Enough Time for Connecting Flight in Paris?
 

I will be landing in Paris from New York at Terminal 2C and then flying on to London out of Terminal 2F. I have 50 minutes between flights. Is this enough time? Do you have to go through customs to make the connection?

Thanks for your help.

Definitely not enough time. Plan on at least 1 - 2 hrs to make concnetions. The airline will always say their time is "legal" whatever that means but it is not suffucient. I know from bad experiences.

David

The 1st potential problem comes in a tight connection when your first plane does not arrive or deplane on time!

We had an hour connection on a flight from LAX-NY (on our way to Rome). We missed the connecting flight in NY by 5 mins because our flight left late. What upset me the most was that when I booked the flight, the connection time was an hour an a half.

It was a real pain trying to get American Airlines to get us on a new flight. When they did it was 5 hours later!

I would hate for you to go through my experience, so book a flight where you have more time in between connections.

There are obvious risks, but I've been lucky enough to make these tight connections on three occasions (and my sister did just this week). If your plane is on time and you can hustle, you can probably do it -- but your luggage may end up on a later connecting flight. Perhaps it helps too if the two flights are on a single airline? I've always used Air France.

I suppose I should have said that the flight is, in fact, already booked via Air France and they are the ones that gave the connecting flights. I did not choose them. I booked JFK-LHR and they are sending me through CDG. I am assuming that they know what they are doing in only allowing us 50 minutes. It does however seem tight to me which is why I was concerned.

That's a fairly typical Air France connection. I've been the victim of those connections on quite a few occasions, and though it was hair-raising, I made them all. I'd go to the gym every day between now and departure time, though.

We just flew AF atl-CDG, a NIGHTMARE, if you have to take the bus from and to the plane, be prepared for a tour of the airport. With security etc. I would change my flights.

Air France has frequent flights to LHR. If you miss yours, they'll put you on the next one. Don't worry about it, but also don't plan anything important in London on your day of arrival.

BTW, since the UK is not Schengen, you don't go through immigration nor customs in Paris. There should be an airside shuttle to bring you from 2C to 2F.

I've gone from 2C to 2F a couple times at CDG and never had an "airside shuttle" -- which I gather you mean a bus that loads people directly from first aircraft and takes them to the second terminal. Is that what you mean by that term, I'm not familiar with it. Well, maybe that's a new thing, I always had to go into the terminal and then get on one of those shuttle buses that go around the airport to all the terminals/halls. There was a special line and place for people transferring to go, though, on this route from the airplane out to the shuttle bus at the curb on the lower level.

Christina - I got the information about the airside shuttle from CDG's official site:

http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/e...ondance/ACDG2/

Remember, the OP is going to the UK, which is not domestic nor Schengen.

Here's a really, really, offensive question.

Has anyone actually done this? Not looked it up on the ADP site, or got really pissed off about a connection to Rome or Marseille from outside Schengen through CDG?

But taken a real international-to-international connection between 2C and 2F (which is what Dejais is planning to do)? I have, and it took 25 minutes. Almost totally without hassle.

I've no idea how typical this is. But can I very respectfully suggest that posters - unless they've got real experience of Immigration-free transfers withing T2 - stop confusing this poor poster with downright nonsense about "planning on 1-2 hrs to make connections", experiences of connections that have nothing to do with Dejais' plans or naive expectations that anything on a French government website (for ADP, like airports in all countries still locked in the 18th century, remains State-owned) has any connection with reality.

I think you can do it fairly easily if the plane's on time. I'd happily take the views of someone with experience of not making it. But there seem to be no such people on this thread.

Thanks flanneruk for responding to this thread. So, did you have to go through immigration? How did you get from 2C to 2F for an international-to-international connection? It'd be very helpful for the OP and others if you can describe your experience.

Hall 2F is on the other side of the RER/TGV station relative to Hall 2C.

If the bus is prompt, and there is no need to go through passport control because you are in transit, you can make it.

Unfortunately, my experience with Air France has been consistently inconsistent to the extent that I hope never to fly that airline again.
But, that does not mean I have enjoyed more success on other airlines. US Airways has been awful!
I have had more problems with it than any other airline!

Hi D,

In contrast to flanneruk's experience, when we arrived at CDG2E, the plane taxied to somewhere in the boondocks.

We were put on buses.

45 min after scheduled landing we arrived at the terminal building.

((I))

Thank you all for your advice, expert and otherwise.

I would assume that Air France would not schedule this if it was not do-able. That said, I also realize that there are other flights after ours that we would obviously be put on if we were to miss our connection. Our London plans are nothing that would interfere with arriving late.

My limited experience has been that I usually get in a bit earlier than planned on overseas flights. However, our last (and only) experience at CDG with Delta was mass confusion at the terminal. Also, I am not sure why this is, but they put us on buses and shuttled us out to our plane for our departure. Here in the States the usual thing would be to depart from one gate and simply walk over to the other gate. So I guess my main concern was whether we would have to go through customs (which now I see we will not) and whether we would be ferried from the plane on the tarmac to the terminal to another plane on the tarmac.

And lastly, (and here is the real icing on the cake), I will be traveling with my mother who is not a seasoned traveler and, although quite fit, may not be able to move as fast as I am.

But again, as always, you have all been most helpful.

&quot;<i>I would assume that Air France would not schedule this if it was not do-able</i>&quot;

Oh my gosh - If ONLY that were true! Air France does it all the time. It is doable - but only IF you land on time, at a gate, w/o any of many possible snafus.

But as others have said - there are many flights CDG &gt; LHR so you won't be delayed too long. I'd just expect to miss the flight and be elated if I made it.

I would NOT ask my mother to run through CDG to catch a flight.

Relax... I agree 100% with Flanneruk. I had a short connection through CDG recently which I was very nervous about due to posters on this site and others. Don't worry... If you follow the signs and you keep walking, you'll make your connection with plenty of time to spare.

Thanks xpi6tiva. I have great faith but most importantly I can roll with the punches as can my mom. Hell, we will be traveling with no complaining husbands! How bad could it be??? *laugh*