 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello!
Does anyone know when the Eurostar ski train goes on sale for 13/14??
Thanks
Amy
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi
4 months before the travel date I think but you can sign up for email notification.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Normal Eurostars are 4 months in advance, but the ski trains usually go on sale in July for the whole season. Take a look at www.snowcarbon.co.uk for more detail than you could possibly need about the various ways to ski by train.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Amywoods1609, , In previous years they have gone on sale around 25th July - http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=78119&highlight=
If you register with Rail Europe I am pretty sure they will send you an email reminder just before they are due to go on sale.
The French TGV services usually go on sale 3 months before the date of travel. Again, if you register with SNCF they will email you shortly before they are due to go on sale.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Direct Ski-Trains are due to be on sale from July 25th. Advance bookings are already being taken through Rail Canterbury (01227 450088), who's bookings Eurostar are taking in advance of general sale.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Blinder, When I phoned just now, Rail Canterbury told me to ring back end of August!
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Personally I prefer to use the French overnight couchettes even though that means transferring in Paris. You get 8 days of skiing for 7 nights in a hotel and go out and back sleeping (the French trains, unlike Eurostar - which only have seats, are quiet at night, too).
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| CaravanSkier wrote: |
| Blinder, When I phoned just now, Rail Canterbury told me to ring back end of August! |
Apparantly your enquiry was about the "non-direct" train.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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My enquiry was about all trains. I have several members of the family some wanting direct and others indirect trains. I had a number of questions I would have liked help with but I felt 'fobbed off' and gave up!
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Eurostar are now not loading the Ski-Trains until Early August.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Blinder wrote: |
| Direct Ski-Trains are due to be on sale from July 25th. Advance bookings are already being taken through Rail Canterbury (01227 450088), who's bookings Eurostar are taking in advance of general sale. |
I got my tickets in the post this morning.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I got my provisional booking from Rail Canterbury this morning - it's a brilliant service. It's a shame the pricing is utterly bonkers - standard premium, going out daytime and coming back overnight at half term - £455 a head. This reduces to £355 a head if you travel standard (I'd been recommended to pay the extra for premium as we're coming back overnight). If it had been £250 a head I'd have done it - it is half term after all, but if the starting price is that high then it's simply not economic if you're coming from the north of England.
So I've booked flights from Birmingham to Chambery for £140 a head plus baggage - I reckon for my family of 4 that'll be nearly £1000 cheaper when you take into consideration that we won't need to stay in London on the Friday night, but we'll need to hire a car or arrange transfers. I absolutely love the idea of getting on a train in London and getting off 20 minutes from resort, but not a thousand quids' worth of love!
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Eurostar have the monopoly on direct trains to France at the moment. They know (or so they say) that they can sell-out the ski-trains, especially at "peak-times" and therefore need to get as much money as the market will stand.
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You know it makes sense.
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Blinder - I wonder how much commission Rail Canterbury are taking per ticket?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Blinder wrote: |
| Eurostar have the monopoly on direct trains to France at the moment. They know (or so they say) that they can sell-out the ski-trains, especially at "peak-times" and therefore need to get as much money as the market will stand. |
Quite true, such is the nature of monopolies 
I remember reading about a german rail company starting a service from London to Germany...possibly even further to Switzerland/Austria. Whatever happened to that?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| snowymum wrote: |
| Blinder - I wonder how much commission Rail Canterbury are taking per ticket? |
Eurostar pay the travel agents' commission - so your ticket won't cost any more.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| ALQ wrote: |
| I remember reading about a german rail company starting a service from London to Germany...possibly even further to Switzerland/Austria. Whatever happened to that? |
It got delayed due to technical issues (and possibly a bit of political/business considerations as the only existing provider is Eurostar which AFAIK is majority owned by state controlled SNCF). However, Deutsche Bahn have just recently been granted an operating licence by the Intergovernmental Commission which oversees access to the Channel Tunnel, see this report.
The bad news is that the service is unlikely to start before 2016. Also note the problems mentioned about border control - The UK Border Agency has stated that no further juxtaposed border controls would be permitted beyond those facilities already provided to Eurostar passengers in Lille, Paris and Brussels, and UKBA is also unlikely to approve DB’s suggestion that checks be carried out onboard.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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andy from embsay, last year half term tickets went on sale at £330 for a standard return. The next day they were £170. You've already booked your flights, but for others it might be worth seeing what the prices are like next week. I got a similar surprise from Eurostar's quoted prices through Rail Canterbury for travel at Christmas, and like you I didn't book as a result but will take an indirect train if I can't get a direct one at a sensible price.
I was also told that Rail Canterbury add 10% to the ticket price as their commission, rather than this coming from Eurostar, so it would cost more through them I think. They offer a great service but Eurostar aren't making it easy for them to get early sales.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Personally I prefer to use the French overnight couchettes even though that means transferring in Paris. You get 8 days of skiing for 7 nights in a hotel and go out and back sleeping (the French trains, unlike Eurostar - which only have seats, are quiet at night, too).
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We did that, long ago, to Aime la Plagne. Brilliant. On the way down we shared with 4 young Italian blokes who got their heads down and wanted to sleep. On the return journey, because my OH had been flown home at the insurance company's expense after the roof blew off our house in the UK, I had an entire 6 berth compartment to myself. Brilliant way to travel. I would only sit up all night for a bargain cheap price (e.g. the sort of bargain cheap price you get on a coach) not for prices which are more expensive than a flight.
From Aime we got a local bus up to Plagne 1800 for a few francs, were offered a welcome breakfast at our chalet and were on the slopes around the time the lifts opened on the deserted change-over Saturday.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| kieranm wrote: |
andy from embsay, last year half term tickets went on sale at £330 for a standard return. The next day they were £170. You've already booked your flights, but for others it might be worth seeing what the prices are like next week. I got a similar surprise from Eurostar's quoted prices through Rail Canterbury for travel at Christmas, and like you I didn't book as a result but will take an indirect train if I can't get a direct one at a sensible price.
I was also told that Rail Canterbury add 10% to the ticket price as their commission, rather than this coming from Eurostar, so it would cost more through them I think. They offer a great service but Eurostar aren't making it easy for them to get early sales. |
Gosh - I did wonder if they might come down. Ah well - flights are booked now. I'll still have a look on Tuesday!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Heads up Snowfiends: tickets for the Eurostar ski train, direct from St Pancras to the French Alps, go on sale TOMORROW, Tuesday August 6. Tickets will initially be offered from 6.30am on the Eurostar website – and then from 8am at the call centre on 08432 186 186. Trains run from London and Ashford International to Moutiers, Aime-La-Plagne and Bourg St Maurice (though the stop at Aime-La-Plagne is for outward trains only: for the return leg you’ll need to board at Bourg). …
From "welovetoski"
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| ALQ wrote: |
| Blinder wrote: |
| Eurostar have the monopoly on direct trains to France at the moment. They know (or so they say) that they can sell-out the ski-trains, especially at "peak-times" and therefore need to get as much money as the market will stand. |
Quite true, such is the nature of monopolies
I remember reading about a german rail company starting a service from London to Germany...possibly even further to Switzerland/Austria. Whatever happened to that? |
Deutsche Bahn will not be starting before 2016 at the earliest.
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| andy from embsay wrote: |
| snowymum wrote: |
| Blinder - I wonder how much commission Rail Canterbury are taking per ticket? |
Eurostar pay the travel agents' commission - so your ticket won't cost any more. |
Eurostar have not paid commission since 2003
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Blinder, that's not correct. They don't pay very much and it's getting worse (for the agents) but they do pay a commission.
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| admin wrote: |
| Blinder, that's not correct. They don't pay very much and it's getting worse (for the agents) but they do pay a commission. |
Eurostar DO NOT pay agents commission, and have not done so since 2003. Rail Europe pay agents 5% (taxable) and most other rail companies are around the 5% mark.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ooh shouty shouty!
Calm down dear: it's only tinternet.
They were paying 4% via various mechanisms until, oh I dunno, a couple of years ago, then it dropped to 2%. That's when I decided it wasn't worth the hassle as they're a bit of a pain to deal with.
Actually, that's been the common theme with rail IME.
SNCF: awkward buggrs who like to tell U as little as possible.
RailEurope: Are typically less well informed about their own business than the assembled snowHeads.
RailCanterbury: Grumpy Buggrs.
All IMHO of course 
I was and am a great fan of getting to the mountains by train and in the past, tried to share that enthusiasm widely. The intransigence, backward thinking and generally un-affable nature of rail operators and their agents are key to my feeling unable to promote and encourage rail travel on snowHeads and beyond that, are the main driving force behind my using airlines at all.
The one glimmer of positivity comes from the Man in Seat 61 - but even he, the definitive expert in the field, struggles to get useful info or explanations out of the RailCos at times.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Crikey, several dates sold out already, why on earth do they not put on more trains?
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You know it makes sense.
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Looks like half term's sold out - only 3 seats available on the daytime outbound train. Do they ever add any more trains?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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No, they've never added more trains on this route. But when the website says "only 3 seats left" it normally means "at that price". I.e. there are lots more seats but they are more expensive ones. If they did sell out you can always change in Paris as I think we will be doing this year as I didn't want to pay the extra Eurostar want for the Christmas week trains.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The thing that suggested "sold out" was when i looked for our group of 6 it said "no trains" but when i put 1 ticket it said "only 3 left".
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Agents for Rail Europe and therefore they will not have their own quotas. They will also get commission from Rail Europe as their agents and Rail Europe pay their agents commission.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks for the heads up. I'm normally up at 6:30 every morning anyway so was logged on this morning and got Standard Premier at £229 return for the 4th January.
Never done the train before and staying in Les Coches so only a 6km transfer at the other end. Really looking forward to it 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi - New Member 
Not used the train before so bit of advice please....Gets to Moutier very early...about 05:30 - Whats the best thing to do straight to the resort and see if you can get some skiing in?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I have been on the Eurostar site and can't find any availability. Anyone else having that problem?
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I had that problem this morning at 0930 for 15/2 - and it turns out that it'd sold out.
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Gary_65, Depends which resort, how you are getting there and what accommodation you have booked.
andy from embsay, J9, Sold out by 8.30 yesterday morning.
Does anyone know why they don't put on more trains for those peak days. Surely they can follow each other which wouldn't disrupt track timetables?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| J9 wrote: |
| I have been on the Eurostar site and can't find any availability. Anyone else having that problem? |
Rail Canterbury (01227 450088) still have (as at 1030hrs) 9 seats each way on the day trains in Standard class, 4 seats each way in Standard Premier on the day trains each way and 6 seats in Standard Premier out Day and back night train.
That is Out Feb 15th Ret 22nd
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Wed 7-08-13 12:51; edited 1 time in total
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I find it odd that they cannot put on more trains. The Eurostar website appears to be working this morning although I did not go as far as booking anything. Waiting for some pain killing injections before committing myself. Hope to be in Tignes over Christmas
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FAQ
