They recommend being at the airport 2 hours before your flight, with added security. how soon do we need to check in at the train station? Thank you!

Is this a trick question? If you're flying you need to check in at the airport, not the train station. For international flights, checking in 3 hours ahead is recommended.

LOL!! ROFL!!<BR><BR>20 to 30 minutes is plenty, and under the right circumstances, you could be there 30 seconds ahead of time. The train pulls up, you get on, you go in search of a conductor, you buy your ticket from him. But doing that might mean that you could find yourself with no seat the whole trip. Unlike airplanes, it is not necessary for everyone to have a seat for the train to move on.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

dear serious: this is a serious question and it's not hard to understand. Laurie is asking whether people need to be at the train station early, as they do at the airport. <BR><BR>Last time I was in a train station in Europe (3 weeks ago) I did not see any added security or any reason to be there especially early. The passengers were not being screened before boarding, at least in Frankfurt.

Serious: that was a mean response! Laurie, I read in Fodor's to be at the TRAIN station at least 30 min. ahead, also, if your riding TGV, you must get a seat assingment and validated.

No, I think she's talking about taking the train to the plane, because she mentioned airport checkin of 2 hours so maybe when you take the train to the plane you checkin at the train station instead of the airport because it's a special airport only train affiliated with the airport. Not a mean response at all--just a confusing question. Also need to mention what country as it may make a diff.

Hello, Just returned from trip a week ago. Eurostar recommended being at station 30 minutes prior to departure. However, we got on the wrong train (Tube) and ended up way away from our intended stop, took a wild taxi ride to the Waterloo Station with about 10 minutes to departure and acutally made the train. Lucky for us, I had picked up the tickets from the station the day before. I will never cut it that close again. If anything goes wrong, 30 minutes is not much time. It will go down as one of my special travel memories that I can laugh about now. Good travels.

There's no checkin required at train stations in most countries.

Does your flight check in take place at the train station before you board the train to the airport? I've never heard of that. Are you sure that you don't have to be at the airport until 2 hours before? Do you know how long the train ride is to the airport? Is this transatlantic or within Europe? What country are the train station and the airport in?

Sorry, I did not mean for my question to be so confusing. We will be taking the Eurostar from London to Paris. It sounds like we should be at the station at least 30 minutes prior to our scheduled departure. Thank you for your quick responses. Laurie

Sorry, I really misunderstood.

Come back xxx. We forgive you. You've contributed too much to this website to shrink away for a little mistake.<BR>

Don't know about London to Paris, but last fall, Lille to London , we had to go thru a sercurity procedure very similar to airport security, x-ray, bag searches for certain people, etc. Of course this was in October so maybe they were just being extra cautious. Didn't take long but it did have a fairly large line going thru.

I think part of the confusion in those posts result from different issues being simultaneously discussed.<BR><BR>You must make the difference between standard train traffic and Fast Train traffic (TGV/Eurostar/Thalys/EVA/etc.).<BR><BR>You board standard domestic trains as you would board a bus. If you purchased your ticket in advance, you just need to board the train before the doors close and find an available seat. If you want to avoid stress, just be there 10 to 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. If you still need to purchase your ticket just prior to departure, then you would allow yourself at least 30 minutes. Beware also that queues at ticket booths may be long during rush hours. There is no other registration procedure needed. There is no guarantee of available seats.<BR><BR>For international trains, you would usually want a seat reservation. You also travel with luggages, so you want to allow yourself more time to board the train, find your seat and dispose of your luggage in a comfortable manner. I guess a 20 minute lead time would suffice. There is no other registration procedure needed.<BR><BR>For TGV train, you always need to have full reservations which assign seats. If you purchased that in advance, just allow yourself 10 to 20 minutes lead time in order to board the train without hassle. On Eurostar trains going from Paris or Brussels to London, you need to pass through a security check at the departure station (Gare du Nord in Paris or Gare du Midi in Brussels). Allow yourself 30 minutes lead time.<BR><BR>Regarding registration of flights at a rail station, I know only of the Air France case from Brussels-Midi. Since the Thalys high speed train connects also Brussels to CDG airport in Paris, Air France suppressed their flights between Paris and Brussels and replaced them by the Thalys. It's only a 1h20 journey between Brussels and CDG. You still purchase an Air France ticket, but the Brussels/CDG leg is done through Thalys. Air France opened a registration office at Bruxelles-Midi, where you register for your whole trip, not simply the train ride to CDG. You already get in Brussels your boarding card for whatever flight you'll catch at CDG. You board a special car reserved for Air France on the Thalys, and get Air France service on board. The train arrives at the Thalys stations at CDG A&eacute;rogare 2, within walking distance to the departure gates. However, you have to carry your luggage youself to the registration desk at CDG.

Eurostar between London and Paris, Lille, and Brussels asks you to check in thirty minutes early. Why I do not know: perhaps they are keen to sell you expensive and bad coffee in the windowless departure lounge.<BR><BR>Nobody else has a compulsory departure lounge. For such trains as French TGV and German ICE you turn up early if you have no booking. Otherwise, you arrive at the station for those trains and for every other train in time to leave your tram or taxi, load your bags on a trolley, walk and take lifts to the platform, check on the departure layout map where your car will be, and board. I give it ten minutes. In the evening there?s a special pleasure in going to a concert or having supper, walking to the station, picking up your bag at left luggage, and being in bed ten minutes later. Also, if you are to leave at the departure point of a sleeper and want a longer night you can usually board up to an hour ahead and go to bed.<BR><BR>In short rail departures are a delight, Eurostar apart.<BR>

Ben's experience certainly seems to match my (n=1) experience with the TGV at CDG. I didn't know which train I would be able to catch, but when I arrived at the Gare TGV, there was a train leaving for Avignon in about 7 minutes. I waited through a line two people deep, bought ticket and got seat reservation, walk out to the train (I have no idea how long it had been sitting there), got on, and about two minutes later, it left.<BR>

to the top<BR>

Are you familiar with the "ten minute" rule in airports? (now more like a twenty minute rule) - - where they will give away your seat if you are not there, checked in (nowadays they virtually require seating) at so many minutes before take-off.<BR><BR>Does such a phenomenon exist with this 30 minute check-in for the Eurostar?<BR><BR>Time (for showing up early) at the airport is often cited as a reason NOT to fly between London and Paris. I am very surprised that this exrta waiting time is never cited in comparing the advantages of Eurostar over flying.<BR><BR>Or do they not enforce it?<BR>

I took the Eurostar from Paris to London and ended up missing it the first time. Eurostar is upstairs in the Paris terminal (not down by the other trains). I got there 30 minutes early & was stuck in the customs/passport line for 35 minutes and missed my train. I had to put my bag through one of those X-ray machines & fill out a customs form (which is on a counter next to the Eurostar line) that no one told me about. The whole process took about 45 minutes. Eurostar just let me catch the next train so it wasn't that bad. I will defiantly be arriving 1 hour before all future international train rides.

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