ClipperDelta

You generally have a greater chance of getting the special agent-greeting-flight scenario if your connecting flight is leaving out of the trailer park terminal (DL's India, JFK, and one ATL flight). Because of the effort required to get there, they usually send a car/van/dedicated agent for pax. heading there if the inbound is late but then leave the rest of the pax. with connections from the main terminal to fend for themselves....

shadesofgrey1x

Here are the facts. AF insists that 45 min is the minimum connection time needed. They only do this for marketing purposes to make their flights appear to have the best connection times. A good DL CSR will tell you 90 min is the reccomended and 75 min is the minimum. No matter what your intl conections (out of the EU) it will involve a bus ( at least until terminal 2E is fully fixed ). Those busses can keep you stuck fo an indeterminate amount of time. I had one that was backed up for 45 minutes. Regarding the same terminal, in CDG there are really only two terminals 1 and 2. It would be like ATL calling teminals a-e, terminal two and terminal T terminal 1. So yes you are staying in the same terminal but it is huge and difficult to navigate. In the distant future terminal 2F-2E will be totally walkable and bus free.

Yes, if everything runs like clockwork you could connect ontime. But, as you are reading everything has to be perfect. In my experience in CDG over the last two years, it has taken between 90 minutes and 2 hours to make a comfortable connection.

Save yourself some grief call AF or whoever booked this and demand a 2 hour or more connection time. CDG is a bad airport to be stuck in and AF has no mercy on you even if it is their fault you miss the connection.

cbalaska

My Mom and I have connections at CDG in early November to different flights but I believe both will be a 2F to 2C transfer. Never been to CDG so this is all new to me. Would appreciate any insight/advice.

We arrive at terminal 2F at 9:10am on a Sunday morning from NCE on AF. Her connection is at 4:30pm to LAX on AF from Terminal 2C. I ordered a wheelchair for her and we are flying B/E. By then I will be PM and I am a CRC member (do either of those count for anything on this trip?) May I assume safely that even at 90 years old, 7 hours should be sufficient for her to change and that she will be able to stay in the AF Airport Lounge on the long layover?

My connection is a lot tighter leaving terminal 2C at 10:20am on AF for DTW. Is 1hr 10 min realistic? This is an award ticket - what will happen if I mis-connect? My final destination is EWR. By the way, does anyone know about Customs/Immigration in DTW - can I arrive on AF, clear C&I and be on a NW flight in just 2 hours?

dlnewbie

I misconnected on a 7:15 AM AF-->Cityjet back in February while doing ATL-CDG-DUB, I had a 45 minute connection, which is the stated MCT (minimum connection time) for those two terminals. The AF gate staff at the connection centre were slightly less then helpful, and were willing to confirm me on the same 7:15 AM the next morning. I exited to the check-in area and and after a small temper tantrum at the short, male agent, and much flirting with the cute, female supervisor, was able to get standby on the 9:30 flight two hour later (which I got only.)

On the way back I connected Cityjet--Delta with about an hour connectio time and made that flight with time to spare.

shadesofgrey1x

7 hours is fine, no problem. 1hr 10 minutes for a wheelchair I would not risk it. If you are flying BE the CRC is not necessary, you can use the AF lounge. With a WC use at least 1 3hr mark as the minimum. With a free BE ticket if you miss the flight, if is an AF flight, you may loose your J seats. ANd I have seen this happen. AF can tell you there are no free seast in your class available and offer you a coach or nothing. Yes you can argue with them, but you are going to be stuck in CDG if they do not relent. I have seen PAX offered coach or wait 17 hours for the next flight. My advice don't even try arguing with them groundside, Schedule a longer layover. If DL booked the ticket explain your situation to them to get the change. I have and DL is usually very understanding about CDG and short connection times. They should change it for free.

wco81

I booked some award tickets for end of May from SFO-CDG and CDG-VCE.

The first choice they offered me was a 45-minute connection in CDG.

I opted for a 2:35 connection.

Earlier this year, I would have to wait for those buses to loop around the terminals but the last time, in May, I was able to just walk for my CityJet connection. Forget which terminals but I flew in SFO-CDG and then went CDG-FLR.

Of course my other option would have been to take DL metal and connect at JFK but that means boarding at like 7 AM in SFO rather than 3 or 4 PM. Besides avoiding the CDG connection, that gets you into VCE early in the morning rather than afternoon or late afternoon.

cbalaska

Thanks for the advice. To clarify - my Mom will have the WC with the 7 hour layover. Being in B/E I assume someone will get her to the AF lounge in 2C while I kiss her good-bye as we arrive from NCE and run for my 1hr 10 min connection. Is that close to correct?

hfly

If its a DL-AF misconnect, your chances are generally 100 times better going to DL to sort it out. If you have an e-ticket AF will send you there anyway, if not, you have a much higher chance of dealing with reasonable people. This is the one area of NON cutomer service at Af that EVERYONE has always agreed on (with the exception of those that fly O/D from CDG and never have to go through connection hell).

Mark075

I'm surprised to read so many horror connection stories. In my over 70 connections at CDG on flights US-Europe, Europe-US I have not missed my connection once. Checking over my itineraries, about 50 of those were connections between 1:00 and 1:40 long. The rest was between 1:40 and 2:30, but never more than that. Some of those were really close and I have run through the airport on many occasions, but still have always somehow made it. It was always a combination of DL-AF and AF-AF flights with remote parking about half of the time.

I’ve had the ground staff pick me up when deplaning in CDG and then drive me to the next flight about 5 times. But that only seemed to happen when the incoming plane was officially late. So a connection that was originally 1:30 and was 20 min late would get the staff assistance, but the 1:00 connection that ran on schedule would not.

On two occasions my flight from US was actually a little bit ahead of schedule and I have managed to convince the transfer desk to get me on and earlier European flight that was departing in about 30 min. So they can be nice sometimes and go out of their way to help you. And I’m not French, nor do I speak French.

I can’t say anything about luggage though, as I have only checked it twice connecting through CDG. They lost it one of the times.

I know CDG has a horrible opinion, but so far I’m 72/72 made connections at that place. And I must say I like the place for some reason. Sure it’s not HKG, but its fun in a different way. There are much worse places to connect in my opinion, MXP for example.

ecaarch

Then your baggage experience is 50% at CDG. Unfortunately, that seems to be par for the course.

packer_backer

I have had six connections through CDG the past six months as part of three round-trips ATL-Warsaw. Two of three times the inbound was at least 45 minutes late, and one of the three I missed my connection. Coming back, I have had better luck. This past time, in June 2006, I had only 45 minutes. I literally ran the whole way. I was on the last bus to the ATL bound flight, but both me and my luggage made it. 70 minutes seems like a luxury in comparison.

I have decided that, if I am travelling alone, I will put up with the CDG connections. Matters are different for personal travel. I fly to Germany a few times a year from ATL for family reasons, and, with a small child, we either fly nonstop or choose another connection (and/or airline). Paris is simply too big a pain to navigate with children and the additional carry-on luggage that comes with them. I should add that the new nonstops to Germany that Delta introduced are quite welcome!