Can't figure out CDG
 

I've taken several flights on AF, connecting through CDG to get to Italy, Spain, etc. because I like the nonstop SFO-CDG leg.

AF as everyone knows schedules some really aggressive connections, especially on the return leg and I got bit on that last March on a return from BCN where I ended up stranded in Paris. Then in May, on a return trip from FLR, I made sure to make my connecting CDG-SFO flight but my checked bad didn't make it and AF delivered it the next day. No big deal for me.

Besides the aggressive connection times, the bigger problem is CDG's constant reconfiguration of security protocols and construction. Obviously some of the security issues are driven by outside events.

But CDG seems unpredictable when it comes to trying to figure out how to make your way from one terminal to the next.

Last March, the problem was waiting for buses to get between terminals. In May, it seemed to have improved greatly as I was able to walk between terminals without taking any buses. So I figured they'd progressed in their construction and I could expect to make my way between connections without being dependent on ridiculous airport configurations.

Well I just flew SFO-CDG-ZRH and GVA-CDG-SFO. I had no concerns about the outbound leg and between the GVA-CDG and CDG-SFO leg, I had 90 minutes so I thought I was safe. Well I did make it but just barely.

In the outbound, we land near 2E and we have to go down into the tarmac (another inconsistency, you can never tell whether your plane is going to the gate or be taxing all over the place and ending up in the boondocks, where you will have to be bused to the gate), get bused into 2E. I never had to go through passport control and nobody ever takes the landing card I completed for the EU. I take the bus to get to 2F for my connecting flight and it takes a good 10-15 minutes since all other terminals come between 2E and 2F. But I made the connecting flight, although with very little time.

On the return leg, we land from GVA at 2F and I'm able to get to 2E by going down, taking the conveyor belt, then going back up. Passport control and then a security check.

Then we wind though a lot of corridors and back down and we're herded into a bus again. To get to gate E82, which appears to be part of some annext to Terminal 2E, we wind through runways where the bus is navigating through intersections waiting for airplanes, some trucks, some luggage transporters and other service vehicles. It is about 10 minutes.

By the time we get into the annex building, the flight is starting to board. In all, just over 30 minutes since deplaning from the first flight to get to the gate of my connecting flight.

Then after scanning boarding passes, we're held at the door. They are letting like 10 people go outside at a time (yes we go out to the tarmac again for a transcontinental flight), watching to see that the last are up the ladder into the plane. It's about a 100 meter hike where we have to cross some other service vehicle roadway.

The upshot of all this is each time you go THROUGH CDG, they have some new setup which is impossible to predict. Maybe that is done for security reasons and we should be grateful.

But it makes planning trips almost impossible. I like the nonstop flight to Europe so maybe it's time to look at KLM and AMS rather than AF and CDG (it would have to be Skyteam to accumulate Skymiles).

So am I the last holdout on CDG?

I wish there were a good answer to this.
It is really very rare to find someone who can figure out, or who likes, CDG.
I am also in SFO and for all the reasons you mention, KLM to AMS seems like the only choice for direct to Europe.

I checked out some routes to Italy using KLM. Some flights are cheaper.

Only bad part is that flight takes off from Italy often at like 6 or 6:30 AM.

But they allot like 2 hours in AMS so it's more rational.

You wonder if CDG makes the transfer path as convoluted as possible so they can have so many people keep checking your boarding passes, passports, herding you to the buses, etc.

I just booked an AF trip HAM-CDG-SFO; I'm going to fly into CDG a day early and stay in Paris for the night. I've done this before. It is less aggravating, and I'll be able to get a good French dinner.

That is an idea.

Worst places than Paris to spend a night, although kind of costly to spend for accommodations or transfer into town.

When I was bumped because of a missed connection, AF put me up in an airport hotel. I would have gone into town but I was sick and spent the afternoon and night sweating off a fever.

Others who were also bumped made a time of it though.

This is why we opened a specific CDG FAQ thread on the the AF board (mind you, 444 replies already!). The consensus is however that no connection under 90 min is safe (long haul to medium / short haul or medium / short haul to long haul).

Sorry to be a party pooper but why is this being addressed specifically in the DL forum :confused: , especially when the OP isn't even travelling on DL in any of these itineraries?

It was actually a DL codeshare booked on delta.com.

I'm a DL Gold this year but I prefer to fly to Europe on AF metal because of the nonstop route from SFO.

As DL customers, we have other options if the AF through CDG isn't working. AF members have options too but you would think their priority is to use AF whenever possible. We don't have such a predilection.

Take a look at this Sticky from the AF Forum:

http://web3.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=456112

Thanks I will check it out.

Yes I'm aware of the consensus.

Until yesterday however, I thought it was getting better. But if they really use those annexes to 2E permanently and don't build in permanent, more efficient transport between the terminals, things won't improve.

I would assume though with all that construction, eventually they will streamline things. Then again, this is the French (and I'm not usually the type to bash the French) and I guess now things like the Louvre pyramid was built with cost overruns and schedule delays.

As long as you are transfering within Terminal 2, there is no reason to get on a bus. 2A is within walking distance of the other 2's and going for the bus only complicates matters. Assuming no physical handicap or other unusual factor, it's a long but easy walk-it's all indoors, there are escalators for every staircase and the lettering is consecutive and logical.

Terminal 1 is another matter-you can't walk between 1 & any of the 2's.

BTW, Terminal 2E collapsed over a year ago, and that's why many, many flights are stopping out on the fields with busing to the terminal. It's taken a long time to get 2E fixed and I've seen no predictions on when it will be re-opened.

Walking inside is better than the bus (more predictable), although it might require an extra pass or two through security, immigration or a Roadblock (which is a task only one may do).

If the connection it to Delta metal, allow an extra 30 minutes, on general principle.

It's not actually clear to me that you have a choice between staying inside and walking between the terminals versus taking a bus.

You just follow the Correspondance signs and some lead you directly to the terminal and some force you out to get on a bus.

Especially in this case, where E82 is way out in the hinterlands.

Put Me Down as Someone Who Likes Air France
 

3-1/2 years ago, I was flying on AF SFO-CDG-BUD with my 80+ year old father, on a DL code share ticket in M Class--our upgrade didn't clear 24 hours before the flight, and the DL CRC at SFO refused to help us on the day of the flight (that is when I learned about the unwritten rules about overseas upgrades).

We went over to AF, and a middle-aged American AF employee at their check-in desk agreed to upgrade us if seats became available (I think, taking a look at my dad). As it turned out, AF upgraded 5 passengers in J to F, and my dad and I scored the last two upgrade seats. We had probably the best flight of our lives (and my dad used to fly F overseas frequently when he was working).

I'm going on AF in Y IAD-CDG-MXP next month. I am looking forward to it.

Issue isn't AF per se. It's CDG.

I haven't tried to get upgrades. They did give me a free pass to the lounge at SFO on this trip without my asking or expecting it.

Their fares have been competitive too. Often cheaper than the DL route which involves connecting in the East Coast before flying over the pond.