Club Eurostar has launched a big reward seat sale – worth an Amex transfer?

Eurostar has launched a big Club Eurostar redemption sale.

All reward seats are discounted by 20%. This isn’t as generous as the 40% offer which ran in February 2024, but:

• that offer was partly done, I think, to placate members upset by the devaluation in late 2023

• American Express Membership Rewards transfers to Club Eurostar were not available during that promotion, but are today

20% is a generous discount given the lack of small print and it may be worth considering an Amex points transfer.

When is the sale and when can you travel?

Here are the sale rules:

• you can book until 4pm on Thursday 15th May

• you can travel until 13th December

• there are no blackouts of any sort – all ticket classes, all dates are discounted

• you can also book for travel on ex-Thalys services in Europe

How many points do you need in the sale?

20% off is a handy discount, especially as you can redeem on EVERY train on every day, with no blackouts, as long as cash seats are bookable.

The reduced pricing shows clearly when you book a reward seat:

The full pricing is:

Eurostar Standard

• 800 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 1,000 points)

• 1,200 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 1,500 points) for trains where the allocation of regular priced reward seats has run out

Eurostar Plus

• 1,600 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 2,000 points)

• 2,000 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 2,500 points) for trains where the allocation of regular priced reward seats has run out

Eurostar Premier

• 2,400 Club Eurostar points each way (usually 3,000 points) – this pricing applies to all services

We looked at the differences between Eurostar Plus and Eurostar Premier in this article.

Fundamentally, both have the same seat but Eurostar Premier comes with lounge access, a higher quality meal and fast track security. Lounge access, of course, is a benefit of The Platinum Card from American Express as our card review explains.

Are upgrades discounted?

It seems not.

Upgrades on cash tickets from Eurostar Standard to Eurostar Plus remain at 600 Club Eurostar points each way.

What is the American Express Membership Rewards transfer rate?

American Express Membership Rewards points transfer to Club Eurostar at 15:1.

This means that a return Eurostar Standard ticket from London to Paris / Brussels / Lille / Amsterdam / Rotterdam would cost (800 each way x 2 x 15) 24,000 Membership Rewards points.

If standard reward availability was not there, an ‘anytime’ reward would be (1,000 each way x 2 x 15) 30,000 Membership Rewards points.

For a relatively short notice booking, you should be getting close to 1p per Membership Rewards point.

There are two issues to bear in mind:

• American Express says that transfers to Club Eurostar take five days. Reader experience is that they only take one day BUT note the guidelines say five days. You have until 15th May to book under this offer.

• If the seat you want is currently priced at (for example) 800 Club Eurostar points in one or both directions, you run a small risk that it jumps to 1,000 points by the time the transfer arrives

Are there any special terms and conditions?

It seems not.

The only thing to remember is that you cannot cancel a Club Eurostar redemption. You can change the date but not cancel it. It’s not clear if the redemption would reprice at the normal rate if you change the date after the offer has ended.

The Club Eurostar ‘20% off redemptions’ sale runs until 4pm on Thursday 15th May.