I stand corrected on the Air France reqmt. concerning one hour versus one half hour. I still am concerned about the change fee however. If it is Air France's fault, of course you would not pay a change fee if you missed another Air France connection that was made in good faith with their reservation service. However, if one was not familiar with the airport, or otherwise misses the connecting flight at another part of the Air France terminal campus...methinks that there could be a charge...

That's pretty much standard Air France practice. I've had a number of hair-raising AF connections and never missed one. They have personnel who kind of "shoo" you from one gate to the other and help you get where you're going. It helps to be able to jog with your baggage.

Hi St Cirq--apparently our "shooers" were having an off day, b/c the experience we had was that an AF flt from Rome to CDG, that we and many others were on, was delayed and they did not hold the following plane for the 15-20 people on the Rome-CDG flt who were scheduled to go on to Boston on another AF flt.

What made it even worse, was that by running (w/o benefit of shooers) we made it to the Bos gate a couple minutes before the departure time, w/the plane still on the runway, and they still made everyone re-ticket. Some people had to wait till the following day to go back to the US. This happened in 2000, so pre 9/11, meaning "homeland security" was not the reason. This is why I will never again book a close connection.

orval,

And I'm just as sure there wouldn't be a charge. I've been a travel agent, worked for a major airline and have traveled extensively and I'm not a bit worried about a change fee. A change fee is for a voluntary change. If one misses a connection it's usually due to circumstances beyond one's control.

socialworker, airlines rarely 'hold' flights for delayed passengers and even more rarely come back to the gate for passengers. Your situation could have happened with a longer connecting time. It's all part of travel (which isn't much fun anymore).

StuDudley, I have no idea if the other flights to Copenhagen will be sold out. It's not till the end of September. But, I'll tell you what, I'm not going to fret about it. Worst case would mean spending a night in Paris and there are a heck of a lot worse places to be!

By the way, I will only have carry-on. Don't know that I would chance this connection with check bags. Although the only times my bags haven't made it home with me was on a flight with a 2-1/2 hour connecting time. Go figure.

Hi jilberto --I don't normally ever expect them to hold a flt--but in this case, we were talking about ~20 people all connecting from one AF flt to another one when the first flt was delayed, making all those passengers late thru no fault of their own. It was a matter of 10-15 minutes and made multiple problems and headaches not only for the passengers, but also for the AF employees and AF itself!! That was the part that made no sense to me in not holding it, esp when those passengers were all transatlantic w/few other options for getting back to the US.

Well, there's more to it than administrative and logistical issues at the departure field.

Flights bound for U.S. international gateways are usually scheduled into air traffic control "time slots" which, if they are missed, mean the flight can be delayed for a long time. In the worst case scenario, it may actually have to divert to an alternate for fuel.

Trust me, the airlines wouldn't strand 20 passengers if a less expensive option was available.

Wouldn't even consider it! however having said that: If they are both Air France, then the airline knows how to schedule their through flights and must feel it is doable......

THEN AGAIN? Air France????? (:>)

It sounds a little strange to me.

I wouldn't even consider it. Two hours transit at CDG is the minimum I feel comfortable with, 90 minutes when I am willing to take a risk.

There are a whole lot of factors that influence one's ability to comfortably do the transit in less time, but the one that causes me MOST concern is the lottery regarding whether or not your inbound flight docks with an air bridge, as opposed to being parked in the outfield waiting for a bus to the terminal.

Anyway, even IF you made it, I would not hold out too much hope for your baggage to accompany you.

Also, let’s not forget Murphy Law in this equation. Based on my travel experience, and it IS considerable, I find that the number of problems encountered that cause you to miss a flight are inversely proportionate to the amount of time you have for transit. Don’t tempt Murphy to prove the infallibility of his law!

Regards Ger

If your arriving flight is on time, you can run like the dickens and probably make it.

Note that those buses between terminals run frequently. But, last Sunday, when we thought our terminal was 2F (based upon our confirmation, then re-checking before leaving home) for our departure, it had been changed to 2C, we had to haul our luggage and wait for a bus, which did not arrive for 20 minutes or so. And, then, it took quite a bit of time for ourselves and others to board with our bags. The bus stopped a few times, whereupon it also took a few minutes for folks to get off and others to get on. We had arrived with plenty of time to spare.

I, personally, would not have wished to have been frantic to get to another terminal/gate with bags.

Murphy's Law states:

&quot;If anything <u>can</u> happen, it <u>will</u>.&quot;

It makes no reference to the relative desirability of the events.

djkbooks,
Although I probably misunderstand where you started from, why did you wait 20 minutes for the bus instead of rolling your luggage from terminal 2-F to 2-C?

Was it because the luggage was too much to handle/had no wheels, or because you had to wait for the bus from a place remote from the Air France terminal campus?

If I really had to get to Copenhagen by a particular time or had checked bags, I wouldn't try this 45 minutes connection. But I am in no time crunch. It is doable if flight is on time. I'm not taking a bus to connecting terminal but walking over via the tunnel.

socialworker, I just read on flyertalk about a flight that was ready to be pushed back when the airport was evactuated due to a metal detector not functioning. So the passengers had to deplane and go through security again. Meanwhile an announcement was made for passengers on this flight to report immediately to the gate. When the poster got there along with hoards of others, they found the flight had left..with about SIX people on it! It left because the crew time would have run out and it was a flight continuing after the 1st destintation. This was in Anchorage which doesn't have a heck of a lot of flights. Quite the nightmare!