Originally Posted by Mill Creek Don
First off, thanks to all the AF regulars who have given some great advice in the past. I'm trying to sort out, in advance, a plan for CDG transfers and lounge visits -- so any advice/commentary is welcome. And excuse me if this is repetitive or covered in other threads.
A couple of assumptions from reading this forum: First, if you are flying to a non-Schengen destination, you can pass security/immigration into any N-S terminal and then freely transfer to any other N-S terminal on the airside shuttle. This would apply if you leave the N-S area to use the 2C Arrivals lounge. And if you are coming in from a N-S country, you can use the shuttle to go to another terminal and clear immigration there.
Second: The lounge in 2D is before security, so there are no access restrictions. The lounge in 2F1 is after security, so you have to have a BP for a Schengen destination.
If that's true, the next question is if the F lounges in 2C and 2F2 are nicer than the other lounges, or just less crowded? And what is the status of the lounges in 2E?
First transit through CDG will be from 2C to 2E, with about 5 hours time. The plan now is to stop in the F lounge in 2C for some coffee, and get our bearings. Then to the Arrivals lounge in 2C for shower and pressing (seems that the comments are that this is the best place to freshen up if you have the time). Then possibly grab some real food in a restaurant and then into the non-Schengen area in some terminal. Then over to 2E for our flight.
So, are there any lounges that we should try to visit? Or any that should be avoided if at all possible? We have the time to use any that we can. And have no interest in grabbing a train into Paris and then rushing back for our flight.
Thanks for your assistance.
When you arrive, you can transfer between Non-Schengen terminals BEFORE you clear security/immigration. Once you clear security (i.e. to use the 2C arrivals lounge) you are landside and must walk or use the landside shuttle (slow).
In the intercontinental terminals (2C, 2F2) the bridges to the planes from the terminal are raised for departures and lowered for arrivals. So when you arrive you enter into a different area of the terminal (where you DON'T have access to the lounges, gates, etc.) So you can't use the First Class lounge in 2C upon arrival without trying to reclear security into that terminal just like any other transfer passenger. And, as mentioned elsewhere in this post (and forum), departure lounge use is supposed to be restricted to those passengers who are departing from that terminal.
The police don't have to let you in a terminal for which you don't have a boarding pass or ticket but this seems to be spottily enforced in 2B at least; more rigorously enforced in the other terminals. But why would you want to go back through security in one terminal just to transfer to another?
Avoid the lounges in 2B and 2D. 2E has the nicest departures lounge, but for my money, the 2C arrivals lounge is by far the most comfortable, with the best food and services (more showers).
So what I would do to minimize stress and hassle (especially arriving in 2C) is to clear security in 2C, use the arrivals lounge, then wander over to 2E on foot (visiting any resturants desired) and use the departures lounge there. ADP (the Paris airport authority) has a CDG guide listing all the restaurants which you can get at any info desk. Many people recommend the Sheraton (between 2C/D and 2E/F) for upscale dining.
If you somehow arrive in 2F2, I would follow the signs downstairs for the airside transfer busses, take the appropriate bus one stop to 2C and proceed as above. I just don't think it's worth the hassle of trying to reclear security into the terminal you arrive in and try to talk your way into the departures lounge there just "to get your bearings."
Hope that helps.