LAST DAY: Win 5,000 Club Eurostar points plus top-tier Carte Blanche status
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This week we have been running a great competition in association with Eurostar to celebrate the launch of Club Eurostar. Today is the last day to enter.
You can win enough Club Eurostar points for two Anytime return tickets in Standard Premier. You will be able to travel to any destination, on any day you want – guaranteed (as long as cash tickets are still available for sale, obviously).
Club Eurostar is Eurostar’s new improved loyalty scheme. It merges the two previous schemes – Eurostar Frequent Traveller and Eurostar Plus Points – into one.
We wrote about the announcement back in September. Eurostar Frequent Traveller was theoretically aimed at frequent business travellers whilst Eurostar Plus Points (which only offered train gift vouchers as rewards) was aimed at the leisure market. After talking to members Eurostar decided to merge the two programs into one new scheme, making it easier to join, earn and redeem.
What is new with Club Eurostar?
Unlike most loyalty scheme ‘enhancements’, Club Eurostar offers some genuine improvements over the two previous schemes.
Club Eurostar will have a very straightforward way of earning points. The scheme is now fully revenue based. For every £1 spent on Eurostar travel you will earn 1 point. Tickets priced in € will be converted to £.
Everyone will earn more points from each trip than under the old schemes with travellers on the cheapest tickets gaining most. A £54 ticket will now earn 54 points rather than 15 points under Eurostar Frequent Traveller, for example.
Redeem for any seat, any day
When it comes to redeeming, Club Eurostar has addressed what was Eurostar’s biggest issue – that many members wanted to redeem for peak Friday night and Sunday night trains but availability was limited. Top tier Carte Blanche members could always do this, but now it has been opened up to the entire membership.
You can now redeem additional points to guarantee yourself a seat on peak time trains. The additional premium is modest – you will need 50% more points than usual for a Standard seat and just 25% more points than usual for a Standard Premier seat. There is no premium for Business Premier redemptions – you are guaranteed a seat on whatever train you want, as long as there is still one for sale.
If you are flexible about when you travel, you can continue to redeem for ‘value’ redemptions at a lower cost.
Remember that there are no taxes or charges with Club Eurostar redemptions. Your ‘free’ ticket is genuinely free.
Three tiers of membership
Club Eurostar will have three membership tiers instead of the two tiers in the Frequent Traveller programme.
Classique – your status when first joining
Avantage – after 400 points earned or 5 return trips in a membership year
Carte Blanche – after 1,800 points earned or 24 return trips in a membership year
Classique lets you earn and spend points at Eurostar and you will receive special offers.
Avantage has the benefits of Classique as well as the option to spend points at other railway partners (TGV, Thalys, Lyria) and the Club Eurostar shop.
Carte Blanche members can use the Business Premier and Rail Team lounges, get fast track access, have a dedicated Club Eurostar support team, can use the Business Premier ticket office and have a cab waiting at arrival.
Club Eurostar Shop
Another new addition to Eurostar’s loyalty scheme will be the Club Eurostar Shop.
Avantage & Carte Blanche members will be able to redeem their points for a curated range of over 500 items including wines, electronics, travel, home and fashion items. All redemptions include delivery and some products have the option to pay with a mix of points & cash.
Your chance to experience the benefits of an ‘Anytime’ redemption and Carte Blanche status
One lucky reader will win 5,000 Club Eurostar points plus a one year top-tier Carte Blanche membership.
5,000 Club Eurostar points are enough for two Anytime return tickets in Standard Premier. You will be able to travel to any destination, on any day you want – guaranteed (as long as cash tickets are still available for sale, obviously).
Alternatively, 5,000 Club Eurostar points will get you:
three Anytime return reward trips in Standard, with 500 points left over
five Value return trips in Standard (using normal reward inventory)
two Value return trips in Standard Premier, with 1,000 points left over
one Anytime return reward trip in Business Premier, with 2,000 points left over
Your left-over points can be topped up via American Express Membership Rewards points or via a transaction with one of the new Club Eurostar partners.
Your Carte Blanche status will guarantee you lounge access in London, Paris and Brussels for yourself and one guest irrespective of how you travel. My review of the impressive new Paris Lounge is here.
How to enter
As always, all you have to do to enter this competition is fill out the Gleam widget at the bottom of this page with your name and email address.
You are limited to one entry per person. Entry is limited to UK residents only and you must be over 18. The prize is not transferable.
You need to enter by midnight TONIGHT (Sunday 17th December).
The formal version of the rules is in the widget below if you click ‘Terms & Conditions’. Good luck.
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.
