How much time between flights at Charles De Gaulle

[stipmom]

Is one hour enough?

[vivian02]

Stepmom,

I feel your concern. I have my first change of flights at CDG in late May with a 55 minute window. If we leave Atlanta the least bit late I know we will miss our connection going on to Munich. Fortunately we arrive at Terminal 2C and will have to go to Terminal 2D which should be easy to get to. I have made connections at London Heathow, Frankfurt Main, and Barcelona without any problems. Flying into CDG will be a first for us. We should hear from someone who know CDG pretty well. Lets see what kind of situation we got ourselfs into. Tim and Cathy

[Blssflsea]

I, too, have a flight booked going into CDG. I have one hour to make my connecting flight. That really was the only choice Air France gave. I didn't give much thought to the "if the first flight leaves late then" scenario. Ooops.

[vivian02]

Blssflsea,

I'm flying in on AF307. If it helps at all I have heard really good things said about AF. There is a big difference between AF and some of the US Air carriers these days. I was on a German carrier last year and they served all the beer and wine you wanted. The one thing we have going for us is the fact that we were given Business class seats (Confirmed) so we should be amount the first to leave the plane. Hang in there maybe this will be really easy. Tim and Cathy

[ocean.queen]

Sorry...not so easy. The distance from one terminal to another is not far but it's a pain to get there...they do have a tram but we never found the boarding spot...we just ran. The customs area was void of any agents ???? so we made it with our 1 1/2 hour lay-over. We fly through CDG again in June on our way to Venice...I would have scheduled the 1 1/2 hour lay-over again but the flight was booked. We now have 4 hours !! uck.....

 

Just grab your things and move fast....business class will help a lot.

[Susan-M]

When I booked my flights last week (Lufthansa) I was told that one hour is enough when both flights are with the same airline. However, that's counting on the first flight arriving on time. If you are cutting it close, i.e. flying in on the day of the cruise, I would allow extra time between flights, or be sure that if you miss the scheduled one, they can put you on another flight shortly after.

The last time we flew through CDG on AF we had a weather delay getting to CDG and missed our connecting flight despite running 15 minutes to try and make it to the gate - the next flight was 24 hours later, so they put us up in a hotel. It wasn't too much of a problem for us since we were headed home from our trip - but not fun if you are trying to make it to your cruise on time.

[Andym]

Hi Everyone,

We travelled twice last year through CDG with Air France and had no trouble at all. When we got off the plane we boarded a bus that dropped us off at the terminal. We then had to go to the transfer desk and get our documents checked, then through passport control, another line, and then onto the departure point for the connecting flight. It all sounds a bit of a pain, but it was all quick and efficient.

 

Andy

[Globaliser]

Is one hour enough?

Which airline in? Where from? At which terminal does it arrive? Which airline out? Where to? And from which terminal does it depart?

 

All these things have an influence on whether you're likely to make it, and how much slack you have.

If it helps at all I have heard really good things said about AF. There is a big difference between AF and some of the US Air carriers these days.

Let's face it, the way they have all been mangling their businesses, there are few good reasons to fly a US carrier these days if you have any sort of alternative.

[stipmom]

It would be air france from NY going to Venice and then back from Barcelona to NY. I don't know the terminals

[Globaliser]

As far as I can see, the trans-Atlantic flights operate to terminal 2C, and both the Venice and Barcelona flights to 2F - this is from the Air France website. As you're on AF throughout, then there are no issues with baggage - you just need to clear immigration at Paris in both directions (and almost certainly security as well) but your bags should go on through to your final destinations without you having to collect them.

 

2C and 2F are reasonably close to each other in the enormous complex that is terminal 2. They aren't adjacent to each other so you'd probably need to use the transfer bus. If your flights are on time, an hour should be fine for that. If your inbound flight is late, then all depends on how late. But both Paris-Venice and Paris-New York have more than one flight a day (6 a day on each route, in fact, in a random week in June), so you might just have to wait for the next flight if you happen to miss yours.

[Blssflsea]

Another question since I don't fly often. If I miss my connecting flight due to them coming in late, am I responsible for paying for the new flight?

[Globaliser]

Normally, the rule is that if both flights are written on the same ticket, the airline(s) concerned will get you where you're going at no extra cost to you.

 

If the two flights are written on separate tickets, then the connection is normally at your own risk. Theoretically, you could have to pay any change fees to get on the replacement onward flight, or (if the ticket is very restricted) even have to buy a completely new ticket at whatever the lowest available fare was. In reality, though, if the two flights are on separate tickets but both with the same (major) airline, the airline will usually reaccommodate you free of charge. Low fare airlines are reputed to have a much poorer record for doing this. Having higher tier frequent flyer status may help you to get ahead of the pack, but it sounds like this wouldn't be applicable to you personally.

 

The technical rules are different from airline to airline and may be different depending on whether the itinerary is a purely domestic one or whether it involves international flights as well. Ultimately, the only sure way of finding out is to plough your way through the conditions of carriage.