Consolidated CDG connection time/logistics/lounge {Archive}
 

Can anyone give feedback on the UA checking in/security operations at CDG. Is it pretty efficient or typical slow, long line Europe operations there. I have a 11:55am flight, and never flew out of CDG with UA and wanted to know from people's experience how much time I should give from leaving central Paris via car service to typical check-in and security in there terminal.

Also CDG doesn't have a United Club anymore, right??

Security is done at each satelite in terminal 1. You go through passport control into the duty free area. Inside is a club... I was there last month but I didn't really look to see if it had been rebranded to *A Club.. from United Club... I don't think so as *A has a club at the LH-LO Satelite (gates 60-68) and I would have noticed the enhanced food for *A over a UA Club. Perhaps it was. If it was rebranded, it is still in the same location as the old club.

The security at the Satelites is generally limited to the flights or flights they are about to board. I don't find it very long or cumbersome. Helps if you have their fast track security as you go to the front of the line, through a separate line. Generally I find it fine, way better than many others in Europe.

Checkin time depends on your status and class of service. The economy line can be very slow. Since I have become 1K I have always checked in quickly. I add that I am usually in C. Security at the gate is usually pretty fast.

Not sure about Buzzman's comments about the club. I thought the one upstairs had permanently closed but I could be wrong. The one downstairs that I used last summer is *A.

Check in is in a crowded space, but it goes very fast. They have a mix of United and contract staff. The legacy United staff are my favorite of any United airport worldwide.

Last time, it took about 15 minutes, but that's only because a Global Services passenger was traveling with a big family, and they had A lot of "issues." It's usually barely 10 minutes if you're in a premium cabin or have any sort of Premier Access.

Passport control is usually about 10 minutes.

Security usually takes about 10 minutes for Access 1 (priority). The additional security at boarding is usually one or two questions, unless you're very unlucky.

Although the walks were shorter, the lines were often longer when Continental was in 2A. Terminal 1 isn't pretty, but it's really easy. And you can count on remarkably friendly service.

You guys are talking about CDG, right?
 

The replies on this thread amaze me. CDG is the most-bizarre airport I fly into/out of, and the only airport where, if it's suggested you get there two hours prior to your flight, I'm more comfortable with two and a half.

Once you know how things work, it can be a fun airport, because there's so much going on, and the terminals design is worthy of Escher. But I have been there when the economy line was endless & slow, and I have no idea how the people at the end of that line possibly made their flight. But with elite status, that's not nearly so much of an issue. This is an airport where using the elite check-in lines is a huge deal. At least, it was a huge deal before they were letting D Barrett into them. Could very well be that *S gets you much less there than it used to, but since the OP talks of lounges, I'll assume he's *G or better.

11:55am flight via cab? Depends on the day of the week (traffic). I would allow for 90 minutes, but it should take 45 (depending upon your location in Paris). 90 minutes plus minimum two hours prior to flight gives you... just to be safe, I'd leave at 8am. But that's just me. If I were staying near Gare Nord, I'd take the RER in and cut the transit time down to a predictable 30 minutes.

http://www.chainreaction.com/images/...ypollution.jpg
My view may be tainted by the fact that CDG is the only airport I've ever missed a flight out of, due to a cab showing up late and "pollution controls" that required cars to observe a 60km/hour (if I recall correctly) speed limit on the freeway.

December 19th @ UA/CDG
 

My wife and I headed back through UA/CDG last month on the 19th. The ride out at 8:30 AM or so from central Paris--Boulevard Malesherbes--was fine, about an hour or so. The check-in area was also fine. A first passport/customs exit check was ok. The long tunnel up to the gates area reminded me of something out of a bad Woody Allen movie. The gates area is horrible. Maybe 40 seats per gate, with five or six gates, with an airport police official or two "guarding"--"papers/passports, please"--the entryway to each gate waiting area. Each gate waiting area has fencing like a cattle pen. (Remember, most of these gates seemed to be for 200+ pax widebodies.) My wife and I waited in a more open seating area, down from our gate near a bar and Internet cubicles. I drug her one hundred feet or so from this area back to our gate after the boarding announcement for BusinessFirst. Had to cut a line of seventy or so people leading to the officials in front of our gate waiting area, most of whom I assume were Econ Plus or E-. We couldn't wait to get out of there!

You describe the CDG gate experience perfectly. And that's the real problem with CDG. It can sometimes be a mess getting there and getting through it, but you really don't want to spend any more time there than you absolutely have to. The queues are ridiculous; things just bunch up without benefit of lines. Not enough Britts heading through that terminal I guess; they'd show people how to do a proper queue!

Part of the issue is that most parts of the world don't have the "personal space" needs of Americans. That was the biggest eye-opener for me, first time I visited Paris. I have since grown used to it, and gotten over my distaste for crowded big cities and actually have come to embrace them for their vibrance and energy.

If you do get to CDG early and get checked through quickly, don't head up to the gate area. Walk around, take photos of the bizarre tubes in the middle of the terminal (until security tells you not to, at which point you suddenly speak zero French), and help out those confused, of which there will be many. If you have lots of extra time, take the new train that goes between the terminals and maybe get off someplace interesting. The stop for the hotels looked like a nice place to get out for some fresh air.

The comments above pretty much sum up the range of experiences at CDG. You'll either love it or hate it.

The United Club closed last year. Gold or better will get you access to the *A lounge on the 10th floor. As noted, it is after passport control but before security at the gate.

Anyone know how much a cab or car service is. We're staying at an apartment near the Louvre

Whatever you do, don't take the Air France bus. UA is the last stop (of like 97). I'm pretty sure it took 30+ minutes from entering the airport grounds until I got off.

It depends on traffic, but I usually pay around 50 euros for a taxi from the Place de la Concorde. Sometimes 60-ish.

We paid 65 euros, including a 10 euros tip, from Boulevard Malesherbes, just up four blocks or so from the Place de la Concorde last month. The hotel we stayed at called for the taxi. It was a Mercedes wagon.

As others have pointed out 50 to 70 from where you are is about right depending on traffic and tip. But this is entirely dependent on location. Four or five years ago I was staying at a friend's house in the burbs and paid 100 including tip. OUCH!

Added later: I just noticed this is my 942nd post - entirely fitting for a thread on UA at Roissy.

Let's concentrate on the UA ops at CDG in this thread, please. Other aspects should be posted in the France forum.

Thank you.

iluv2fly
Moderator, UA

All of the above describes Terminal 1 perfectly. Too bad UA doesn't fly out of T3, which is nothing like the zoo of T1. T3 is modern, spacious and pleasant.