 Poster: A snowHead
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hello all, I am trying to find out what is the best ticket price that has been bought, for the Saturday daytime direct Eurostar st pancras to moutiers service.
at the moment, Eurostar are showing £190 single for a Saturday in march, is this the normal cost or can you get it cheaper as soon as the dates are released, and if so does anyone know roughly when xmas 2020 will go on sale?
cheers
terry
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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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Seems to be cheapest as soon as they go on sale - usually in July.
e.g. 18th Jan was £118 on way in July
21st March was £208.00 on way in July
However, last year (January) I managed to grab x2 return tickets last minute, approx a week before travel that were reduced - although not sure if they would have been cheaper when first come out in July.
So - if you have a definite week in mind I would book it as soon as they come out!
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Why is the train more expensive than flying?
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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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@johnE, Simple case of supply and demand. Only 1 supplier, and a large demand on certain days. Can charge what they think they can get away with. It's the tunnel part that they charge the high price for.
@terrygasson, Have you thought about travelling the day before and staying in a local hotel? Might be cost effective.
Bus services are available to cross the channel at reasonable prices. Can you get one that drops you somewhere you can pick up a different train to Moutiers?
Last year, went to stay with friends in Oostende, got a single coach trip from Nottingham to Brugge for less than £20. The coach went all the way to Dusseldorf, stopping at various cities.
Slower journey, but might be cheaper. 
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Sun 12-01-20 15:29; edited 1 time in total
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@terrygasson, The price may reflect on something else happening the weekend you want to travel that could attract large numbers of passengers
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Just in case it might be of interest, you can get a bus from London to Meribel (and many other resorts) for £119 return https://www.snowexpress.co.uk/ .
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Just paid £220 bourg St Maurice to St Pancras return.
Mid week so that probably made a difference and you have to change stations in Paris
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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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cheers for all the advice so far, its not for me, but for family members.
it would need to be the direct train service only, and unfortunately it will be the boxing day Saturday (assuming the service is running that day), so lack of flexibility will scupper any chances of bargains!!!!
thanks @boredsurfin, I looked into the link you provided, if last year is anything to go by, it seems that tickets are released for sale early july, so if my idea takes hold I will keep an eye out for them.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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thanks @iainm, if I was going on a sneaky solo ski trip, I would quite happily do the train option. I have on a few occasions before, either the old T/O party train, or Eurostar/sncf combo out to the alps.
As I mentioned previously though, if it happens, It will need to be the direct service and would be the boxing day train.
I was trying to gauge the cheapest fare anyone has bagged
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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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| Quote: |
Just paid £220 bourg St Maurice to St Pancras return.
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A very good price, but the train to London can add a significant amount to the price
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I bought tickets for the 1st Feb on the day of release back in July and found the price went up between £50-£80 for the premium seat in the morning I think (sorry I can’t remember exactly). I was faffing around a bit checking that all of our group was happy with the price.
But by the afternoon the prices had stabilised a bit. I did find the best bit about booking on release day was being able to reserve tables after booking tickets. I got in there about mid morning and nabbed the last table as far as I could see.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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@rosborne, thanks, very helpful. Is that a public document?
Don't think I've ever seen the lowest price in each category (the one without a ERS Bucket code).
Super Peak prices are a bit eye watering!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@johnE, rob@rar - shocking statistic hidden in Fall-line skiing which I picked up yesterday, which i haven’t fact-checked, but said that Eurostar had a passenger volume of 11 million but a capacity of 40 million. What??!!?? Look, I know that trains to the Alps have to cross national boundaries if going to Switzerland and Austria, and that some of that unused volume will be at weird times of day and year, but WTF...for goodness sake can’t the train bureaucrats adopt the same rigorous financial modelling as airlines, and work on heavily discounted fares for vacant slots? This would mean we could travel to the Alps at unusual times - but you can sleep on trains at weird times of day and night - I know that I do since I travel for work on the train all the time - and this model of operating would be good for the train operators (and the cafes in stations, and the hotels around stations etc etc), good for us, and perhaps most important of all, good for the environment. I am going to cross post this (SHOCK HORROR) but with an added element - why the hell don’t we get a lobby going rather than just complain here about it.....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@valais2, The french have done that, to an extent, with the ouigo trains that you can get some really cheap prices on. 15€ Paris-Lyon for example is possible. 1200 people on a train, very few staff, extra for luggage, fast turnaround etc. Sound familiar ? If those figures for the tunnel are correct that's a disgrace, all that investment in financial and carbon terms being under utilised 
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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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| valais2 wrote: |
| .. shocking statistic hidden in Fall-line skiing which I picked up yesterday, which i haven’t fact-checked, but said that Eurostar had a passenger volume of 11 million but a capacity of 40 million. |
Not sure that wold apply to the Ski Train service. For the last few years I've travelled St Pancras-Bourg St Maurice on the direct Eurostar service in the first or second week of January, the quietest of the season. I'd say the train is typically 90% full on that service, and last Saturday was very close to fully booked.
Cheaper prices will always be welcomed, but my biggest gripe is how far out you can book tickets (not far enough), and different booking windows for different operators (eg, Eurostar and SNCF releasing tickets on different days). Makes the ticket booking process a PITA if you are trying to coordinate accommodation and travel, and ensure you get the best travel price. Rail operators could learn a lot form the airline industry.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| Rail operators could learn a lot form the airline industry. |
They probably would if they were under more pressure to sweat their assets, or the pretty well public asset that is the tunnel ?
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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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| Quote: |
shocking statistic hidden in Fall-line skiing which I picked up yesterday, which i haven’t fact-checked, but said that Eurostar had a passenger volume of 11 million but a capacity of 40 million.
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I assume they mean 11 million per year, which is supprisingly close to the combined airline traffic of 11,675,910 arriving at a UK airport from every French Airport (not including Geneva). I'm not sure what they mean by "capacity" Does it mean that each of their 16 daily trains is only 1/4 full or that they they could run 64 trains a day and still get slots on the tunnel? The tunnel itself is only running at about 50% capacity, due in part to the high cost of using it. According to the European Commission
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| Eurostar, which runs services between London, Paris and Brussels, pays Eurotunnel around €4,320 per one way journey, plus a fee of €16.6 per passenger depending on the time, while freight services are charged at around €3,645 per train one way. |
. I can get a flight from Geneva to Birmingham for less than £10.
Anyway I've never used the train to go skiing even though I think I should. There are a number of reasons for this:
1/ It only goes from London
2/ Unless you get the two direct trains a week that run during part of the ski season you have to cross Paris. The change at Chambery isn't as bad.
3/ It is very expensive. I can fly to Geneva for less than the train to London.
4/ Though I keep looking I cannot quite schedule it.
It is a shame that the original plan to offer Eurostar services from else where in Great Britain was abandoned.
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@johnE, Convenience! Especially if you live within 15 minutes of Ashford International
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Convenience! Especially if you live within 15 minutes of Ashford International
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I suppose some people do, but then you still have to get across Paris
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