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Earlier this year, One World released some really attractive roundtrip business class fares out of Paris, routing back through London to the US, with fares that started in the low $1300s. My fiancee and I purchased tickets knowing we’d be in London, and thought we’d wrap in a night in Paris to position.
We were really on the fence as to when we’d need to leave London and ultimately purchased Eurostar tickets the night before, and what we discovered was pretty interesting. Package deals, much like we’ve seen with airlines, were pricing far cheaper roundtrip + a hotel, than were single journey tickets alone. Here’s a look at our experience aboard the Eurostar Standard Premier from London to Paris.
Trip Details:
- When: November 2019
- Where: London ( St Pancras ) to Paris ( Nord
- Cabin: Standard Premier
- Seats: 57,58
- Rate: Roundtrip + Hotel for £210 per person
We ended up booking a 2 tickets roundtrip with a one night stay at a 5 star hotel called the Marignan with an incredible view of the Eiffel tower for 210 pounds a piece, in standard premier. Compare this to one way tickets in standard that were pricing at 240 a piece ( sky high ) for train alone. The hotel was pricing in the mid $300s for the night, and even with us dropping the return, it was one helluva a better deal. Upgraded cabin and a hotel for 60 pounds cheaper. Had we picked a lesser quality hotel we could have nabbed it for the low £300s train and hotel.
You can watch the full review here:
Arrival:
We arrived roughly 90 minutes prior to departure and entered right next to Eurostar . We printed off our tickets and headed to security.
Security and Immigration
You’ll take your bags to departures with your printed ticket, or e-ticket, scan it and then head on towards security. After scanning your bags, you’ll exit the UK, enter the EU ( via France ), and head to the waiting area.
Waiting Area post immigration
All of the Eurostar trains hold passengers in one communal area. There are two coffee shops, a sundry store, and international exchange plus ATMs. We grabbed a quick coffee. Our train boarded roughly 30 mins later.
Boarding
There are two automated ramps up to the platform. One was broken and instead of waiting in the massive queue to go up the automated line, we lugged our bags up. We found our car, #9, and hopped on. You’ll be greeted by various personnel, and we promptly found our seats.
Standard Premier
Our train was changed last minute, and as a result our seating changed too. It was a stroke of good luck, placing us in the very back of the cabin in seats 57, 58. These seats not only permitted stowage under the seats in front of you, but since no one was behind you, you could place items behind as well.
Here’s a view of the entire cabin
Dining
With Standard Premier
As a part of Standard Premier you get a light snack that’s served with your choice of beverage. I had extremely low expectations and honestly, the food was excellent. It was the perfect little snack for a 2 hour journey. We had some cous cous, quiche, and a chocolate dessert served along side a white wine, water, and coffee.
The dining car
There are two dining cars that offer a place to buy beverages and snacks as well as have a place to stand and eat them. Here’s a quick look at the offerings. In addition to the picture, they offered a selection of sandwiches, pasta, and paninis.
Arrival into Nord
This is the easiest thing ever. Because you will have already cleared immigration prior to boarding, you’ll hop of the train, and either walk to your hotel, hop in a taxi, summon an uber, but you’ll be in it quickly. The taxi queue was roughly 10 minutes but it moved very fast, and we were to our hotel in about 20 minutes.
Overall:
Spending 2 hours and 15 minutes jetting across the English countryside, through the Chunnel, and popping out into France steaming towards Paris is super fun. I have another one of these Paris flights scheduled for next year and will surely use the Eurostar again. Arriving into Nord was super easy, and it’s quite the experience to hop off the train and slide right into the Paris within minutes. I would highly recommend the Eurostar, and urge you to price out the hotel and train packages vs train alone.
Well, according to never happened Brexit, UK is still in EU, right now.