CDG- 50 Min. Connection Possible!?
 

Haven't been thru CDG lately, how are we gonna make a
50 minute connection and go thru customs!?

On another list, I was advised there ain't no way!

See Iten below:

Wednesday, December 24, 2003 Status: Confirmed
From: Atlanta /William B Hartsfield (ATL), Atlanta,
Georgia, USA - Terminal S 4:20PM
To: Paris /Charles De Gaulle (CDG), Paris, France
6:30AM + 1 day(s)
Air France AF 301 - Economy (lowest fare) - E Stops:
Non-stop
Aircraft: 343
Seat(s):
Thursday, December 25, 2003 Status: Confirmed
From: Paris /Charles De Gaulle (CDG), Paris, France -
Terminal 2F 7:20AM
To: Nice /Cote D'Azur (NCE), Nice, France 8:55AM

So it you're the ex-gate agent, you know the drill; add in holiday crowds, gate waits, potential weather problems, people not happy working on Christmas day. I wouldn't touch this one, sorry..

...Yup,

I am an ex Gate Agt for a large airline based in ATL...But I did not work International, plus this was 13+ years ago when things were much simpler.....

I have a feeling it will make a good trip report anyway, as a revenue PAX I have never made a connection in Europe (as a non-rev, many).

Well, how about arriving in CDG on UA and having to depart ORY on AF about two hours later for a short domestic hop(a strange and cheap Travelocity booking just made)?

Oddly, the return domestic is into CDG. I'm hoping UA lands us at CDG reeeaally early. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

Fredd,

I think your situation is much worse, even worse than a LGW-LHR connection!

Good luck, I think you should report back on what happens on this scenario too! ):

It is possible. I have done it (AF: ATL-CDG-LIS), my baggage didn't make it.
The gate to LIS was pretty far (to walk) ... the screens, where I looked to find the gate, showed already "TERMINE" or so...Not a lot of agents to ask, how to get to the terminal/gate...

Somebody, who is familiar with CDG, should post how to get from one gate to the other gate/terminal.

Thanks - Our landlords-to-be for two weeks in France just e-mailed us the same opinion!

It's a heck of a deal, a few bucks cheaper than just flying to Paris, so I'm hoping AF allows same-day standbys!

If I find some miraculous way to accomplish the transfer I'll be sure to post it here. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

Cheers,
Fredd

ExGateAgt, you have a pretty good chance of making your connection.

The inbound flight arrives in terminal 2E, where there are not that many inbound longhaul flights, as the terminal is mostly for (customs-less) Schengen flights. The flights into 2E are generally not from problem countries, meaning Americans are mostly waved through immigration.

Other factors working for you:
- 2E is right across from 2F
- Christmas day is usually a very quiet travel day in Europe, as most people are with their families by the 24th
- since this is an official AF connection, you should be protected on the next flight to NCE in case of delays. The next of many flights is at 9:00.


Now, a 2 hour CDG-ORY connection with luggage is not realistic.

[This message has been edited by monahos (edited 10-02-2003).]

....BTW,

Have to brag a bit, this was the $286 fare that ended up being $420 or so with the taxes and stuff.....It would have been a bit cheaper to CDG. Now I gotta figure out where to go to from NCE, don't think there will be too many folks at the beach!

We spent a month in Menton in March - glorious all along the Cote d'Azur and just the right number of people on the beach in the smaller towns.

We had never heard of Menton but would return there in a minute. We could literally walk into Italy going one way and walk all the way to Monte Carlo going the other way on the ocean front pathways.

Other great not-so-famous places such as Villefranche sur Mer...

We got a similarly great fare starting from SEA and I have posted my own connection / standy questions over on the AF thread.

Bon Voyage!



[This message has been edited by Fredd (edited 10-02-2003).]

..Fredd,

Don't mean to drag this on but.....

We passed thru Menton on the train a couple of years ago San Remo to Monte Carlo....Yes very beautiful, but wouldn't it be a bit chilly in December? Love this bit of the coast, but we were there in the Spring!

That might be, depending what you're used to and what you want do. March was beautiful for us and warm enough to swim. The December average over the past 20 years is in the mid-50s high and mid-40s low according to this:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/trave...nthly/FRXX0062

The City of Menton has a great website with a link for English:

http://www.villedementon.com/

I notice that in December they will be having a lot of pre-Christmas activities, including Christmas markets.

If nothing else, it will further put you in the mood for travel! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

Cheers,
Fredd

It's a tight one. Whatever you do, do NOT take the connection bus if you can help it. Especially if you are running late. You are much better off walking it (although I am not sure if the tunnel below e & f is open yet). Otherwise, the following can occur.....

1. Your flight arrives exactly on time.
2. You spend 10 minutes taxiing to a remote stand.
3. You wait 10-15 minutes for a bus and/or for the bus to fill up (AF has an annoying habit of making the first bus wait for the second bus to fill up, being in C makes no difference).
4. You have a 5-10 minute drive into the terminal.
5. You spend 5 minutes getting through customs and to the bus waiting area.
6. You wait 5-10 minutes for a bus.
7. The bus goes around every terminal in CDG 2 before getting to 2F (including the very screwy detour filled roads around 2E.
8. You arrive huffing and puffing at your departure gate about 2 minutes before "departure" and are told "it's impossible, you are late!!"

This ALWAYS happens at CDG. Be careful.

As for Menton, anyone been to the Pirate?

Quote:

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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">As for Menton, anyone been to the Pirate?

---

We walked by it a couple of times. We had read a personal review of in Epinions that was hilarious but sort of scared us off. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

There's another more "conventional" place just up the street (toward Menton) that's great, and of course a zillion other restaurants, as you probably know.

Worth venturing into on our next visit?



[This message has been edited by Fredd (edited 10-02-2003).]

Wideman’s AccuGuess (WAG)™:

Variables:

• Arrival time at gate on the day you travel.
• The time it takes you to get off the plane (can be a 15- or 20-minute difference between 1st and last rows).
• Lines at immigration and/or security.
• Distance between gates

WAG says you’ll be successful on 57 out of 100 times that you try to make this connection.

Hfly is so right about this! Not only do AF agents derive pleasure in not letting you on a flight with 29 minutes before departure, they like to try and teach you a lesson about arriving to the airport earlier.
If there is a bus scenario, trouble. Try and let the flight attendant know and try to get them to call the gate in advance. I once waited over 45 minutes for air stairs for my flight from LHR (the wait for the stairs was longer than the flight itself- needless to say, people aboard were livid!) If you don't have a bus to deal with it will be close. AF at CDG is really inconsistent concerning flights and terminals/gates so its especially wise to confirm your departure terminal if possible.
Hfly is also right about the connection bus-it will always be quicker to walk. I agree with Monahos - Flying on Xmas in France will be easy with light loads.
In any case, AF should protect you if you misconnect since DL is a skyteam partner. Good luck and good trip.

I would try really hard to get your outbound to be changed to leave from CDG!

If you don't have checked bags you have a decent chance since the UA baggage delivery is pretty slow. On average, I get my bags 20-30 minutes from the moment the plane door opens. This is with priority bag tags btw. Sometimes, I've even taken a shower at the arrivals lounge and all the bags still haven't shown up.

Also, assume you have to wait 5 to 10 mins for a taxi. Count 75 mins for the trip to Orly if its mon-sat due to morning trafic coming into Paris (Sunday you can do it in 45 mins). If you take the Air France bus to Orly instead of a taxi, add 30 mins more. Assume the taxi will cost at least 100 euro.

Be careful on your return to CDG! Even though your AF flight takes you to CDG, the connection from your AF arrival in terminal 2 to the UA departure in Terminal 1 is a *****. The bus takes its sweet ole time as it stops at long term parking lots and Terminal 3 so count on 45 minutes from the time you land in Terminal 2 to get to Terminal 1. I've missed several flights due to this bus so I would leave 2 hours between flights to be safe to change terminals and to make the UA 45 minute check in deadline before your flight. Don't forget that you will need even more time if you have detax forms to get stamped before you check in to your UA flight.

C'est très aimable à vous. - Based on the advice in these posts, we have just called Travelocity who say they will "take care of us" if we (almost inevitably) miss our connection (I'm certainly not prepared to spend 110 Euros on a taxi in a probably futile effort to break records between CDG and ORY).

Once we have the tickets in hand we will call Travelocity again and suggest they might save themselves some trouble by rerouting us now on a more suitable connection right out of CDG.

Thanks as well for heads up on the return flight as well. Carry-on only for sure!

Merci!
Fredd