Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: up to 330 days ahead of the travel date.
Seat reservations are mandatory on the Eurostar, so will be included when booking tickets, but they are not available on the train on to Luxembourg.
Eurostar does not sell tickets for London to Luxembourg journeys by train, but the cheapest option can be to book tickets Any Belgian Station tickets on Eurostar.com - and then on arrival at Bruxelles-Midi/Zuid station you can visit the SNCB International Tickets office and purchase a ticket that will be valid from the Belgian border on to Luxembourg.
Doing so can save more than €25.
When making the booking on Eurostar select any Belgian town other than Bruxellles as destination - so Antwerp or Gent etc.
The name of the specific location in Belgium won't be printed on the ticket - it will simply state that it is valid for travel on to 'any station in Belgium -including the final station in Belgium on the Bruxelles - Luxembourg route.
Regardless of what ticket(s) are booked, if you won't be reliant on taking the final train of the day on from Bruxelles to Luxembourg, if the Eurostar from London is delayed, you can hop on any subsequent onward departure.
Eurostar train's general ticket terms:
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.
Seat Reservations on the Eurostar
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.
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 via B-Europe - or they ARE now available on the Eurostar website.
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.
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 from the UK on the first day that your pass is valid for - and a return to the UK on the final day that you will be using a pass.
