Eurostar - cheaper to buy return

I%26#39;m wanting to go from Paris to London by Eurostar in October and bizarrely it seems cheaper to buy a return ticket that I don%26#39;t need than it is to buy a single. Any ideas on how to get round this...?

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Be sure the first half is going the direction you want, and throw away the rest.

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If you book through the US Eurostar website, as opposed to the UK one, it is cheaper to buy a one-way (single) than a round-trip (return). Depending on the date and time of travel, a $94 fare is often available for a standard-class single ticket, Paris to London. This is cheaper than any return ticket I was able to find for October, from either the US or UK site.

To access the US Eurostar website, you can delete your browser%26#39;s cookies; the Eurostar website will then ask you what your country of origin is, and you say the US.

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The only ticket you can get one way is the standard price flexi. It was always thus.

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%26gt;%26gt;The only ticket you can get one way is the standard price flexi. It was always thus.

Hhmm, this is definitely not the case for bookings made through the US Eurostar website. For many departures, cheap non-flexible (non-refundable) fares are available for one-way tickets. It%26#39;s very interesting that Eurostar seems to give more options to its North American customers (ability to book 9 months in advance, cheaper one-way fares, etc.)

What I don%26#39;t know is whether people from other countries can book through the US Eurostar site, using non-US-issued credit cards. I think it%26#39;s worth a try, anyway, given the cheaper one-way fares available there.

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%26gt;%26gt;What I don%26#39;t know is whether people from other countries can book through the US Eurostar site, using non-US-issued credit cards. %26lt;%26lt;

They sure can. That%26#39;s how I bought my ticket.

To ensure I got the cheapest price I logged in on all the Eurostar sites (deleting cookies when needed), and I also checked out both one way and return prices.

The cheapest was a one way fare bought on the US site for $94. I chose the option of collecting the ticket when I depart.

Mez.

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We in the UK can%26#39;t do this, what ever you try the Web site detects where you are and re-routes you back to the UK site (I%26#39;ve tried and PCs etc are my living!).

The reason is that we are trapped customers, anyone outside the UK has more and cheaper options so Eurostar has to competitive.

So getting back to the question, yes buy a return and don%26#39;t use half of it!

(can you really book 9 months ahead? We want to go to Paris just before Christmas and it will be another week before the UK site will let you book!)

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%26gt;%26gt;can you really book 9 months ahead? We want to go to Paris just before Christmas and it will be another week before the UK site will let you book!%26lt;%26lt;

Yes. As far as I know, I think this option is only available on the US version of the Eurostar site.

Mez.

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As I think Mez suggested, banning all cookies from your computer is inconvenient as you have to keep logging in to, eg TA, but it also helps in choosing %26quot;where%26quot; you appear to be ordering from online.

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I agree, it is inconvenient to delete all your browser%26#39;s cookies. One alternative is to use a different browser - not your default browser - to access the Eurostar sites. For example, if you%26#39;ve been using Internet Explorer for all your Web browsing, try using Firefox to play with all the different country versions of Eurostar.com.

BTW, the Eurostar customer support people told me last month, via email, that if you want a fresh start on Eurostar.com, you should delete not only cookies but the History folder as well. This is the folder that contains links to pages you%26#39;ve recently visited.

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oh wow- I should%26#39;ve checked this thread before I asked a followup question on my post (Eurostar vs. Flying). I%26#39;m currently on the sncf website and a RT ticket is cheaper than a one-way. Didn%26#39;t even think to look at the actual Eurostar site, much less the US one as i%26#39;ve gotten used to buying my France trip tixs on sncf (awesome rates!)

I%26#39;m off to check the Eurostar US site.

I love TA!