Cheaper eurostar tickets? Is there a secret?

[TheLeavesAreTurningBrown]

Whenever I've randomly fancied a trip t/o Paris and added up tickets for 4 it's been 500/600 pounds?

Ooooh I would like to know this too. Whenever I look l, it's so expensive.

How far in advance are you looking?
cheapest one way is £39, so you’d be looking at £312
If you are looking in advance you could wait for a Eurostar seat sale where they advertise the £39 tickets.

@Nanamuffin and is that roughly decent travel times? Again I've only seen 30 pound region tickets at 11pm at night or 5am

Sign up to the email and you’ll get alerted when they release them. They tend to be available weekdays very early or late a few weeks in advance. You need to be flexible with days and times. I book mine 2-3 months in advance.

@Milomonster could you share what your paying pleaae and are the times ok? I have children so it would be school holidays

I went in the august break.
I went out at 2pm and train back was at 6pm
2 adults and 5 year old.
children get slightly reduced ticket prices.
total paid was £238 return. I paid I think £44 for some tickets for the better times.
booked in May for august.

I've always found it cheaper to fly.

I have paid the 39 each way. The times have suited me - early morning out and late evening return. I live close to terminal and so those times work for me as I don’t have other trains to catch.

The email alert often comes too late. Tickets are generally released 330 days in advance https://help.eurostar.com/faq/uk-en/question/How-far-in-advance-can-I-book-Eurostar-tickets
DH sets himself a reminder to book like that when we have a trip planned.

Book as far in advance as posible, avoid Friday afternoons and Monday mornings, be flexible with times.

Also like others mention we tend to get early trains out and late ones back as we can get a bus back home from St Pancras station.

@Nanamuffin that amazing!!

And decent times.

Did you get email and book as soon as they were realised or how did you do it? Leaving from London?

@Milomonster thank you.

I guess living next door the terminal is the crux here because for us to get a 6am train means we need to leave at 4am

I guess that's the secret, 😂live next doors for the terminal

Bear in mind that to get a 6am train you'd need to be at the station for 4am!

We use an American Express rewards card (free for the first year) do all our spending on that and then convert the whole lot of reward points for Eurostar.

All journeys are either 500 or 750 points depending on availability (includes Amsterdam) - we never pay for the trips as this gives us the best value for our points.

We booked in May for a November Brussels trip, trains at civilised times Friday-Sunday, under 100 quid each return. We were very flexible with dates though, October was by then a lot pricier.

Unless there is some major transport issue, I arrive around 75 mins before. Living close by certainly helps, it it’s still a pain getting up early!

We live about a 30 min drive (or 50 min public transport journey) from St Pancras. This summer we got the 7am Eurostar and left home at 5am - that got us to St Pancras with enough time to have breakfast a Pret and check in with plenty of time.

The journey back via Gare du Nord was not so sooth or leisurely. 😬

Also we usually get the earliest trains to Paris and more often than not we are carrying on by train to another part of France.