Random Eurostar prices

[TheSmiths82]

I thought Eurostar operated on a simple first come first serve pricing policy, however I have been checking for a while as I wasn't 100% sure I could finish work a day early to try and beat the summer holidays rush. I now know I can have time off and the prices are cheaper than what they were last night. Does anybody know why this is? Do they have more of a hotel supply and demand pricing algorithm that says "this train is selling slower than expected so we better reduce the prices to fill it?"

 

[Bletchleyite]

Do they have more of a hotel supply and demand pricing algorithm that says "this train is selling slower than expected so we better reduce the prices to fill it?"

In short, yes. Nobody does "first ticket £1, last ticket £299" - it's all dynamic like that now.

 

[Trainbike46]

Other things that may play a role are:
- Tickets may have been returned/refunded/exchanged
- A sale may have started
- depending on destination, train type may have been changed (e.g. e300 to e320, increasing the number of seats from ~750 to ~900)
- An extra train may have been added to the schedule

 

[TheSmiths82]

Thanks. I ended up booking it in the end, £114 return from London to Paris, not bad for the middle of July.