Hi

my contemplated tickets on Air France into Venice land at CDG at 630 AM (which typically is earlier, say 6 AM) and the next flight on to Venice leaves at 725 AM. this is a REALLLLY tight window given that I will have to go through immigration in Paris (or is there a wrinkle I don't know about?)

Has anyone tried this? presumably they wouldn't sell the tickets if this wasn't possible but you never know.

thanks

Sounds crazy to me. How much longer is it to wait for the next flight to Venice?

I don't know much about the place, but we were on a bus and the airport is the size of a small country, and I don't think you and your luggage would make it. And no one really seemed in much of a rush to get us all anywhere. I think it took us almost two hours just to leave that place.

Plus, technically, since you are flying from France to Venice, don't you have to check in at least 2 hours early? Or is this just an U.S. airline international rule?

This question re: French connections comes up a lot. I've always had less than an hour between connecting flights at CDG (albeit to Bordeau and Marseilles, not Italy) and made it okay -- but once my luggage took a later flight. Seems like these connections work for people who can hustle, navigate well, and ask to move to the front of long lines. It really depends on you!

Air France thinks nothing of hair-raising connections, does this all the time. Be prepared to really hustle through the airport - I mean run! But there will be AF staff there to guide you and they'll see you get on the plane.

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never missed a connection yet, and I've had ones that were only 45 minutes between flights.

To flygirl:

I tried to make this kind of connection last May at CDG.

Didn’t make it. Not close.

Or, I should say, my luggage wouldn’t have made it.

I could have flown on to Madrid. But the Air France rep said my bags wouldn’t come with me. Separation anxiety. So I took the flight a few hours later that would also take my luggage.

I'm not concerned about running, no problems, but, don't I have to go through immigration and produce my passport in France before going to the next plane? as I recall, that ALWAYS takes forever.

We connected a few weeks ago very early in the morning (landed at 6:30 AM from NY) Paris-Zurich with an hour and a half between flights, and BARELY made it. CDG was a zoo at that hour with tons of people trying to wade through a ridiculously small space set aside for passport control. If I were you, I'd try to get onto a later flight. Good luck!

I've done this connection as well, sometimes I made it, sometimes not. If you haven't booked and you're not comfortable with the tight connection, I would try for a later one. Can it be done, yes. Might it take longer, yes.

I could be wrong but I don't think you have to go through imigration if you are in the transit area. You will not technically be entering France. Go for it....sometimes flight from the US arrive earlier than scheduled. (I am assuming here that the US is your departure point) I think you will be fine.

If your connection is with the same airline, I would suggest you leave it the way you are. Why? If they ticketed you, they will do everything in their power to help you make the connection or put you on the next flight. I suggest you identify yourself and your diemma to the flight attendents on the first leg. They will usually have you deplane first. Often they will have a cart to meet you and (drive you) rush you through the lines. Probably your luggage will follow on the next flight and they will deliver that to your hotel - but that isn't all bad.
The key is to enlist the help of the airlines you are travelling.

ekscrunchy - It depends on where the flyer is going to, specifically whether the destination is part of the Schengen common-travel zone. Italy is, so one enters France at CDG, and the CDG-Italy flight is like a domestic US one.

If one's going to Switzerland, or the UK (neither belong to Schengen), then it's just an international transit with no passport control.

flygirl - I am SO glad you asked this question because I am very worried about a similar scenario. Due to flight changes made after ticketing (BTW, flying free on miles so I had no choice regarding taking a diff flight - I took the one I could get a seat on!)our transfer at CDG is one hour. We arrive from the US on Air France and connect to another AF flight to Zagreb Croatia at about 9 a. The next AF flight to Zagreb is 7:10 that night so if we don't make it it will be a VERY long day. So, if Croatia is not Schengen (and I will look that up)not having to go thru passport control should help matters. (fingers crossed!)

HappyCheeseHead,
Croatia is not part of the Schengen zone. So you won't have to go thru immigration.

We had a connection through CDG on Air France with a little over an hour to make our flight to Rome. No dice. We only had carryons and offered to run and they told us we could not make the flight. No one offered to shuttle us through the lines....we just had to wait for the next flight which was luckily just one extra hour till departure. They told us the only reason they rebooked us on that flight was because we had no luggage checked. Otherwise we would have waited 2 extra hours.

I frequently read here about the tight connections through CDG. Sometimes you make them, sometimes you don't. Just depends if you are flexible and can go with the flow OR this will stress you out worrying about it ahead of time. We did fine, but I am not in a hurry to go back through CDG with a tight connection.

BTW, we made our connection on the flight home. Both ways there were LONG lines.

Good luck and have a great trip whatever you decide.

Thanks Nibblette!

Ok, so I have a chance it sounds like since I would not have to go thru immigration. If I don't make it, it won't be the worst problem in the world. I can run into town and hang out a while. We are spending a week in Paris in April and I am sure there is SOMETHING I will have meant to get to that I will have missed.

Last Feb. they tried, but we spend 8 hours in the airport waiting to fly to Nice. They met us at the plane, took the four of us by small bus, we ran when we could, but we still had to go through all the passport control, etc. and still missed the connection.

Ok- This post is making me very nervous!! I have a layover in Paris to London on the way over-1 hr 15min.
Then on our way from London to Verona Italy the layover in Paris is 45 min.
And finally on the way home the layover from Paris to Boston is 45 minutes.
I'm going to need a vaction from the stress of trying to make the flights!!
V

Vino, that extra 20 minutes could help a lot. the planes usually land at least half an hour early, so you have an hour 45. I would have an hour 25 which is pushing it. I'm thinking maybe I should go with the next flight, which is 2,5 hours later. I guess I can go shopping at CDG for a few hours...

Thought I'd update this... I am SO GLAD I opted for the 2.5 hour layover versus the 50+ minute one. I just got an email from Monica and she had the 50 minute layover at CDG... She missed the flight and luckily they put her on the next one. I imagine she wasn't the only one. Why do they do this?? 50 minutes simply isn't enough time, it shouldn't even be an option.

Net-net she ended up on the same flight she would have had she changed her itinerary slightly but the stress isn't worth it.

Good choice, flygirl. You are absolutely right and I understand Air France is famous for allowing people to choose these impossible connections. It's a bad deal because many people simply aren't in a position to recognize the problem if the carrier is essentially "telling" them that it can work by offering it as a legitimate itinerary.