Originally Posted by QRC3288

It was a breeze. In hindsight, I could've made it arriving 50 minutes to spare. No noticeable additional hassle for security. The caveat is the J "fast track" or whatever card CX gave me is *the* reason it was a breeze....there was an extensive line at security that looked to be no fun, and perhaps 15-30 minutes long. So I wouldn't be comfortable unless I knew I would get that fast track slip. You can also cut the line at immigration, although when I traversed (~11:40am) there was no benefit since all lines were short.

I ultimately went with the safe option, taking (the only) early connecting flight and having a 5.5 hour transit, instead of the TGV that would've given me 1:25 transit. In hindsight I probably would've been okay unless the TGV was 25+ minutes delayed, but given my relative lack of familiarity with TGV reliability I like the decision I made. Thx for the help.

In my situation I was coming from a town 4 hours away by train, so I was nervous for a TGV delay. But I think if I simply have meetings in Paris, and was returning to CDG, I'll probably hire a car and be comfortable cutting it as close as possible, even in light of recent security developments, provided I was flying J or F. It was just as easy as I remember in the past with CX, basically no change from before.

And the upshot was I got to visit the CDG lounge for the first time in my life due to this begrudgingly long connection...not bad at all! Love the airy feeling and huge windows. Great ambiance IMO. Goes to show how vibe is really affected by the space to work with, IMO this lounge runs circles around CX's SFO lounge, despite similar amenities.