All,

FDX trip in July with a sked D/H on 4U (GermanWings) from CGN-STN; thinking mid-trip deviation to ride a train instead CGN-Cambridge. Anyone have any gouge on booking and fares?

 

Deviating involves a train change in Brussels from Thalys to Eurostar. Have to book via Thalys and the fare is around 220Euro and then add on the ~20-30pounds for train to Cambridge. Think that is usually for than the 4U accepted fare .

 

In Brussels allow plenty of time to change trains. You will go through customs and immigration for the UK just like an airport. I only allowed 30 minutes and had to do the OJ dash to make the train to London. Arrive in London at St Pancras train station. Just walk over to Kings Cross train station and buy your ticket to Cambridge. They leave every hour. When I did this a few years ago our company credit card did not have the micro chip to buy tickets from the self kiosks. But the new cards should work just fine. Or book your tickets online and print at the hotel. It was a worth while trip, but it is a long day of trains.

 

And just to add a bit more to the "new card," learned from the school of hard knocks, you have to choose a pin and jump through a few telephone hoops before it's activated.

MG2

 

Lots of good info on all the trains you'll ride from CGN-STN here:

The Man in Seat Sixty-One - the train travel guide...

 

Just did it a couple of months ago. You can do it all online or walk over to the concierge desk when you get in and tell him your itinerary requested. He booked it all for me, told me what time to be in the lobby, had a cab waiting( it was raining it's an easy walk if not) and told me what stand my train would be at. I had gone to dinner and a few cold ones with a few of the boys in purple. I threw him a healthy euro bill. Well worth the money! I didn't even break stride to step on the train and was on my way. Definitely plan for some time for customs and realize it is the silly season right now with all the tourists. One or 2 first class tickets shouldn't be a problem. The change in London is really easy! just did it in reverse with my wife and ankle biters 2 weeks ago. cost me 27 euro from London to Cambridge. Highly recommend the train over the flight!

 

This website is awesome. I emailed him with some questions on my travel through Italy. He responded very quickly and cleared up a bunch for me. The website will be very informative!

 

Yep! I looked at it last fall, and not worth the effort. Take the Germanwing flight, its not too bad, we even got a sandwich on the flight. Which was nice for soaking up the 2-3 beers we had in the terminal prior to boarding!