MickeyB

We will be traveling from Minnesota to Budapest on Air France, changing planes in Paris. I am a bit concern as the time between the arrival in Paris and departure for Budapest is only 1 hour and 20 minutes and we have to go from terminal 2E to 2F. I am sure we are not the first to have to navigate from one terminal in Paris to the next (nor will we be the last). So I am hoping those of you who have had to do this can comment on how long it took, any suggestions on how to insure we get to the next terminal on time. Thank you in advance.

Southam

One source of info: http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/e...assagers/Home/
It contains lots of maps and you can print out a suitable one to help you navigate. It's always wise, once you are out of the plane, to check a flight monitor to make sure your next gate hasn't been changed.

MrNuke

2E has 3 separate piers (K,L,M) so the instructions vary slightly depending on which pier you arrive in. The general gist is follow the correspondence signs for 2F though.

http://www.easycdg.com/1/passenger-i...aulle-airport/

sumrcr

If the stars are properly aligned, you could move quickly through passport control, in which case, you should make your connecting flight. However, when several flights come in about the same time, you may find yourself standing in line at that checkpoint (chokepoint, actually) for the full hour and 20 minutes. In my most recent case, it was nearly two hours in line, causing me to miss a connecting flight. Fortunately, AF put me on the next flight out an hour later.

MickeyB

Thankfully, it appears we did a few things right, first we are sitting in premium economy, very close to the exit, so we should be off of the plane quickly. In addition, as PE travelers, we have a separate entrance through checkpoint leaving 2E and the security entering 2F. I also now have a map of the 3 gates and the directions going from 2E to 2F.

Thank you again to all who replied

sumrcr

Don't virtually all aircraft on international flights exit through the front of the plane? In all the planes I am familiar with, Business Class is in the front of the aircraft, with a few rows of Premium Economy or its equivalent in the middle and Economy at the back. The big factor in your favor, if it works as you expect, would be the priority access at Passport Control and Security.

MickeyB

The Air France 340-330 has 6 rows of business at the front of the plane, then the exit door followed by 3 rows of Premium, Economy. We are in the 3rd row, so we should be able to deplane rather quickly.

Vonse

My advice is to make friends with the flight attendants. We were in a similar situation, but due to delays leaving Los Angeles had only 30 minutes to make our connection. We told the AF flight attendants about our concerns and they pushed us off the plane ahead of the business and first class passengers who, with the exception of one bitter woman, cheered us on. Fortunately, we didn't have long lines for security and passport control, raced through the terminal and made the connection.

sumrcr

Vonse's strategy may work with some FA's on some AF flights, but it did not work on our flight. When I asked about our two-hour window, the FA's response was "Oh, you have plenty of time." I heard her give the same response to someone with an hour window. Once you are on the ground, no one will intercede for you because to do so would open the flood gates for other requests.

This is a little off topic, but: What I have seen work -- on a previous flight, which was departing from Paris, not passing through -- was actually outside the que, where the rope barrier ends and the line expanded into three or four more-or-less lines that converged at the roped entrance. One member of a party would go to the vip section and plead for special consideration; it worked for some but not others. I did not try that because my wife is a nervous traveler and would have been in a panic if I could not get back to her before the line closed off around her. We made it that time, anyway.