MRS

We have tickets to fly from LAX to GDG in May, arriving to CDG at 4:45pm. Original plan was to rent a car, stay in Fontainebleau overnight (thanks to frenchmystiquetour report), and then drive to Dordogne. I jumped on Delta (operated by Air France) tickets last week when they went on sale; non-stop from LA to Paris was irresistible. I read about Dordogne on this board for the past 2 years after our last trip to France, and new - this will be our next destination. Now it's becoming a reality. We have nothing scheduled yet, but tickets to Paris. I read all I can on this board about driving to Dordogne, and I know better than to argue with the pros. Last time when we wanted to cross from Loire River to Provence, Stu stopped us and it was a blessing, a few days spend Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise where highlight of our trip - we went to Loire, Provence and St Tropes, but I loved Auvergne the most. Magical! So back to our current plans, since we are arriving at CDG at 4:45pm, I do not think train is an option, but I can get a 6:35pm, or much later 9:20pm fly to Bordeaux. One hour and 50 min layover in CDG is so tempting, but is it possible? I called AF- they said we can check in our luggage in LA trough to Bordeaux, and should have enough time to connect, since I am planning to book our next fly with AF, we should just show them our Bordeaux tickets and they will check-in our luggage all the way trough to Bordeaux. When I called Delta, they told me we will have to claim checked luggage in Paris, clear custom and re-check it again. We did similar thing in JFK last time coming back from Nice, we had a luggage drop-off, and it was not too bad, may be took 30 min, but it was JFK. Dear fodorites, need your advice what fly to book: 6:35pm- it arrives at Bordeaux around 7:40 pm and we still can get a car because car rental is open until 11pm, or 9:20 pm ( we really do not wish to spend 4.5 hours in CDG! ) and no car until next day. Almost forgot the most important: terminal is the same: arriving - 2E, 2F - departing.

Thanks in advance.

nytraveler

In Paris you will have to

1) go through Immigration - may be quick or not depending on what other planes have arrivd and from where

2) pick up your bags

3) go through customs (since you are coming from outside Schengen and your ongoing flight is a domestic one)

4) recheck luggage and go through check in again

Don;t know if you will have to change terminals.

You Might make the change, You might not.

If you buy as a single ticket the airline needs to put you on the next available flight out (which may be the next day - I would check the 9 pm flight to see how full is usually is).

lynnalan

Last fall we flew from Chicago to Paris CDG and then connected to Toulouse. We had less than 2 hours, I think it was about 1 hour 45 minutes. We did not have to claim checked bags in Paris - they were checked all of the way through to Toulouse. We walked rather than taking the shuttle in CDG (also had to change terminals, we came in on American and connected to Air France). We had no problems at all, in fact had time to get a snack once we arrived at the gate. I was quite concerned about the connection time but for us it was fine. You might also look at Toulouse as an option - for our destination in the Dordogne (near Daglan) it was slightly closer than Bordeaux. I will say that our luggage did not arrive with us though Air France took good care of us and delivered it as promised. We took the train back to Paris at the end of our trip from Gordon which was 4 hours 40 minutes and arrived in Paris in time for lunch.

yewstulivnitalia

We made a similar connection 2 summers ago (IAD/CDG/BOD)
Similar to lynnalan, we had 1 hour 40 minutes.
We flew Air France and our bags were checked all the way throught to Bordeaux. We did not have to reclaim and/or recheck luggage at CDG. We did have to go through security
and immigration. Although I think we could have taken a shuttle we walked quickly following the signs from terminal 2E to 2F.It was a pretty long walk, but we made it with time to spare (45 minutes) only to find that our BOD flight was delayed nearly an hour.
Used this attachment as a guide, but we did not use the
shuttle buses. We walked very quickly instead.
http://www.easycdg.com/pages/connect...is_cdgpag.html
I think that if you're arrival flight at CDG is on time,
you should have enough time for this connection.

StCirq

You have more than enough time. I've done it in half that.

BigRuss

I made a 55-minute connection through CDG once.

Bags didn't -- they came much later.

Christina

I've connected through Paris lots to other parts of France and have never once gone through "customs" nor had to collect my bags. I always fly Air France to France, though, so both from the US and within France were their flights.

I would never fly Delta instead of Air France, assuming you mean it would be a Delta plane.

I usually try for at least 1 hr connection at CDG, 1.5 if convenient. I wouldn't even hesitate for the timing between 4:45 and 6:35, why would someone need 3-4 hours just to change planes.

MRS

All,
Thank you very much for prompt responses. Your feedback helped, I booked us on 6:35pm AF fly to Bordeaux. We will be flying from LAX on AF (it's Delta's co-share partner), I called them again and they explained: if it was on one ticket, we would not have to collect luggage, but because it's on a different tickets, we will have to collect, but it will be checked-in all the way trough to Bordeaux, that will add some simplicity and save us some time at CDG. We'll see!
Thanks again,
MRS

kerouac

Not a problem at all to take the first flight. I am really sorry for you that you are going to waste extra time at the airport when you are already exhausted.

Therese

If I'm reading this correctly this is an unprotected connection. The issue is not whether or not a 1 hour 50 minute layover is sufficient to make a connection at CDG (and it is, I've done it with far less) but whether or not AF will schedule you for the next available flight if your LAX-CDG flight is delayed for some reason (mechanical, weather, etc.). If this were all one ticket you'd be fine, but since it's not AF is not obligated to put you on the next flight---as far as AF is concerned you've simply not shown up at the airport on time, and it doesn't matter why. You run the risk of AF then charging you a walk-up fare for the later flight. Note that DL would NOT bear responsibility for your having missed the AF flight due to a delayed DL flight. Even if these flights were both DL flights or both AF flights you'd still be in the same boat: unprotected connection.

Even with the longer layover you are running some risk. Fine if you understand it and are willing to deal with the consequences. And it will probably work out just fine.

MRS

We bought CSA travel protection insurance, hope everything will work out according to our plans, otherwise insurance should cover us.