How to take a thrilling high speed rail journey from Amsterdam to London

The usual timetable offers these departures:

• 06:45 on Monday to Friday
• 08:45 on Saturday / Sunday
• 14:45 on Monday to Friday
• 16:45 Daily
• 18:45 Monday to Friday and Sunday

Final Destination: London St. Pancras International
These trains do not call at Schiphol, Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; so when looking at a timetable the journey will look as though it's an hour shorter.

Boarding the Eurostar in Amsterdam:

Here is Eurostar's guide to departing by these trains from Amsterdam Centraal.

The key things to know are:

• The train will depart from spoor (platform/track) 15b, which is at the far end of the station from the main entrance.
• On the other side of check-in you will wait for boarding to commence in the departure lounge, it houses seating areas, plugs, re-charge points and vending machines for drinks and snacks.
• Particularly worth knowing is that if you will be travelling with Standard or Plus tickets, is that Eurostar is currently stating that check-in will close 30 mins before departure; And for Business Premier ticket holders it will close 15 mins before
  No other train service from Amsterdam has these departure restrictions, so remember that you will need to be at Amsterdam Centraal ahead of the departure time; Eurostar's recommendation is to be at the departure area 45-60 mins ahead of departure if you have Standard or Standard Premier tickets; and 30mins prior to departure if you have Business Premier tickets.

This will allow time for an easy transfer to platform/track 15b .
Though if you're at the station particularly early, an option is to while away the time in the bars/cafés in the main station building; and then to make your way over to platform/track 15b at the suggested times.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to around 6 month of the travel date.

Note that when travelling with Eurostar, the cost per leg when booking a return journey, is typically cheaper than the price of the single leg when booking a One Way /Single ticket.

Flexible tickets

On Eurostar trains to and from London, the only ticket type are the Flexible tickets, but it is the class of service you opt to travel by, which impacts on the terms and conditions of travel.

*Exchanges

Book to travel in Standard or Plus class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure to the same destination up to one hour* before departure time.

• If the cost of your new ticket is more than the cost of your original ticket, you will be required to pay the difference;
• If the cost of your new ticket is less than the cost of your original ticket, you will not receive a refund of the difference.
  Note that on your day of departure, if your journey to St Pancras is being compromised and you know that you won't make the booked train in time more than an hour ahead - Taking time out to access the service you booked with and making an exchange, will typically be a cheaper option than having to re-book.

*Tickets that are exchanged less than seven days before the departure date to a new later departure date cannot then ne refunded

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure to the same destination up until 48 hrs after your booked departure date.

• If the cost of your new ticket is more than the cost of your original ticket, you will be required to pay the difference;
• If the cost of your new ticket is less than the cost of your original ticket, you will not receive a refund of the difference.

On the travel day Eurostar offers a boarding guarantee to Premier ticket holders, enabling any other departure to be taken at no extra charge.
Though Eurostar may not be able to offer the same travel class or the same onboard services such as catering.

The Eurostar ticket terms summary is here

Refunds

Book to travel in Standard or Plus class:

• Up to seven days or more before the date of departure you will need to pay a fee of £25 per person for a one-way / single ticket and £50 per person for a two-way / return ticket - So you will only receive any sum you paid in excess of these sums.
• Less than seven days before the date of departure, tickets are non-refundable - Also applies if you exchanged a ticket to an alternative departure, under seven days ahead.
• If you have booked return ticket, but only want to cancel one way, you will in effect receive the price you paid for this single leg and not the typical cost of a one-way only single journey.

Book to travel in Premier class:
Tickets are refundable with no fee up until 48 hours after your original departure time, but they become non-refundable when the 48 hrs has passed.

If you have booked return ticket, but only want to cancel one way, you will in effect receive the price you paid for this single leg and not the typical cost of a one-way only single journey.

The Eurostar ticket terms summary is here

Seat Reservations

Reservations are mandatory so seats are assigned when booking - But after a booking has been completed, you use the ‘Manage Your Booking’ facility, which can be easily found on the Eurostar website and select specific seats within the travel class you have chosen.

As the fabulous Seat 61 explains here in detail (scroll down to 'Choosing A Seat') some seats on Eurostar services are better than others.

You don't need to have booked the ticket with Eurostar
You will need to enter a Booking Reference number - but other booking agents such as Trainline, Rail Europe, SNCF Connect, B-Europe and NS International, will also include this number on the communication sent to you.

Using Rail Passes on Eurostar:

Rail pass users can now pay reservation fees to travel on Eurostar trains, in a similar manner to other international European high speed trains.

The new rail pass reservation fees are similar to the cheapest single journey ticket prices, but as those cheapest tickets can sell out quickly, it's likely that the rail pass reservation fees will save money.

You can purchase these online with no booking fees with Rail Europe - see this guide on how to do this.
Booking in advance is recommended as it's not unknown for rail pass reservations on Eurostar services to sell out days or weeks in advance, there is evidently limited availability per departure.

Or you can obtain a rail pass reservations without paying a booking fee at Eurostar stations.
However, if you want to do this on the day of travel be prepared to be flexible re: the train you will take.

If you are a UK resident, your rail pass + reservation is only valid if you take a train to the UK on the final day that your pass is valid for.

It is worth targeting these direct Eurostar services from Amsterdam to London, the reservation fees of, from €35 if you will be using a 2nd class pass and from €43 if you will be using a First Class pass, are similarly priced as the Bruxelles to London journey.

So by taking these direct trains with a Eurail or InterRail pass, you will;

• save money compared to the alternative journey option of taking a Thalys train to Bruxelles from Amsterdam and then a Eurostar from Bruxelles to London.
• save time compared to taking an IC train from Amsterdam to Bruxelles and then a Eurostar to London

If you are a UK resident, worth knowing is your rail pass + reservation will only be valid if you take a train to the UK on the final day that you will be using your pass.
You cannot use an InterRail Pass to return to the UK by another route and then travel between the UK and Amsterdam.

The discrepancy in journey times is mainly due to the variations in the connecting time between trains at Bruxelles-Midi/Zuid station.
Also keep in mind that the travel time this combination of Thalys and Eurostar trains will be slower than the direct trains; but if you take this combination of trains, you won't need to be at Amsterdam Centraal station at least 30 mins before departure.

The options which have a total journey time of less than 5hrs, allow between 45 and 50mins to make the connection between the Thalys and Eurostar trains in Bruxelles
So if the departure/arrival times and price suit, target those journeys.
45-50 minutes in Bruxelles should ensure a stress-free transfer at Midi/Zuid station, even if the Thalys arrives up to 15 mins late; which happens very rarely.
Though if the Thalys does arrive in Bruxelles so late that you only have around 15mins to transfer between trains, you SHOULD still make the Eurostar.

On the current reduced timetable the only option available for departing Amsterdam before noon is to take the 06:15 Thalys departure to Bruxelles, but this train is only available on Mon-Fri.
The afternoon options with a connection in Bruxelles involve departing Amsterdam less than 90 mins after a direct Eurostar will have departed; and the direct train will be cheaper.

The alternative (third) option:

You don't have to take a Thalys train between Amsterdam and Bruxelles in order to make the connection into the Eurostar.
If you'll be making a booking after the discounted tickets for the Thalys train has sold out, it's likely that you will be able to save money by taking an IC train from Amsterdam to Bruxelles instead.
Though you will typically have to depart Amsterdam around 50 mins sooner than if you had taken the direct Eurostar.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Bookings Usually Open: Between 138 and 190 days ahead of the travel date

Seats are assigned on both the Thalys and Eurostar trains when booking tickets.
The prices shown below are the most heavily discounted, one way Standard Class prices.

Eurostar only sells tickets for the direct trains.
So if you want to compare the timings and prices of taking these trains against the direct trains you will need to use an alternative to the Eurostar website.

Using Eurail and InterRail Passes:

If you will be travelling with a Eurail or InterRail 'Global Pass' you will need to book a rail pass reservation to travel by these trains.

You can purchase these online with no booking fees via B-Europe - or they ARE now available on the Eurostar website.

However, you will save money if you target those direct trains.
Booking in advance is recommended as it's not unknown for rail pass reservations on Eurostar services to sell out days or weeks in advance; there is evidently limited availability per departure.

If you are a UK resident, worth knowing is your rail pass + reservation will only be valid if you take a train back to UK on the final day that you will be using your pass.
You cannot use an InterRail Pass to return to the UK by another route and then travel between the UK and Amsterdam.