thanks! I've got a bunch of UA miles to use.

Great idea.

DR

I recently booked a trip on the Eurostar from London to Avignon in southern France. The total charge for Eurostar connecting to TGV return was 129GBP. I thought this was exceptionnally good value.

It's at the website www.eurostarplus.com which will put you in contact with the Rail Europe people. They were nice and handled everything through email. Though you have to pick up the tickets in the UK.

European travel costs should be really good value now. The GBP has dropped some 15% against the USD since the beginning of the month (GBP 1 = USD 1.40 or so, down from 1.60 a few weeks back). Similarly, the Euro which almost all EU currencies are pegged against has dropped to US$0.85.

The US-based prices may be a way overpriced in comparison now.

We are planning a trip from Paris to London this March and are intrested in using the Eurostar instead of flying on BA. I have some questions:

1. Is the standard service comfortable; how does it compare with US coach class air service.

2. How do you carry luggage on the train. Do you have to book in advance and pay extra? Unfortunately, the eurostar website did not have any information about this. We plan to have one suitcase and a couple of roll-ons. The suitcase will have to be checked in.

3. Are there a lot of cancellations/delays? How are they handled.

You are better off comparing Eurostar to train travel to airtravel. We took the second class service from London to Paris. It was very nice. Comfortable not crowded, so we could move about easily. My husband walked to the dinning car and got us food. We took all our luggage (family of four) on with us. There was a spot to leave it by the door.

Standard service was always comfortable but, if you can swing it, First Class is considerably more comfortable and you will be served a decent meal (better, in my experience, that many domestic U.S. First Class airline meals), including complimentary wine, at your seats. You might want to check out Eurostar Holidays online (link below) as they have very attractive packages that include the train and hotel accommodations. I booked (via telephone with their U.K. booking office) one of their packages for travel in the fall of 1999 and they offered us a free upgrade to First Class. Don't know if they are making that same offer for your travel dates but check it out.
http://www.eurostar.co.uk/experience/eurohols.html

As for delays...one of my trips from Gare du Nord to Waterloo International was delayed by about 40 minutes, partly because of a security breach at Gare du Nord and partly because of a minor mechanical problem with the train. About five minutes before arrival in London, one of the Train Managers came on the PA and announced that *everyone* would receive a voucher for a free, one-way trip on Eurostar...for the class of service *traveled*. After clearing Passport Control, we were directed to a service desk where we obtained our travel vouchers along with instructions for redeeming them.

Hope you have a great trip!

We took Eurostar roundtrip London/Paris in late July. I watched the fares for 3-4 months and snagged a special that was almost half price. Frommer's website alerted us to the savings (via their daily emails). I am not at home now so I can't tell anyone the site Frommers sent me to. I ended up using for the sale. Email me privately and I can look it up.

As for convenience you can't beat Eurostar. Traveling as a family of 4 we had no problems getting our luggage won and we don't travel light enough either. Second class was just fine: clean, not too crowded and a very friendly French crew. Food from snack bar was decent.

Can anyone tell me if there is a bag storage area at Nord train station? Planning on going from London to Paris then out again later that night and I am looking for a place to store luggage for the day.

Thanks

I rode on the Eurostar two years ago from London to Paris, I had a great time. Have fun, and Bon chance!