jonsha

For all of you who've transferred through CDG on intl->intl AF flights: What is the experience like? How much time does it usually take? Appreciate the comments!

Goldorak

You'll have to tell us more than that if you want a proper opinion / assessment.

Zembla

Connection times and experience depend on the itinerary. And there are quite a few combinations possible there. Generally we could say:
-Non-Schengen to Non- Schengen take place within terminal 2E, and they are very easy and swift. The three different 2E satellites range from good to very good in ascending order: 2E-K, 2E-L, and 2E-M.
-Schengen to non-Schengen and vv. are easy between terminal 2E and 2F
-Some Schengen flights arrive/leave from terminal 2G. If that's the case it get's less convenient and more time is needed.

Between those three main possibilities there are many different subtleties, and as Goldorak says we'd need more info because it really depends on itinerary, class of travel, and ff status.

A general remark. CDG has a bad reputation from its past. However, nowadays the airport is much more pleasant and easy to use than used to be the case, notably for inter-Skyteam connections. Not so many years ago I would recommend to avoid it to connect. Nowadays I'd say it's a decent airport, and I recommend it. Exception is perhaps a somewhat increased risk of disruptions due to strikes.

jonsha

Thanks for the info. Specifically this is connecting between the US and Israel. No status or premium class, just plain Y-travel. I guess this falls within 2E so nothing much to worry about

Zembla

Yes, you'll connect within 2E, and it will be a pleasant connection under the condition that flights are on time. It's possible that you need to make a change between one of the 3 satellites, but that takes no more than a few minutes on an automated train, and finding the way is very simple.

Enjoy the flight and the connection!

skyhighlander

The followining link shound come in handy:

http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/en/pa...ecting-flights

I transferred 6 times through CDG in the past month and it can be a pain at times, expecially with the current additional checks.

The thing that suprprised me (and to which I found no explaination to this day) is that when you're transferring from 2E to 2F on top of the passport check you go through the full security screening again. But when you're doing reverse (2F to 2E, Schengen to non-Schengen, gates K in my case) you just go through passport control, no security whatsoever and that obviously speeds things up.

Currently even when transferring within 2E non-Schngen terminal you will still go through security, although there will be no passport control of course.

undSim

"-Non-Schengen to Non- Schengen take place within terminal 2E, and they are very easy and swift. The three different 2E satellites range from good to very good in ascending order: 2E-K, 2E-L, and 2E-M."

+1 , me and my brother did that yesterday in CDG going DEL-CDG-ORD , all in 2E.

you leave the airplane and head out to transfer area
your ticket/passport get a brief look at (to confirm you are indeed transferring), I think they were primarily looking to make sure you have valid ticket. They will ask you if you know which gate you are departing from ("M", "L" ,etc). if not, they will look it up for you
you walk through security right there and then enter 2E
no other checks (at the gate or otherwise) for our flight to US

We were on Delta One so we used AF lounge which was the best business lodge I have seen so far in terms of smart arrangement and management.

Goldorak

Simple reason : if you come from a Schengen destination, you are considered to be already screened (as per the European rules and specifications) and coming from "safe" countries, while if you come from a non-Schengen destination and connect to anywhere (Schengen or non-Schengen) you may come form a "less safe" countries or applying different rules and so you have to go through security again. OK, you will tell me that if you come from US, UK, Ireland, Canada, etc those are safe countries : yes, correct but simply the terminal design currently doesn't allow to have a separate flow for some non-Schengen flights.

You have the same situation in the US when you make domestic connections (no re-screening) or international to domestic or international (screening mandatory).

skyhighlander

Thanks Goldorak, this does make sense, although I have a feeling that when it comes to non-Schengen EEA countries this is a relatively new development. I usually choose AMS over CDG so can't really tell you when I had transferred through Paris before (no more than a year ago though), but I don't ever recall going through security, so I think it may be down to new security procedures rather than the terminal layouts.

Either way, for me it's Schiphol from now on, with its new central security transferring is a pleasure.

Agremeister

Done it many times now on US-Asia flights, in general its pretty hassle free. You do have to go through security again, but there isn't too much walking involved and changing concourses within 2E is quite easy.

brunos

I believe that your memory fails you. A couple of years back, security check was required for any transfer. Then they removed security check for Shengen to Shengen (including pseudo-Schengen countries like Switzerland), but others always ghd security check.

Dlougach

I recently had 2 connections in CDG, which both were pretty good and smooth experience:

1) 2F->2E (Schengen -> non-Schengen)
For all Schengen arrivals in CDG you now have to go through passport control to "enter France". This first passport control has a separation between transferring passengers and all the others, but generally there can be queues up to 5-10 minutes, also there are no priority lanes. Then you walk to other terminal and exit Schengen area (second passport control), which is super fast, especially if you have SkyPriority. No security screening, whole process from arrival at gate to lounge at departure terminal took me 20 minutes.
2) 2F->2F (non-Schengen -> Schengen)
Somehow the route was very non-trivial, and I had to walk quite a lot. Security screening and passport control took maybe 5 minutes each. The whole transfer was 25 minutes.

irishguy28

It's fast approaching 5 years since I last transferred at CDG (11.06.2011, NOU-ICN-CDG-WAW, I just looked it up on flugstatistik) and I can't remember EVER transferring there without going through security!!!

Goldorak

This is only on selected Schengen flights and due to the state of emergency in place since the terrorist attacks of nov 2015.

It's been several years now that you don't have to go through security anymore in CDG when connecting Schengen to Schengen and Schengen to non-Schengen.

JerusalemAsher

I'm arriving from JFK at 8:35 and my flight to TLV is at 10:50. It looks like this should be plenty of time to make the transfer, but will there be additional checks on the way to TLV? Should I count on just having time to make the flights, or will there be time for coffee on the way?