BritRail & Eurostar questions

[codemonkeyken]

I have two questions about trains.

1. We will be using the train on 4 days in Britain. There will be three one-way trips and one return trip. So, we will ride the train 5 times total. We would like to get a BritRail Flexi Pass which would allow us to ride 4 days in a 2 month period. My question is does a "day" include round-trip excursions? Another way to phrase this question is how often can you ride the trains in a single day?

2. We were also thinking of taking the Eurostar from London to Brussels. Many guide books list single one-way fares for as low as €70. When I check online, the cheapest I can find anything for our departure date (September 16th) is $310USD. We will have Eurail passes but the price barely changes when comparing prices. Does anyone know of a site where there are cheaper fares?

As an alternative to this, we were thinking of taking a RyanAir flight from London Stanstead to Brussels-Charleroi Airport for about £4. Has anyone done this before as the airport is 45 minutes frm Brussels? How easy is it to get back into town?

Thanks for all your help in advance.

Ken

[Eagle]

codemonkeyken, a few comments on your questions......

1.) AFAIK you are allowed to ride the train as many times as necessary on each travel day. A quote from one Rail pass guide:

Using a flexipass: On your flexipass, you'll see a string of blank boxes, one for each travel day available to you. You can take as many trips as you like within each travel day.

2.) I checked the Rail Europe website and found Pass Holder EuroStar fares for Cdn$190.00 (2nd class) on Sept. 16th. I wasn't able to determine if this was the total price, or per person? The cheaper fares are only offered to those with a Rail Pass (check the Rail Europe site for details).

Ryan Air is certainly another option, but keep in mind that you have to include the time and costs for both the London to Stanstead and Charleroi to Brussels trips. Ryan Air also has somewhat "restrictive" baggage limits, with hefty charges for overweight luggage. Not sure what you'll be travelling with, but something to keep in mind.

I believe this is the correct link for Charleroi to Brussels transport:

www.charleroi-airport.com/BSCA/siteEN.nsf/.GeneralW/00AA40D9FDB0A641C125701F003B2EE0?OpenDocument&Key=menu2

Hope this helps. Happy travels!!!

[WillTravel]

BMI will take you from London Heathrow to the main Brussels airport, and their fares are sometimes competitive. Try them also: www.flybmi.com

[madamtrashheap]

Bingo! WT's suggestion is exactly what I would recommend - convenient and will be affordable too. Odd that you can't find the cheaper Eurostar price considering you're travelling later in the year. Could be because you are looking for a one way ticket on this route which can be more expensive (the €70 might be for return tkts). If that's the case, then the BMI flight WT recommended will be the best choice. Othewise, look at www.brusselsairlines.com (flights from Heathrow and Gatwick) and see if that's any better (they might be cheaper).