"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
om...
Trouble is you have to allow around 3 hours to get through
the security and check in process on US flights these days
but here in Europe I can get from London to Paris in that
period and clear customs and immigration on the train.

Keith

You are exaggerating a bit, at least based upon personal experience.
The general guideline for domestic flights is to arrive one hour
before the flight; we just had four out-of-town guests arrive from and
return to Chicago, and that hour was plenty for them both at O'Hare
and at Reagan. Even if I took your example at face value, I would
*still* be better off versus rail in most long-distance cases
(guaranteed that the time it would take to clear security and fly from
here to Boston would be one heck of a lot less than the seven or eight
hours it would take by rail).

Brooks

Not much based on recent experience

On my last flight out of Seattle (June this year) to SFO my flight was
due to leave at 7.40 and I arrived at the airport just after
5.00 and had no time to spare, arriving at the gate just as they
started boarding.

I spent over an hour standing in line just to check in and then another
40 minutes waiting to get through security. At this point they were making
everyone remove their belts and shoes and x-taying tme separately

The flight from JFK to LHR was almost as bad, my luggage was already
checked through but it still took almost 90 minutes to get from check in
to the gate.

Keith