rosenkavalier

rosenkavalier

rosenkavalier

OK, so in a nutshell, I made it!
The details as data points:
1) my flight from SFO arrived at Hall K. I followed the signs for transfer and went to the Hall L. This involved taking a train that runs between K, L and M.
2) once I arrived at L, I had to pass security. This is where it gets interesting. There is an airport employee visually checking boarding passes before you get to the x-ray scanner. Since my boarding pass was for GVA and 2F, he at first told me I was in the wrong terminal etc... I said to him that I had a long transit and wanted to use the L lounge. He didn't put up a fight and let me through, saying that it would ultimately be up to his colleague scanning boarding passes to decide whether to let me pass or not.
3) a few metres later, where you actually put your bag on the scanner and go through the metal detector, I presented my boarding pass barcode to be scanned. The employee scanned, the screen showed something orange/red, but I didn't want to draw his attention to it by staring. This is an important detail, because I am not sure if its supposed to be a green screen when its OK, or if its always orange/red. He didn't really look at his screen because he was asking me if I had liquids, laptops, iPads in that moment. Once at the lounge, I used the machine to scan my way in to avoid any discussions, there was a message on the screen telling me I was in the wrong terminal but I ignored it. The staff didn't stop me, so I guess its more of a courtesy message than a red flag. Otherwise, I assume something will go off on the receptionist's computer and they will try to stop me from entering.
4) I thought the lounge was really great. Nice and airy, wasn't crowded when I was there, got a sauna within 30 minutes. When I asked for a sauna, I had to give the flight number and the lady did kind of mutter under her breath, 'oh they let you in', but otherwise it was not an issue being in the 'wrong' lounge. The one thing that was disappointing was the closed Clarins spa on Wednesday. Oh, and the cooking station was a bit of a joke. First, it wasn't manned, (19h, dinner time) and when I asked a staff member, she went to get the 'cook'. All she did was plate the salmon and ratatouille from a heated tray, there was no actual live preparation as advertised (à la LX at the SEN E lounge). The signature cocktail was nice, reproduced it at home yesterday...lol
5) Getting from 2E/L to 2F is easy, no need to pass security, just passport control from non-Schengen to Schengen. A bit of a walk, but thats ok after the high caloric intake of flying long-haul and sitting still for half a day.
6) as a matter of comparison, I went to the lounge at 2F, and the difference is night and day. Really felt like an underground cellar, low ceilings, crowded, felt more like an office canteen than lounge. There was another level down which was less crowded, but definitely not a place to aspire to be.

So, what do you think?
a) Is it actually quite easy to get to L even with a 2F boarding pass like I did, does the boarding pass scanner at security only check date and flight number, or also terminal as I questioned in point 3)?
If so, was I just lucky to get through because he was asking me the standard questions at that moment instead of looking at the screen?
b) Theoretically, since there was no security to go from 2E/L to 2F, just immigration, could one make the opposite journey? Go through security and scan boarding pass at 2F, then just walk to 2E/L? I was stupid, I didn't look if it was a two-way walkway.

I am very tempted to change an upcoming flight to have a longer transit to enjoy this lounge. It would be disappointing to be denied access and have the long transit in the 2F lounge, then I would rather just no lounge and go straight to the next flight. But if possible, then it is a very nice way to spend a few hours.

ijgordon

Assuming that there is a walkway to let you go that way, you would still have to go through immigration, as you are leaving the Schengen zone by entering 2E-L and Schengen has exit passport control requirements.

But thanks for the commentary!

rosenkavalier

my pleasure...
If its just immigration, I don't mind, they usually don't look at boarding passes and with an EU passport its quick. Also this is not a checkpoint receiving incoming flights, its just more a trickle of passengers (or freaks like us) going airside between terminals. Regarding moving between terminals with a boarding pass in the 'wrong' terminal, I think the main obstacle is the security check where they scan the boarding pass. Or maybe not as in my case...any other opinions/experiences would be very welcome.

Ditto

While it is not for incoming flights, it can get busy at times, EU passports or not so make sure you have ample time to go through immigration to catch your flight in time.

zoegksf

Yes, thank you for this. I was waiting on your reply and will try to do it when I have my next flight.

rosenkavalier

BA6501

The BP scanners do check whether you are in the right terminal, indeed they bring up your gate number. IIRC the screen is normally blue.

SkyteamEP

I had a connection from 2F to 2E/K this morning, and there were some CDG agents checking that passengers where indeed having a boarding pass for a flight departing from 2E/K at the entrance of the corridor and again just before the passport control.

Zarmakuizz

Good to see that Air France is watching this forum 👀

ijgordon

Well, we don't know whether those agents (stated as CDG agents, not Air France agents) would have barred anyone from proceeding without the correct boarding pass, or were just there for assistance/convenience.

rosenkavalier

well, thats an important distinction, because with AF staff I almost feel that I could put forth the argument that AF invests so much in beautiful new lounges, spends just as much marketing and promoting them, and then I am not even allowed to experience the best they have to offer as a business/elite pax. (if I were an AF employee and a pax put forth that argument I would see the logic and let them through)
However with CDG staff, they would probably not get what all the fuss is about and be more likely to stick to the rules for fear of getting into trouble later?

KLflyerRalph

A shame that this seems more complicated that I initially thought. I have a flight to AMS from 2F but will be at the airport early. I am willing to pay for lounge access as Explorer but it seems the 2F lounge is not worth the fee. I would gladly visit the 2E lounge. However if I can face difficulty from both security/immigration and also risk that the lounge attendants won't even let me buy access, I am doubting if I should attempt this.

rosenkavalier