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Eurostar to Avignon - are check-in times strict?

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eastwestdivide

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Anyone have any experience of the check-in at St Pancras for the summer Saturdays Avignon service?
The Eurostar website (and others) advertise a minimum 1 hour check-in, and I'd like to know how strict they are with this.
Thanks in advance.
 
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starrymarkb

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I've managed to get through with 5 mins to spare (after delays on the Train & Tube) - I would not risk it though - especially with the once per week Avignon
 

Oscar

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I've managed to get through with 5 mins to spare (after delays on the Train & Tube) - I would not risk it though - especially with the once per week Avignon

Eurostar of course ask people to check-in 30 minutes before because they need most passengers to arrive early so they can get everyone through. In reality the check-in process rarely takes more than 10 minutes and staff help passengers arriving later to get through check-in quickly. I arrived at St Pancras departures with about 15 minutes to spare last week following delays and was on the train with about 6 minutes to spare, even though check-in was very busy for a following train. The terminal at St Pancras is consistently quite busy, but queues Paris and Brussels are more variable depending on when trains leave. The Lille terminal can be closed when no departures for London are imminent. In Paris you can usually get through check-in quickly if you arrive about 30 minutes before departure - the terminal is much busier easier and later it is busier if there is a train 30 minutes later, as most people seem to arrive about 40-50 minutes before departure. Eurostar boarding normally starts 20-25 minutes before departure, but can be delayed to 10-15 minutes before if there have been delays or other problems.

I would assume the 1 hour check-in requirement for Avignon is because Eurostar assumes the terminal will be very busy or these passengers will have lots of luggage. I seem to remember the Eurostar website recommends when booking that passengers arrive 45 minutes in advance. The requirement is fairly fluid.
 
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eastwestdivide

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Thanks people. They made it to St Pancras with just under an hour to departure anyway, and no problems.
Yes, I saw a suggestion somewhere (seat 61?) that it's a long check-in for Avignon and the ski trains because of the likelihood of lots of luggage (no return service for a week => more luggage).

Only a couple of times have I taken longer than about 10 mins to get through check-in and security:
1. back in Waterloo days, due to massive queues roughly when the Disneyland train was due to start boarding (I ended up jumping a queue showing my ticket for the train about to leave),
2. at St Pancras when security decided that I had to empty out my bags and did a thorough sniff around.

For info, the official Eurostar check-in page: http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-information/at-our-stations/eurostar-check-in/checking-in
 

Oscar

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I think it would be sensible to advertise relatively long check-in times (30-45 minutes) for London to Paris / Brussels passengers but offer passengers making journeys involving Eurostar and National Rail / Thalys / TGV / ICE etc. connections involving slightly shorter check-in times where possible, as their journeys are already long and time is a key factor in competing with airlines. The London - Paris / Brussels passengers should ideally go through first and passengers making long journeys should get priority to go through later where this means a quicker connection is possible.
 
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