Eurostar refuses children full refunds for cancelled trips to Paris
Eurostar has again come under fire from the travel agent community for its inflexible approach to cancellations following the Paris terror attacks.
Travel agents have taken to social media to complain that the train operator is now refusing to refund tickets for school trips to Paris in the wake of the shootings on November 13.
Eurostar is insisting normal booking conditions apply, meaning schools will lose their money if they cancel, even though the Foreign Office has told schools to follow the French Ministry of Education advice not to visit the Ile de France region, including the metropolitan area of Paris, up to and including November 29.
Appealing for leniency from Eurostar for a school trip she has booked for travel on November 28, Leah McMullan wrote on the travel industry Facebook page Travel Gossip: "Personally think it is a lesson in bad customer service from Eurostar. I am sure families of these students will spread the word as to how inflexible they have been."
She said the train company had quoted £30 each child each way to amend the date of travel, plus they would have to pay any difference in the fare.
However, one agent said they had managed to get a full refund from Eurostar last week for a band due to travel to a gig in Paris.
Eurostar was criticised earlier this month for refusing to refund bookings to Disneyland Paris, even though the park was closed for three days of mourning following the terrorist attacks in the city.
At the time, it offered passengers the option to defer their travel but it did not give refunds for those who wanted to cancel, saying it needed to abide by its ticket conditions in order to treat all customers consistently, ‘which means not refunding non-refundable tickets on any route’.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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