Catch Thayls to Paris

I doubt you could make it. When is the next train?

I would say probably not. The Thalys trains run every hour from Brussels to Paris so I think you should plan on the next train.

No way.

Flying arrival times are counted from when the wheels touch down, not when the plane is at the gate. Or, if as it must be if you are trying to avoid flying direct from Venice to Paris - there are plenty of flighst - you are trying to save money by going so far out of your way and avoiding visiting the city you have landed at, you must be on a no frills flight, so very often it involves walking down the stairs to the tarmac and then into the terminal, and that all takes time.

Then you have your checked bag to retrieve. Anywhere from on the belt as you reach it to half an hour or more.

But, let's work a little traveling magic here. Just for fun, let's assume that you are right on time, your plane takes zero time to get to the gate, and you are the first person off the plane and it takes no time to walk to the baggage hall and your bag is first off and you just lean over and grab it.

Oh, and no toilet breaks.

It will still take you 10 minutes to get your train ticket and get on the train from the airport to Brussel Zuid. The first two trains after your 1340 arrival are 1341 - NO way could you get that one - and 1352. There's no realistic way you'll get that one either but we are working magic here.

The 1352 gets to Brussel Zuid at 1415. So, by dint of working miracles and working plenty of magic (and you on the train 12 minutes after touchdown) you will have 15 minutes to find the Thalys desk, collect your prepaid tickets, find the platform and get on. No sweat.

Normal people might expect 15 minutes to reach the gate and get off the aircraft, 5 minutes for a toilet break, 15 minutes to collect luggage (a relatively small airport), 15 minutes to get to the station and get a ticket and get to the train so travel on the 1430 train reaching Zuid at 1451 and then you could run for a 1500 to 1510 Thalys. But your train left at the time you left the airport. oops.

Good news: Flying from Venice to Brussels you will have no passport control and no customs. Both Italy and Belgium are in both the EU and Schengen, so your flight will be handled like a "domestic" flight.
Bad News: You will still have to get off the plane, pick up your bags (if any), get out the airport and allow for late arrival. Average 30-60 minutes.

Plus, where is this Thalys train departing from? Is it Brussels airport station or the city centre (Brussels Midi). I guess the latter, in which case you will first have to get a train from the airport to Brussels Midi. You need to add the time for this.

Dumb question: why aren't you flying to Paris.

a bit more - if this is to save money, is that a discounted non refundable non changeable Thalys ticket? So that if you miss your booked train the ticket is so much waste paper and you will have to buy a full priced ticket to get on the next Thalys.

And I hope that you aren't flying on Ryanair. They don't go to the main Brussels airport (they don't fly from the main Venice airport either) but arrive at what they call Brussels South - Charleroi which is about as close to Luxembourg as Brussels, and there are no trains from there only buses.

Noting Chris F's reply, and to avoid confusion, what I refer to as Brussel Zuid and he refers to as Bruxelles Midi are exactly the same place. His is the French name for the station and mine is the Flemish name for the same place.

Just don't get off at Brussel Centraal/Bruxelles Central because that isn't where you want to be, it is a small station in the middle of Brussels.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your experience and I will get a later train.

I have a question too. When catching the train from the Brussels airport to Paris Nord, do you have to change trains at Midi or do you stay on the same train? Looking at the details on the Thalys website seems to indicate you stay on the same train. Thanks for your help.

chanketx,
There are no direct trains from Brussels airport to Paris, Thalys trains do not serve the airport station, you always have to change at Bruxelles-Midi (aka Brussel-Zuid).
If you select the train, it will probably say '1' under number of connections. If you then expand it, it will show the individual trains.