Very early arrival at CDG for Lufthansa departure
 

I just checked with Lufthansa to determine what time I should be at CDG for a 7:05 AM flight to Frankfurt which connects to another Lufthansa flight to SFO. I was told that Lufthansa recommends arrival 3 hours in advance of departure, which means I should be at CDG by 4:05 AM. Gaaah!!

I've been at airports early before (not 4AM early, I have to admit) only to find that there's no one at the check-in counter until shortly before the flight, and since this is an intra-Europe leg of an admittedly international flight, I wonder what time I really should be there. With security issues nowadays changing all the time I don't feel confident about making this decision.

Any experience with very early morning check-ins, particularly with Lufthansa?

The simplest answer would be to call Lufthansa and ask them what time the check-in counter at CDG opens which might help you make your decision.

You certainly dont need to be there 3 hours before. Perhaps 1h30 - 1h45 minutes before and I would suspect that is on the safe side.

Intrepid has it right--check to see what time the counter opens. We have gotten to the airport before the counter opens.

Since your first flight is to Frankfurt, this counts as an intra-Europe flight with "domestic" check in times. Lufthansa closes check-in 30 min before the flight. I would probably aim to be there around 6.

I agree that arriving 3 hours in advance is too soon for the intra Europe flight. It's the international flight that you need to arrive 3 hours prior.

As I said, I did check with Lufthansa (2 different times, thinking I might get diferent answers) and they told me to be there 3 hours ahead, and that the check-in counter opens 3 hours prior to the flight. Now, I'm sure that's what they're told to say, but I wonder if anyone has actually been at CDG at 4AM to see whether this is in fact true.

As for the fact that it's a "domestic" flight, again Lufthansa told me explicitly that they consider it to be an international check-in since it's a connection to a US flight.

This question actually has a second component: I'm wondering whether to stay at an airport hotel the last night. However, with such an early required check-in, hotel shuttles won't yet be operating, so that doesn't seem to be the answer. A taxi from Paris at that hour should get me there in about 40 minutes, I figure.

Does anyone know of a hotel actually within the airport and walking distance to Terminal 1?

I wonder if anyone as been there that early -- I haven't been there before around 8 am so am no help.

But I really just can't believe this is real -- it sounds like the agent is just repeating the standard rules regardless of time of day.

Even then, I don't think 3 hrs before is "required", but suggested. Did they actually tell you it was required to be there at that time, or they could deny you boarding? I don't think that is the case even for later international flights that really are international. I've never missed the cutoff time, thank goodness, but I think it is 1-2 hours or something, isn't it?

Accor Hotels is a chain of several brands, all clean, modern, and inexpensive, ranging in ascending order according to price from Formule 1 (bathrooms down the hall) through Etap, Ibis, Novotel, Mercure, and Sofitel chains. They have several hotels around the CDG complex with free shuttles. Check them out at http://www.accorhotels.com/accorhotels. Put "Roissy" in the search window, and you'll get all their hotels in the CDG area.

I seriously doubt that LH will open their check-in counter at 4:05am for an intra-Europe flight. For trans-Atlantic flights and other longhauls, yes. For a short CDG-LHR hop, no.

Tim, I already checked the Accor site and as far as I can tell, none of the hotels are in the airport proper, and shuttles typically don't run until about 6 AM. That's why I was asking about hotels actually within the airport so I could walk without relying on any kind of transportation, which might or might not be available.

Unless I can find a hotel inside CDG, I think I'm going to take a chance and arrange a taxi to leave my apartment in Paris at 4, arriving at CDG by 5. I agree that for a CDG-FRA flight they're unlikely to be opening the counter at 4 AM.

There's a Sheraton Hotel right at T2, and a Hilton Hotel within the airport property. I've stayed at the Hilton, and it's a nice enough place. Their website says that there's shuttle service "upon request" between 11.45pm and 6am.

If it were me, I'd stay at CDG and I'd plan to check in around 5.45.

(The idea of taking a cab from central Paris to be at the airport by 4am sounds horrible. Why stay the last night in Paris if you won't be able to enjoy it?)

The reason why you have to check in so early has nothing to do with Lufthansa but with the U.S. government. U.S. government requires additional safety procedures for every passenger flying to the USA. And this procedure is at the first leg of your journey. The reason is to ensure that you do not miss your transatlantic flight when changing planes because of the safety procedure.
The special U.S. safety procedure follows the regular European safety-check and is basically the same with the exception that you will meet fellow Americans to do the safety check who usually perform an extremely rude behavior (probably to make you feel at home well in advance).
I think the safety people need three hours time to check whether you data appear in one of the black lists.

We have had several experiences with early-morning flights out of Europe. When we need to be to the airport before 6am, we always take a taxi.

I doubt that you will be able to check in at 4 am. In my experience, airline personnel don't arrive until 5 or 5:30 am. Speak directly with an airline representative about your expected arrival time.

CDG is an incredibly confusing airport. Lots of people standing around with no idea what they're supposed to do. Very few staff willing to enlighten them. Our last departure from there was especially confusing.

They had this circular arrangement of check-in counters. But we had to get in line from the inside of the ring and work our way to the outside. Once outside with our boarding passes, we had to go back toward the center of the ring to get to our gate. Upon arrival we (along with a lot of other people) simply assumed that the line would progress inward. By the time we realized that common sense did not reign in this place, the lines had grown pretty long. CDG is dilapidated insanity.

I gave up getting to the airport 3 hours early several years ago when flying home from Europe. The check-in counter usually opens up about 2 hours before the departure time. Airlines will sometimes only check-in a couple flights at a time, at least in my experience, and they will have signs indicating which flights are being checked in. I agree with the others that I doubt the Lufthansa counter will be open at 4am.

I took an early morning (about 7:00 a.m.) flight out of CDG on British Airways in 2004 (CDG to LGW, then LGW to DFW). We arrived at the terminal around 5:00, but the ticket counters and security did not even open until 6:00 a.m. I doubt that it's any different over at the Lufthansa counter.

We were feeling a little rushed, but we did manage to board the plane on time. Good luck.

Hopefully someone has specific experience with Lufthansa and CDG...but I wouldn't necessarily wait until counter opening time to get in line to check in...

When we flew Lufthansa out of Logan (Boston), we were in line 3-1/2 hours before flight time. It took SO long to check in, we had just enough time to visit the restrooms and grab a bottle of water before boarding the plane (no holdup at security).

Returning from St. Petersburg, again, the lines were so long and so slow we WOULD have missed the plane had it not been held for 1/2 hour...

Ever since, whenever we're at Logan we take a look at the Lufthansa lines - unbelievable!

Last thursday I flew out of CDG on a noon flight. We got there just before 9:00 a.m. The check in wasn't open yet and we were # 4 and 5 in the line. The three in front of us were middle eastern men going to a conference in Texas.

there is a document screening before you get to check in counter. This is NOT an exaggeration - one security agent showed up and the first man was still being interviewed 10 minutes later when a 2nd agent showed up. 15 minutes later BOTH of them were still being interviewed when a 3rd agent appeared to start w/ the third middle eastener. A 4th agent eventually manned the last screening desk - and I was finally called up 45 minutes after they opened check in. And I was number 4 in line.

Those three men were not finally cleared for more than 90 minutes. In the meantime the entire rest of the flight was being screened by one agent. Some barely made the flight even though they had been in the queue more than 2 hours prior to flight time.

Just a word - do not assume 90 minutes is enough time . . . . . .

Again, it has nothing to do with a specific airline - it is the U.S. Homeland Security guys.
If I would fly just from CDG to Frankfurt I would show up at 6:15, put my credit card into the machine, get my boarding pass printed, pass the European security check and walk to the gate.
However, you are starting a flight to the USA, which makes things completely different. Additional securities include: A document check, a baggage check, a second personal check - if everything is okay.
Imagine this scenario:
You arrive at 5:45 as someone has suggested. You will wait in line for 15 minutes and you are checked in at 6:00. Then you walk to the European security-check, wait in line for 10 minutes, and walk over to the gate. Now you hear your name announced. One the the Homeland Security boys has x-rayed your baggage and found something conspicious. He has broken the locks and spilled all the contents on the floor. You will be led into the baggage handling area and you have (1) explain the contents of your bag and (2) repack your bag and get it someway closed again. It is now 6:30 and you will start sweating becauso you still have to pass the extended personal security check. And the plane will not wait for you because no airline in the world is responsible if someone is not cleared by security. You will miss your flight to SFO. You have to pay extra fees for changing your ticket, you have another overnight stay at a cozy airport hotel (at your own expense) - just because you did not want to show up early enough for the airport?
(This scenario is not fictional. I have read several stories of that kind including people missing a cruise ship because they were 10 minutes late at check-in.)

janis and traveller 1959 have interesting stories.

And we all have similar ones about taking planes to the US, or using American airlines in Europe.

But I've never encountered any of this when taking any kind of intra-European flight operated by a European airline. Or encountered anyone with a story like this about any intra-European flights. And the Lufthansa website is pretty unambiguous about checkin times at CDG: 30 minutes, it says. Not "30 mins unless you're going to California". 30 mins.

Lastly, flights betwen France and Germany are NOT domestic. They're every bit as international as flights to Timbuktu. So if a Lufthansa worker used the term "international" to refer only to transatlantic flights, that worker was American. And I've never heard a reliable comment from any US employee of a European airline.

There are two (and possibly a half) ways shellio can be sure about this.

One is to arrive at CDG at 0400. 100-1 on shellio will have the place to shellioself.

The second is to phone a Lufthansa office IN FRANCE.

The two and a halfth is, on arrival at CDG from the US, to go to the LH checkin bank (or, if the queues are as normal, the LH ticket desk) and ask them. And, on second thoughts, this is the course I'd actually recommend.