Eurostar connections - is CIV really necessary?

[Oscar]

The Advance Fares FAQs posted by Hairy Handed Fool suggest that when buying domestic Eurostar connections CIV is not actually necessary to ensure that passengers are put on the next trains if delayed. So does it actually matter in any way any more whether or not you buy a CIV ticket? Do staff at Eurostar and domestic TOCs respond better to CIV tickets than to others because they are not aware of the Advance Fares FAQs? When I once encountered serious Eurostar disruption which made me miss a domestic connection I had a CIV ticket and the TOCs were very accommodating (I have never had the experience the other way). My ticket was in fact inspected very carefully on this occasion - I wonder what the result would have been if I had not held a CIV ticket?

Q22. Can a passenger travel on any other service than the one on which they are reserved, without changing the booking?

A. the following principles apply.

1) Start of the Journey. It is the passenger responsibility to turn up at the start of the journey in time for the departure of the first train. If they miss it due to parking problems, taxis not turning up, etc, they must buy a new ticket,

2) Once the journey has begun. If the passenger is delayed and the train company or it's partners [are] at fault, which should be check by [staff] control office, change to a train of the same company is allowed to get them to their destination with the least delay. This is irrespective of the combination of rail tickets held. Examples are:

Included: are passsengers on valid:

...

Combination of Eurostar tickets into the UK and then either advance tickets from London terminals or "London Intnl CIV" or Lndon Eurostar CIV;

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It's not mandatory, no, but it is advisable - the CIV tickets are generally cheaper and do offer a higher degree of protection against delay than an ordinary ticket.

This is especially true if you are connecting outwards to St Pancras and your Eurostar ticket is a non-flexible one. Without a CIV ticket you'll have a job persuading them to transfer you onto the next available Eurostar; with a CIV ( provided you have allowed a resonable connection and not given yourself just a 5 minute margin, for example! ) they'll bend over backwards to get you on your way.

As for coming back in to the country, suppose you are on a late night arrival to St Pancras and that gets delayed and you miss your last train home, ask yourself this: Would you rather be holding a normal Advance ticket or a CIV...?

Earlier in the day with plenty of trains left as long as you aren't on an Advance for your onward journey in the UK the CIV won't really make a difference.

 

[Oscar]

Do Eurostar staff have the right to refuse to put you on a later travel if you hold a non-flexible Eurostar ticket and a non-CIV domestic ticket and the domestic leg was delayed? Obviously the Advance Fares FAQs apply to National Rail and so I can understand that there should not be a problem on the return leg but do you think that they do not apply to Eurostar (i.e. when travelling in the other direction?).

As for coming back in to the country, suppose you are on a late night arrival to St Pancras and that gets delayed and you miss your last train home, ask yourself this: Would you rather be holding a normal Advance ticket or a CIV...?

When this happened to me in 2010 on I was on a CIV ticket and Eurostar paid £95 for a hotel. Are you saying that they would almost certainly not have done this otherwise?

Earlier in the day with plenty of trains left as long as you aren't on an Advance for your onward journey in the UK the CIV won't really make a difference.

Surely it shouldn't make a difference whether you're on an Advance or not due to Advanced to/from London Terminals and Eurostar being classed as a through journey in the Advance Fares FAQs.

I understand that Eurostar are generally very flexible when delays affect services to Paris/Brussels/Lille so why should they behave any differently with a non-CIV Advance in the UK covered by the Advance Fares FAQs. I can understand however that an Off-Peak or Anytime domestic ticket may cause some issues given that nowhere does it seems to say that one of these ticket types + Eurostar is classed as a through journey.

 

[barrykas]

Do Eurostar staff have the right to refuse to put you on a later travel if you hold a non-flexible Eurostar ticket and a non-CIV domestic ticket and the domestic leg was delayed?

Strictly speaking, yes. Without a CIV ticket, they'd be perfectly entitled to treat the domestic leg and the Eurostar leg as two separate journeys, even where the domestic ticket is purchased through Eurostar! That they generally don't is good customer service.

The CIV rules state that they only apply where the origin and destination are in two different Member States, and where the ticket indicates that they apply (which can be done as simply as including CIV on the ticket).

Cheers,

Barry

 

[Oscar]

Presumably National Rail would not have the right to behave in this way because of the Advance Fare FAQs?

 

[gordonthemoron]

sınce CIV tıckets are ınvarıably cheaper, why would anyone buy anythıng else?

 

[Oscar]

sınce CIV tıckets are ınvarıably cheaper, why would anyone buy anythıng else?

York - London Kings Cross Advances bought from East Coast (starting at £10) are sometimes cheaper than CIV York - London Estar/Intl CIV (starting at £13). This normally happens when the cheapest two tiers of East Coast Advances are available. Sometimes CIV can however also be significantly cheaper than EC Advances.
What about a day trip from Maidstone to the Continent via Eurostar from Ashford? Maidstone - Ashford International Off-Peak Day Return costs £9.10, Euro Open Return costs £15.80.

I would imagine that CIV being more expensive than another option is probably rare across the network though (as long as you buy the CIV ticket from Eurostar domestic sales). I still think that the rights of passengers with CIV tickets is an important issue though.