Belgian trains
 

I got a ticket on-line from Belgian Railways (www.b-rail.be) from Brussels National Airport to Bruges. The ticket is for May 13. The ticket has that date on it, but no times, so I assume its good all day. My question is, what train do we look for at the airport? I think we have to change in one of the Brussels stations, too. The ticket is also round-trip with no date for the return trip. How long is it good for a return trip?
Thanks.

You can use the route planner see a list of trains and their departure times on the b-rail site. It will also tell you which platform at the airport station and at zuid you need for your train.

One thing - are you sure the return is not for the same day of travel? Usually they are, and you need two singles if you are returning on a different day. Since you haven't specified a return date I suspect it is only valid May 13th.

Read the details about standard tickets etc on the website.

Thanks, I found the route planner. That was a big help. I actually bought the round trip ticket by mistake anyway, so I wasted that part of the ticket. Oh, well, at least I have it and can proceed directly to the train without trying to buy a ticket in a strange country after an overnight flight.

By the way, we purchased 1st class tickets. How do you determine which coach is first class?

The outside of the train cars are marked with a 1 or a 2.

I found a photo for you. It's the 19th photo down - you can see the big 2 on the car. If you go wrong the conductor will set you straight. But if you've bought a 1st class ticket you can sit anywhere that is not reserved. Did you buy a seat reservation? The seat numbers will be marked on the outside of the cars too. Sometimes there's a large sign at the entrance to the quai with the plan of the train.

http://condrenrails.com/Peter-Limper...vel-Photos.htm

Thanks. No, I don't have a seat reservation. I didn't think you could get one on the IC trains. The ticket is good for any train on that date. I enjoyed the pictures. When/where do you show your ticket? While boarding or afterwards? The ticket has a large bar code on it. I guess it is scanned.

We do have reservations on a Thalys train from Amsterdam to Brussels later in the trip and it is marked with the car number and seat number.

You show your ticket to the conductor when he/she comes around during your journey. You'll probably need to show ID as well, perhaps the credit card you used to buy the ticket.

You don't need to show your ticket until a conductor comes thru the car and asks for it. That does not even happen always.
Going to Brugge is no big deal. You take any train towards Brussels from the airport. And any next to Brugge. There are two trains per hour, so you don't have to worry about catching a specific train.

For the Thalys you will find the location of the car either on the monitors or displays with posters on the platform.

The train station at Brussels airport is directly below the arrivals area. Just as you exit baggage claim/customs you'll see a large sign board off to your right with the next 6-8 departures listed spanning a couple of hours.

There are 2 ATM's right there as well, a Java coffee shop, and a few other shops in a compact area.

Thanks, everyone.
Adrienne, are you sure about the credit card? I wasn't going to take that particular one with me. We'll both have passports.