cheriegal

My fiancee will be traveling to Florence by himself - in about 10 days - to meet the rest of our family. The rest of us leave in a week but he couldn't fly with us because of work committments so he is flying alone out of Newark on Continental ( by Express Jet Airlines) to CDG - then he transfers to Alitalia and flies to Rome - FCO - and then from Rome to Florence on another Alitalia flight. He has flown a lot in the US but never internationally and is nervous about finding his way to connecting flights.

I booked all our tickets with FF miles so I had to take what was available and this was the best schedule I could get. He arrives CDG at 7:45 am and leaves on Air Alitalia to Rome at 10:10 - which should be plenty of time. He arrives Rome at 12:15 and takes another Alitalia flight at 1:25 to Florence.
I have flown into CDG and FCO several times as my final destination but have never had to connect to another flight. I know some of you have done this or can tell me where to find info about connecting flights. Will he have to go through customs in Paris or will he do that in Rome or Florence?? I tried to get info from Delta but they were no help at all. Thanks so much!!

rkkwan

Continental operates EWR-CDG, not Expressjet.

Anyways, yes, he has plenty of time. CO arrives at CDG 2A. Go through <b>immigration</b> like he's going into Paris. Then follow the signs to walk from 2A to 2F for the flight to FCO. He can also take a shuttle, but after an overnight flight from the US, I'm sure he won't mind the 15min walk over.

He won't see his checked bags until FLR. Unless he has stuff to declare, otherwise, actual <b>customs</b> means he just walks through the green doors for the exit.

J62

He will go through customs at Florence, not before.

In my experience, customs in Europe is nothing more than walking out the exit door after baggage claim. If I have nothing to declare (which I never do), I simply walk out the door. I don't wait, I don't stop to talk to anybody. There are customs agents who watch, and reserve the right to question passengers about goods they are carrying, but for the most part they stand and observe.

He will have to go through immigration in Paris, however. Flights from Paris to Rome to Florence will be similar to a domestic flight in the US.

cheriegal

Thanks to rkkwan for the info about Express Jet being EWR. The Delta itinerary listed it as Express Jet - so I didn't know.

Does anyone know about the terminals in Rome when he transfer to Florence? I assume if he's flying Alitalia into Rome and onto Florece that he won't have to change terminals.

JeanneB

It looks to me like the timing is more than adequate. You can look at this map and see his arrival/departure terminals at CDG:
http://www.easycdg.com/pages/indexpag.html
He will go through passport control in Paris.

In Rome, he will follow the signs for connecting intra-Italy flights. It's very easy.

BUT! We did this exact routine---arrive FCO, connect to Florence on Alitalia. Upon arrival at FCO we were directed to the intra-Italy terminal---with its own long security line. Once at security, we discovered my sister had not been issued a boarding pass for Florence (I had one). We had to leave the line, find our way to the main terminal, wait at the Alitalia counter, then wade through security lines again. With a 90 min layover, we did make the flight.

Continental may not be able to issue the intra-Italy boarding pass when he checks in at Newark. If he's aware of this upon arrival at FCO, at least he'll know to head straight to the main terminal rather than waste time in intra-Italy security lines. If this happens, he may want to discuss it with a flight attendant on the CDG/FCO leg and see if they can provide any assistance in Rome. (Is this clear?)

JeanneB

In Florence, we simply stood on the tarmac and waited for them to bring our bags out. No sign of customs. It was quite charming after all the hustle/bustle of the big airports. &gt;&lt;

JeanneB

cherie:

I just noticed his flight from CDG to FCO is also on Alitalia.

If they can't give him his Florence boarding pass in the U.S., he should ask for one when he checks in at the <i>Paris</i> Alitalia gate for the flight to Rome.