hserus

Hi. I'll fly in AF 201 MAA-CDG which arrives at 9:05 AM, and then I've got a chance of flying AF 084 (a 343) at 10:15 AM, or DL on a 767 to Cincinatti an hour later, for a late evening arrival in SFO (instead of afternoon with the direct AF flight).

Is there a good chance of making the AF 201 flight? I know the MCT in CDG is a bit less than an hour, but for US flights .. has anybody made that connect before? I'd much rather arrive in SFO in the afternoon rather than late evening.

cfischer

have done it before, it all depends whether the flight comes in on time. 1h10 is usually plenty.

hserus

Could you expand that please? I'm coming in from a non schengen country (India) so there's two phases -

1. Passport control
2. Time to get to the gate
3. Extra security for US bound pax

I'd probably go straight to the gate [zero chance for a shower or even a coffee and croissants at the lounge, ouch] .. oh well, let's see. I dare say they'd put me standby on DL an hour later or something.

obscure2k

Do you have a plan B?

hserus

There's a DL 767 to CLT an hour or so later, connecting to SFO. Only - the direct AF flight (340) lets me land in SFO before 2 PM and flying DL would land me there sometime closer to 7 PM, so it'd probably be 9 PM plus, before I get to my hotel in downtown SFO. So while I'm reasonably sure AF could put me on standby for that DL flight, I'm not so sure that I'd get a good seat.

cfischer

AF is soooo much nice if compared to DL, I'd take the 'small' risk. Not sure if AF would re-book you on DL, kind of close to the departure of this flight, do you have luggage checked?

mondo

Agree with the inflight quality.

I believe you would arrive at 2F and depart from 2E. I am not sure about arrivals from India, but in my experience to connect you have a choice:
a) arrive by bus to 2F, immigrate into France, run to 2E underground, go through passport control followed by security++
b) arrive by bus to 2F, stay behind security and take a transfer bus to 2E, go through extra security

then you run to the end of terminal 2E, get on a bus to gates E80-87 (15 minutes), hand over the boarding pass, get on another bus to the plane. Both options are a bit of a gamble, at that time, lines are long because there are many flights to the US.

With 1:10, you should be able to make it, although you might break a sweat .

zurichflyer

There is a third faster choice:

c) arrive by bus to 2F, take direct special bus to gates E80-87, go through security

hserus

If passport control isn't 100% required along with the security++ these days. That'd certainly be the fastest way to go.

cfischer

you are basically staying airside; this can be faster.

hserus

Yup - transit from a non schengen country (india) to a non schengen country (USA) so definitely don't need passport control. Bus straight to gates E80..87 sounds like a plan to me.

thanks
srs

jrlander

I had a comparable connection at CDG last Sunday- VCE-CDG connecting to 84 to SFO. AF had someone meet all passengers, not just business, connecting to the SFO and LAX flights. She drove us from 2F to 2E. We made the flight without any problems. AF's inflight is SOOOOO much better than DL's that the risk is certainly worth it.

mondo

That's good to know, do you catch this bus at the same spot as the buses going around the restricted area? Also, do you know if you can catch such a bus if you arrive at 2C?

hserus

I finally chickened out, and ended up doing something I normally hate (booked MAA-DEL 9W and then go across to DEL international for a DEL-CDG flight).

The DEL connection's going to be pure hell but at least DEL-CDG arrives in CDG at 5:45 AM so I have more than enough time for a shower and breakfast before I connect to CDG-SFO at 10:15.