Single booking for Eurostar from my local station

[Grumpy Git]

Is there any website which allows a complete journey to be booked from a local UK station to anywhere in western Europe via Eurostar?

I'm attempting to book to Rotterdam, but with overnight stops in Brussels.

I've tried all the usual suspects to no avail (unless I'm doing something wrong)?

 

[SargeNpton]

Pretty sure that domestic retailing and Eurostar retailing are completely separate. If there is any third-party journey planner that links the two then it's a fairly well kept secret.

 

[Haywain]

Is there any website which allows a complete journey to be booked from a local UK station to anywhere in western Europe via Eurostar?

In a word, no.

 

[Mike395]

Loco2 used to be the closest you'd get for an all-in-one solution but they went rapidly downhill after being purchased by SNCF. You're now best off just booking the UK/Eurostar/European legs separately (use NS International for the Brussels-Rotterdam leg)

 

[Lemmy99uk]

I’ve just tried a dummy booking for Birmingham to Rotterdam on a random day in May using RailEurope

It’s offered me a through journey via St Pancras and Brussels for £129 although I think the ticket is split in London.

 

[Grumpy Git]

I’ve just tried a dummy booking for Birmingham to Rotterdam on a random day in May using RailEurope

It’s offered me a through journey via St Pancras and Brussels for £129 although I think the ticket is split in London.

Thank you.

 

[Watershed]

I’ve just tried a dummy booking for Birmingham to Rotterdam on a random day in May using RailEurope

It’s offered me a through journey via St Pancras and Brussels for £129 although I think the ticket is split in London.

Although worth noting that booking it as a through journey does not necessarily guarantee protection against missed connections...

 

[miklcct]

Although worth noting that booking it as a through journey does not necessarily guarantee protection against missed connections...

So how should I book the tickets in order to have protection from missed connections for the whole of the journey?

 

[Surreytraveller]

Although worth noting that booking it as a through journey does not necessarily guarantee protection against missed connections...

It does if the ticket to London is issued to London CIV

 

[Watershed]

So how should I book the tickets in order to have protection from missed connections for the whole of the journey?

Through tickets are no longer available unfortunately - unless you have something like an Interrail pass (which, incidentally, is currently 50% off).

You now have to split and therefore do not have any strict legal protection against missing your connection onto the Eurostar. Rail Europe do say that they are selling separate tickets, but they do not make clear the lack of protection for the connection.

Eurostar are generally quite reasonable about allowing you to rebook onto a later service, subject to the availability of seats - but at busy times, all remaining trains of the day may be sold out (and, being an airline on rails, no standing is allowed). And it is quite unlikely that either Eurostar or the TOC responsible would pay for a hotel.

The situation is a little better when connecting to/from Eurostar on the continent - if you miss a connection from one of the 8 Railteam operators to another, you can take the next service under the "HOTNAT" scheme. This includes when travelling on split tickets, and does not require you to rebook.

A similar scheme also exists under the Agreement on Journey Continuation which 14 operators participate in. This does require rebooking though, and as an agreement between operators (rather than an explicit passenger right) it is no something which you can legally rely on.

Overall the position is that it is very difficult to obtain 100% legal protection, as you would have had in the past under a single CIV ticket. But in practice it is likely, albeit not guaranteed, that you will be allowed to travel on the next available service.

It does if the ticket to London is issued to London CIV

It is still a separate contract and so unfortunately there is no strict legal entitlement to travel on the next available service.

 

[AlbertBeale]

It does if the ticket to London is issued to London CIV

It is still a separate contract and so unfortunately there is no strict legal entitlement to travel on the next available service.

But I thought that was the point of CIV protection - the guarantee of being carried on a later service if there's been a delay?

Slightly different, but a through journey booked with one operator, even if with separately ticketed legs, seems to be OK judging from my experience in the past.

The situation is a little better when connecting to/from Eurostar on the continent - if you miss a connection from one of the 8 Railteam operators to another, you can take the next service under the "HOTNAT" scheme. This includes when travelling on split tickets, and does not require you to rebook.

Under the HOTNAT scheme, presumably you need to re-reserve (ie "re-book"??) if your next leg is on a reservations-only service? (Ie, rather than just literally "hopping on" regardless?) Which isn't unreasonable.

What chance the HOTNAT system becoming established for international services generally within Europe? (And/or getting rail companies to issue through tickets on one another's services, as used to be the case routinely years ago, before the fetish for "competition"?)

 

[Watershed]

But I thought that was the point of CIV protection - the guarantee of being carried on a later service if there's been a delay?

Slightly different, but a through journey booked with one operator, even if with separately ticketed legs, seems to be OK judging from my experience in the past.

In practice, Eurostar would be likely to rebook you onto the next service with available seats. But legally speaking they're not obliged to do so, and certainly I don't think they would pay for overnight accommodation if you missed the last train of the day.

One of the main reasons for booking to London International CIV can simply be that it's cheaper than buying a normal ticket.

Under the HOTNAT scheme, presumably you need to re-reserve (ie "re-book"??) if your next leg is on a reservations-only service? (Ie, rather than just literally "hopping on" regardless?) Which isn't unreasonable.

Yes, I think so. You could hop on the next ICE though, for example, as reservations are optional on those (indeed, reservations carry an additional charge on the cheapest Sparpreis, i.e. Advance, tickets).

What chance the HOTNAT system becoming established for international services generally within Europe? (And/or getting rail companies to issue through tickets on one another's services, as used to be the case routinely years ago, before the fetish for "competition"?)

Unfortunately some of the national railways of Europe are decidedly lukewarm about international journeys. They don't want the additional liability which through ticketing and protected connections offer.

In doing so, they are ignoring the fact that whilst international rail travel is, broadly speaking, a small market - its growth will continue to be inhibited unless people have the same protections as they do when booking a flight with a connection, for example.

 

[RT4038]

Unfortunately some of the national railways of Europe are decidedly lukewarm about international journeys. They don't want the additional liability which through ticketing and protected connections offer.

In doing so, they are ignoring the fact that whilst international rail travel is, broadly speaking, a small market - its growth will continue to be inhibited unless people have the same protections as they do when booking a flight with a connection, for example.

It is not only the additional liability (both in the actual cost of hotels etc, and also the cost of the staff to organise things), but it is the yield per km from longer distance passengers is less than that from shorter. It is unsurprising that they will prioritise the shorter distance passenger.

I am not so sure that the 'protections' or lack of them deter many - it is the overall cost, journey time and hassle of changes when compared with most air travel that is by far the greater deterrent.

 

[miklcct]

In practice, Eurostar would be likely to rebook you onto the next service with available seats. But legally speaking they're not obliged to do so, and certainly I don't think they would pay for overnight accommodation if you missed the last train of the day.

One of the main reasons for booking to London International CIV can simply be that it's cheaper than buying a normal ticket.


Yes, I think so. You could hop on the next ICE though, for example, as reservations are optional on those (indeed, reservations carry an additional charge on the cheapest Sparpreis, i.e. Advance, tickets).


Unfortunately some of the national railways of Europe are decidedly lukewarm about international journeys. They don't want the additional liability which through ticketing and protected connections offer.

In doing so, they are ignoring the fact that whilst international rail travel is, broadly speaking, a small market - its growth will continue to be inhibited unless people have the same protections as they do when booking a flight with a connection, for example.

But I also doubt if I can protected between flights if the flights I take can't be bought on a single ticket, most commonly when involving different non-alliance airlines.

 

[Watershed]

But I also doubt if I can protected between flights if the flights I take can't be bought on a single ticket, most commonly when involving different non-alliance airlines.

No, and that is effectively what happens if you buy separate tickets on the European network, outwith HOTNAT and AJC.

 

[miklcct]

No, and that is effectively what happens if you buy separate tickets on the European network, outwith HOTNAT and AJC.

So that means there is no advantage in travelling by air in terms of getting connection protection as well, as both are "on your own" if the incoming transport is delayed.

 

[Watershed]

So that means there is no advantage in travelling by air in terms of getting connection protection as well, as both are "on your own" if the incoming transport is delayed.

Yes, but it has to be a fairly unusual circumstance where the journey you are making can only be made using two non-cooperating carriers.

 

[Class800]

Yes, but it has to be a fairly unusual circumstance where the journey you are making can only be made using two non-cooperating carriers.

I had a few routes where this was the case, e.g. East Midlands Airport to Kirkwall in 2019

 

[Roast Veg]

It does if the ticket to London is issued to London CIV

I don't know of any journey planners that sell tickets to London International.

The only way to stay protected here is to buy the UK ticket at a station after the Eurostar let.

 

[4COR]

I don't know of any journey planners that sell tickets to London International.

The only way to stay protected here is to buy the UK ticket at a station after the Eurostar let.

Is this not the "London International Euro" destination that splitticketing.com sell? Restrictions require a Eurostar ticket to be held to be valid so it looks correct?

 

[Alex365Dash]

Is this not the "London International Euro" destination that splitticketing.com sell? Restrictions require a Eurostar ticket to be held to be valid so it looks correct?

TrainSplit (which splitticketing.com uses) allows you to input London International (for Eurostar) as the destination. It does appear to actually offer tickets to London International CIV, but offers them alongside standard tickets to London so you have to be careful to pick the right one. Since it also offers the cheaper of the two, it might be very difficult (or not possible) to get it to offer the London International ticket you want for certain starting points.