I currently live near East Croydon and I don't think the current proposal is for me when going to Amsterdam - LGW (10m walk, 15m train, 1hr wait, 1hr flight, 15m train) or LCY (20m overground, 10m tube, 10m DLR, 30m wait, 1hr flight, 15m train) are the way to go. Eurostar would be 10m walk, 30m train, 45m wait, 3.5h train which is 2 hours longer and probably more expensive.[/QUOTE}
Everyone's preferences for any specific journey are going to depend on where they are, where they are going, and their own perceptions of value, speed and comfort. We will all have different priorities when it comes to them all.
With BA (who will hopefully learn from yesterday's failures) it is a fixed price of 4500 avios + £17.50. Eurostar I don't think will ever have attractive pricing, and the SNAP offer is too unpredictable
Eurostar is perfect for Brussels though.
Brussels, being closer, falls more within the time period where rail is more competitive with air. As I said previously, Eurostar won't decimate the air market between London and Amsterdam like it has with Brussels and Paris. I think there's room for a rail service, though. Not everyone wants to fly.
the trip is a succession of segments leaving very little time for doing any productive work (or even relaxing).
I would feel the same way. I prefer a slightly longer, but less interrupted journey to one whihc is made up of a numbe rof shorter segments or stages. Other swill disagree, as speed will be more vital in some circumstances.