Morton wrote to uk.transport.london on Thu, 30 Sep 2004:

"Adrian" wrote in message
.1.4...
Annabel Smyth ) gurgled happily, sounding much
like they were saying :

Well, it's not free, as it's about the only reason to pay a huge premium
for travel in First Class! Me, I'd rather pack a sandwich and sit in
Economy.

Last time I went on Eurostar (to Brussels), it was actually *cheaper* to
go
first than economy for the train times we wanted.

I went Eurostar to Brussels in March 2003 and booked a cheap ticket. Around
£90-£100 return. Travelling out of Waterloo on a Friday around 10am.
Unintentionally I had booked a 1st class seat and got free papers, decent
food, wine and champagne on tap for the journey. Apart from the slowdown
around Ashford I have to say it really was a very pleasant journey. Can't
knock that!

Of course, it occurs to me that most times we go on Eurostar we are
changing at Lille (from where we have gone on to either Lyon or
Bordeaux), and at that time, they used to run packages so that you could
do this for £105 return, or some similar amount (actually, it was
cheaper to Bordeaux as there was a 10% discount the week I booked!).
So, had we tried to go first class, it would probably have cost over
twice as much!
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 26 September 2004