Of course, there is NO line when arriving at IAD or ORD, the Custom officers NEVER bark at you, and you are never shouted at when asking for help at rechecking bags or finding the way to connect. I forgot to mention the profusion of snacks and drinks at the US RCCs :D

Since the thread has been moved, I suggest that the title really implies 'CDG1 departures to AMERICA are no fun at all'.

As I said upthread, CDG departures to other destinations are not that bad. Even with a recent satellite dump and subsequent long wait to reenter I give the staff at CDG top marks for my experience that day as an EU citizen who speaks French well.

Then again, I do suspect that as with many airports around the world, country of origin and/or language spoken do play a role. (I know that I am opening a hot discussion....)

We have updated the thread title, after it was moved into the France forum, to reflect the intent of the OP. Thanks for your understanding.

Jouy31
France forum co-moderator

I fly out of CDG regularly and concur that it's only US departures that are terrible. I also fly TK out of CDG T1 and while the terminal isn't the most pleasant, they don't have the same level of security nonsense that US flights do. FRA is, or at least used to be, much, much worse. I refuse to fly FRA to the US unless I'm in First Class and use the FCT.

AMS can also be pretty horrible on US flights. It's not the airport or the airlines fault. At least not directly. It's the TSA that force these ridiculous security schemes upon foreign airports. Maybe some airports handle it better than others, but I don't think CDG is the worst.

The difference between T1 and T2 at CDG is huge. Even after the recent, extensive renovations at T1, it's still a mass of orphaned airlines, limited ticket counter space, and poor signage. T2, especially the re-done 2E, is now a pretty pleasant experience, with very good shopping.

UA especially has a mess at T1, since not only are the IAD and ORD flights squeezed through the ticket counter at about the same time, but the gates are next to each other in a small area, resulting in a loud, chaotic atmosphere.

FTers should realize that UA used to have 6 non-stops a day to CDG from four cities and an FA base there. They now have pretty much disbanded the base, and have only 2 flights a day-one each from ORD and IAD. For an occasional flight or a special (or free) trip, the inconvenience isn't that big a deal. But regulars heading for Paris do far better with another airline.

I am hoping to get upgrade. Don't mind the tax but more concern about the gate security process.

All I could think was "hey he's not flying via ATL" Your line for immigration would have been an hour. They would have looked at you as if you were attempting to "break and enter" (And if you saw me and heard my East TN accent... you have to wonder what the profiling is??? LOL!)

And then you get the TSA. REGARDLESS of the fact that ATL is your home. You still have to go BACK through security! Your luggage that you just gave Delta again apparently makes a journey of it's own and will get to the baggage claim about an hour after you check it back in for the short trip to baggage claim, but at least you don't have to worry about some stealing it while you wait half an hour for the TSA "pretend" security!

Personally getting out of CDG is the easy part!

I worked at CDG T1 for 2 1/2 years.

They've built a shuttle train...finally. We just did the T1/T2 transfer and it was much more civilized. No more of that horrible bus. It used to speed and scare the crap out of us!

Just a tip for entering France at T1. I would see mega lines at one station and the next would be empty. Don't just head for the closest immigration line. Keep going right or left (it's a circle but you can't walk all the way around) and you'll run into another. Hopefully it'll have a shorter line, if any.

Be careful of the line too. If you're behind U.S. citizens, then it'll move faster than if you're behind people with visas.

I don't think U.S. based airlines have a choice of where to fly. Delta is code-shared with AF. I think they fly into T2. At least, their airport map is only T2;
http://www.delta.com/traveling_check..._cdg/index.jsp

Profiling sucks but what to do? I was profiled. I'm white but I didn't get married and have children till age 35. Single women travelling alone are suspect (more likely to have something smuggled in our bags or have contact with dodgy characters is their logic). One Irish woman was found with a bomb in her bag and then it was worse.

I've answered a lot of questions over the years. I've been to almost 50 countries (I used to change my passport periodically just because of the attention security gave it). I once even missed a flight, I was retained so long (TLV, of course!) I just flew out of there last summer but instead of being a young, single American girl working for the airlines, I'm a middle aged French hausfrau with a husband and three children. Entirely different experience with security!

Elderly white grandmothers from Ohio aren't putting bombs on airplanes or likely to have had something slipped in their luggage. Profiling is unfair but reality. If you're a young, non-white man with an Islamic name, you're going to spend more time in security. They should be efficient and courteous but they're going to ask a lot of questions and perhaps it's more likely that they will look in your things. The only way to avoid it is to not fly...

Nice perspective! We've talked about profiling endlessly in the Security forum. But I totally agree with your tip about the immigration lines at T1. I usually walk the opposite direction as everyone else, both entering and leaving France.

That is not my situation, but I am a French speaker and I do think that understanding the culture (of Western Europeans in general, and the French specifically) and the language can play a role.

A few weeks ago there was a satellite dump; I was in the regular security lane with about a thousand others. A CDG employee came over, chatted with me in French, and insisted on pulling me out and giving me a lounge pass. I advised that I already have LH status and that I didn't want to bother to trek to the lounge; he then insisted on pulling me out and that I at least use the 'special needs' line. I never self-select that line; I am perfectly able and capable and leave it for those worse off.

Over the course of an hour, I found myself surrounded by American middle-aged males whose 'special need' was a connection in FRA to the US. Hm - satellite dump for LH flights going to FRA and MUC - I suspect that the majority of others in that area were connecting too, and most didn't see the need to join the 'special need' lane.

When security reopened, the CDG worker pulled all the mamas and children ahead of the self-selectors, and then came back for me. I was a little embarassed, but at least made myself useful by helping the mother ahead of me with her carriage, etc.

Needless to say, my understanding of the language and the culture most likely did play a role in my experience. Poll the people around me (some of who may post here) and they most likely don't like CDG. Poll me, and I do.

That is only one CDG story. I can tell many others about times where either airline or airport workers were kind, helpful, and proactive.

I have no issue with CDG or with the many people who work there.

What is a "satellite dump?"

Like a terminal dump ie security alert requiring rescreening, but since CDG T1 uses a pod system it really isn't a full terminal dump.

ESL poster hoping that I chose the correct 'lingo'! :D

I just have to chime in that my boarding area at CDG 1 was just as crappy as the OP's description (and I got my bag swabbed at security) even though I was flying EI to Dublin, an airline at which I have no status.

We had a coffee shop, a newsstand, two duty free shops, bathrooms and two people engrossed in their Playstations in our little space pod. Oh, and some woman hacking up both her lungs for 10 minutes straight.

I have the feeling that CDG T1 was the cat's pajamas when it first opened. I have visions of Jackie O clones wafting through the terminal, going up and down the escalators with little round carryon bags looking really cool. All that changed with security realities and travel catering to the masses. It now must reside in the category of "terminals that really need to be torn down."

Anybody have any recollections or pictures of this terminal when it was new?

I'll bet you're right (re cat's pajamas in its heyday). But I believe it's a little too much form-over-function with those ski jump (bobsled?) people movers. Just my opinion. Funny how "modern" -style terminals (BOS's Terminal "A" also comes to mind) and a lot of stadia have been built, used and already torn down within the lifetimes of some of us...

I still think CDG Terminal 2 is the cat's pajamas. Knocks my socks off. 'Course it did prove itself way too much form-over-function a few years ago.