Decent train ticket booking site for international journeys?

[yorkie]

Is there a decent website for finding good value fares on international journeys from UK stations.

A search for Amsterdam to York on a Sunday on Eurostar.com produces the error "Sorry, there are no trains going out on your chosen date. Can you go out another day?" while Loco2 says "Sorry, we haven't found any tickets", but it is possible to buy tickets for each leg separately.

However a search for a date in October results in Loco2 asking me to part with £200, which obviously isn't going to happen. Are the rail operators eager for me to fly instead? That is certainly the impression I get.

I also searched for other through journeys from York to other cities using Loco2 and the price is always very high.

So is there a website that can unlock cheap fares, or is it the case that there are no cheap fares?

 

[Jamesrob637]

What about Go Euro?

 

[Alfonso]

Eurostar.com usually offers best value to and from UK towns when it works, but often doesn't offer even blindingly obvious connections. It's often better to book to/from London then add on whatever suits from London home. Rumour has it you know a thing or two about UK train tickets

 

[30907]

Go Euro doesn't find trains from London to York, but it does find the cheaper fare using the IC to Brussels! This is only bookable on the NSInternationaal site (or on Eurostar in Dutch, says Mark Smith on Seat61 - read his advice on connections), and loco2 doesn't yet access this.

The cheapest fare for Sunday 21 Oct is EUR83 (Go Euro has a markup), which is about half the Thalys/Eurostar - bearing in mind that vast parts of Northern Europe are on holiday, it's a very good price (unless you fly hand baggage only with Jet2 and live at Yeadon!).

You'd have to book London to York separately, either a CIV ticket or an Advance with a buffer (ES will delay trains when passport control is taking too long, and that seems to happen when it's busy).

 

[Alfonso]

21st October brussels-york from about £80 on eurostar.com. no idea why it's nearly double from Amsterdam

 

[30907]

21st October brussels-york from about £80 on eurostar.com. no idea why it's nearly double from Amsterdam

Amsterdam-Brussels on the Benelux IC is EUR33 walk-up, so this is about the same total as my suggestion just posted. (£90.50 Brussels-York in the evening)
Another option is Any Belgian Station to York plus Amsterdam to Antwerp, total price about the same.

 

[gord]

Just out of interest and hopefully within the topic of this thread, if I was to book a Wolverhampton to Amsterdam on the Eurostar website in Standard Premier, what class would the ticket put me in on the Virgin train from Wolverhampton to London?

 

[Alfonso]

Just out of interest and hopefully within the topic of this thread, if I was to book a Wolverhampton to Amsterdam on the Eurostar website in Standard Premier, what class would the ticket put me in on the Virgin train from Wolverhampton to London?

It will normally give you both options as you get separate tickets for the domestic bit

 

[Alfonso]

Amsterdam-Brussels on the Benelux IC is EUR33 walk-up, so this is about the same total as my suggestion just posted. (£90.50 Brussels-York in the evening)
Another option is Any Belgian Station to York plus Amsterdam to Antwerp, total price about the same.

Not much in it, but it does get you the CIV protection and flexibility on the domestic bit

 

[Alfonso]

At one time the Amsterdam - Brussels train was cheaper splitting at Roosendaal but I don't think this works now it goes via Breda. There may be an even slower workaround but probably not worth it

 

[dutchflyer]

Read an interview with LOCO2 last month where they stated that both NL and BE were not yet in, but working on it.
And NO-there simply is no general all-in site. Cehck seat61 for best advice to the trip under consideration.
Since they rerouted the BNL trains via that ''hispeed''line (was on one yesterday and it even ran and on time-both ways-a rarity) there is now an ADVANCE ticket, from 9 eur, depending on distance, if bought till 7 days before (its dearer for weekends!) but not tied to a specific train. Via nsinternational.nl or b-europe.nl.
There is now also happyrail.com, a Dutch trainticket-seller, which seems tied to LOCO2, but I dont know the particulars, Its run by treinreiswinkel.