You’ve planned a rail adventure to Europe – but something unexpected has happened. And now, you need to cancel.
Apart from the disappointment, you don’t want to lose out financially – so can you get your Eurostar tickets refunded? We’ve worked out which scenarios mean you can get your money back, and how to claim it.
Can I Get A Eurostar Refund?
"I Changed My Mind"
Has something cropped up which means you can’t make your trip any more? Come down with a bout of flu? Or have you simply changed your mind?!
Well good news, the Eurostar has much more flexible terms than the standard plane ticket, and the main takeaway is that you won’t lose all your money as long as you let them know in enough time. This amount of time changes based on whether you’re travelling Eurostar Standard, Plus or Premier which we’ve shared below.
Cutting it down to the wire? There may still be options, though you may have to opt for swapping your ticket for another date instead.
Eurostar Standard and Eurostar Plus
More than 7 days till departure
You can cancel and get a refund on your ticket as long as you notify Eurostar more than 7 days before you’re due to depart.
You have to pay a fee for this, which is £25/€25 per leg – so that comes to £50/€50 if you cancel a return trip.
If that sounds like a big chunk, and you still intend to make the journey at some point, then you can change the date and time of your ticket for no fee.
Just consider that:
- If the new ticket costs more, you’ll need to pay the difference in price
- If the new ticket costs less, you won’t get any money back
- Swapping your ticket in this way makes it non-refundable – you can’t change your mind again basically
Fewer than 7 days till departure
If you cancel with under 7 days till your trip, you don’t get the cancellation option. You can only swap it to another service – free of charge. This could be for a train that’s departing sooner or later than your original one.
The same considerations apply here: you’ll pay any difference in price if the new ticket is more expensive, you won’t get reimbursed if it’s cheaper, and your ticket becomes non-refundable.
Eurostar Premier
If you’re a Premier customer, you get a lot more flexibility – which makes sense, since you’ve paid for it!
If you change your mind about the time or date of your trip, you can get a full refund for the ticket. You can apply for this up to 48 hours AFTER your train was due to depart.
If you still want to make the journey, you can swap the ticket to the same day or a different day that suits you. Eurostar actually has a guarantee for Premier passengers that they can travel on any other available train on the same day for no fee, even if the new train is more expensive.
"My train is delayed"
You’re scanning the departure board, and you see the dreaded word ‘delayed’.
It’s a pain of course, but if your train ends up being late by a lot, then you have a few options: you can decide not to travel and cancel your ticket, swap it to another service or catch the delayed train and claim for compensation.
First up, you’ll need to check your booking for the class of ticket you booked – whether you’re a Standard, Plus or Premier customer – to see what you’re entitled to.
Eurostar Standard and Eurostar Plus
Delayed by more than 60 minutes
If your train is over an hour delayed, you can decide not to travel, and swap your unused ticket for free to another service.
Alternatively, you can claim for an e-voucher (valid for 12 months) or a refund (which you’ll get less booking and exchange fees).
If you decide to travel on the delayed service, then depending on the amount of time it’s delayed, you could claim compensation for up to 75% of the cost of the journey.
You can opt to get this paid to you as an e-voucher or a partial refund – if you choose an e-voucher, you get slightly more money back.
If you’re making a claim, you should wait at least 24 hours, and you’ll need to do it within 3 months of your train’s departure date.
Delayed by less than 60 minutes
If your train is less than an hour late, you can’t swap your ticket and you aren’t entitled to compensation.
It’s different if you’re a Premier passenger…
Eurostar Premier
If you’re a Premier customer, you can choose not to travel and get a full refund or exchange for your ticket – no matter how long the delay to your journey. You just need to apply no more than 48 hours after your original intended departure time.
If you do decide to travel, then as far as claiming compensation goes, the same criteria as outlined above for Standard and Plus customers apply.
"My train is cancelled"
If your train is cancelled, you’ll need to decide if you’re going to swap to another train, or cancel your travel plans.
If you still want to make the journey, you can swap your ticket to travel on another service, or you can cancel your plans and get your money back. You have 3 months from the date of travel to make your decision.
Eurostar Standard and Eurostar Plus
If you still want to travel, then you can swap your ticket to any other train, subject to availability.
If you choose not to travel, you can get an e-voucher or a refund. If you go for the refund option, bear in mind it’s for the value of the ticket, but not for any booking or exchange fees. So it might make sense to choose the e-voucher if you plan to travel in the next 12 months.
Eurostar Premier
If you still want to travel, you can swap your ticket to travel on any other service, guaranteed.
If you don’t want to travel any more, then you can opt for an e-voucher or refund with no fees.
"I missed the refund deadline"
As a general rule, no matter how or where you’re travelling to, if you know your plans are changing, it’s best to notify the company you’re travelling with as soon as possible. This way you maximise the time available to sort out an alternative.
If you do end up missing the cut-off point for applying for a refund or e-voucher, then it’s worth checking your travel insurance policy and speaking to your provider, as they might cover you for the circumstances.
This is one of the reasons why I always recommend taking out travel insurance when booking your trip, because you don’t know what might happen, or when!
Good News - You Can Get Your Eurostar Tickets Refunded
We hope this guide has helped you with figuring out how and when to get your Eurostar tickets refunded.
Premier customers get the best deal, with lots of flexibility and zero fees, but Standard and Plus customers get a decent deal too – it’s great that you can swap your ticket for free, or get some money back.
