Paris CDG - Connection time 70 minutes
 

Dear all,

I have booked a flight to Washington via Paris CDG in September 2010.

We will be arriving at CDG on Terminal 2D and will have to get to Terminal 2E for the connecting flight to Washington. The connection time we have is approximately 70 minutes on a Saturday morning (9 a.m.; i hope saturdays are not as crowded as weekdays).

Do you think the time will be enought for us to catch the flight? Should we walk or take the bus? How long will the transfer between 2D and 2E take, if we take the bus or walk?

I've read a lot of negative reviwes for CDG airport, I hope it is not as bad as it is rated in the internet ;)
BTW, we will be at CDG in May as well, so maybe when I am there I can try to make a "walkthrough" from Terminal 2D to Terminal 2E ;)

Any comments are appreciated!!
Thank you very much and best regards from Austria!!

Btw: I forgot to mention this - both flights are Air France flights (although the first one is operated by Austrian).

This is tight, but doable, assuming no delays. The walk from 2D to 2E is quite long, so you might want to take the shuttle bus to save some time. According to the CDG website, this will be at exit 6, but the signage can be somewhat poor. Double-check your gate for the Washington flight, before getting on the bus, as there are two stops at 2E - one for the main terminal and another for the satelite.

Security at 2E can see some long lines, but they do a nice job managing it. Last time I flew connected to the satelite terminal, they scanned your boarding pass when you entered the line and directed short connections to an expedited line.

As to the airport itself... Aside from the incredibly long walks and Air France's penchant for tight connections, it isn't the worst airport in the world. The main 2E terminal, in fact, is really quite nice. 2F is okay, but nothing special. 2A through 2D, though, are not great, particularly the post-security areas. The entire airport suffers from lousy dining options, though.

I made connections in October in 90 minutes with time to spare. I read on Fodors to go to the Air France web site and find the option of checking your connecting flights, which I did.

This feature is excellent. You enter your flight numbers and then get step-by-step instructions on how to make your connections. I printed mine and took it with me -- very helpful.

70 minutes is doable but you should have a back-up plan in case your originating flight is late. I have to say that I've never taxied for a longer period of time upon arrival than I did last week at CDG. Also some connecting flights park out in the field somewhere and you have to take buses to the terminal -- more time. Truthfully, I wouldn't arrange a connection of less than two hours at CDG but that is just me.

On a couple of occasions I've seen Air France employees waiting with placards for short-connection flights as you leave your plane (from US). They direct you to a bus. I mistakingly ignored them once for a connection to Edinburgh but still made the flight going through the terminal but only just.

Artsbabe - I recall landing and still not being at the gate with the door of the plane open after 35 minutes. Went from thinking I had time to kill to being slightly concerned about making the connection.

Yup, Stellarossa, been there. Our flight was about an hour late leaving Venice last Monday, and we had planned 2 1/2 hours between flights, connecting back to Washington, so that was down to about 90 minutes -- then there was the long taxi ride and wait for the buses and the bus to the terminal and then getting from 2F to 2E. Fortunately, everything was delayed leaving from CDG to the US because of the extra security.

Here's the interactive CDG transfer map http://correspondances-aeroports.air....fr/_index.php

If you arrive at 2D, I would take the direct shuttle to 2E (select the Transfer shuttle in restricted area tab on the above map). It makes 2 stops, one for gates E21-E47 in the main building of 2E and another for gates E51-E76 in the Satellite 3 building. You will go through passport control before boarding the shuttle and security at 2E. If you're flying in business or Skyteam Elite, you can check if the priority line (labeled Acces No.1) is any shorter.

Patty - Have you used a SkyTeam Elite card to get into the Accès n°1 line? I have to say that I wasn't aware, but would be nice to know for the future.

I haven't tried it personally and now that I think about it, it may technically only be Elite Plus.