The new Eurostar trains. Are they an upgrade?

Well NO. You would think for 1.3 BILLION $$$$$$ They would have made some improvements? But oh no. In fact they made them worse. They have decided from all your complaints about space and chairs to actually DECREASE the seat sizes. Yes you heard correctly, they made the seats bloody smaller! WHY OH WHY!? Grrrrr....... Then they decided to take away the comfy head rests and replace them with brittle andplastic, and if that isnt enough they place a totaly useless light on ur seat which is so weak and projected in such a pointless angle that u wonder why they bother. The menu in business class isnt much better either, let me explain why. The food you get when you take your next flight is treated bearing in mind ur taste buds do not work in the same fashion due to the atmospheric pressure. So as you can understand allot of thought goes into which foods to offer (or not with some airlines and ticket classes).

Anyway, it appears eurostar has taken the same atmospheric considerations when deciding which meals to provide, WHY!? We going 250 to 290klm on ground level which means you should be considering restaurant food not airline food! Grrrr.......
Staff are super friendly, but again your now paying more for even less space than was already less before, so technically you have less of less. Kinda reminds me of my student days, when I had an overdraft, what a wonderful feeling knowing u have not just 0 but you have an overdraft! Thats how the seats made me feel, and its not just economy its in business too.

Rip off Business class

So I finally convince my company to let me join the high flyers club. Or at least thats what I thought.
570 euro for a return London to Brussels!!!! thats 570!!!  as apposed to the 170 euro return. what does an extra 400 euro buy you?

MY DREAM
So I was expecting champaign, my own butler, a private spa, my own waiting area, gold cups with diamond encrusted plates, 5star cheffs at my beckon call, red carpet with rose petals as I walk accross the floor, being picked up by a custom rolls royce with a celebritiy of my choice or picked up in a helicopter and land on the roof, and of course not forgetting lots and lots of free chocolate!

THE REALITY
No que to check in, so big smile on my face, but then customs que, which was about 6 people long. Pretty much same as in economy! Then passport control, again same as economy :(
Then your thrown into the same lounge area as economy :(  But then i notice the business class lounge on the right side in London. Ooooh! Finally heaven! But all it is is actually a much smaller waiting area with free orange juice and small bakery choice which isnt for everyones choice.
Thats it. No red carpet, no helicopter, no private spa, NOTHING! None of my dreams came true on the business class absolutely NOTHING!!!!! I was so pissed.To be honest its more comfortable sitting in the economy lounge because you have more choice of seat type and they all much bigger seats. You have more food choices and a selection of shops. So I struggle to wonder why do they charge so much money for business class? Because it certainly is not for the service.

the extra 400 euro buys you NOTHING. basically. Think of it this way, you arrive at the eurostar, there is a que infront of you of 10 people, would you say oh here is 400 euro so I can skip this que? The reality is your all getting on the same train and you will all go through the same customs control.

TRAVEL ADVICE

Obviously the best travel advice you can get for taking the eurostar is forget it. But if you really insist or you just curious about having the experience then read on. First you have to be aware of the obvious no go times of the year, these are summer and christmas period. On theses weeks you can expect cancelled trains, delays of 2+ hours, the que just to get to the entrance ofthe eurostar, not the check in, just the entrance will be longer than a concert at your favorite singer. There are always the other guys in the que also, you know the people who are trying to carry more than what they can actually carry, only to be turned back because they have too much luggage, yes it happens, if you have too much luggage your ass is being turned away. two bags max, big or small doesnt matter.

If you really insist on traveling in those periods, buy the business class, check in is much much easier, however delays remain the same as you all get the same train.

Dont get the economy seats, if someone goes to the toilet and does a stinky poo, you gonna smell it for the next few hours!

Good luck!

NON-FLEXIBLE

When you book a ticket on the eurostar you have to make sure your on time, there is no next train situation and there is no second chances, there is no transfer option and there is no lateness window of opportunity, miss your train and your screwed. They will be happy to direct you to the ticket office where they will be happy to screw you AGAIN for another ticket.

Book months in advance of be robbed!

Just have to emphasize this fact, you MUST book your ticket months in advance otherwise you will pay 2 or 3 even 5 times more for the same chair on the same train. In other words Eurostar screws you up the ass for deciding last minute you wanna go somewhere, they assume that everyone knows months in advance before they need to travel and are more than happy to shake people down, con them into paying more when they need to go in short notice. Its a scam and people need to wake up.

Stupid passport checks

OK I have to say something about this rubbish, you get your passport checked when you arrive, after of course checking in and scanning your ticket, you have to go through UK passport control and then you have to go through another French passport control. so two checks, AND THEN UK customs says HELLO! Where are you from, where are you going, what do you do for a living pointless waste of life questions. So three checks. By now your passport should be feeling warm from all the handling of it. Finally reach the train, 30 minutes later, private security and police jump on the train and guess what? Check your passport AGAIN!!!!!! As if the first 3 checks was not enough! So 4 checks before you even arrive at your destination. Come on people sort yourself out.

UK CUSTOMS CONTROLS

First let me point out that NOT all UK customs staff are retarded, I met some really nice intelligent decent people who make me proud to be British. 

However, have met some real idiots and I mean serious mental issues going on inside, one crazy person was checking my bags leaving the UK to Paris for drugs, I am no drug dealer, but even I know that drug prices in London are the highest in Europe, why anyone would import drugs FROM London TO France!!?!?!? Makes no sense whatsoever. Why do we have UK customs in London checking passengers LEAVING the UK!?!?!? and checking for drugs!? How idiotic. At the same time its estimated 300 to 500 illegal immigrants are crossing our borders effortlessly hiding in trucks. WTF?!

Come on people sort yourself out we are paying tax to support your wages you could at least earn them.

So Eurostar customers, no matter your nationality you will probably get some harassment by UK customs. Especially if you fit some type of PROFILE, i.e dont look like bin laden going through the security check or you should add at least another 30 minutes to your journey, I think Eurostar currently do not offer such realistic warnings on their website. Good luck!

End of Eurostar?

Looks like eurostar has been cooking the books. They reporting publicly that they have profits when as a matter of fact, when you use the correct exchange rate they are actually making a LOSS.
Just checked their website and they asking €170 for trip from London to Brussels!!!! WTF!?
Something is not right here, either eurostar is being screwed by someone with their costs, as in the CEO is not doing a very good job of things which would explain the high prices, OR they are just screwing us on prices. I mean come on eurostar, it costs just £46 return on the eurotunnel! Why the hell would anyone wanna pay €170 EACH WAY for a shitty service that eurostar provides!?

Business class waiting lounge UK.

Trust me on this one, your not missing much, the only thing different is there are backs to the chairs which already exist in the economy class waiting area and there are a few boring magazines you would never read anyway. complete with power sockets that dont work its a load of rubbish and over hyped.

Insane UK custom officers

Going from London to Paris, checked in at London gone through security passed passport control and then STOP!! UK Customs want to know who you are, where your going, what job you do and why your travelling. Why the hell would they want to know all this!? Its a train LEAVING the UK, not ENTERING!
lets say they stopped a drug dealer from exporting cocaine. That would have to be the dumbest drug dealer i ever known, because a quick google will tell you drug prices are higher in the UK than France, so what idiot would risk smuggling it OUT of the UK!? Thats like me smuggling rice into China! WHY!?!?!?!

Not all custom officers are mental, only the female ones or those without a military or police background or training. I have noticed terrible abuses of human rights its just insane. Anyway, we live in a policing global environment, there are lots of nutters out there and they come in all shapes, colors and sizes so be warned.

Instead of putting power hungry insane nutters on patrol spend a little money and beef up security that way, use scanners, full body scanners, substance detection equipment what is wrong with you people!?

Eurostar to Brussels then off to Germany

Eurostar........still the stinky smelly, small spaced over priced nut job railway it has always been.
No surprise there, but my isit to Germany from Brussels was very eye opening. Apparently police were called to the railway because an English speaking passengers visa debit card was not accepted on the train.
The conductor immediately called the police because she thought the passenger already eat the food.
When the police arrived the staff told the police the passenger did not eat anything and that the conductor was wrong in assuming they already eat the food. Then police just left and what a waste of everyones time as the train was also delayed as a result. If German efficiency exists, it certainly is not with the trains, brains or racist German thinkers.

I have found the holy grail! www.EnglishFood.be

Always up and down with the eurostar and always complaining about it haha, but I have no choice as my employer makes me take the eurostar. Anyway enough complaining I finally found something to keep me happy. its www.englishfood.be, yes finally a company that delivers my home food to me for FREE and next day no matter where I am in Europe, they delivered to my hotel in Amsterdam, and Brugge and even last week in Spain!!! So here is my official thank you to englishfood.be.

Standard Premiere....Beware of the American!!!

I love America, and I love Americans. But I just dont like the Americans I meet on the eurostar premiere class. There is a clear social conscious among the Americans that if your sitting in first class, you simply MUST talk about how much money you make or how much money you wanna make or how much wealth you have or how much wealth you want to have. Its VERY VERY annoying. But I kid you not, on 90% of the journeys I have made, I have been confronted by Americans boasting out loud about how much money they make or someone they know makes. And they shout it out so loud you just have to look, but thats what they seem to enjoy. Thats what I dont get, why do Americans on eurostar feel like they have to talk about their personal wealth? Is it simply a case of oooooh ime in first class i better talk big numbers just to fit in? or is it a case of simply wanting to be heard?

Well here is a note to all you american travelers. We Europeans do NOT talk about our personal financial wealth on the eurostar. We dont like to boast and we are more refined. Talking, no SHOUTING out the numbers you just made selling one of your 6 houses while sitting in your eurostar seat so the whole coach can hear makes you look very very stupid, unrefined and makes you sound like a wanna be. In other words, you sound like a poor wanna be rich american idiot. I dont mean to sound harsh but that is basically how your behavior translates to us. Now you know.

Enough is enough.....

Started to take alternative travel than the eurostar. had enough of their extortionate pricing, i been up and down more then 70 times in 2013. Yes I travel more than 5 times a month on the eurostar because my company dictates i do. However, where I do have a say in the matter i am now taking other alternative routes. routes that dont change the price from £60 to £160 in a matter of a few days while flashing "last seats left!" only to find that the coach was empty. (extortion basically) They still do this 5 years later, and all the newbies or less frequent travelers always get screwed on the price they pay. Anyway to my surprise I am actually saving money. to be more precise I am saving on average 50% to 70% by NOT traveling by eurocrap, I mean eurostar. There is driving, there are coaches, there are boats, there is planes. Basically every other way seems cheaper than eurocrap.

F**k Eurostar......take the coach.

Coach prices are very low, ranging from £10 to £27 one way from London to Brussels and same on return.
Nice comfortable seats and you get to enjoy a view instead of starring at a brick wall under the eurostar tunnel. time is about 1hr or so more than eurostar, but you get a great road trip and you save £££££.

So in conclusion, F**k eurostar and take a coach.

Brussels to London.....again

Rubbish service, dirty seats and this time I hear food is now available with waitrose microwave food ready to be served, they said this over the speakers in economy class. So I go running to the bar only to find that they have absolutely NOTHING, only a few bags of crisps and over priced drinks! Nice! Then I was told to wait as they are still organizing the food.....30 minutes later still waiting, by this time he had told the same thing to more than 20 people. Total chaos when some supplies of food arrived, the staff forgot who was first and started serving anyone who waved money at them! So I have to wait another 30 minutes unless your the type of person who wants to fight through a crowd of frustrated hungry passengers. 1 hour goes by and I finally get to the bar only to be told they do NOT have anything left!!! So all this time waiting and nothing to eat!

Eurostar, dont say you have food when you dont. Better to say nothing than to announce there is food in the bar when you dont have it yet.

London to Brussels....SHOCKED!

Today I did the London to Brussels in Standard Premiere again. This time was different. There is actually good news and bad news. First the bad news. When you have a laptop with you, your pretty much screwed, because when they bring you your food (if you get any) It will take up all your space so when you finish there is nowhere to place your laptop, so you sit there for 30 minutes staring at your tray. The food they give you assumes you are all 5 year old children with a small appetite. VERY low food portions, I think mouse eat more. Surprisingly enough I am struggling to complain about anything else today shocking I know.

Now time for some good stuff. The food was shockingly tasty, yes I am saying something nice for a change!
I had the spicy Salmon with vegetables and it was VERY tasty. Better than anything i ever eat on eurostar in more than 5 years of travel. Whoever the chef is deserves a promotion and a pay rise, because if they cooking I will become a fan of Premiere class. The coach was actually clean this time, all air vents cleaned, seats and head rests clean. Magazines in plenty supply, staff was certainly first class, I think i had a charming African French lady serve me, she was very professional and polite. I feel like there is new management at eurostar? Can it be they actually listen to our complaints? Ummm....well I am lost for words. All I can say is was this just a one off chance I experience a first class quality? or does this mean Eurostar is stepping up? Only time will tell.

First happy experience I ever had on Eurostar.

Standard premium......(standard crap!)

Just now arrived in London from Kings cross St Pancras. I took the Premium Standard after almost being attacked by drunk people in economy, long story short I told the train conductor but they shrugged their shoulders!!! So thought next time upgrade. Traveled in Premium standard and allot of fake weird conversations going on. You just dont wanna know, but some people just feel they must talk about expensive things while sitting in standard premiere, its a weird experience. anyway. The one thing I was looking forward to was the food. I figured food must be different after all these complaints and being first class it has to be good when prices are almost double the price of standard economy tickets right? WRONG! Rubbish food! I got 2 pieces of bread and a glass of water. WTF!? I paid DOUBLE my ticket fair so i can receive this!?!?!? Eurostar is this some kind of joke? the bread was as hard as the tray i was given, and its rubbish to say the least. I am so disappointed. Well I have paid for your wisdom, now you know dont bother with standard premiere as its standard crap pure and simple. And you STILL have no room for prams or buggies on standard premiere just in case your wondering.

Belgium Eurostar....

Whats your experience on Eurostar Brussels to London?

Wheelchairs & Baby Prams.....

If you have a wheelchair you are pretty much screwed, eurostar has only a limited space for wheelchair users, when i say limited I mean 1 or 2 on the entire eurostar. If you have a buggy, dont be an idiot like many parents I notice on the eurostar, do not push your baby onto the train expecting to push ur pram to your seat because it just is not going to happen, i repeat it is NOT going to happen. There is just not enough room for your buggy, be it a Quinny, Stokke, bugaboo, icandy or whatever buggy you got, FOLD IT UP BEFORE you get on the train thus preventing a frustrated 10 to 20 passenger bottleneck line who are all waiting for you the idiot parent to finally realise you need to fold your pram.

Anyway, there is not enough luggage space already so pram space is just non existent. I once see a woman with a stokke buggy, she folded up her pram and tried to store it above on the over storage compartment. It later dropped on someones head. Yes there are very very stupid parents with prams that travel on eurostar.