Connecting in CDG
 

Hi all,
I'm looking at flights from LHR to MIA and there is a US$2k price saving by connecting through CDG. The connection time is quite tight - 1hr35. Arrival would be on BA 304 at 9.35am, departing on AA 63 at 11.10am.

My questions

- Is 1hr 35 enough time to connect in CDG?
- Would my bags be checked all the way through?
- Do I need to go through immigration at CDG or is it simply a case of walking to the next gate?

Hopefully someone in the know can assist!

Many thanks
JB

Well, Roissy has improved its connections slowly over many years, and it is just a security scan, no immigration controls if you follow the signs for Correspondance. Mostly this would be fine, but the history of poor connections at CDG - more perhaps when there are terminal switches - and the history of strikes, gives me cause for pause. And yet this isn't a terminal change and mostly it should be fine. Assuming it is on one reservation, so not two bookings, you would be able to through check baggage, that wouldn't be too bad. Generally AA have a 90 minute connection here (BA would have 3 hours!)

I guess if this is the best alternative then by all means go for it. Particularly if it isn't a problem if you miss that particular flight - you'd just get rebooked to some other service. Is Malpensa or Barcelona any better?

I think CDG is much improved for connections and BA's three hour minimum connection here is complete overkill these days. If you are all on one ticket I'd be fairly happy with a 95 minute connection in the same terminal as long as you don't mind the prospect of heading straight to the gate and getting zero time to relax in the lounge before the second flight. As long as you are booked on a single ticket your bags will be checked through (I think this 95 minute connection will be effectively impossible if they aren't checked through, so please don't try this if you're planning to book the flights on separate tickets and also take checked bags!). The real risk here is arriving late to MIA if you miss the connection because, say, the inbound BA flight is running quite late, so I would check what the back up options are / how else they could connect you from CDG to MIA on the same day if this were to happen.

I have connected QR-BA a few times at CDG over the last year and it's never taken me more than about 45-50 minutes to make the connection staying airside, even though this involves a rather fiddly T1-T2 bus connection.

Looks like the alternative is a slightly earlier departure from LHR and connecting via Madrid, with MAD to MIA on Iberia. The connection time in Madrid would be 2hr5.

I have no experience of the Iberia business class product, is it any good?

All would be booked on the same booking via an agent.

BA304 is the first flight of the day (departs 7:20) and is extremely punctual. EF gives an average delay of 6min.
You should be very fine

It is, but you'll be better off checking out the IB forum for details. I'd be happy with either connection (the CDG or the MAD) as long as it is on a single ticket.

great, thanks all!

I connected through CDG just before Christmas on an Air France flight (flying London-Paris-Tokyo).

To be perfectly honest I have never seen such a shambolic transfer and ended up being one of the last passengers to board the Tokyo flight despite thinking I would have well over an hour in the lounge.

There were only two security scanners open and no priority lane.

The lines were separated by tensa barriers but as no-one was moving, tempers were frayed. Eventually people were just ducking under the barriers and pushing in (I witnessed one actual fisticuffs between annoyed passengers). The security staff just shrugged their shoulders and ignored it all.

So while (dare I say it), I rather enjoyed a foray into Air France business the transfer at CDG was enough to make me seriously consider not doing so again - despite the price saving.

PS Not sure if it would be a different terminal/transfer on other airlines.