03 January 2024 , 13:04
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Eurostar has got into hot water with the advertising watchdog over a £39 fare deal.
The train company promoted the fare as a summer ticket offer, but it turned out there was only a "very small percentage" of seats available at this price. Eurostar wrote in an July 15 email: "Soak up every second of summer," with the promise: "Treat yourself to a European getaway ... from just £39 each way."
"Make the most of the long days and sunny rays with a summer getaway in August or September. Book now to grab a bargain to Paris, Brussels or Lille," it added.
Having seen the email, a passenger attempted to find fares at that price only to have trouble doing so. They lodged a complaint, suspecting the advertisement might be misleading.
Flooding over the new year led services to be cancelled (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)Eurostar said that a total of 39,000 seats had been available at the advertised "from" price across the routes, which they believed was a significant number and gave consumers a reasonable chance of obtaining the lowest advertised fare. The firm admitted that from July 12 onwards, fewer £39 tickets would have been available as they gradually sold out.
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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that customers would interpret the ad to mean a significant number of fares to Paris, Brussels or Lille would be available at £39 throughout August and September. They would expect to find tickets at this price across various dates and times during this period and have a fair chance of getting them, ASA concluded.
However, the watchdog found that as of July 12, only 9,500 standard class seats were available for both outward and return journeys at the advertised "from" price for travel between August 16 and December 13.
The watchdog said: "We therefore considered that Eurostar had not demonstrated that a significant proportion of tickets between London to Paris and Paris to London had been available 'from' £39 during the promotional period."
It also discovered that as of July 12, there were only 6,500 seats available from London to Brussels and Lille, and 13,500 seats available from Brussels and Lille to London again a "very small percentage of the total number of seats available for standard class travel for those routes in the identified timeframe".
"We therefore considered that Eurostar had also not demonstrated that a significant proportion of tickets for the London to Brussels and Lille routes had been available 'from' £39 during the promotional period," reported the ASA.
Eurostar carried more than 14million passengers in 2022, with that number likely to have grown higher last year. The 39,000 £39 fares represent just one in 358 of the total Eurostar fares, if the 2023 number was the same as 2022.
A representative of Eurostar said: "We value customer feedback, including complaints, and take great care in the way that we word our advertising and the number of tickets that we offer at the promotional price during particular time periods.
"We understand and take on board the ASA's ruling which is related to seat availability in part of the promotional period, and we are committed to ensuring that this scenario does not occur again."
Eurostar has had a tough few weeks. Just before Christmas a wildcat strike in Calais led to a number of last-minute cancellations, stranding some customers on the wrong side of the Channel. Flooding over the New Year week led to more chaos as a tunnel under the River Thames near Ebbsfleet was blocked.
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