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Eurostar’s ‘no queue’ iProov.me check-in lane closes on 13th February

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For the last year or so, Eurostar has been quietly trialling iProov.me, otherwise known as SmartCheck, at London St Pancras.

It allows you bypass all queues at the terminal AND UK passport control. Despite the publicity circulated by Eurostar, which said that it was only accessible to Eurostar Premier and Carte Blanche / Etoile status customers, this was not true.

Anyone could use it, saving themselves a substantial wait at peak periods compared to the usual Eurostar Standard and Eurostar Plus queue times.

iProove.me will bite the dust on 13th February.

Eurostar's amazing iProov.me scheme ending

Whilst I am talking about iProov.me in the past tense below, you can still use it for the next three weeks if travelling on Eurostar.

What did iProov.me do?

iProov replaced UK passport control at St Pancras. It’s was like it didn’t exist.

It also replaced the pre-security ticket check.

How did iProov.me work?

You downloaded the iProov.me app onto your mobile phone. After doing this, you needed to do three things:

  • take a picture of the photo page of your passport
  • have the app ‘read’ the chip in your passport by holding your phone over the chip (you MUST have Bluetooth / NFC enabled)
  • have the app make a scan of your face

That was it. You could then input the booking reference of your Eurostar tickets.

On the day of travel, you had to reconfirm your trip in the iProov app. On arrival at St Pancras, you headed down to the Eurostar Premier check-in lanes and, next to them, was a lane marked ‘Smart Check’:

Eurostar's amazing iProov.me scheme ending

You walked towards the sliding doors and they opened

That was it. Your entire British passport check was replaced by walking through a door. The doors opened because facial recognition cameras saw you approaching, scanned your face, matched it to your iProov.me profile, saw that your passport information has been approved and saw that you had a valid ticket.

There was literally nothing to do. You didn’t break your stride. You didn’t stop to look into a camera. You didn’t get a photograph taken. You didn’t scan or show anyone your ticket. You didn’t show any UK official your passport. You simply walked towards the door at your normal pace and it opened. You had cleared UK passport control.

It got better ….

Beyond the door was an exclusive security lane for iProov.me customers. You were virtually certain to have this all to yourself.

When I say ‘to yourself’ I mean there would be no-one ahead of you and no-one would enter behind you. iProov only got used every couple of minutes at best.

Once you had cleared security, there was another perk. A member of staff let you (made you, actually) push in at the front of the queue for French passport control.

Eurostar's amazing iProov.me scheme ending

Why is iProov.me going away?

Why is such an amazing service going away? Brexit, of course, is the answer.

Soon (well, probably 2026 now after more delays) it will be a requirement for you to be fingerprinted and photographed when entering the EU in a similar way to how it operates when you enter the United States. You will also have to answer four questions, such as how long you intend to stay.

Fresh photographs and fingerprints will only need to be submitted every three years (sooner if you replace your passport) but your photograph will need to be verified on every trip and the four questions answered.

St Pancras was not designed to handle the queues that will build up. When iProov.me is removed, the security lane that is freed up will become an additional priority lane for Eurostar Premier, Carte Blanche and Etoile members. Extra ePassport gates and passport control booths will be added.

This should minimise delays for premium passengers when the new EU Entry / Exit System finally launches.

The only mitigation for non-premum passengers is a plan to turn the Benugo cafe into a pre-registration area, with no-one allowed into the main queue until they can show EES registration. There will be an additional pre-registration area for Eurostar Premier customers opposite the check-in area where the Premier ticket office is currently located.

If you are travelling on Eurostar by 13th February, in any cabin, do give iProov.me a try. It’s the future – but, oddly, it is going away.

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How to get Club Eurostar points and lounge access from UK credit cards

How to get Club Eurostar points and lounge access from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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Membership Rewards points convert at 15:1 into Club Eurostar points.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, so you will get the equivalent of 1 Club Eurostar point for every £15 you spend.

American Express Platinum comes with a great Eurostar benefit – Eurostar lounge access!  

You can enter any Eurostar lounge, irrespective of your ticket type, by showing The Platinum Card at the desk.  No guests are allowed but you can get entry for your partner by issuing them with a free supplementary Amex Platinum card on your account.

Category

Club Eurostar

Comments (99)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Alexander says:
    24 Jan24 January 06:39

    Tried using this yesterday for first but it wouldn’t let me through because of last minute train change and I needed to pick up a new seat and carriage number.
    This is a shame as was really looking forward to using it.

    • meta says:
      24 Jan24 January 13:10

      You can do it even with train and seat change. You just need to delete it and start again. It takes two minutes, but some staff don’t know this and it’s a bit hard to find how to delete in the app.

  • Robert says:
    24 Jan24 January 06:50

    Was looking forward to using this in the spring. Is it possible to get assistance like the airlines have for elderly people etc and jump queues that way?

    • RussellH says:
      24 Jan24 January 10:35

      To some extent, yes.

      There is a link on the Eurostar website to book assistance (which did not work the last time I tried it). We ended up just asking for assistance at the desk by the entry to the queueing system at St Pancras. They also have to deal with families with young children in pushchairs.
      At Bruxelles, we were told that they did not want advance notice, but just to go to the assistance desk and ask.
      At both stations we were taken through the Carte Blanche / First Class security lanes and then to the train before boarding was announced, so we were settled in our seats some 5 mins beofre the rest descended on the train.

      • Robert says:
        24 Jan24 January 16:20

        Thanks for this information, very useful will give that a try. The other more costly option was going to be a stay at the Marriott in the station which has a special rate that includes luggage transfer to Eurostar which was covered in an article on HfP last year.

  • Thomas says:
    24 Jan24 January 07:15

    Ooooh, Friday on HfP with a Brexit related article! Time to get the popcorn, and read the comments later in the day! Thanks Rob, you do know how to host a good party!!

  • Ross says:
    24 Jan24 January 07:31

    If Brexit were the cause, the lane would not have worked since 2020. You may as well blame the US war of independence for needing a passport to go to the US.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      24 Jan24 January 07:39

      EES wasn’t around then.

      Also iprove wasn’t around then either.

      • Ross says:
        24 Jan24 January 08:20

        Thank you for making the valid point that the entire iProov scheme was introduced after Brexit was complete, and thus Brexit logically cannot be the reason why it is being removed.

        • memesweeper says:
          24 Jan24 January 08:32

          May as well “blame terrorism” as “blame brexit”. We were never in Schengen so the ideal freedom of movement never applied to travel to/from the UK.

          Anyone who would like to enter the EU area without having their fingerprints taken in future can wall over the boarder in Northern Ireland (weather permitting). As Ireland is also not in Schengen sadly I’m not sure you’ll get much further…

          • John says:
            24 Jan24 January 08:42

            Incorrect. Ireland is not in Schengen but Irish passports are exempt from Schengen control (and therefore also EES) as we would have been had we remained. So, yes, the application of EES to British passports is a consequence of Brexit.

          • Andrew Halket says:
            24 Jan24 January 10:08

            We’d have been on the inside of the EES system without Brexit. Nothing to do with Schengen or FOM. Brexiters are woefully ignorant on what they voted for.

            So you are wrong. Brexit – solely – is to blame.

        • Russell says:
          24 Jan24 January 09:39

          When you say “Brexit was complete”, presumably you mean “Brexit was complete except for the rules which are being introduced in 2025 meaning non-EU citizens cannot spend more than 90 days in the EU in a 180 day period -rules which would not have applied to British citizens pre-Brexit – which necessitate the introduction of EES”?

          Assuming that’s what you mean (because that’s what’s correct):

          No Brexit –> No need to worry about 90 day cap –> no EES –> iProov stays.
          Brexit –> 90 day cap –> EES –> bye bye iProov.

          • memesweeper says:
            24 Jan24 January 10:47

            Irish passports are exempt from EES, but still need to be checked as you enter Schengen (as would UK ones had we remained in the EU but outside Schengen). And there would still be border control at St Pancras unless the UK joined Schengen, with EES controls for anyone needing it.

            EES is a response to terrorism and unauthorised migration, not Brexit.

    • Susan says:
      24 Jan24 January 07:42

      ??? EU citizens – which would be the vast majority of travellers- would not need the additional checks. But now we get to “enjoy” that wonderful 3rd country status. I really thought by now a Brexit benefit might have appeared but they’re as rare as a sober haggis on Burns Night.

    • Andrew Halket says:
      24 Jan24 January 10:06

      Tell me you voted for Brexit without telling me you voted for Brexit.

      EES is just being introduced. I assume you read the article?

  • executiveclubber says:
    24 Jan24 January 08:13

    Another brexit benefit — thanks grandad

  • supergraeme says:
    24 Jan24 January 08:24

    This morning:

    07:28 – approaching the iProov lane
    07:32 – at the door of the lounge

    That’s pretty great. A couple of staff said (unprompted) how sad they were that it was going.

  • Lee says:
    24 Jan24 January 08:27

    Last time I flew to Paris. Charles de Gaulle is a great efficient friendly airport. Unlike Kings X. What a nightmare Eurostar has become. It is worse than a cattle pen.

    • memesweeper says:
      24 Jan24 January 08:33

      Another UK stop/terminal is required IMHO.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      24 Jan24 January 08:41

      This must be the first time CDG has appeared in the same sentence as “great”, “efficient” and “friendly” !

    • Novelty-Socks says:
      24 Jan24 January 08:55

      Are you sure you’re not getting CDG confused with a well-run airport?

      Agree the holding area at Kings Cross can get a little busy but it’s hardly a cattle pen. And travelling centre to centre beats the plane every time for me.

      • Throwawayname says:
        24 Jan24 January 09:13

        The CDG experience has definitely improved over the past few years. It may not be a totally ‘fair’ comparison, but I prefer flying AF with status over travelling Eurostar without (particularly since the intermediate class comes with no benefits at the stations).

        • Mark says:
          24 Jan24 January 10:36

          Yup. last time we went to Paris we flew EZY from LGW to CDG and were dreading it. In fact it was so smooth, in and out, and it took 40 mins to our hotel (abeit in the 8e so close to the peripherique). As I recall the tickets cost something like £80, which was about half the Eurostar. I used to love going by train but it really has lost its edge in terms of convenience and definitely pricing.

    • RussellH says:
      24 Jan24 January 10:45

      St Pancras was designed in the knowledge that the UK was part of the EU.
      I think it is fair to assume that the designers also assumed that at some time in the future, the UK would join Schengen and the border controls would disappear, and that the space could be given over to retail concessions that would bring in rental income.

      Had they known that the UK was going to leave the EU, most of the shops that are there before the queues begin would not be there.

      • AndrewC says:
        24 Jan24 January 14:28

        We’re complaining here about St Pancras, but when I went by Eurostar last Christmas it was the check-in at Gare du Nord that was the bigger disaster. More cramped than St Pancras, and eventually the queue just degenerated into a priority lane for travellers on the next train and a holding pen for everyone else.

        • Lumma says:
          24 Jan24 January 21:00

          Same but in Brussels last summer. Probably queuing up for 90 minutes before getting to the departure lounge. I wish they’d introduce on train passport control

  • SCOTT says:
    24 Jan24 January 08:30

    It has been great using it, but unfortunately my next trip is 19 Feb. Glad I know in advance but its annoying.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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