Ed Dente

Hi,
In a previous thread, I asked about a low return fare on the Eurostar
from London to Paris.
Someone kindly directed me to the Eurostar site, which I had searched
previously w/ no luck, and said I would find a GBP70 return fare there.
I went again to eurostar.com and looked under fares, (all categories of
them), and still can find nothing less expensive than GBP138 return.
Am I doing something wrong? That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest,
but I'm not sure where else to check. Is there a .co.uk URL that might
have different info than the .com URL?
Mystified.
Thanks,
Ed

Joan McGalliard

Ed Dente wrote:

    > Hi,
    > In a previous thread, I asked about a low return fare on the Eurostar
    > from London to Paris.
    > Someone kindly directed me to the Eurostar site, which I had searched
    > previously w/ no luck, and said I would find a GBP70 return fare there.
    > I went again to eurostar.com and looked under fares, (all categories of
    > them), and still can find nothing less expensive than GBP138 return.
    > Am I doing something wrong?

I suspect you are looking at the right page, the wrong way. You must
have got to http://www.eurostar.com/dctm/jsp/index.jsp

Weekend day return London/Paris, standard class 70UKP
14 day leisure apex London/Paris, standard class 79UKP

--
Joan McGalliard, UK http://www.mcgalliard.org

Bigbrian

On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 16:18:14 GMT, Ed Dente
wrote:

    >Hi,
    >In a previous thread, I asked about a low return fare on the Eurostar
    >from London to Paris.
    >Someone kindly directed me to the Eurostar site, which I had searched
    >previously w/ no luck, and said I would find a GBP70 return fare there.
    >I went again to eurostar.com and looked under fares, (all categories of
    >them), and still can find nothing less expensive than GBP138 return.
    >Am I doing something wrong? That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest,
    >but I'm not sure where else to check. Is there a .co.uk URL that might
    >have different info than the .com URL?
    >Mystified.
    >Thanks,
    >Ed

If you go to the eurostar.com main page, you'll see a big panel in the
bottom right hand corner advertising fares to Paris for £59 return

Brian

Hatunen

On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 16:18:14 GMT, Ed Dente
wrote:

    >Hi,
    >In a previous thread, I asked about a low return fare on the Eurostar
    >from London to Paris.
    >Someone kindly directed me to the Eurostar site, which I had searched
    >previously w/ no luck, and said I would find a GBP70 return fare there.
    >I went again to eurostar.com and looked under fares, (all categories of
    >them), and still can find nothing less expensive than GBP138 return.
    >Am I doing something wrong? That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest,
    >but I'm not sure where else to check. Is there a .co.uk URL that might
    >have different info than the .com URL?

When I go to eurostar.com and click at "FARES" and then at "ALL OTHER
FARES TO AND FROM LONDON, PARIS, BRUSSELS, LILLE, CALAIS AND ASHFORD."
I see a GBP 79 Leisure Apex 14 fare and a Weekend Day Return of GBP 70

It used to be that http://www.eurostar.co.uk got you to different
pages than the North American version of eurostar.com. but now I get
the same fare pages either way.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Greg Byshenk

bigbrian wrote:
    > Ed Dente wrote:

    > >Someone kindly directed me to the Eurostar site, which I had searched
    > >previously w/ no luck, and said I would find a GBP70 return fare there.
    > >I went again to eurostar.com and looked under fares, (all categories of
    > >them), and still can find nothing less expensive than GBP138 return.
    > >Am I doing something wrong? That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest,
    > >but I'm not sure where else to check. Is there a .co.uk URL that might
    > >have different info than the .com URL?

    > If you go to the eurostar.com main page, you'll see a big panel in the
    > bottom right hand corner advertising fares to Paris for £59 return

There is a lot of magic being done in the background on the Eurostar
site, and different people will not see the same thing. The pages
you see will be different depending on what URL you use, and also on
other factors.

For example, I get different pages depending on which of my browsers
I use. In Mozilla, I get directed to the French pages, even if I try
to visit eurostar.co.uk (I think it's because I have my browser set to
prefer French language over English). So in Mozilla, I see the first
page (mostly) in English, but any links go to French pages, and I do
not see the GBP59 special. In IE, I _do_ see the special.

Isn't the automated "personalization" of web pages fun...?


--
greg byshenk - [email protected] - Leiden, NL
hate spam?

Ed Dente

greg byshenk wrote:
    : bigbrian wrote:
    :> Ed Dente wrote:

    :> >Someone kindly directed me to the Eurostar site, which I had searched
    :> >previously w/ no luck, and said I would find a GBP70 return fare there.
    :> >I went again to eurostar.com and looked under fares, (all categories of
    :> >them), and still can find nothing less expensive than GBP138 return.
    :> >Am I doing something wrong? That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest,
    :> >but I'm not sure where else to check. Is there a .co.uk URL that might
    :> >have different info than the .com URL?
    :
    :> If you go to the eurostar.com main page, you'll see a big panel in the
    :> bottom right hand corner advertising fares to Paris for GBP59 return
    :
    : There is a lot of magic being done in the background on the Eurostar
    : site, and different people will not see the same thing. The pages
    : you see will be different depending on what URL you use, and also on
    : other factors.

    : For example, I get different pages depending on which of my browsers
    : I use. In Mozilla, I get directed to the French pages, even if I try
    : to visit eurostar.co.uk (I think it's because I have my browser set to
    : prefer French language over English). So in Mozilla, I see the first
    : page (mostly) in English, but any links go to French pages, and I do
    : not see the GBP59 special. In IE, I _do_ see the special.

    : Isn't the automated "personalization" of web pages fun...?

Thanks for all the help on this. I continue to be confused, though. (Of
course, that's hard to accomplish.)
I go directly to the URLs suggested in these responses, I go directly to
the Eurostar main page, I go directly to the Eurostar uk.co URL (as Mr.
Hatunen points out, it takes one to the same place.), I use both
Netscape and IE, and I'm still not
seeing what others are seeing. HOWEVER, I do see that the little symbols
I was glancing at quickly are not GBP signs, but Euro signs! I am
terribly emabarrassed that I didn't see that before. Vanity and reading
glasses don't go together.
However, there still is nothing about APEX fares or anything like them.

The closest thing I'm seeing is Leisure Return 60 - Euro 138.60, which is
about 91 GBP.
I swear, I'm looking at the same URL that y'all are looking at. There's
also no ad for a GBP 59 special on any page I get.
Stumped again.
Oh well, I'll have to try some other computers I guess.
Cheers
Ed

Bigbrian

On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 19:43:36 GMT, Ed Dente
wrote:

    >greg byshenk wrote:
    >: bigbrian wrote:
    >:> Ed Dente wrote:
    >:> >Someone kindly directed me to the Eurostar site, which I had searched
    >:> >previously w/ no luck, and said I would find a GBP70 return fare there.
    >:> >I went again to eurostar.com and looked under fares, (all categories of
    >:> >them), and still can find nothing less expensive than GBP138 return.
    >:> >Am I doing something wrong? That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest,
    >:> >but I'm not sure where else to check. Is there a .co.uk URL that might
    >:> >have different info than the .com URL?
    >:
    >:> If you go to the eurostar.com main page, you'll see a big panel in the
    >:> bottom right hand corner advertising fares to Paris for GBP59 return
    >:
    >: There is a lot of magic being done in the background on the Eurostar
    >: site, and different people will not see the same thing. The pages
    >: you see will be different depending on what URL you use, and also on
    >: other factors.
    >: For example, I get different pages depending on which of my browsers
    >: I use. In Mozilla, I get directed to the French pages, even if I try
    >: to visit eurostar.co.uk (I think it's because I have my browser set to
    >: prefer French language over English). So in Mozilla, I see the first
    >: page (mostly) in English, but any links go to French pages, and I do
    >: not see the GBP59 special. In IE, I _do_ see the special.
    >: Isn't the automated "personalization" of web pages fun...?
    >Thanks for all the help on this. I continue to be confused, though. (Of
    >course, that's hard to accomplish.)
    >I go directly to the URLs suggested in these responses, I go directly to
    >the Eurostar main page, I go directly to the Eurostar uk.co URL (as Mr.
    >Hatunen points out, it takes one to the same place.), I use both
    >Netscape and IE, and I'm still not
    >seeing what others are seeing. HOWEVER, I do see that the little symbols
    >I was glancing at quickly are not GBP signs, but Euro signs! I am
    >terribly emabarrassed that I didn't see that before. Vanity and reading
    >glasses don't go together.
    >However, there still is nothing about APEX fares or anything like them.
    >The closest thing I'm seeing is Leisure Return 60 - Euro 138.60, which is
    >about 91 GBP.
    >I swear, I'm looking at the same URL that y'all are looking at. There's
    >also no ad for a GBP 59 special on any page I get.
    >Stumped again.
    >Oh well, I'll have to try some other computers I guess.
    >Cheers
    >Ed

Try changing the Regional settings on your computer "control panel"
(assuming you're using a flavour of Windows) to UK English and then go
to www.eurostar.com. You might see a different page, although you
might have to reboot in between for the settings to take effect.

Brian

Joan McGalliard

Ed Dente wrote:

    > I go directly to the URLs suggested in these responses, I go directly to
    > the Eurostar main page, I go directly to the Eurostar uk.co URL (as Mr.
    > Hatunen points out, it takes one to the same place.), I use both
    > Netscape and IE, and I'm still not
    > seeing what others are seeing.

Ugh! Don't you hate clever websites?

Here's what I see on the fares page:
http://www.mcgalliard.org/euro.gif

and this is the text of the special offer page

J'aime le train

Book by 10th March for travel until 24th March 2003 and you can travel
Standard Class on Eurostar to LILLE for £49 return, PARIS for £59 return
or BRUSSELS for £59 return.

Enjoy a few revitalising days in Paris, Brussels or Lille. It's a ticket
to a truly escapist break of boulevards, culture, café society,
clubbing, shopping and gourmet cuisine or whatever happens to take your
fancy. Eurostar offers seamless access to as much exhilarating
concentrated continental fun and freedom as you want.

Book between 1st January and 10th March 2003 inclusive

For travel from 15th January to 24th March inclusive

Departing Ashford; Paris or Brussels for £49 return or Lille for £39
return

Departing Waterloo; Paris or Brussels for £59 return or Lille for £49
return

You are required to book at least 14 days in advance of your chosen
travel date with a minimum stay of one Saturday night away or two
nights away.

Each booking can be for a minimum of 1, maximum of 9 people.

Promotional fares are subject to availability, which is limited.

All bookings and travel must originate in the UK travelling on Eurostar
from London Waterloo or Ashford International.

Promotional fares are non exchangeable, non refundable

For a really memorable trip, why not travel First Class for an extra £50
return per person. Please choose First Class travel at time of booking.

BOOK NOW !

Terms and Conditions for the January-March Promotional Fares

1. All bookings must be made between 1st January and 10th March 2003
inclusive. Bookings can be made online through www.eurostar.com , by
calling the Eurostar Call Centre on 08705 186 186 or by visiting the
Eurostar ticket offices at Waterloo International and Ashford
International terminals.

2. Bookings via the website will not be possible between 1145pm – 0130am
each day. Booking telephone lines will be open Mon-Fri: 8am-9pm; Sat:
9am-8pm; and Sun: 9am-5pm. Lines will be open from 9am-5pm on 1st
January.

3. All bookings must be made at least 14 days in advance, and no more
than 90 days in advance, of the intended date of travel.

4. This promotional fare is valid for travel between 15th January and
24th March 2003 inclusive. The return journey must be completed by 24th
March 2003.

5. This promotional fare is valid for travel any day of the week from
Waterloo or Ashford International.

6. Bookings must include a minimum of one Saturday night away or a
minimum of two nights away.

7. Availability of tickets under this promotional offer is limited for
each train.

8. a) You can purchase Eurostar tickets for a minimum of one passenger
and a maximum of nine passengers for departure from Waterloo
International to Paris, Brussels or Lille. The price for one Eurostar
standard class return ticket is:

(i) £49 to Lille;

(ii) £59 to Brussels; or

(iii) £59 to Paris.

b) You can purchase Eurostar tickets for a minimum of one passenger and
a maximum of nine passengers for departure from Ashford International to
Paris, Brussels or Lille. The price for one Eurostar standard class
return ticket is:

(iv) £39 to Lille;

(v) £49 to Brussels; or

(vi) £49 to Paris.

10. Tickets may be upgraded to first class return, on payment of a
supplement of £50 per person, per return. The upgrade must be purchased
at the time of booking the tickets. No upgrade may be made once tickets
have been purchased nor can any upgrade be purchased on the train.

11. First class and standard class travel may be combined when booking,
subject to availability.

12. There are no child promotional rates; please refer to the Eurostar
timetable for child fares.

13. As availability of tickets is limited for these promotional fares,
and some trains are more popular than others, the earlier you book, the
better chance you will have of obtaining seats on the train of your
choice. Some trains may already be full.

14. All bookings and travel must originate in the UK.

15. All tickets offered under the promotional fares are non-exchangeable
(i.e. no cash or other alternative will be offered instead of the
tickets) and non-refundable and tickets may not be transferred to third
parties. In the event of cancellation by customers, for whatever reason,
no refund or alternative tickets will be given. Once the booking has
been confirmed, reservations may not be changed. If tickets are
purchased for departure from Waterloo International, but the passenger
boards the train at Ashford International, no refunds will be made for
the difference in price (nor will the ticket be exchanged for a ticket
for departure from Ashford International).

16. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
Bookings made prior to this offer and for use during the period of this
offer remain subject to the exchange and refund conditions applicable to
the ticket and fare type booked.

17. Eurostar do not undertake to issue duplicate tickets to replace
lost, stolen or mislaid tickets.

18. Eurostar (U.K.) Ltd Conditions of Carriage apply to Eurostar trains.
Copies are available from Eurostar points of sale or the website
www.eurostar.com . In addition please note that bookings over the
internet are subject to the website's terms and conditions. These are
also available on the website www.eurostar.com

19. You must check in at least 30 minutes before departure. You may not
be allowed to board the train if you do not do so. Eurostar (U.K.)
Limited will not be liable for passengers failing to make the departure
times indicated on their tickets

20. Passengers must ensure that they comply in full with all relevant
customs and immigration requirements, including the appropriate passport
and visa requirements. Eurostar will not be responsible for any
passenger's failure to comply. Passengers are also strongly advised to
take out adequate travel insurance.

For further information or comments please contact The Marketing
Department, Eurostar Group Limited, Eurostar House, Waterloo Station,
London SE1 8SE.
--
Joan McGalliard, UK http://www.mcgalliard.org

Hatunen

On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 19:43:36 GMT, Ed Dente
wrote:


    >Thanks for all the help on this. I continue to be confused, though. (Of
    >course, that's hard to accomplish.)
    >I go directly to the URLs suggested in these responses, I go directly to
    >the Eurostar main page, I go directly to the Eurostar uk.co URL (as Mr.
    >Hatunen points out, it takes one to the same place.), I use both
    >Netscape and IE, and I'm still not
    >seeing what others are seeing.

Hm. I see now that although I seem to see the same pages on IE and
Netscape they do not have the same URL. IE is
http://www.eurostar.com/dctm/jsp/index.jsp while Netscape is
http://www.eurostar.com/dctm/jsp/index.jsp?rd=EUK.

I got the Netwscape page using co.uk, but if I use .com I get
http://www.eurostar.com/dctm/jsp/index.jsp, jsut like I got with IE
using .com.

    >HOWEVER, I do see that the little symbols
    >I was glancing at quickly are not GBP signs, but Euro signs! I am
    >terribly emabarrassed that I didn't see that before. Vanity and reading
    >glasses don't go together.
    >However, there still is nothing about APEX fares or anything like them.

Hm. Now the fare structure is completely different if your journey
starts in Paris; could you have French pages (you can get tickets via
http://www.sncf.com for Paris origination)?

Before, if you used .com you got a dropdown menu that asked where you
were; you got diffrent pages if you picked the USA or the UK. The USA
version gave fares in US dollars and didn't show a number of cheaper
fares that the UK pages did.


************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Barbara Vaughan

Joan McGalliard wrote:

[ detailed description snipped ]

I noticed that several times in the terms and conditions for these
tickets, the following text occurs:

"All bookings and travel must originate in the UK."

This must mean that someone booking from outside the UK is not offered
these fares, so maybe Ed is out of luck.

Barbara

Ed Dente

Joan McGalliard wrote:
    : Ed Dente wrote:

    :> I go directly to the URLs suggested in these responses, I go directly to
    :> the Eurostar main page, I go directly to the Eurostar uk.co URL (as Mr.
    :> Hatunen points out, it takes one to the same place.), I use both
    :> Netscape and IE, and I'm still not
    :> seeing what others are seeing.

    : Ugh! Don't you hate clever websites?

    : Here's what I see on the fares page:
    : http://www.mcgalliard.org/euro.gif

Much very helpful text deleted...
Thanks you, thank you, thank you all!
This info was just what I needed.
Much appreciated,
Ed

Krist Van Besien

Barbara Vaughan wrote:
    >
    > Joan McGalliard wrote:
    >
    > [ detailed description snipped ]
    >
    > I noticed that several times in the terms and conditions for these
    > tickets, the following text occurs:
    >
    > "All bookings and travel must originate in the UK."
    >
    > This must mean that someone booking from outside the UK is not offered
    > these fares, so maybe Ed is out of luck.

Which is probably why people from outside the UK don't get to see these
offers in the first place... Customizing websites based on the
geographic location of the viewer is not trivial, but is is possible,
and might be just what's happening here.

Krist

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Krist Bern, Switzerland

Joan McGalliard

Krist van Besien wrote:

    > > This must mean that someone booking from outside the UK is not offered
    > > these fares, so maybe Ed is out of luck.
    >
    > Which is probably why people from outside the UK don't get to see these
    > offers in the first place... Customizing websites based on the
    > geographic location of the viewer is not trivial, but is is possible,
    > and might be just what's happening here.

Actually, it's very common - I see a lot of UK adds on US sites.

But the point is, you can't assume anything about a person's geographic
location from how they read a website. They maybe on a VPN, they may
prefer US keyboard layout, they maybe outside the UK at the time of
booking, but live their normally so they can have the tickets posted
there.

In Ed's case it was probably appropriate, but generally it's a bad idea.
What if the algorithm decided he was in the UK? Then he wouldn't be
able to find a fare that he could apply for.

joan
--
Joan McGalliard, UK http://www.mcgalliard.org

Krist Van Besien

Joan McGalliard wrote:

    > But the point is, you can't assume anything about a person's geographic
    > location from how they read a website.

But you can from their IP address. And that's how it is done.

Krist

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Krist Bern, Switzerland

Emilia

Krist van Besien wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    > Joan McGalliard wrote:
    >
    >> But the point is, you can't assume anything about a person's
geographic
    >> location from how they read a website.
    >
    > But you can from their IP address. And that's how it is done.
    >
    > Krist
    >

when i went to the site it asked me which country I was in. It might
help to clear your cookies and try again. Of course if you have sites
that remember your passwords you will lose those (so do this with
caution). I clear my cookies often so it's no problem for me.

If it came from my ISP wouldn't it have known I was in Switzerland? Why
would it have to ask me where I was from?