SekiM

brunos

CS arrives at terminal 2A and AF (to Nice) departs at 2F.
It takes time to get from one to the other. Walking is quite complicated and takes about 20min. There is also a bus and that should be a bit faster and easier.
Getting around terminal 2 on foot - PARIS-CDG CHARLES de GAULLE AIRPORT
If you check the bags though, they are likely to take longer, possibly much longer.

There is a good chance that CX will accept to check your bags through on separate tickets.Then you will clear customs at NCE (your bags will not have the green tag showing that you originated in France)..

I suggest that you pad a big transfer time as you will have to clear immigration when arriving at CDG. UNless you are French passport holder (and some EU) who can use the electronic gate, this is a very busy immigration time. Travelling in J would give you fasttrack, but can still be a bit long if you arrive after some other longhaul flights.

orbitmic

There is a chance indeed, but definitely no certainty, especially if the OP has no status and/or is not travelling in F or J. If non-status travelling Y I would actually call this a pretty low chance. If OWE travelling J or F on the CX flight I would call it a good chance indeed. There is at any rate no "right" to expect such a through check onto a non-OW airline (CX is fairly generous in that their position is to through check on other OW airlines on separate tickets, which other airlines like BA and AA categorically refuse).

As such, I'd echo your recommendation to plan a large amount of time between flights as the OP will not have a connection (just two separate tickets) and may well have to collect bags (which is sometimes really slow at CDG) and go to 2F landside (which is slower than airside).

SekiM

ernestnywang

According to CX's own policy, CX will through-check you to the final destination. See https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...e-tickets.html. Note that this doesn't mean that CX will protect you if your HKG-CDG flight is delayed.

Kacee

You should leave at least two hours, and preferably three, for the CDG transfer from CX arrival to AF departure. It's a mess of an airport.

fairhsa

I flew through CDG 2 days ago. I had to transfer from 2A to 2E on the bus. I had pretty much "perfect" transfer conditions - no queue at security, done it before and had some clue what I was doing, bus was waiting when I got to the bus area and pulled out immediately. It took a GOOD 40 mins to just transfer between the terminals under these conditions, with no luggage to collect. With any minor conditions that are less than perfect, an hour easily. Add luggage issues into the mix, and I would leave 2-3 hours.

brunos

Personally, I would never arrange a two hour connection. Recently my wife had a similar itin in J (to TLS) with no checked bag and she barely made it with a 2:15 connection time.
The land-side bus N1 takes a longer time to reach 2F as it stops at 2C, 2E then goes to the parking lot PW before returning to 2F (15 minutes quoted below is quite optimistic and so is the 10min frequency)
N1 shuttle bus (landside) - PARIS-CDG CHARLES de GAULLE AIRPORT
Anyway, the second CDG-NCE flight AF7702 departs at 09:55, which should be fine and relaxing.


Immigration at 2A is better than at 2E and you will have a fasttrack card (I think called Access 1). Lot of walking in the terminal though.
CDG is not HKG in terms of baggage handling and checked bags might take a long time to go from 2A to your flight in 2F.

On the return flight, you will have the nice CX lounge. But there is no dedicated F section and BA also uses that lounge.
Boarding is usually a mess. CX staff at CDG is very good, but many complaints by boarding F pax. At many gates, there is simply no space to accommodate separate boarding; poor design of CDG terminals. Usually, there will be a line for Y non-MPC pax, and another for everyone else. You have to be proactive and show up at the counter, then they will let you board first and are used to it. Otherwise, you might end up behind 100 pax if boarding is delayed. But you will massively enjoy the flight.

SekiM

orbitmic

Honestly, no, I think it should be fine to do same day - just not 2 hours! Plan something like 4 hours and you'll be totally fine. The time spent travelling both ways between CDG or ORY and any part of Paris centre is probably not worth the trouble in my view.

Note that on the return, AF will not through check your bags from AF to CX. One of the funny things about CDG transfers is that even if you travelled without checked luggage, transfers 2F-2A work out much faster in one direction than in the other!

brunos

I fully agree with Orbitmic.
If you plan to fly to Nice, doing it when you arrive is the most convenient.
As I mentioned, there is a convenient AF flight exactly three hours after landing. You will have no problem getting it even if CX261 has a 50 min delay That's what I got on my last flight and that's the max I ever had.
Unless it is a week-end, it might take you 1+hour to drive to CDG after your CX flight, as 8am means the freeway will be jammed. 23 August is less busy as some Parisians are still on holiday, but that's also the period when they do road works on freeways. And arriving at a hotel in the morning where the room is not ready is no fun. Also, arriving for one night and leaving for another airport the next day is no fun.

BTW: remember that CX261 departs at 00:005, so you arrive same day in France. I guess that you are among the 99% who don't make that mistake, but ...

Kacee

It would depend on what kind of ticket I was on and where I was connecting to.
I transited CDG twice on separate tix within the past two weeks, and while it was a hassle, both transfers (2A=>2F and 2F=>2G) took under an hour. So if I was connecting intra-Europe on a changeable ticket, I would not hesitate to book a two hour connection. If I was connecting to a once a day international flight, or was on a cheap, non-changeable ticket, I would want at least three hours.
I would try to stay at CDG and connect. Getting in and out of Paris is a royal pita. The traffic into de Gaulle in particular is a nightmare. This is particularly true if you're traveling on a Saturday, when the gilets jaunes demonstrations tie the city in knots.

brunos

In your previous post your mentioned 2A==>2E which is a faster connection. 2F==>2G is quite different as you usually don't have to clear immigration (although nowadays...).
It could be that we simply have a different definition of "transfer time" or you had extreme luck especially with immigration.
My definition of transfer time is from the moment the plane arrives to the moment you reach the AF departing gate.

Wifey and I have done that connection from CX261 to 2F a few times. Let's say the door of CX261 opens at t=0 and you walk normally pulling a heavy carry-on and a computer bag. It will take a few minutes before you disembark. CX261 usually arrives in the round extension at the end of 2A. It takes me a good 10 min walk to get to immigration, with ups and downs. The big issue is if you arrive after other AA or other longhaul early morning flights. If you don't have access to the eGates (or they are not working) and hold a non-EU passport, it can take you a very long time early morning, even with fasttrack. A 30 min wait at French police is not unusual at that time and can be longer.Then it is another 10 min to exit and reach the bus stop. Then you might wait 10 for the next bus (or zero as in your case) and a good 15 to reach 2F. But you are not home yet. You need to walk to your half of 2F and go through security. Assuming you already have printed your BP, do not need to check bags and can understand CDG/AF signs, it will take you say 15+ min to reach your gate. It all depends on the wait at immigration (and possibly security in 2F) but it is usually more than one hour. AF is nice and you only need to be at the gate 20 min before departure.