Flight time question, Berlin to Paris to US
 

Posting for a friend. Anyone have experience with this scenario? Flight arrives at CDG from Berlin at 2:35PM. Flight from Paris to US leaves at 4:10PM. Both are Air France. I know that it depends on arrival time of Berlin flight but is this doable?

Same airline? Is luggage checked through from Berlin to US?

No. Flies Terminal 2D and out of 2E. Need to be there one hour before. Sounds iffy.

"<i>Need to be there one hour before</i>"

If it is a US bound flight, one hour is generally not enough.

Airline is Air France, bags will be checked through and boarding pass for all flights will be issued in Berlin.

I would have no issues with this itinerary.

If you are using a single ticket and luggage is checked in at Berlin for pickup at the US destination, there is a good chance that this connection can be successfully made. I personally would not accept a connection through any airport in the world of less than 2 hours but AF is famous for scheduling these very short connections through CDG and they seem to be set up to help those making them.

Anyone originating at CDG for a North Atlantic flight will need to allow a lot more than one hour for check in; 3 hours is not too much time.

Thank you everyone. This won't work. The Berlin ticket is a separate ticket on Air France. For a side trip. So no way will this work.

Why do you think that matters? You can still check-in all the way.

I have never done this. So in Berlin he can check the bag through for the US flight? Even though it is two separate tickets?

He can probably check his bags through. That shouldn't be an issue. However, being separate tickets, if he does miss the connection he is on his own . . .

I have never heard of an airline checking luggage to a destination which is not that of the ticket with which the passenger is travelling. Meaning, you will need to pickup your luggage at CDG and then recheck it for your second flight. The TSA still approves the passenger lists of any air carrier which approaches US airspace and the TSA insists having the list one hour before scheduled departure time. A passenger must complete the checkin process by the cutoff which is why transatlantic departures require so much lead time.

As an example, American and United both request that transatlantic passengers, departing CDG, be at the checkin counters 3 hours before scheduled departure. There is absolutely no way you can make a connection through CDG using separate tickets with less than 2 hours time. If you miss the second flight segment, you´ll be left holding worthless tickets to the USA and will need to repurchase new tickets.

Give yourself more time (4-5 hours at CDG) or purchase a connecting ticket and let the airline assume all of the connection risk.

>>>>>> have never heard of an airline checking luggage to a destination which is not that of the ticket with which the passenger is travelling...

As long as it is an IATA carrier (like Air France) you can "interline" bags. I've done this connecting to separate tickets between airlines like Delta/BA (but allowed a six hour connecting time in Gatwick).

What you have to do is inform the agent at check-in that you have a connecting flight, show evidence of it, and ask that your bag routed through. The agent will NOT be able to see your connecting flight in the computer - - instead the agent will have to manually type in the flight information, then generate bag tags to include the final destination. (This can even have an advantage - - my folks avoided the AA $25 bag fee by doing this on a CDG-ORD // ORD-MCI connection from AF to AA on separate tickets).

Thanks for the additional info!

"<i>I have never heard of an airline checking luggage to a destination which is not that of the ticket with which the passenger is travelling</i>"

Of course they will. At least many will. Now, most budget airlines like easyJet in Europe and Southwest in the States don't interline. And BA is notorious for not checking through - sometimes even for their partner carriers. But IME the majority of airlines will.

Checking baggage on an international flight (which is what the OP is asking about) is much different than checking baggage on a domestic flight. International flights require a positive passenger/baggage match. If for any reason a passenger checking luggage does not board a flight, his luggage must be removed. Similarly, air carriers will not accept a passenger´s luggage for an international flight when the passenger himself is not even checked in for the flight (as is the case here).

Many of these rules change pursuant to Pan Am flight 103 in which luggage containing a bomb was loaded onto a flight which the passenger himself never boarded.

I have checked bags through many times on different tickets - domestic and international. Just don't ask BA to do it.

"<i> International flights require a positive passenger/baggage match.</i>" So do domestic flights . . .

In this situation I would call AirFrance and ask if (and how to get) the bags checked through. If the bags are checked through it should be no problem

<i>So do domestic flights . . .</i>

In theory this is correct but there are exceptions for domestic USA flights, the details of which are beyond the scope of this forum.

I don;t think the issue is the bag. I thnk the issue is that these are two separate tickets. If the flight in is delayed - or the security ine is long the passenger will be considered a now show for the second flight - and will have to buy a ticket for a differnt flight - at vry probably a walk-up (much higher) rate. The risk is having to pay way more the flight home - and given conditions at CDG I don;t think the risk is a small one.

You can interline your baggage, but I think the problem is going to be boarding. TATL flights start boarding a lot earlier because of size of the planes.

I think we're confusing the original poster. There is no issue with interlining the bags. There is no issue with the agent in Berlin not being able to see the Paris-US flight info. Both flights here are on Air France.

You will be able to check-in with AF in Berlin. You don't need to be at the gate at the start of boarding. What matters is when they close the door / final boarding. That's usually about 20min or so before scheduled departure time.

>>>>>There is no issue with the agent in Berlin not being able to see the Paris-US flight info. Both flights here are on Air France.

Yes, but if you check in for the first flight, which is in one record, the agent will have no idea that there is a second record, with a different record locator. You will have to provide information about that connecting flight. The AF agent could then pull up that separate record and "see" it, but will still have to manually type in the information from the second flight into the originating record - - the two AF records cannot be "merged" into one - - they are still an apple and an orange - - the agent will never be aware of it unless informed by the passenger.