Some links to products and partners on this website will earn an affiliate commission.

InsideTalk is an occasional feature here at InsideFlyer UK, where we discuss travel and the latest industry news with the people who make it all happen. Our guest this time was Eurostar’s Loyalty Manager, Camilo Courtenay, who we were eager to quiz about Eurostar’s brand new loyalty programme ‘Club Eurostar‘, which will be launching later this year.

Can you explain a little about the background and motivation behind the changes, as well as what you hope they will bring for passengers and for Eurostar?

We spoke to our members to find out what they liked and disliked about our current loyalty programmes (Plus Points and Frequent Traveller) and set out to design a new single programme around this feedback. As Eurostar grows as a business we are expanding the programme to new markets and hoping to increase the appeal of the programme, both through the features and benefits we offer as well as through our partners. Our members really wanted to see new ways of earning and spending points, especially within Eurostar, so we’ll be looking at ways to introduce new opportunities to use the points currency throughout the Eurostar journey.

If you had to pick one element of the changes that you’re personally most excited about, what would it be and why?

We’re really proud of the work we’ve done to create a simple reward proposition. Our members told us they found it frustrating with a lot of airline programmes where it’s difficult to find availability and there are often high taxes or fees, so this was a big area of focus for us. All Eurostar routes are the same price in points, giving even better value on some of our longer routes such as Lyon or the South of France. We don’t charge any taxes or fees on our reward bookings and we allow members to exchange a booking once at no cost.

The new Anytime redemptions look particularly interesting and potentially offer superb value – could you share with our readers some of the detail around that and how Anytime tickets will work in practice?

Our Anytime rewards do what they say on the tin. They offer great value to members as they are available as long as there are seats for sale on the train. We have to charge more points (a premium of 25%-50% depending on the type of ticket), but this ensures we can offer this flexible reward option to all of our members.

After what’s happened in the last few years with many airline and hotel loyalty schemes, a lot of people automatically think ‘change’ is code for ‘devaluation’. Passengers will therefore be relieved to see that isn’t the case with Club Eurostar, but do you envisage the new earning and redemption rates staying the same for some time, or might there be some further adjustments to come as the new scheme beds in?

We’ve tried to ensure we gave our existing members a fair deal. Our Plus Points members (who previously received money-off vouchers) will get their points transferred to vouchers if they have enough. They will also enjoy many new benefits and features in the new programme. Our Frequent Traveller members will have their points transferred across. Although some reward tickets are now more expensive, this ensures we can continue to offer excellent availability with no additional fees. We’ll be adding more ways to earn points and we’ve also invested in a new reward platform that will give Avantage & Carte Blanche members access to a curated reward catalogue, adding hundreds of new products to spend points on. We’re also giving members the ability to share points with family & friends (at no cost).

It’s not our intention to make any substantial changes to the earn/burn rates after we launch but we will closely monitor the new programme’s performance and tweak if necessary.

It looks like there are going to be some new ways to earn and to redeem with Club Eurostar. In general terms, what sort of partnerships can we expect to see, and is there anything specific you can share at this stage?

We are exploring a number of partnership opportunities. Although our initial focus will be travel partners, we’ll also look at other relevant partnerships based on what are members told us they’d like to see.

Finally, any chance of the scoop on the launch date?

I’m afraid we can’t communicate the exact launch date at the moment, but it’s set to be late November/early December

Many thanks for your time Camilo!

You can read more about Club Eurostar here.