It sucks so bad that Eurostar London<->Paris is literally 2.5 times the price of flying Like it is nicer, but if you are being tight then that is kinda shitty, esp for a worse train station experience (Eurostar inside the station always seems to be a bit of a disaster)
michelin@hachyderm.i..
replied 20 Aug 2026 15:55 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/2lF1YbmKR227zwYLRd
@benjojo re: being a bit of a disaster - the London side, or the Paris side, or both? (I've only taken it from London all the way to Brussels, so no idea about the Paris stop)
benjojo
replied 20 Aug 2026 15:57 +0000
in reply to: https://hachyderm.io/users/michelin/statuses/117128646130892096
@michelin "yes", Most recent round trip on eurostar was London<->Brussels and both sides were.. meh? Not ultra bad but still not super nice, I would have preferred a airport as far as what the station had around, and given you are forced to be around that station for N (>45 IIRC) mins before departure, idk. sucks
ben@snac.benbuhse.co..
replied 20 Aug 2026 16:33 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/pNY26323l413L2d51T
@benjojo@benjojo.co.uk @michelin@hachyderm.io that's crazy. Half the benefit of trains is being able to just show up unlike an airport, so if you have to be there so early it sounds dumb
benjojo
replied 20 Aug 2026 16:37 +0000
in reply to: https://snac.benbuhse.com/ben/p/1787243639.032571
hisold@toot.io
replied 20 Aug 2026 15:55 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/2lF1YbmKR227zwYLRd
benjojo
replied 20 Aug 2026 16:01 +0000
in reply to: https://toot.io/users/hisold/statuses/117128647235026836
@hisold (Example is from another flight I booked today, not paris etc) but a £230.55 final payment, £53~ was UK Air taxes Not uber high, but also not low either. I guess this is not explicitly a carbon tax on flying, but flying in/out of the UK almost always in my experience has the highest gov/airport taxes I generally see already
tmcfarlane@toot.comm..
replied 22 Aug 2026 19:04 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/2lF1YbmKR227zwYLRd
@benjojo are you including transit to/from airports? I know its still expensive, but starting ending in the middle of a city is pretty sweet.
benjojo
replied 22 Aug 2026 20:59 +0000
in reply to: https://toot.community/users/tmcfarlane/statuses/117140715703782970
@tmcfarlane Yeah by miles, Me<->LHR carries maybe a £20 round trip premium, LGW is maybe 6£, LCY is basically free because I practically live there (though the flights there carry a ~100£ extra premium, and I somewhat embarrasingly know all of the reg codes of all of the BA planes (they are the only BA E190's in the country) there...
benjojo
replied 20 Aug 2026 15:55 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/2lF1YbmKR227zwYLRd
Like, I would argue that Eurostar is not a premium product (unless you particularly love trains, I know this is fedi and all), but it's priced like it is
penguin42@mastodon.o..
replied 20 Aug 2026 15:59 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/H24PPLg9fvnjHmm5JC
@benjojo It makes you wonder if Virgin manages to get the price down; but I guess there's a lot of track and tunnel to maintain.
dee@social.treehouse..
replied 20 Aug 2026 15:55 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/2lF1YbmKR227zwYLRd
@benjojo but don't you want the genuine Pret experience of queuing for a coffee, paying, and then being directed to another queue that's even longer to pick up the coffee, forgetting why you're in that queue and abandoning the coffee? why u not want that?
hugh@social.crablab...
replied 20 Aug 2026 15:55 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/2lF1YbmKR227zwYLRd
@benjojo Agree. Heathrow is both easier for me to get to and a much nicer travel experience than the 7th Circle of Hell that is the St Pancras undercroft. I am starting to regret the occasions I choose to take Eurostar 🥲
alarig@hostux.social
replied 20 Aug 2026 16:08 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/2lF1YbmKR227zwYLRd
@benjojo I took the Eurostar to go to RIPE92 and I was indeed disappointed. A TGV is much more comfortable.
solarisfire@mast.sol..
replied 20 Aug 2026 16:08 +0000
in reply to: https://benjojo.co.uk/u/benjojo/h/2lF1YbmKR227zwYLRd
@benjojo Hopefully Virgin entering the market as another operator will add some good competiton and drive prices down a little (I can hope). I only usually get the shuttle, as it's comparable to ferry prices for getting a car across.