Recommendations for CDG to Nice
 

I have a ticket (already bought) to arrive in CDG at 7:15pm on 6/15 (Friday) on BA from LHR. I need to be in Nice the next day.

I'd like suggestions on the "best" way to get there. I could fly (LCC or other airline) or take a train. For time savings, I prefer to fly.

There is an easyJet flight at 9:00pm on 6/15. That's the best option I know of, but I don't know if I'll have time to make it. I imagine I'll have to go through immigration in CDG and possibly change terminals.

The next best option appears to be the 8:20am easyJet flight on 6/16. It just seems to be a time waste to leave the airport and come back the next day.

I'd like your suggestions and advice. Thanks

It's a long journey by train to Nice (5h+), so flying is a better option. Air France flies CDG-Nice, but I think it will be more expensive than your discount carriers. I guess it's too late to ask you why you didn't just buy a ticket with BA directly from London to Nice?

BA flies into terminal 2B. You will have to clear Customs & Immigration (not usually too long a line, maybe 5 minutes or so, but sometimes a 20-minute mess). Then you can take the new CDGVAL shuttle train to terminal 3. (I took this trip last week. I think it took me about 10 minutes to walk from the baggage pick-up area to CDGVAL (although this was from terminal 2D). A train was waiting, so we didn't have to wait. We took it all the way to T1 (T3 is an earlier stop), so it might be a 5-7 minute ride.

When and how can you check in for your Easyjet flight? If you can check in in advance and only have hand luggage, the connection should be possible if there are no delays out of LHR or landing at CDG. Ha - I forgot we were talking about LHR and a Friday night. I think the connection is risky, so you could lose the price of your ticket and have to find a place at the last minute to stay overnight. Depends on how much of a risktaker you are.

As Kate_Canuck alluded to, looking into flights from London directly to Nice also makes sense.

The Easyjet flight from CDG to NCE on the night of June 15th is currently €161. Easyjet flights from London (various airports, but not LHR) to NCE are between £64 and £79 for evening flights on the 15th, so it's a comprable price to what you'd be paying for the easyjet from CDG.

Thanks and (newbie) followup
 

Thanks for the advice. I will look into easyJet flights for LHR-NCE on 6/15. I have one question though, and it'll totally expose me as a flying novice: if I forgo the LHR-CDG leg of my outbound (which originated in SFO), then will it affect (i.e. cancel or do other harm) my CDG-SFO return?

Also, which airport is easier to get to from LHR -- Gatwick, Stansted, or Luton? All three have flights to Nice at about the same time on 6/15.

As for why I didn't just book the flight into NCE in the first place, that's a long story. I should have in hindsight but I didn't realize the timings of when I would have to be in NCE.

Hhm. I think you could have a problem if you skip the LHR-CDG leg.

Yes - skipping the LHR-CDG portion of a ticket will result in all subsequent segments being cancelled, so it's good you double checked!

In light of the new info you provided, I'd suggest calling the airline to find out what the cost would be to change your international ticket to arrive in Nice rather than Paris. It may not be possible (or it may be prohibitively expensive), but it also may be an option worth pursuing.

And your original plan of buying an easyjet ticket from Paris to Nice will, of couse, still work.

I'll just leave it as is
 

I called AA and they also said that skipping the LHR-CDG leg would cancel the return. So I'm planning on just taking easyJet the morning of the 16th. I don't want to stress about making the connection on the 15th and possibly losing the ticket.

Thanks for all the help!

If you're not going to be flying out until the next morning, you may want to take a second look at the train. You can take an overnight train from Paris to Nice and arrive in the morning without having to worry about catching a flight.

...or pay the approx USD 100 for the cheapest possible hotel room. Sleeping in CDG is generally not an option. Staying in Paris is expensive most days, even at sleazy airport hotels.