Charles De Gaulle layover

I keep hearing horror stories about CDG Airport in Paris. Is 2 hours a long enough layover coming from Detroit going to Barcelona?

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Yes, CDG is a big airport, but it is not a problem to get around. You will be fine if you plane is on schedule. If you were delayed and missed your flight and you are coming in with a day to spare, there are a bazillion ways to get to Barcelona the next day. As long as you are not flying the day you depart you will be fine. If you are planning on flying the day you depart from Barcelona, you need to change that plan.

JMHO and YMMV

JC

CDG airport is big but well signposted two hours should be plenty of time an hour would be very tight.

I keep hearing horror stories about CDG Airport in Paris. Is 2 hours a long enough layover coming from Detroit going to Barcelona?

Another forum to check is the Cruise air forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=128. Lots of experienced air travelers there.

CDG has 3 terminals and they are not close together. As long as you arrive at and depart from the same terminal you will have no problem, even if your arrival is up to 30 minutes late. However, if you are arriving in one terminal and departing from another you really need your arrival flight to be on time. If you are staying on the same airline for both of your flights you probably will not change terminals. If you are changing onto a European low cost carrier you probably will have to change terminals.

These are the airport's recommended transfer times:

Minimum transfer time recommended :

• 60 minutes intra terminal 1/2/3

• 75 minutes between terminals 1 and 2

• 90 minutes between terminals 1/2 and terminal 3

Follow the signs for CDGVAL if you need to take the airport train that connects the terminal.

You should be fine. These big airports like AMS, LHR, CDG, etc may be massive but theyre designed with longhaul to shorthaul connections in mind. If you are staying with the same airline, it will likely be even easier. You should be fine, don't stress. :)

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. Two weeks, can't wait.

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Do you have to clear customs there or at your final destination? Customs can take a while, depending on the traffic volume.

Do you have to clear customs there or at your final destination? Customs can take a while, depending on the traffic volume.

+1, this can take longer than the transfer between terminals.

You will be fine. In May we flew to CDG and had a connection to Naples. Our layover was 50 minutes! We made it. Two hours is plenty of time.

I despise that airport. IT will work out....Its like Flying into Jamaica... Just get through it

What airlines?

The BIG problem is when you have to transfer between the Terminal 2 complex (7 terminal buildings) and Terminal 1 or vice versa. Terminal 2 is Air France and all the associated Sky Team airlines. Terminal 1 is all others.

Within Terminal 2 is pretty easy.

But that said, 2 hours is plenty to transit CDG.

For a joke, the official minimum connecting time is 45 minutes. Good luck doing that.

We made this connection in April. Scheduled arrival at CDG 8:05AM, Scheduled depart at 10:05AM.

Deplane, go through security again, then passport control, change terminals, and we still sat for about 45 minutes I think.

This was on Delta/Air France.

Two hours should be fine, but I wouldn't waste any time going to your gate. I've transferred twice through CDG in the last several months and had very long waits to get through customs both times. Transferred another time flying within Europe (i.e. no customs) and still took about 45 minutes to get from gate to gate, even though both flights were Air France. I'm a frequent air traveler and still can't wrap my mind around how CDG is laid out. I swear they change it every time I go there just to confuse me. :D

Do you have to clear customs there or at your final destination? Customs can take a while, depending on the traffic volume.

Customs entering Europe is basically nil unless you have something to declare. Immigration can take a bit of time, but EU immigration is rarely as bad as US or the UK.

I keep hearing horror stories about CDG Airport in Paris. Is 2 hours a long enough layover coming from Detroit going to Barcelona?

 

 

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Assuming you're doing Delta to Air France or Air France to Air France you'll be fine. If you're doing something strange like connecting to Easy Jet or Vueling on a separate ticket, then you'll probably still be okay but it's going to be much more interesting.

CDG used to be a nightmare. Now it's only mildly uncomfortable.

You'll land somewhere in 2E and leave from 2F. This site has a good illustrated guide to the process of getting from each of the halls of 2E over to 2F: http://easycdg.com/passenger-information/connecting-flight-connections-paris-cdg-airport/transfer-terminal-2e/terminal-2e-to-terminal-2f/

Transitioning from an international (outside EU) flight to an internal EU flight, you might have to change terminals, even AF to AF.

Also, if you are transitioning to one of the cheap carriers (Ryan Air, Whizz, Easy Jet, etc), you may have to collect your luggage, and schlep it to another terminal to check in. Still doable in 2 hours.

Customs is nothing. Immigration can be a bit longer. Security is normally not bad, but I have seen it HORRIBLE. Really glad I have status in all three programs.

Assuming you're doing Delta to Air France or Air France to Air France you'll be fine. If you're doing something strange like connecting to Easy Jet or Vueling on a separate ticket, then you'll probably still be okay but it's going to be much more interesting.

 

CDG used to be a nightmare. Now it's only mildly uncomfortable.

Speaking from firsthand experience...if you end up with any kind of major delay in that airport...it will pretty quickly turn into the trip from hades...

Between the horribly-human-unfriendly seating everywhere, indignant and nobody-cases people services...we considered it a form of nearly-criminal punishment that no traveler should ever have to endure. Avoiding that airport at all cost is the best advice you can get.

We purposely avoid this airport like the plague. It's a totally different experience compared to other Euro airports and none of it is positive. I am laughing at CRUISEFAN0001's response, because I was about to write the same thing. Avoid that airport, period.

We purposely avoid this airport like the plague. It's a totally different experience compared to other Euro airports and none of it is positive. I am laughing at CRUISEFAN0001's response, because I was about to write the same thing. Avoid that airport, period.

I guess we all have different experiences.

Generally I'd say AMS (sky team) and MUC (star alliance) are the best major European gateways because they're both simple and relatively easy to navigate.

Then I'd put CDG and FRA together because both have long walks and can get get backed up at security on a bad day/time. But both are well-signed, efficient at the border, and tend not to have regular weather meltdowns (every airport has days where the weather goes to hell, but I've had it less at either of those than at LHR or at a lot of US airports).

Worst major gateway for connecting to Europe goes to LHR. Frequent T5-3 connections, long walks, PITA border, PITA security, conformance, fairly regular weather melt-downs, longer legs for the within-Europe connection, having to re-clear a border when you arrive on the continent, etc. etc. etc.

I guess we all have different experiences.

 

Generally I'd say AMS (sky team) and MUC (star alliance) are the best major European gateways because they're both simple and relatively easy to navigate.

 

Then I'd put CDG and FRA together because both have long walks and can get get backed up at security on a bad day/time. But both are well-signed, efficient at the border, and tend not to have regular weather meltdowns (every airport has days where the weather goes to hell, but I've had it less at either of those than at LHR or at a lot of US airports).

 

Worst major gateway for connecting to Europe goes to LHR. Frequent T5-3 connections, long walks, PITA border, PITA security, conformance, fairly regular weather melt-downs, longer legs for the within-Europe connection, having to re-clear a border when you arrive on the continent, etc. etc. etc.

We are fortunate enough to have solid cheap direct flights to our destinations in Europe. Though when we have a layover, we prefer Frankfurt. I avoid LHR as well, but I know it's just not possible for many travelers depending on destination.

Speaking from firsthand experience...if you end up with any kind of major delay in that airport...it will pretty quickly turn into the trip from hades...

 

Between the horribly-human-unfriendly seating everywhere, indignant and nobody-cases people services...we considered it a form of nearly-criminal punishment that no traveler should ever have to endure. Avoiding that airport at all cost is the best advice you can get.

Sounds like a fun place to visit.......:p

Customs entering Europe is basically nil unless you have something to declare. Immigration can take a bit of time, but EU immigration is rarely as bad as US or the UK.

I am guessing that the poster is not aware of the difference.

Any airport at the wrong time with the wrong circumstances can be a disaster. My personal experience at CDG has been overall positive. The worst airport for me because of where is OHare ORD... I have had to sell my soul to get a rental car to drive home 9 hours from there more times than I care to count. Of course, I have been to Ohare a lot more than CDG, and the roulette wheel of life punishes us all the more we play....:eek:

JC

My issue with CDG is really only the long lines through passport control. There are too few agents (booths seem to be less than half used). While it doesn't impact how long it takes, the agents seem to be the most disinterested, annoyed, unhappy to be there passport control people I've encountered anywhere. The long lines also make everyone around you unhappy, with people concerned about missing connections. Doesn't make for a great environment. I fly Business Class when traveling internationally and there's a separate security check and then line for passport control for BC. Only one passport control agent though for the BC line the last 2 times I've flown through there, so the BC line felt like it was slower than the main line. The passport control line backed up to the security area, so people couldn't even go through security because there was no place to go on the other side of the security check.

Enough ranting. I don't fly through CDG often enough to give a totally fair opinion. OP...you should have plenty of time with 2 hours.

Oh, and I agree with the previous poster. O'Hare is worse. I avoid it like the plague.