Avios reduces cost of Standard Premier tickets on Eurostar

Avios has, surprisingly quietly, dropped the price of Eurostar tickets booked in Standard Premier class.

As you can see here, Standard Premier tickets to Paris, Lille and Brussels now cost ‘from’ 20,000 Avios per person. This is a reduction from the previous price of 23,000 Avios.

The price for Economy tickets remains at “from 9,000 Avios”.

Whilst I have never booked Eurostar tickets with Avios points, my understanding is that the key word to note is “from”. If there are tickets for sale at the cheapest possible level, you will get them for 9,000 / 20,000 Avios. If that cheapest ticket option has sold out, you will be quoted a higher price.

Annoyingly, you cannot book Eurostar tickets online so it involves taking out a bit of time to call the Avios call centre.

Standard Premier is a decent service, although downgraded from when it used to be called Leisure Select and effectively served a full meal. The food has now been downgraded to a one-tray product, but you still get the benefit of the same wide seat used in business class.

Amex Platinum cardmembers can also use the Eurostar lounges in London and Paris (article here) although no guests are allowed.

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How to get Club Eurostar points and lounge access from UK credit cards (April 2024)

Club Eurostar does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Club Eurostar points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards. 

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 1,333 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 2,666 Club Eurostar points. Card benefits include Eurostar lounge access.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 666 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 15:1 into Club Eurostar points.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, so you will get the equivalent of 1 Club Eurostar point for every £15 you spend.

American Express Platinum comes with a great Eurostar benefit – Eurostar lounge access!  

You can enter any Eurostar lounge, irrespective of your ticket type, simply by showing The Platinum Card at the desk.  No guests are allowed but you can get entry for your partner by issuing them with a free supplementary Amex Platinum card on your account.