Eurostar check-in

London to Paris in a couple of weeks, departing late Saturday afternoon. Any ideas what to expect at check-in? I’ve read of 90 minute queues and trains running two-thirds full as it takes too long to fill them!

Went in March on a Friday lunch time. Was completely painless, no queues and only minimal waiting in the departure hall which admittedly isn’t big enough. We went and had a drink in the Booking Office at the hotel on the upper concourse and just kept an eye on times from there. I think I’ve read before that there were issues with border control resources but it wasn’t a problem for us.

We did Paris to London last weekend, we got there the proscribed 75 minutes before departure, queues for tickets, security and passport control were well managed, yes we sat in the dep. lounge for 45 minutes, but the train boarded (full) smoothly and left on time. Information was clear and there were staff around to help. A much better experience than anything involving flying budget these days…

Took the Eurostar to Paris in Feb and April, Saturday morning and Friday evening departures.  Both went to plan and boarded very smoothly.  We got to the station ~1h30 before departure and within about ~30mins or so we had completed security checks and passports checks and were chilling out in the departure lounge waiting for the train.  Absolutely no issues at all.  Same sort of thing on the return journey from Paris too.

I’ve done it a few times and certainly if you’re heading to Paris, I prefer it much more than flying.

We went in January, arrived very early (3 hours before departure( thanks to having to drive to London as trains weren;t running  due to strike action. Hung around till check-in opened, 2 hours before departure, we were through in 20 minutes then hung around for ages again

Coming back the queues through passport control in Paris were bigger but we were still through in half an hour or so.

Trains departed on time and seemed well filled in both directions. MUCH nicer than flying

Oh on the way back in Paris there is a departure lounge right at back and up some stairs.  No one seems to know about this as the lower floor is ram packed of moody bored passengers while the upper seating area has spaces free and slightly less grumpy folks as they are sitting down not standing.

The early morning trains have to run with empty seats because there isn’t time to get a full train of people through post-Brexit checks. Early morning can be quite busy but they are efficient at getting you through even if you arrive later than suggested.

I have used it four times in the last 2 years (2x Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam). Three times we sailed through with no problems and ended up with a long wait in the departure lounge. Once when we went to Amsterdam we queued for over two hours (problem with the border control computers) and they ended up having to hold the train for us and the other 500 people who weren’t through security by the scheduled departure time.

In every case it is way better that flying.

Thanks all. Tickets say to arrive 60-90 minutes before departure so we’ll go for 90.

Oh on the way back in Paris there is a departure lounge right at back and up some stairs. No one seems to know about this as the lower floor is ram packed of moody bored passengers while the upper seating area has spaces free and slightly less grumpy folks as they are sitting down not standing.

Shhhh….! 🤫

Have used Eurostar several times and am again using it next week…. Arrive via Paris and leaving heading to Brussels.

Never had a problem with passport control, but I do use my German passport when travelling as there’s a separate line for EU nationals.

It is better than flying but on a recent trip it was a bit slow (30-40 mins) to get through security and passport control at St Pancras, and the departure lounge is too small and stuffy. Coming back from Paris, it’s slightly better, but the waiting area is hot and stuffy.

It’s got worse since Brexit but the space was always too small.

The real Eurostar hack is to BYOB and/or to chat in the open bar car instead of sitting in the smaller seats.