KeppieAngel

I have an Air France flight that arrives in CDG at 12:30 PM and another flight at 2:00PM on Lufthansa. Is this enough time to get luggage and check in?

kerouac

Yes, that is (probably) enough time, but telling us the airline is much less important than telling us origin and destination. Domestic flights, Schengen flights, intercontinental flights -- all have different connecting and transfer times.

lincasanova

If it is all on one ticket you will NOT retrieve your luggage. You will go directly to your gate (or a service desk to get your boarding pass if you do not have one already). If you must wait for luggage ( separate ticket and you were unable to have them put luggage all the way through) then this will be tight as you will need to go actually check in after waiting for luggage and then security.

Michel_Paris

Is your luggage not checked through? Do they both leave from the same terminal?

lincasanova

Since all luggage must be retrieved in the USA first port of entry, many people logically think it is the same overseas.. but fortunately it is NOT. As long as your luggage is checked through, you will NOT retrieve it, which is a real time saver.

KeppieAngel

I am flying into CDG via Air France from Pau. I am then flying Lufthansa from CDG to Berlin on a Continental FF award.

Christina

Luckily, I've never had to get my luggage when transferring at CDG. I like to allow about two hours for transfers at CDG, if possible. I have made transfers in 45 minutes. But without baggage issues.

I think it is possibly enough, you just never know. I don't understand quite what you have to do there, but if you have to get your luggage and then behave the same as anyone arriving at the airport in terms of lines and waiting for your second flight, it is cutting it pretty close. Getting baggage can take 20-30 minutes upon arrival.

Terminals are real important in this issue.

artsbabe

It took quite a long time transferring at CDG and that didn't include picking up our luggage. I would say at least 2 hours or 3 hours to play it safe and if you have to pick up and re-check your luggage.

KeppieAngel

Based on your feedback I am not going to do this. I will change to an itenerary that is all on one ticket so that the airline can handle my baggage and I will just change gates/terminals.

nytraveler

You may or may not have time assuming you are coming from the US. Although you can check your luggage through (if the airlines are partners and allow it) you do have to go through Immigration in paris. this can be quick or very time-consuming - depending on how many planes land at once - and where they re from.

We landed once simultaneously with a plane from somewhere in Africa - filled primarily with young men who I presume were potential immigrants. The Immigration lines were a huge mess (they kept elbowing their way to the front rather than keeping proper place in line - until the immigration officials put them into a separate section). Where the tourists from the US took about half a minute each to get through immigration, many of these young men were having long conversations with the officials, pulling out all sorts of other documents to be examined and explained - and seem to take at least 10 to 15 minutes each to either be allowed to enter - or taken to another area for further processing (quite a few).

lincasanova

or take a later flight out of cdg or earlier pau -cdg flight.

KeppieAngel

Changed my mind again! I am going to take a later flight out of CDG. I just can't miss the opportunity to see Berlin.

Southam

KA: May I offer a few niggling points? Air travel is, I fear, full of jursidictional niggles.
Air France and Lufthansa belong to separate airline alliances. That means they may or may not sell tickets connecting to each other's flights. But they also may have agreements allowing you to check your luggage all the way through.
You could hold "one" ticket, bought from an on-line sales agent such as expedia or orbitz or the old-fashioned way from your local travel agent. That single purchase is actually two separate tickets. If something goes wrong, good luck finding out who takes responsibility.
If sold by an airline, however, it's actually a single ticket covering all allied flights and the originating airline is responsible for getting you and your luggage to the destination.
So, for once, the best way to find out is not here -- alas -- but by calling either your originating airline or whoever is selling you the ticket. A real live person will be the best source of the real info.
Sigh. But please let us know.

KeppieAngel

Ok - I decided to go with the same airline even though it will cost more.I will let them deal with the luggage and any potential flight problems.Actually using the same airline all the way saves me time too. I just have to sit back and let them handle the details. Thanks.

PS - I never use third party ticketing agents for flights.Is there any advantage to doing so?

Christina

I'm not sure what you mean by "third party", but do you mean some website like Expedia? What would be the second party, if the airline was the first party, that's what I'm not clear on. Anyway, if you mean something like Expedia, the reason would be that is one of the ways you might get a RT ticket using two airlines that are not partners, but with a decent price, not the price of two one-way tickets. I did that once in the past because the two airlines I wanted to book on (a different one returning from Europe than going, as I would be in a different city and another airline had a nonstop) could not be booked on either airline's website because they weren't partners. But the price was still reasonable as if you wered booking on the same airline, openjaw.

The only way to get the itinerary I wanted was by booking through Expedia as neither airline would sell me a ticket with the other one in the opposite direction.

If the same airline gave you decent flights both ways and the price was what you wanted, fine, but you might have lost out on some better possibilities by only booking ofn the same airline, that's all. Maybe that wasn't an issue with your itinerary.