An increasing number of Australians are favouring high-speed rail over air travel, says Eurostar, with sales revenue from ticket bookings growing by a solid 37 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2012.
The number of business passengers travelling on Eurostar also grew by 3 percent compared to the same period in 2012.
The London-France rail operator reports that travel in the mid-range Standard Premier cabin, which sits between Business Premier class and Standard class, proved a particularly popular choice amongst Eurostar’s international passengers in the first half of 2013.
"Following the success of a targeted, international marketing campaign focussing on luxury travel, more than one in ten of all Standard Premier travellers during the period originated from international markets" Eurostar claims.
Read: Eurostar Business Premier vs Standard Premier vs Standard class
"The overall outlook for the business markets is more positive reflecting signs of greater economic stability, particularly in the UK" said Nicolas Petrovic, Chief Executive of Eurostar.
"We have seen a return to more normal patterns of business travel which were impacted negatively in the first half of 2012 ahead of the opening of the London 2012 Games.”
Eurostar spokeswoman Lucy Drake told Australian Business Traveller that Australians are quick to appreciate 'the city centre to city centre nature of rail travel versus air travel, the generous luggage allowance and the ease and convenience of rail travel."
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
22 Mar 2013
Total posts 7
Well I booked 4 tickets last week for September purely for the experience.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Mar 2013
Total posts 48
I can completely understand why. The whole Eurostar experience is just a whole class act.
I currently live in France and recently caught a return trip from Marseille to London for a weekend - so encompassing the Eurostar service and the TGV service - and the whole trip was just sublime. Approximately the same price as flying and vastly more comfortable and relaxing, the 7 hour trip went beautifully.
Eurostar/TGV transfers were perfect and having a consistent, quality product with generous baggage is an added bonus.
Australia could learn a lot from this, doesn't necessarily need to be high speed intercity travel, but the quality and convenience factor could be drastically improved.
07 Aug 2012
Total posts 192
If only the UK was a Schengen country, there would be no need to "check in" for Eurostar 30 mins before departure. Catching an ICE train in Germany is just like any other.
Between London & Paris, the Eurostar is a no brainer. I travelled in Standard Premier and got a solo seat with leg room to make any intra-EU airline seat jealous.
02 Jan 2013
Total posts 140
I recently took the Eurostar from Paris to London in June purely for the convenience and not having to deal with airports and everything that goes with it. Im glad I only purchased Standard Class Cabin. I was allocated Cabin 16 (3/4 of the way down). To my suprise me and a friend were the only 2 of 4 people in the entire cabin. Although this was Standard Cabin it was a whole lot more comfortable then flying economy. I was able to sleep for an hour in a very quiet environment. When I took a walk to the food cabin, to my suprise Standard Premier and Business Premier was full to the brim. It looked cramped, a bit noisy and quite frankly I would not pay more for a so called superior product. My advise just pay for Standard.
14 Jun 2013
Total posts 352
I've done London-Paris and beyond via Eurostar several times now. have given up flying, Eurostar is just brilliant. A lot more enjoyable, more productive if you want to work (Internet would be nice, I think thart is coming next year), and city-to-city. I usually travel in standard class if it's just London-Paris but if you get a good fare then standard premier is worth trying.
Etihad
23 Jan 2013
Total posts 175
Eurostar made London to Paris so easy for me. If I had the choice I'd happily take HSR Sydney to Melbourne. By the time I battle traffic to and from airports, go through security, etc, it's about the same time it would take on an HSR service CBD to CBD.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
07 Apr 2013
Total posts 146
We just did the Eurostar in May, fantastic way to travel. A tip - book early and save heaps. The price was about a third cheaper than the normal price when booking months in advance compared to a couple of weeks before travel.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 May 2012
Total posts 120
Just returned from a week in France and used the Eurostar, we booked the Standard Premier which was very good - served a meal in seat and a choice a wines, drinks etc the seats were wide and comfortable, beats flying hands down especially the central station to station element.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
22 May 2013
Total posts 24
Eurostar is definitely the best thing to happen to cross channel travel.
The service is effcient, but the only small gripe I would make is the need to upgrade the fleet they are using - quite dated compared to comparable high speed services in Europe such as the TGV and German ICE trains.
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