Can't figure out CDG

 
Old Feb 4, 2007, 3:47 pm
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by wco81
It's not actually clear to me that you have a choice between staying inside and walking between the terminals versus taking a bus.

You just follow the Correspondance signs and some lead you directly to the terminal and some force you out to get on a bus.

Especially in this case, where E82 is way out in the hinterlands.
You do have a choice - if you hold a passport that doesn't require a visa to enter France/E.U., it can sometimes be quicker to simply go through immigration and walk to the connecting terminal. For example, connecting from 2E to 2F, the walk is usually faster as the bus stops at 2C, 2A, and 2B before getting to 2F. However, connecting from 2F to 2E, it's direct so the bus is usually faster.

One caveat though - now that AF has moved all of their US flights to 2E, immigration at 2E has become a gigantic pain during the peak arrival hours and sometimes walking from 2E to the other terminals can be just as long now because of the huge lines at 2E passport control.

As for gates E80 - E87, ADP has actually made it very convenient to get to the trailer park area now. From 2F for example, there is a direct bus to the trailer park, bypassing the main 2E terminal. FYI, Delta used to have many of their flights parked out by the trailer park but lately, now that they have reduced the number of flights at CDG, only one DL flight is parked out at the E80-87 gates; the rest of them are at the E70-77 gate area.
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Old Feb 4, 2007, 4:07 pm
  #17  
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Also keep in mind that CDG-GVA flights are pure Schengen flights, as AF uses a part of the terminal in GVA which is French territory. You actually go through French passport control in GVA upon landing, to LEAVE France, and then go through Swiss passport control, to enter the Confederacy.

On the other hand, ZRH is exclusively Swiss territory.

Which means,
- no passport control in CDG2 when connecting from the US to ZRH
- passport control in CDG 2E when connecting from GVA (you entered France in GVA airport and already went through French immigration there) to the US, as you need to leave France.

Walking from one hall to another one in CDG2 involves going through immigration when connecting from Schengen to non-Schengen destinations (and vice versa). Using the airside shuttle between flights to non Schengen destinations does not involve entering France, so no immigration check.

To make the matters more simple , the Swiss confederacy has signed a bi-lateral agreement with the EU to implement the regulations of the Schengen agreement, but this is not operational yet ... Should be simpler when it is implemented.

Last edited by JOUY31; Feb 5, 2007 at 1:20 pm
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Old Feb 4, 2007, 4:54 pm
  #18  
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Originally Posted by wco81
I would assume though with all that construction, eventually they will streamline things.
Well, CDG 2E's boarding area, La jetée, should be back on line in summer 2008. AF has had to cope with this disaster from ADP since 2005. The first improvement was the E7x gates area, built in less than six months, and then the remote gates E8x, made available six months later. Some DL flyers like to refer to this remote boarding area as the trailer park. Its name is actually Satellite H, better known in French as Aire Hotel.

There should be some improvements coming up :
- monorail between CDG 1, RER station 1, remote parking areas, CDG 3 and CDG2 at the TGV/RER 2 station opening on March 15th
- satellite S3, large boarding area connected to 2F (moving walkways) and 2E (small monorail), with gates for the A380, opening up in phases between April and November 2007
- Terminal 2G to accomodate regional aircrafts flying to Schengen destinations in summer 2008
- 2E being fully back on line in summer 2008 at full capacity, not 1/3 as when it opened
- satellite S4, parallel to satellite S3, scheduled for ... 2012, but which AF is trying to bully ADP into opening in 2010
- CDG 4, which will open in phases, starting in ... 2016

Well, I am among the ones who like CDG, in any case so much better than LHR, and I connect in both. Actually, I am currently fighting AZ, stranded in MXP for the night with AZ wanting me to go to a hotel one hour away, while I prefer to pay for the Crowne Plaza, 5mn away from the airport, to catch the first 7:15 flight tomorrow morning, actually this morning as it is 00:54 local time.

Last edited by JOUY31; Feb 5, 2007 at 1:18 pm
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Old Feb 4, 2007, 5:20 pm
  #19  
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You see, I made it barely when I went to FLR through CDG last May that I've already booked AF for trips to MAD in March and VCE in May.

And checking the schedules, I see the connection times are about an hour on the return trips in each case.

So I'm going to have to take a deep breath.
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Old Feb 5, 2007, 12:43 pm
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Improvements for CDG? When??
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Old Feb 5, 2007, 10:30 pm
  #21  
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Oh BTW, I just remembered something.

No elite boarding for Citijet flights leaving from or to CDG.

And then my longhaul flight didn't have elite boarding either. You had a big crowd funneling towards the door to the tarmac.
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Old Feb 5, 2007, 10:56 pm
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Originally Posted by wco81
Oh BTW, I just remembered something.

No elite boarding for Citijet flights leaving from or to CDG.

And then my longhaul flight didn't have elite boarding either. You had a big crowd funneling towards the door to the tarmac.
All Citijet flights are boarded by bus so elite boarding is somewhat impractical and useless (unless they had a special bus for elite or Business/First pax. but I'm sure that's too huge an expense for the hundreds of AF flights at CDG)
Now that all long-haul AF US flights out of CDG are by buses also, elite boarding has also become somewhat useless....DL flights at CDG do have a special Elite/Business line at the gate but is only useful for getting through the security questions quicker. Makes no difference in the mad rush for the buses or stairs....
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Old Mar 25, 2007, 2:50 am
  #23  
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Yes a much better experience for my MAD-CDG-SFO flight just today.

First, plane from MAD took off about 15 minutes later. Pilot said something about how they don't let planes take off from MAD until at least 7:30 so we delayed from the scheduled 7:15 departure.

Flight time was suppose to be 1:20 according to the pilot so I thought we'd land at 9:00 rather than the scheduled 9:20. My CDG-SFO flight is scheduled for takeoff at 10:15 but in practice, this once daily flight usually leaves about 30 minutes later.

Well we didn't touch ground until 9:20 and we taxied for awhile. Got off the plane a bit after 9:30. On the tarmac were several AF employees with signs for various connections.

They took us in small vans directly to the annex (my gate was E85). Contrast that to my previous trip, which was to go through 2F, winding through several corridors and then taking a long, long bus ride to finally make it out to the same gate, and then real slow loading.

They had passport control and security checkpoint at the new annex now and the queue was nonexistent.

Still got to the gate at about 9:45 and they were loading. Didn't have time for the shops but they were actually open, in contrast to back in early Feb.

AF084 took off about 10:45, 15 minutes later than scheduled, as the plane loaded for a long time. But I was on board early and able to relax, no rushing or sweating through a maze of corridors and a long bus ride.

Now, I don't know if they did the direct shuttle rides because the MAD-CDG flight was slightly late (10-15) minutes and my connection time was only about an hour. Or if they're planning to do this regularly. Hopefully the latter.

On my outbound flight, they gave me a little note apologizing if I would have to take buses between terminals at CDG. So AF at least appears to recognize the problem.

Oh and having status was great at SFO, MAD and CDG (only for the return flight) because of the early boarding.
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Old Mar 26, 2007, 12:42 pm
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Originally Posted by opus17
Walking inside is better than the bus (more predictable), although it might require an extra pass or two through security, immigration or a Roadblock (which is a task only one may do).

If the connection it to Delta metal, allow an extra 30 minutes, on general principle.
My brain was confused when I read the Roadblock comment. Then I burst out laughing.
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Old Mar 26, 2007, 1:05 pm
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Originally Posted by wco81
Now, I don't know if they did the direct shuttle rides because the MAD-CDG flight was slightly late (10-15) minutes and my connection time was only about an hour. Or if they're planning to do this regularly. Hopefully the latter.
No, only for late arrivals/tight connections and/or if the plane leaves from the remote remote Terminal 2E (gates E80-E87)...
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Old Mar 26, 2007, 1:18 pm
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[As for gates E80 - E87, ADP has actually made it very convenient to get to the trailer park area now. From 2F for example, there is a direct bus to the trailer park, bypassing the main 2E terminal. FYI, Delta used to have many of their flights parked out by the trailer park but lately, now that they have reduced the number of flights at CDG, only one DL flight is parked out at the E80-87 gates; the rest of them are at the E70-77 gate area.[/QUOTE]

ClipperDelta, do you know which DL flight is still using the trailer park?
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Old Mar 27, 2007, 3:21 am
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Originally Posted by TrojanTraveler
[As for gates E80 - E87, ADP has actually made it very convenient to get to the trailer park area now. From 2F for example, there is a direct bus to the trailer park, bypassing the main 2E terminal. FYI, Delta used to have many of their flights parked out by the trailer park but lately, now that they have reduced the number of flights at CDG, only one DL flight is parked out at the E80-87 gates; the rest of them are at the E70-77 gate area.
ClipperDelta, do you know which DL flight is still using the trailer park?[/QUOTE]

Pretty random...when I went through yesterday, it was the ATL flight (DL21/22); last week when I went through, it was our JFK flight (DL119/118)...
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Old Mar 27, 2007, 10:00 am
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Pretty random...when I went through yesterday, it was the ATL flight (DL21/22); last week when I went through, it was our JFK flight (DL119/118)...[/QUOTE]

The lounge is so much better in 2E than in the trailer park. It makes dealing with CDG easier...
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Old Mar 27, 2007, 1:32 pm
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Originally Posted by wco81

The upshot of all this is each time you go THROUGH CDG, they have some new setup which is impossible to predict. Maybe that is done for security reasons and we should be grateful.
They did have part of one of the terminal collapse a few years back so that could cause changes as it gets reconstructed.

I would agree about the aggressive connection times. I use AF via CDG on flights to India and China from Dublin. If things are really tight they have a minibus waiting on landing. I have never missed a connection yet and some have been very tight. Quite regularly I have had time to catch an earlier flight at Atl but Delta.com, doesn't give you the option of the earlier flight. It happened to me last Monday (19th) on DUB-ATL-IAH, would have easily made it, but it was oversold.

CDG is a bit chaotic, but is LHR any better? One thing you must remember in comparing it to Large US hubs is the Ratio of International flights to Domestic flights at say, Atlanta. Some airports also lend themsleves better to the new security arrangements since 9/11. Was never on CDG before so can't comment on this.
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Old Mar 27, 2007, 1:50 pm
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Originally Posted by IRISHFLYER1
They did have part of one of the terminal collapse a few years back so that could cause changes as it gets reconstructed.

I would agree about the aggressive connection times. I use AF via CDG on flights to India and China from Dublin. If things are really tight they have a minibus waiting on landing. I have never missed a connection yet and some have been very tight. Quite regularly I have had time to catch an earlier flight at Atl but Delta.com, doesn't give you the option of the earlier flight. It happened to me last Monday (19th) on DUB-ATL-IAH, would have easily made it, but it was oversold.

CDG is a bit chaotic, but is LHR any better? One thing you must remember in comparing it to Large US hubs is the Ratio of International flights to Domestic flights at say, Atlanta. Some airports also lend themsleves better to the new security arrangements since 9/11. Was never on CDG before so can't comment on this.

I think CDG was worse before 9/11. At least now when you wait there is more open space and air conditioning. Before 2E and the satellite shed come online, they used to herd connecting passengers through what only could be described as an improvised wooden corral under 2C (from where most flights to N.America left). No air, and the lines moved glacially. It was awful and when I could I avoided CDG and flew *A.
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