Eurostar’s 58 services were full yesterday, with more than 46,000 passengers on its trains. The company denied charges of ‘ profiteering’ after customers found they could not book £58 tickets online and, when they phoned to book, were told they were no longer available and charged more than £200.
Eurostar said it did operate a system where prices rise and fall according to demand and supply, but added: ‘We are not profiteering.’
Profiteering is a pejorative term for the act of making a profit by methods considered unethical. Business owners may be accused of profiteering when they raise prices during an emergency.