Birmingham-Lille

[dvboy]

Looking to go to Lille one weekend hopefully in February either a Friday-Sunday or Saturday-Monday (or a Friday evening- Monday if possible).

Am I better off searching for Birmingham-Lille on Eurostar or just London-Lille and booking Birmingham-London CIV seperately?

 

[button_boxer]

If UK reservations are already open for the Birmingham to London leg on the date you need then the through ticket should cost you the same as booking the legs separately. If UK advance tickets have not yet been released then book the Eurostar ticket now before the price goes up and then book the leg to London over the phone with Eurostar domestic sales (01233 617913) as soon as the UK advances become available.

 

[dvboy]

Well Virgin advance fares are available until 8th March at the moment so that's good enough for me.

I'm just thinking with different routes from Birmingham to London being cheaper, might be cheaper than the through fare?

 

[button_boxer]

The "through fare" that Eurostar quote you is simply the Eurostar ticket plus the appropriate "Lndon Estar CIV" fare (advance or "saver" i.e. open single). These advances often seem to be cheaper than the normal non-CIV advances to London Terminals on the same trains.

For the through fares I'm not sure whether you get a choice of which connecting train to book or whether they always try and put you on one particular train - booking the two legs separately might let you get a cheaper advance on the train 20 minutes earlier from BHM or something like that.

 

[dvboy]

Well what I did in the end was look at every Friday and Saturday going out, and every Sunday and Monday coming back, to find the cheapest each date, and booked the cheapest combination at £58.00 out and £45.50 back the first weekend in March.

 

[SickyNicky]

For the through fares I'm not sure whether you get a choice of which connecting train to book or whether they always try and put you on one particular train - booking the two legs separately might let you get a cheaper advance on the train 20 minutes earlier from BHM or something like that.

If you book the two separately and your incoming connection is delayed, will Eurostar honour the international leg on a later train? I don't think they're bound by the NRCoC, so it might be hard to claim two separate tickets form one journey.

 

[Mike395]

If it's booked to 'London International CIV' then yes, they are obliged to honour it

 

[SickyNicky]

If it's booked to 'London International CIV' then yes, they are obliged to honour it

And if you're booking your advance ticket to London separately to the Eurostar ticket, can you actually book to London Internation CIV?

 

[Mike395]

You certainly used to be able to
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The fares appear in NFM10, so it appears that you still can! Bookable from anywhere you can get an Advance fare to London ordinarily

 

[button_boxer]

And if you're booking your advance ticket to London separately to the Eurostar ticket, can you actually book to London Internation CIV?

If you book it by phone with Eurostar on the number I gave above then yes, you get exactly the same ticket you would get if you booked a "through fare" on the E* website, with the destination Lndon Estar CIV which includes the tube to STP if necessary. And the last couple of times I've booked this way (to connect with a DB London Spezial) they offered me a cheaper price than eastcoast.co.uk was offering for an advance to London Terminals on the same train.

 

[dvboy]

Picked up my NR tickets today

Outward is a "Euro High Svr S" to "Lndon Estar Civ" route "+ Any Permitted" valid "Two Months Civ" at £23.50.
Return is an "Advance" from "Lndon Estar Civ" route "+ VWC & Connectns" valid "Bookdtrainonly" at £11.00.

Does this mean that I could effectively take any train down to London, not necessarily the one I have a reservation for, and does CIV still mean if I am delayed by Eurostar on the way back Virgin can put me on the next available train at no extra cost.

I am reserved in Coach B, seat "250" on both journeys :/ ... is this really seat 25, and can I change this to a quiet coach seat somehow?

 

[button_boxer]

Yes, the high saver is essentially an anytime single, so you could get an earlier train down (or a later one but don't cut it too fine...). And yes, if your UK-bound Eurostar is late and you miss your connection then you will be able to take the next one, just as you would if delays occur while travelling on a normal UK advance.