COF

It seems that Eurostar is expensive and inconvenient unless you live in Central London.

I've never seen a return fare at a decent time for less than £120.

In contrast there are plenty of fights to Paris from London airports for around £80-100 return, sometimes even less.

In addition to that airport parking is much cheaper than St. Pancras and Central London parking.

There is pretty much cheap parking in Central London, so you would have to take the train from anywhere outside of London, which increases the cost of the ticket even more.

Basically I don't see how Eurostar is able to compete with airlines because unless you live in Central London, I can't see any circumstances in which taking the Eurostar would be more efficient and more reasonably priced than flying.

Redhead

There is less time spent in security
It takes you right into central Paris so no need to pay for, or spend time, getting to/from the airport in Paris
More pleasant experience with larger seats
No seat belt restrictions keeping you in your seat
Easier to take more luggage

I would choose Eurostar even at a premium cost every time

Aviatrix

If you're a tourist visiting both Paris and London Eurostar wins hands down - town centre to town centre it's much quicker than flying.

For those of us living outside London, catching a train to St Pancras is, in most cases, much easier, quicker, more convenient and more relaxing than fighting traffic on the M25/M3/M4/whatever to get to an airport - and the cost of airport parking plus fuel will usually work out considerably more expensive than the train fare into London. (You mention driving to St Pancras... well, this is something we just wouldn't do!)

Flying to Paris makes sense if you're connecting, or if you live close to an airport, or if your destination in Paris is close to one of the airports.... but in all other cases it makes much more sense to take the train.

SFO777

Have you ever been to CDG? Or LHR for that matter?

chemist661

Back a few years ago, I took the Eurostar from London to Brussels for 39 pounds ($62 US). I did this to see another city (Brussels) and I saved over $200+ in departure taxes.

I got to sightsee and the savings in Biz class departure taxes (ADT?) paid for my whole Brussels journey. (hotel, o/w Eurostar, food, transportation, etc).

I did not find the Euro too bad but it was not as good as it was in year 2000 (?) when I last took the Eurostar. (at that time, I got a great deal for Eurostar RT to Paris). That year, I paid only $350ai US for summer travel from SAN-LGW RT on US Airways. (mistake fare!!). Too bad I didn't buy more than 1 ticket! (that was pre FT days!). Envoy upgrades went thru!

fwoomp

Exactly. I did the same for a conference, which I was paying for myself. Exhaustive research into airfares revealed that while there were fares that looked less expensive at first, once you added in all the taxes and whatnot, they were more expensive than the train.

Also, the experience was so much better. Easy to deal with luggage. Enough room to actually get work done on my laptop. Easy to get to the conference location once I got to Brussels, which was a couple metro stops from Brussels Zuid. Plus, it only took 2 hours--from where I was staying in London, I could eat half that time just getting to Heathrow.

BigLar

Thanks to a tip here on FT, I was able to get return tix on the Eurostar for myself and my wife, and throw away the return, much cheaper than one-ways. As we were tourists in London, getting to Waterloo (where the train left at that time) was a snap.

Arriving at the Gare du Nord, a 10-euro cab ride got us to the hotel in short order.

All in all, for tourists or residents of London or one of the cities on the route, the train can be much cheaper, faster overall, and much more pleasant. I'd do it every time.

Flying Bat

It's a regular route for those business / F class travellers who don't like to throw away their money on the highest departure taxes in the world.

It's not difficult to lever a way into the departure lounge, its very well organised and a decent enough experience over flying.

If I had authored this piece I might have headed it
" Why would anyone fly rather than use Eurostar to Paris? "

GetSetJetSet

a better question would be "why would anyone fly between London and Paris instead of using the Eurostar?"

SFO777

+1

exilencfc

+1 more. No brainer to my mind (but then I am somewhat biased, my Dad worked for Eurostar). City center to city center, lower taxes, as much luggage as you can carry and not too expensive if you book carefully

Ocn Vw 1K

Please follow the discussion as the thread moves to the Destination->Europe forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

nkedel

What he said. As an American, doing it flying once -- and dealing with short haul European service which is nothing to write home about (pretty much what US domestic was before the budget cuts of the past decade)-- was quite enough.

From the parts of London of interest to tourists, to the parts of Paris of interest to tourists, avoiding the trips to and from the airports (especially with the annoyance of bags on the RER) is a huge plus, as is avoiding Heathrow Security and CDG in general.

AlwaysFlyStar

+1
Absolutely! I've only done it once when Lufthansa.com had business class with LX LCY-CDG via Zurich for £220 return and I wanted the miles. (1000 miles*4 segments)
Otherwise, Eurostar is the obvious choice. Btw, is OP from UK? It seems like anyone who knows the UK, would know you take the train into London. (Or National Express or Megabus if you are desperate) Who would park in Central London?

chinatraderjmr

+1 Thank you!!!! I will take the train 9 out of 10 times between London & either BRU or Paris. Forget the cost for just a minute. When I'm in London, I'm in Central London & the same goes for Paris. Why would I want to schlep an hour to LHR or CDG, then put up with the crowds, security & delays. In the time it takes me to go from London to LHR & then get thru check in / security, I'm already in Paris on the Eurostar. That's not counting the time on the other end going thru immigration, waiting for my bags, getting a taxi into central Paris or London & I have not even discussed delays.

Why would anyone rather fly? I realize these boards are full of people that fly for fun or as a hobby but come on. It's a Bo brainer