Several of my girlfriends and I are flying into CDG in June and then taking the TGV to Avignon. I played around on the SNCF website today and saw PREM prices of $70.00 to $80.00. Is this normal? Regular prices are between $127 and $157.00. The last time I took the TGV my brother-in-law had made all the reservations and I never became aware of what the charges were. They were booked in the US and I'm sure they weren't PREM prices.

My second question: We are scheduled to arrive CDG at 9:20 A.M. and I believe United arrives in Terminal 2. Obviously, we need to go through all the hoops to get luggage, etc., and then to the TGV station at CDG. As of today, there is a train leaving for Avignon at 11:24 AM which is the fast 2h52m travel time (which we prefer). There is another TGV departure at 13h11 which takes longer as it stops in Lyon.

If our flight arrives on time, we have 2 hours. I've not made this transfer to the TGV station before as I've only gone into Paris.

What do you experts think of our chances of successfully going through customs, security, getting luggage, and making it to the TGV station at CDG with perhaps 30 minutes to spare if our flight is even a half hour or hour late? Or, should we plan on taking the later longer train to Avignon?

Merci!

I think you'll find that United arrives in aérogare 1, which means you'll have to transfer terminals, which will add about 45 mins. to your schedule. You should still be able to make the earlier train.

There are often PREM fares from CDG to Avignon for 25 or 30 euros. But you can't get PREM fares for June yet - start trying 90 days out from your date of travel.

Does anyne knows the terminal in which Swiss Air Land? I want to take the TGV to Avignon from CDG. My plane will land at 1:50PM and the train to Avignon leave around 5PM.
Is going to be a long wait, perhaps I should just go to Gare de Lyons and depart from there.However is nice just to relax especially after a long day.

Swiss Air uses Terminal 2B.

Thanks TimS. Do you know in which terminal the TGV depart?

The TGV station is at Terminal 2. What is the date of your arrival in Paris? I did a quick check on the TGV schedule and found a through train departing from CDG at 14:04 and a connection through Lyon departing at 16:03. Unless your travel day has more limited TGV service, you won't have to wait at the airport all that long.

I shouldn't have listed the 14:04 TGV departure since it's only a few minutes after your plane lands. However, you should be able to easily make the 16:03 departure.

And now a response to luvparee's original question. If your plane arrives on time you should be able to catch the earlier TGV, but if your plane is late I don't think you'll make it. Along with everything else you have to do, it takes time to get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. I'd recommend playing it safe and taking the later train. Why worry needlessly?

ttt

Luvparee,

Murphy's Law applies to CDG: Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. I would reserve the later train.

While the following concerns missing a connecting flight it still gives a sense of what CDG can be like, from my June 2005 trip report:

" We left JFK at 5:10 p.m. and arrived in Paris on June 16 at 6 a.m. We have an hour and a quarter to make a connecting flight to Rome. We did not make it. For the first time ever I missed a connecting flight. Why, you ask.

At Passport Control in Paris four sleepy clerks scrupulously examine each passport while five hundred frantic passengers wait on line. We get to our gate fifteen minutes late. This kind of snafu is apparently a regular occurrence. An Air France clerk told us it happens to “thousands of people” everyday. As a result, Air France was well organized to react and got us on to the next flight to Rome an hour later."

topping

Hi luv,

On our last flight into CDG, it took about 45 min to get from the place where the plane landed to terminal 2.

Hey Ira!

I'm assuming that you were flying from the US -- did you land at Terminal 1?

Luv

topping for the weekend

Reading through this question/answers -what are PREM fares and where can you purchase them??
We plan a trip in May to Aix en Provence - arriving @CDG we have three TGV to choose from but upon our return from Aix to CDG I can't find any TGV direct to CDG. Please help!

PREM fares are discounted nonexchangeable nonrefundable tickets. You can purchase them 90 days out from your date of travel. They canonly be purchased online. You print out the ticket and take it with you - no need to punch your ticket in the composteur. You need photo ID with you (passport) to show the conductor, that's all.

They are advertised daily on the SNCF site, and if you plug in your dates and times of travel, all options, including PREM fares, will show up. PREM fares are indicated in orange on the screen (and it says PREM quite clearly).

That said, I don't often see PREM fares for the Aix-Paris route and I've never seen one for Aix-CDG. But then, I only check the site when I'm planning a trip of my own.

You may well have to go into Paris and then get yourself to CDG on thge return trip. Just keep checking, starting 90 days from the day you want to return.

Thank you!