Eurostar has launched the big Club Eurostar points sale which we flagged last month.
It is surprisingly generous. The discounts are substantial and the travel period covers virtually all of 2024.
There’s only one snag – transfers from American Express Membership Rewards to Club Eurostar are still down. Eurostar was hoping to have it fixed by today but it was not to be. I was told yesterday that they are still hopeful for a fix before the offer ends.
Unless Amex transfers restart, the sale is restricted to those who already have enough points.
Club Eurostar has never run any sort of points sale before AFAIK, yet alone one this generous.
It is possible that it is being done in response to the ‘no notice’ points devaluation when Club Eurostar was launched last year. The sale reduces reward prices to what they were before October 2023, adjusted for the 20% points uplift everyone got as part of the restructuring.
When is the sale and when can you travel?
Here are the sale rules:
- you can book until 5pm on 16th February
- you can travel until 3rd November
- you can also book for travel on ex-Thalys services in Europe, for travel until 7th September
Remember that the Paris Olympics run from 26th July to 11th August and hotel availability will be exceptionally hard to find during this period. You may also want to avoid the French Open tennis which runs from 20th May to 9th June.
For Amsterdam, note that from 14th June until the year end you will need to change trains in Brussels on your return. This will add 1-2 hours to your travel time. Outbound trips are not impacted.
How many points do you need in the sale?
These are chunky discounts, especialy as you can redeem on EVERY train on every day, with no blackouts, as long as cash seats are bookable.
The T&C do say “Reward Tickets at the promotional rate are subject to availability” but it isn’t clear what this means in practice.
Standard
- 600 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 1,000 points)
- 900 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 1,500 points) for trains where the allocation of regular priced reward seats has run out
Here’s an example:
Standard Premier (‘Comfort’ on ex-Thalys trains)
- 1,200 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 2,000 points)
- 1,500 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 2,500 points) for trains where the allocation of regular priced reward seats has run out
Business Premier
- 1,800 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 3,000 points) – this pricing applies to all services
Are there any special terms and conditions?
It seems not.
The only thing to remember is that you cannot cancel a Club Eurostar redemption. You can change the date but not cancel it. It’s not clear if the redemption would reprice at the normal rate if you change the date after the offer has ended.
Let’s hope that American Express Membership Rewards transfers can be brought back in the next few days, since these would be good value redemptions. The transfer rate is 15:1 so you’re looking at 18,000 Amex points for a return Standard ticket.
Happy booking!