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Unable to reserve seat on Eurostar

  • December 14, 2023
  • 6 replies
  • 361 views
Kathy Su

Hi all,
I am trying to reserve a seat for the Eurostar between London and Paris Nord on 26th July 2024. I know it’s quite early but just want to make sure I have a seat as that will be during Olympic time. 
I used the B-Europe website and the website shows the following message:
“No connections matching your requests.
Please change your search options (e.g. allow any type of trains, don't specify a via station or reduce extra transfer time)”

I have checked several days in July and August, and only the morning of 26th July shows this message. Does this mean all the tickets for the pass holder on that morning are sold out? Is it really possible for the train to be fully booked since it is still 7 months early? Reservation through the Eurail website for that day is even not open yet since it is more than 180 days. Do I still have a possibility to reserve a seat for that day?
Would truly appreciate with your help.

Thank you
Kathy

Best answer by ralderton

It's difficult to know exactly, because demand during the Olympics will mess with the usual wisdom around availability. 

That date is the opening ceremony, too.

I see that there are trains on sale for cash, but at very high prices, so it’s possible the Eurail fares have either all sold out, or were never available. They're directly related to the cash fare.

I would keep checking, but also have a plan B (ferry, flight, different date, different destination) if necessary.

6 replies

ralderton
Railmaster
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  • ralderton
  • Railmaster
  • Answer
  • December 14, 2023

It's difficult to know exactly, because demand during the Olympics will mess with the usual wisdom around availability. 

That date is the opening ceremony, too.

I see that there are trains on sale for cash, but at very high prices, so it’s possible the Eurail fares have either all sold out, or were never available. They're directly related to the cash fare.

I would keep checking, but also have a plan B (ferry, flight, different date, different destination) if necessary.

A
Railly clever
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  • AnnaB
  • Railly clever
  • December 14, 2023

All passholder reservations during the morning and day on 26th of July are sold out. If you check the Eurostar website you can see that the prices for normal tickets are very high.This means that  passholder reservations not are sold anymore. 

 

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
Kathy Su
BrendanDB
Full steam ahead
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  • BrendanDB
  • Full steam ahead
  • December 14, 2023

You best go to Lille and change for an ordinary TGV InOui to Paris.

Plenty of availability on the 26th of July for Lille.

 

The TGV’s Lille-Paris aren’t bookable yet I think, you can reserve those from the 6th of march 2024. (about 3-4 months before departure). These are quite frequent, so you should find some availability once the sales open.

The schedules might change a lot for the Olympics, nobody knows what what it will bring.

T
Kathy Su
T
Full steam ahead
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  • thibcabe
  • Full steam ahead
  • December 14, 2023

I believe too that there were never passholder reservations available. When the ticket price hits 180€ (from my experience) they disappear.

My hot take : they know that they'll fill up trains easily so why bother with passholders bringing less revenue…

As Brendan said, travel via Lille or use one of the late afternoon trains.

Off-topic but this summer will be hell : Euro football cup, Olympic Games, mandatory reservations on most cross-border trains to/from Germany, etc.

Kathy Su
R
Railmaster
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  • rvdborgt
  • Railmaster
  • December 14, 2023

I suspect pass holder fares were available but some trains are already filling up. Apparently also on Sunday morning 28 July, although Sunday morning is normally not very busy.

There is still some availability on the direct Eurostars on Friday, starting from 16:31. The late afternoon and early evening departures often fill up first, especially on a Friday, so this is very a-typical. It may be that some larger groups are travelling in the mornings of 26/27/28 July.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
Kathy Su
Kathy Su
  • Kathy Su
  • Author
  • Rail rookie
  • December 14, 2023

Thank you all very much. I will take a look at train to Lille as a plan B.

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