CDG Connection questions
 

I have reservations (pardon the pun) about a flight my travel companion found on Expedia. We are traveling from SFO to Florence. Air France has a flight with an hour and a half connection layover at CDG going from terminal 2C to 2D. I say a minimum 2 hour layover is needed to avoid missing the connecting flight. Anyone out there have any experience with this? Thnaks.

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i would not rey to make a connection in cdG with less time than 2 hours, there are few people to help you and long lines are common. whe distances between terminalss are far and many connectons are made after a full run to the next terminal. faankly i would avoid that airport it it involves a connection or allow a min. of 2-3 hours. i have had bad experiences there

Thanks, Petertherabbit. I looked at a diagram of the terminals and really could not figure out a quick way to get between the 2 terminals.

The Aeroports de Paris Web site (www.adp.fr) says to allow a minimum of one hour to make a conection. I've read many posts on this board that say (1) Air France is notorious for offering close connections and (2) so long as you're booked all the way through and AF will be required to put you on the next available flight you should be OK. But someone with experience is likely to chime in with a more definitve word.

You go through immigration at 2C, and there's a walkway between the 2BD side and 2AC side. It's not very far.

Many people make US-Europe connections with under 90 minutes; but some people also miss their connection with over 90. It often just comes down to luck. Be prepared, and don't get too upset if you miss the connection.

Or look into other airlines if you don't feel comfortable or book a later flight.

Let me add - 2C and 2D are just across each other. I did a rough measure using Google Earth. Walking from the center of Terminal 2C to the center of 2D is only about 1,500 ft, or 1/4 mile.

I've made two round trips using Air France, with their usual close connections, as short as an hour and a quarter (and in all of them, one of the flights was transatlantic).

On the one we came closest to missing, the first flight (from the US) got in late. At the arrival gate, an announcement aboard the plane requested others to remain seated to let connecting passengers with specifically named connections off first. At the bottom of the stairs, we were met by a van, and someone holding a sign with the name of our destination city. They gathered up all the passengers making that particular connection (they had our names on a list), took us directly to the departure gate, and got us put into the security line ahead of others with more time. We went through security, and made the flight easily.

However, one of the two people who were leading us admitted that they really had no control over security, and if the security people had been particularly picky that day, there could have been sufficient delay to cause us to miss the flight.

So the summary is: Air France will make every effort to make your connection. We've made four out of four, but it always makes me a little nervous.

- Larry

As an airline employee based in Paris, I can tell you that I have total confidence in the efficiency of an AF to AF connection, followed by the efficiency of a Skyteam to AF connection. Other travelers beware.

Is Air France the carrier on both legs of the trip? If so I wouldn't worry. I just transferred through there last weekend, arrived in 2F, departed on a transatlantic flight from 2C and made the connectin in under an hour. It's really not that bad. Of course it could be worse at certain times of the day, etc. but I think in most cases it's not the nightmare it's being portrayed as. I had allowed for a two hour connection because I didn't feel comfortable with the one hour, but it turns out we could have made it with no problem. Also, once on board we sat for almost an hour becasue they were waiting for connecting passengers whose previous flight was late. That's why I ask if both legs are on AF. If they are I really don't think it's a problem. Your only problem would be if the first flight were late and in this case it would be Air France's fault and they'd either hold the next flight or put you on a later one. Have you checked to see if there are more flights that day from CDG to Florence?

I'd take it myself, I think a 90 minute connection is adequate. I have booked an alternate carrier rather than take an Air France 45-50 minute connection, once, as that was too close for me (I would have booked it anyway if I didn't have a good alternative, as I know they would have to get me to my destination).

2C and 2D are pretty close together, you wouldn't even need to take the shuttle, but I'd still take it.

You could miss it, but I would say mainly if your first flight is late, and that can be true for even a two hour connection. If AF had more flights that day to Florence, I'd take it. If AF has a later flight to FLorence, you can always book that one instead, if you want to plan a longer layover.

Expedia doesn't have much to do with these things in terms of the flights, you can book them on Air France if they are AF flights. Expedia raises the fee $5 or so for their use.