So much for trains

[bellinghman]

I was just attempting to get train fares for a journey from Sierre (Swiss Alps) to London.

Holy crap! How do they expect anyone to use trains? I can get from Sierre to Paris at a reasonable price - a very reasonable price for a direct TGV that takes 5:20. But that's no use whatsoever, if it then costs THREE TIMES AS MUCH for the Paris to London link, which is only 2:40.

</rant>

EDIT: Many thanks for the purpletigron/purplecthulhu's advice on getting round Eurostar.

EDIT: OK, I can do Sierre to Paris-Lyon for 113 CHF, if I buy it from the Swiss, and using the halbtax card. That's just under £48. And going via the "I am American" part of the Eurostar site allows me to buy the single/non-flexible fare at $89 each - which is roughly £45. That's compared to the insane £300+ it was trying to do me for originally for the Paris to London leg!

So, Swiss Alps to central London for £93 isn't too bad. I just wish it wasn't such an incredible hassle finding this all out. If I was a PA doing this, and factoring in the cost of my time, it'd be another matter.

EDIT: Ooops, forgot time zone differences. That was 2:40, not 1:40

Comments

[rmc28]

If I was a PA doing this, and factoring in the cost of my time, it'd be another matter.

But you only have to learn most of this once and your exec goes travelling more than that.

The rules of cheap European train travel are:
1. Book in advance
2. Buy separate returns for separate bits of the journey (how I turned London-Rotterdam return from 350 pounds into 77 pounds).
3. If necessary buy a return and don't use the second half

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

True - if the PA knows that there will be repeat trips, it makes sense to spend the time on the research.

I can quite imagine, though, that the first trip is the one that coins it for Eurostar. And those prices are what has deterred us from using Eurostar before: whereas we know there are flight bargains, train bargains are less obvious.

(Also, I grew up in an age when train bargains were getting rail cards, or season tickets, or off-peak returns.)