Eurostar launches a new logo – and a new loyalty scheme is coming
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Last year, Eurostar and Thalys, the French train company merged to form ‘Eurostar Group’, the largest high-speed rail franchise in Europe.
Both companies were already majority owned by French group SNCF so this isn’t a radical change, although it will allow the two companies to to consolidate operations.
As part of the merger ‘Eurostar’ will become the single brand with ‘Thalys’ being ditched. This could get confusing, given that ‘taking the Eurostar’ is often used to mean the train service from London to Paris, Brussels and beyond.
A new brand identity is emerging from October this year. A new logo has been designed, inspired by ‘l’Etoile du Nord’, and it looks quite classy (click to enlarge):
The existing Eurostar trains will retain their blue and yellow branding, whilst ex-Thalys trains will retain their existing red paint job.
A new, unified website will be launched, as will a new loyalty program, although details are firmly under wraps.
Eurostar has set an ambitious goal of carrying 30 million passengers by 2030 which would be an increase of 57% over 2019 numbers. That will be even more challenging, given the new border restrictions that Brexit has introduced which have led to 30% longer processing times. Only 61% of seats are being sold on the first London-Paris, London-Brussels and Paris-London trains of the day due to the inability to process a full load.
In St Pancras, in particular, the extra border checks mean that the station will have to be structurally altered to cater with longer waiting times – not an easy task in an operational train station.
The crunch point will come in December when the ETIAS visa waiver programme is introduced. On top of the time taken to confirm that each passenger is ETIAS registered, first time users will need to have their photograph and fingerprints taken at passport control, a process which will lead to subtantial queues.
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.
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