CDG much improved
 

I just connected from an EU flight to Int'l flight and easily made a 1 hr. 10 minute connection at 9:45 in the morning.. The signage has been rectfied with huge colorful billboards. There are agents at immigration funneling you to the available lines and more ground staff at the security checks helping make all go smoothly.

They haven't been able to improve the layout but my only complaint is I always land in the middle of nowhere, park on the tarmack,have to be bussed to a teminal after the grand tour of the airport behind the scenes, and then my gate is always the very last one.

Terminal 2E seems to have been newly carpetted.

Really not the dismal connection it used to be.

I love when I land at CDG and then the plane takes you on a 20 minute tour of every bit of tarmack at the airport before arriving at your terminal, or leaving you in the middle of a desert of tarmack.

Headed there in April yet again CDG not the worst not the best. They have to be careful with security issues and economic issues will reduce staff this summer. Independent insurance trip cover always wise for me.

I wouldn't say that the signage has been "rectified" since it was correct already. Perhaps "enhanced." The only problem is that in the past, the signage was at European eye level, while many travellers from America and Asia were looking to the ceiling for signage and not finding it. Now it is displayed both ways.

Lin...

This is good to know. I've got a connection at 8:30am at CDG in August from St. Petersburg, Russia and I was hoping my 1 hour 45 minute connection time would be sufficient, seems like it will be, but will always keep my fingers crossed until I am happily ensconced in my seat! ;-)

As someone who is flying internationally for the first time in 20 years this July, I appreciate reading this ☺ (will be flying into LHR, and out of CDG)

Linca

If I did not know you better, I would think you were drugged.

For me, CDG is the worst major airport in Europe and any improvement is welcome.

I was there this past September and didn't care too much about the new layout.

I had to walk through a long tunnel to reach the US airlines, which are now located in a different area.The tax free shopping area is much smaller in comparitions to the older ones.

adu.. too funny. I guess I was pleasantly surpirsed by the new larger signs and all the ground agents directing peope at the immigration and security lines. not sure on a super busy day how this would be but it seemed like a sleepy mid-morning there.. this low season, frozen French day. No.. not drugged but no bad feeling for a change this day at CDG. Still not my favorite airport but definitely an improvement over my last trip.

You appear to have been in terminal 1, kismet.

Thanks for the heads up L. We're flying in there this weekend. Hope to see you in 2 weeks.

great. be sure to get in touch. i will be here in cincinnati til the 28th.

This past October, I flew in to CDG twice and out twice, and I'm not really sure which sections of which terminals I was in. The first flight inbound was from Frankfurt on Lufthansa; it was mid-morning on a Tuesday and the airport quite empty. I puzzled about this next bit, but I don't believe I passed through any immigration office that asked to see my passport... could this be ? Do they not check it if you're flying in from another EU country ? I must check my passport.

I then went into Paris and later that evening took the RER back to CDG for a flight to Cardiff, Wales on a discount airline. I recall getting off the train and taking the escalator up to the departure lounge very quickly. The departure lounge was very large and spacious (like a hangar) and looked new to me. There was a Laduree macaron store in there, very close to my departure gate.

I flew back from Cardiff on a Sunday afternoon and had some tight land connections and times to get to a dinner in Paris using the RER and Metro. Whatever gains may have helped me by our earlier than scheduled arrival were offset by the extremely long walk to get to the RER station in CDG from the flight drop off point. It took me a full 23 minutes of continuous fast walking (just one small wheeled roll-on) and using the express walkways and escalators. This was the worst segment of experiences in CDG.

My last time at CDG was on a Lufthansa flight at 10.30 on a Wednesday morning to Frankfurt. I took the metro and RER from Paris to get there and got to the departure area quite quickly. This time the airport was very busy and full of people wheeling luggage all over the place and into you. The Lufthansa Business Class lounge in this location was awful both in ambience (essentially a few dark office rooms in the middle of the lounge) and services (no meats or cheese, ran out of pastries; only some small pieces of dry bread and whole fruit). I was better off outside in the departure lounge. The BC meal however on this 1 hour flight was outstanding, and one of the best I'd had.

I chose to fly into CDG this June hoping it would be better than my terrible entry into Heathrow last June... it took about 2 hrs to clear customs and I think I was number 500 in line. They were not working the lines efficiently either. I figured anything had to be better so I am flying out of Heathrow this time and into CDG so I am hoping it is an improvement.

Mathieu, there are no immigration formalities inside the Schengen zone, of which the British Isles are not a part but of which some non EU members like Switzerland, Iceland or Norway are.

Ah, that explains it. Thanks !

Just came back through CDG March 2. Very well organized immigration line, seemingly giving passengers with short connection another line to go through. I again was very happy to see the SIZE of the terminal signs was so improved. There are even little "vertical portable" signs where a kiosk or shop obscures your view. Well done CDG.

I do suggest anyone with the faintest hip or knee problem get a wheel chair here as the distances CAN be horrendous, although there are many moving sidewalks.

My problem with CDG was ATM's that didn't work--it took trying 3--all far apart--before we found one that would work. Lots of wasted time. If this is your first stop, you need Euros for transportation.

Also, finding the Roissy Bus was almost impossible. Never did see a sign for it and I knew the general area it was in.

I think it is called Les Cars ( the buses) so maybe you didn´t recognize the word. I did see signs for "Les Cars". I don´t know if there is a sign that says "ROISSYBUS".

I know once I had to use two or three phones. That was a pain, too.

The signs for the Roissy bus are not the most obvious but the stops are in Terminal 2D portal 11 and Terminal 2A portal 9. For Terminal 1 the stop is at portal 32.

My last experience with CDG was in October 2011. I had a connecting flight coming from Nice with about one and a half hours to connect. I had to go through security again. This time I had to go all through my bags and take out everything with a cord or battery. The lines were so backed up that I barely made it to my gate in time. They had already boarded. This was not a planned itinerary. My original flight on KLM was canceled and I was booked on Air France the next day. I avoid departing from CDG, but I do not mind the arrival.

I take back much of what I have said previously. On my past two trips, upon arrival in CDG from Valencia to transfer to USA.. it has been absolutely a ZOO.. hundreds of us bussed from our plane and then dumped at a place for another BUS to get us to other terminals. Then the security and passport lines were incredible leaving to go into the international departure area.

I don't know why they cannot provide more transfer buses because that seemed to be the biggest problem. There was too much time between buses.. in fact.. it felt like we were waiting for the same bus to come back after making the rounds..

The terminals themselves are much nicer.. but the transport between them is not ideal. Maybe it depends on where you land. I haven't quite figured it out yet.. but it is a toss up.

Some grave diggers at work on Fodors ? Unearthing old threads everywhere...

We arrived on September 19...as you will see when I post a trip report, the Passport Control line was horrendous I think some people from our A380 are still in line. The past two times we arrived at CDG, it only took a matter of minutes. Our friends who arrived a few days earlier also had an easy time. At airports, you can depend on nothing.

((H))

this was my thread.. and I just thought I'd update the situation I found recently.

Well I have in close to 100 airports actually.
Contrary to a lot of people I don't find this airport worse than another at all.
I don't like 2G but have rarely used it.

The airport i found a complete zoo recently was Atlanta.
Opinions differ.

>Really not the dismal connection it used to be.

Good to know, Lin. Thanx.

((I))

I just transferred again and neither going nor coming did I need to use any transfer bus. So now I am wondering if all that was due to some construction at the time. Anyway, I made a connection in 1 hour and 10 minutes with no problems. I was quite surprised and had even called my husband to tell him I doubted I would make the flight as we were still inside the aircraft for 15 minutes after we hooked up to exit ramp.

Our kids also transited this Christmas on the 23rd and 24th of December and I was fearing the worst. But they both made short connections, coming in from the USA and continuing to Spain. So, as said before, one never knows . Good luck. Air France/Delta still are cheapest for me, so I am destined to use this airport for some time, I assume.

The only transfer bus is the one for terminal 2G which is quite isolated. All other transfers at CDG use the CDGVal automated light rail shuttle is needed. As for the other parts of terminal 2 (A-B-C-D-E-F) it is all the same building and quite easy to walk for people with no mobility issues.

One new thing at both CDG and Orly that show how the world is changing is that the trilingual signage which used to be French-English-Spanish has now been changed to French-English-Chinese. This has also been done at Gare du Nord in Paris.

is = if

I guess we were shuttled from there then.. once and it was a zoo. A flight landing form valencia.. and connecting to the US. Since it had not happened before and has not happened since, it makes me think there was something particular going on that day forcing the issue for many travelers to disembark in a place needing that bus.