What are Club Eurostar points worth?
I have pondered this question – without answering it – in a couple of recent articles, including this one from two weeks ago on which is the best American Express Membership Rewards points redemption.
Whenever I write about Club Eurostar I say that I value a point at 10p. With my Eurostar travel picking up over the last couple of years, I started to wonder whether I was undervaluing them.
10p per point was fair, in my mind, based on my personal Eurostar travel. However, my use of Eurostar is NOT typical. When I go to Paris it is usually to review a hotel for HFP, and I take off-peak mid-morning trains out and mid-afternoon trains home. These trains tend to be relatively cheap, even if booked at 2-3 weeks notice.
Most Head for Points readers do not use Eurostar like this. Even if they take the same trains that I do when working – which will normally be a cash trip paid for by their employer – they are likely to want to redeem for a weekend break.
Here is the key point – Club Eurostar lets you redeem on ANY train. You need more points for peak services, but as long as seats are bookable for cash you can book them for points. There are also no taxes or charges to pay. Free, for once, really means free.
Here is the pricing:
Standard class – 1,000 Club Eurostar points off-peak and 1,500 points peak, return
Standard Premier – 2,000 Club Eurostar points off-peak and 2,500 points peak, return
Business Premier – 3,000 Club Eurostar points at all times, return
Peak and off-peak is NOT driven by date. There are a fixed number of tickets available for each service at off-peak pricing and then it switches to peak.
For the purposes of this analysis:
I am only looking at London to Paris, the most popular redemption option
I am only looking at Standard and Standard Premier. In my mind, Standard Premier is the ‘sweet spot’ in terms of value – you get the same Business Premier seat and a three course meal with wine, but you don’t get fast track security, lounge access or a ‘premium meal’. Many people are perfectly happy with Standard, however, especially if travelling as a couple (I think that there are no solo seats in Standard).
I looked at pricing for a weekend break to Paris booked one month, two months and four months ahead of travel. As it is currently December, I would expect my prices to be lower than what you would find if I did the same exercise in May. I am tempted to repeat it then to see the difference.
I took the same trains on each occasion, which I thought were the ideal ‘weekend break’ services:
18.01 from London St Pancras on Friday, arriving at 21.15 in Gare du Nord
19.13 from Paris Gare du Nord on Sunday, arriving at 19.39 in St Pancras
Here were the prices:
Standard:
One month ahead: £239 return
Two months ahead: £151 return
Four months ahead: £134 return
Standard Premier:
One month ahead: £239 return (not a typo – it was the same price as Standard!)
Two months ahead: £299 return
Four months ahead: £219 return
Let’s look at the value you are getting for your points on this basis, turning the prices above into ‘pence per Club Eurostar point’.
Standard:
One month ahead: 15.9p per Club Eurostar point (peak pricing)
Two months ahead: 15.1p per Club Eurostar point (off-peak pricing)
Four months ahead: 13.4p per Club Eurostar point (off-peak pricing)
Standard Premier:
One month ahead: 12.0p per Club Eurostar point (off-peak pricing)
Two months ahead: 13.3p per Club Eurostar point (off-peak out, peak return)
Four months ahead: 10.1p per Club Eurostar point (off-peak pricing)
Looking at these numbers, it looks like I can increase my Club Eurostar valuation to at least 12.5p for anyone happy to redeem in Standard for a long weekend in Paris. For anyone who prefers Standard Premier, 10p still looks fair.
Assuming that you will get your Club Eurostar points by transferring American Express Membership Rewards points at 15:1, I should increase my ‘value of an Amex point when used for Eurostar’ from 0.66p to a range of 0.66p to 0.85p.
Of course, you need to factor in the fact that cash tickets would earn valuable Club Eurostar points back.
As with airline miles, you will find that your points have substantially more value if your lifestyle means that you are likely to need to travel at short notice.