For my wife’s 52nd birthday, I planned an epic family trip. After all, one of the things that drew us to each other is our shared love of travel.
I accumulated one million credit-card points that I could use to subsidize travel costs and made a plan to see lots of countries while traveling in style.
Our group of four left out of Florida and spent our two-week sojourn in places like Dublin, Amsterdam, and Valencia. We mostly flew first or business class to get from place to place.
While in Paris, we wanted to take the Eurostrain train to London. So, I made our ride special by upgrading our seats to premier, Eurostar’s version of first class.
At our time of travel, the difference between standard and premier class was $361 per ticket. Overall, I spent $1,736 for four tickets, or about $434 a person.
Here’s what the experience was like.
The train stations in Paris and London felt like mini airports
For our trip, we went from Gare du Nord to St Pancras International.
Both train stations looked beautiful and felt like miniature airport terminals with their numerous restaurants, cafés, shops, and lounge areas.
Gare du Nord had multiple levels, which we explored before checking into the Eurostar premier lounge.
Throughout the train station, we saw signs in French and English and ones with flags to signify international destinations — as Americans, this made it extra easy for us to know where to go.
We enjoyed snacks and air conditioning in the first-class lounge
Complimentary lounge access was a nice perk of having a premier ticket.
Paris was quite hot when we visited, and so was the main train terminal. Luckily, our premier lounge had air conditioning.
We cooled off while snacking on sandwiches, nuts, chips, coffee, and soda in the lounge. While waiting for our train, we were able to spread out in the comfortable lounge chairs.
Since the train before us wasn’t full and our premium tickets were flexible, we were able to switch trains and get to London an hour and a half earlier than we planned.
The seats on the train were comfortable, and we had plenty of food
After our time in the lounge, we went through the nearby customs and security area. This process felt similar to airport security — we went through a small immigration check and security scan.
After, we walked to the tracks and found our train. Each is marked with a car number and signs for departure times on specific tracks — premier class was toward the front.
We boarded the train and placed our suitcases in an area designated for them.
Once on board, we were delighted to see the seats felt wide, large, and comfortable. We found we had enough space between each seat and plenty of legroom.
The onboard bathrooms also felt plenty spacious, and the cabin itself had enough room for us to get up and stretch out if needed.
As our trip continued, a staff member on the train gave us a menu and let us know we’d be able to order a starter, cold or hot meal, and dessert.
The options sounded elegant and included dishes like an asparagus panna cotta, smoked salmon, and a chocolate mousse with a strawberry-rhubarb compote.
We were also offered other snacks and an assortment of complimentary drinks, including alcohol.
My family loved the experience of seeing the French and English countryside in style
I had to work some during the train ride, but luckily the free onboard WiFi signal was strong and quite reliable. My family was even able to stream YouTube videos with it.
We also really enjoyed looking out of the window during scenic parts of the route through the French and English countryside.
Riding underneath the English Channel tunnel was another special highlight.
We’d definitely book these premium train tickets again
All in all, our train ride took just under two hours and felt more comfortable and exciting than a flight.
A flight probably would’ve taken us about the same amount of time (once we factor in going through airport security), but we wouldn’t have had as many scenic views or such comfy seats in a cabin we could stretch out in. I liked not experiencing turbulence (just a little bit of rocking).
Between the lounge access and complimentary food, our premium upgrade also felt worth paying for.
Overall, we traveled comfortably in the Eurostar premier class, and I’d book theese tickets again.
Read the full article here
