have to change your reserved travel time BEFORE departure. There is a fee, PLUS you have to pay the difference between the fare you booked and the whatever fare is still available for your new departure.





How to rebook depends on how you originally booked your tickets. If you book them online, you can make changes online (and pay the fee and additional fare), or there%26#39;s a phone number to call if you won%26#39;t have internet access. Note that you can do this only once.





If you don%26#39;t book online, you have to contact the agent with which you originally booked your tickets.





I%26#39;m wondering why not just fly to London from Venice, rather than fly to Paris, get yourselves to Gare du Nord, then take the train to London?





You%26#39;ll pay a significant premium for Eurostar tickets that can be exchanged, especially if you are booking round trip. And, then there%26#39;s a fee, and probably additional fare, if you do need to rebook.




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Actually, I checked the air fares and it really does makes more sense to fly to London and back to Paris than it does to take Eurostar.





Thanks to all for the responses.

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