This is the outward-bound flipside of the "Rail Baggage" incoming service, and is just as useful. If you. re flying out of Geneva, Zürich or Basel, you can check your bags in ahead of time for Fr.20 per item at any one of 116 Swiss train stations all over the country, from where they. re transported independently to your departure airport and loaded onto your flight; you don. t have to lay a finger on them until the baggage-reclaim carousel in your home airport.

Excluded from the service are bulky items such as bicycles, but you can register up to 32kg of baggage in total. You. ll need to show to the station staff your flight ticket (with an " OK" reservation), and " most importantly " a train ticket or pass to prove that you'll be travelling to the airport by train; otherwise, you pay a surcharge of Fr.30 extra per item. Virtually all airline companies let you use the service, but all American Airlines flights, Delta flights DL067 and 123, Swissair flights SR8012 and 8022, and all US charter flights are excluded, as are all flights out of Bern, Lugano and Sion. If you're flying out of Basel, check with the station staff or call 0900/300 300 beforehand.

At the same time, and for no extra cost, some airlines also allow you to make a seat reservation and pick up a boarding card, cutting out all hassle and queuing at the airport and letting you proceed directly to your departure gate. This service is available - on production of your passport - only if you're flying with Austrian, Balair, Crossair, Delta (except flights DL067 and 123), Sabena, Singapore Airlines or Swissair (except flights SR8012 and 8022); and it. s only available at 23 stations in Switzerland, including Arosa, Basel SBB, Bern, Biel/Bienne, Davos Dorf and Platz, Fribourg, Geneva, Interlaken Ost and West, Lausanne, Locarno, Lugano, Luzern, Montreux, Neuchâtel, St Gallen, St Moritz and Zürich HB.

You can do a station check-in at the earliest 24 hours before your flight departure. A booklet "Fly-Rail Baggage", available from most stations, has a list showing the latest possible check-in times for all 116 stations, which vary depending on which airport you're flying out of.