Paris Airport

We are taking VRC Portraits of Southern France in November and our flight from Marseilles to Paris was just changed.

Question is 1-1/2 hour layover in the Paris enough time between the connecting flights?

Thanks,

We are taking VRC Portraits of Southern France in November and our flight from Marseilles to Paris was just changed.

 

Question is 1-1/2 hour layover in the Paris enough time between the connecting flights?

 

Thanks,

Paris is one of the worst airports we have ever had the " pleasure" to visit.

One time was a taxi strike, no transportation to the city. Once was a general strike which took three hours when nothing was happening in the entire place so no luggage was brought out. Once no power for over an hour.

You may or may not have enough time if you have to change terminals.

With the current security problems with flights going to the US you may have a very long wait to get through. Personally I would not be comfortable with that time frame.

Question is 1-1/2 hour layover in the Paris enough time between the connecting flights?

A lot depends on which airlines you are using and hence which terminal they use.

MCT (minimum connection time) at CDG can be as low as 45mins so you may be fine if everything is on time.

You also may not have to clear security again either, but if you want to post the details of the actual flights it will be possible to be more helpful.

Whew - having only an hour and a half to make a connection in that airport would make me very nervous. I've had a couple quite distressing experiences there recently. The last time, the line for security was astonishingly long.

I would not be comfortable with that short of a connection.

CDG is a nightmare airport with poor signage and unfriendly staff. I do everything I can to avoid it as I have had so many negative experiences making connections.

Are you arriving at CDG and going to Marseille or is your journey in the opposite direction? If you're flying out of Orly I would be VERY nervous of your timescale. Earlier this week, we queued for over an hour just to get to the check-in desk as the self-service machines weren't working properly.

Also, not only do you have to take into account change of terminal, but have you checked that your flights are in and out of the same airport?

Some regional flights e.g.to and from Marseille use Orly Airport which is 40 kilometres from Roissy CDG where international flights arrive/leave.

My personal minimum at CDG is 2 hours because you just never know - how long the lines will be, how long you'll have to wait for the bus to get you off the plane, which terminal you'll have to get to (we always walk, which may or may not end up being shorter than motorized options:p)

I had to look very carefully at our options for upcoming December trip - flying from Basel to Paris, many flights went to Orly, which was a complication we didn't want.

On the other hand, 90 minutes might be more than enough time and nothing to worry about.....

Thanks all for replying. We are flying Delta from Marseilles at 7:40AM and arriving in Paris at 9:10 and our connection to NY on Delta is 10:40.

I think I am going to call VRC custom air and see what they have experienced in the past as this is on a Sunday morning.

I have not been to Paris in a long time.

If I was connecting in CDG I'd want a minimum of 2hrs. CDG is very large and there are some great distances to travel between terminal 2 alone!!! A few years ago I waited 45 minutes to clear secruity in terminal 2E. Trying to get from 2A to 2E we had to take a bus.

I called Delta and they said it was fine. All I need to do is go from one gate to another - no security checkpoint. At least that is what they informed me.

Thanks again for all your input. I normally have at least 2-1/2 hrs between flights. Since it is months away, I will call them again in a few weeks,

Thanks all for replying. We are flying Delta from Marseilles at 7:40AM and arriving in Paris at 9:10 and our connection to NY on Delta is 10:40.

Both of those flights are almost certainly codeshares operated by Air France rather than Delta, not that it matters much.

You will be arriving at terminal 2F and you will be walking to Terminal 2E.

Should take about 30 minutes.

Do check on the screens when you get there to make sure you are walking to the right part of terminal 2E as it is split into 3 sections, each with a different path.

You will not have to go through security, but you will have to go through passport control.

I'll endorse the above post about signage. We had to take the train between terminals a month ago with a 90 minute gap and not finding the gate where we thought it was, we had to backtrack a fair distance and then go down one level. We barely made it. Keep your eyes peeled.

CDG is a huge airport. I disagree that is the worst. 1.5 hours would probably not be a safe transit time if the second flight was transatlantic. If might work if you were going the other direction.

Check the website for the airport and determine what gate the TA arrives and what gate the Marseilles departs. There is a map of the airport on the website.

I would allow at least two hours change time at CDG. CDG is huge and the airport staff is less than helpful. What happens if your plane is a little late? We made a short changeover at CDG a couple years ago on Air France with a connecting flight to Barcelona and we literally ran thru the airport . We made it , but our nerves were shot. That is no way to start or end a vacation.

Check the website for the airport and determine what gate the TA arrives and what gate the Marseilles departs. There is a map of the airport on the website.

They are traveling the other way, from Marseilles to CDG and then from CDG to JFK.

They will arrive at terminal 2F and will walk from there to 2E (about 30 mins).

No security, just a passport check.

90 mins is fine as long as the flight from Marseilles is reasonably close to on-time.

We're taking the TGV, out of CDG, when we arrive in Sept. We gave ourselves 3 hrs between arrival and train departure. We are going the opposite direction.

For our return from Nice, I spoke with Air France about doing a 1.5 hour layover from their Nice - CDG flight to AA's CDG-ORD flight. They recommended against it, saying more time is probably needed in CDG. We're flying back into Paris the evening before now and then catching our late morning flight home.

They are traveling the other way, from Marseilles to CDG and then from CDG to JFK.

 

They will arrive at terminal 2F and will walk from there to 2E (about 30 mins).

 

No security, just a passport check.

 

90 mins is fine as long as the flight from Marseilles is reasonably close to on-time.

Thanks Mark_T. I spoke with Delta and they confirmed what you said. I also spoke to Viking and they see no problem with the 1-1/2 hr. layover.

Again, thanks to everyone who commented. Very much appreciated.

There is a very nice website that has maps, walking routes and times and distances between terminals for CDG. We printed it off an took it with us on our last flight through there.

For our return from Nice, I spoke with Air France about doing a 1.5 hour layover from their Nice - CDG flight to AA's CDG-ORD flight. They recommended against it, saying more time is probably needed in CDG.

It is a longer walk from 2F to 2C for a transfer from AF to AA, at least 40 mins I'd have thought, so yes, a 90 min connection there would be a bit tight.

CDG is a huge airport. I disagree that is the worst. 1.5 hours would probably not be a safe transit time if the second flight was transatlantic. If might work if you were going the other direction.

 

Check the website for the airport and determine what gate the TA arrives and what gate the Marseilles departs. There is a map of the airport on the website.

As long as EWR and LHR exist, CDG won't be the worst. Just really, really close. :rolleyes:

As long as EWR and LHR exist, CDG won't be the worst. Just really, really close. :rolleyes:

That sums it up nicely.

I have a connection at CDG coming up, with 95 minutes between flights, terminals 2 E and 2 F I think. Now I'm really nervous...but it at least is for my trip home.

I have a connection at CDG coming up, with 95 minutes between flights, terminals 2 E and 2 F I think. Now I'm really nervous...but it at least is for my trip home.

Don't be nervous.

There is what is called the Minimum Connection Time (MCT) for every airport, this sets out the minimum allowable time for a ticketed connection.

As long as your flights are booked as connections, not just two unrelated tickets, then the airline will not permit a reservation that breaks the MCT.

Yes, things can get tight, especially if a flight is late, but the MCT for 2F to 2E is typically 60 mins so at 90 mins you do have a little buffer built in.

Just check the many online maps so you know where you are going and always check which gates your flight leaves 2E from as they are not all in the same place so you need to follow a different path for the 'K' gates vs the 'M' gates for example.

We're doing a France river cruise in Nov/15. It's too early to book the flights now but I'm wondering about routing. I've never flown to or from Paris and am a little concerned about the above remarks. What can I do to lessen the pain of travelling through terrible airports?

The cruise starts in Paris, and we have a post cruise stay in Nice. We will be flying from Canada to Paris and flying back from Nice. There are non-stop flights from Calgary to Heathrow or Frankfurt on our preferred airline (we're booking the flights on points). I know we need to make at least one connection, either way.

Do you recommend that I book the inbound flight as Calgary-Toronto-Paris or Calgary-Frankfurt (or Heathrow)-Paris?

For outbound, should I book Nice-Frankfurt (or Heathrow) to Calgary? Or go through Paris on the return?

As I will be travelling with my elderly mother, I will be arranging for assistance for her which has, usually, eased the transit through the airports on prior trips. And we hope to be flying business class so we will have use of airport lounges.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

We're doing a France river cruise in Nov/15. It's too early to book the flights now but I'm wondering about routing. I've never flown to or from Paris and am a little concerned about the above remarks. What can I do to lessen the pain of travelling through terrible airports?

 

The cruise starts in Paris, and we have a post cruise stay in Nice. We will be flying from Canada to Paris and flying back from Nice. There are non-stop flights from Calgary to Heathrow or Frankfurt on our preferred airline (we're booking the flights on points). I know we need to make at least one connection, either way.

 

Do you recommend that I book the inbound flight as Calgary-Toronto-Paris or Calgary-Frankfurt (or Heathrow)-Paris?

 

For outbound, should I book Nice-Frankfurt (or Heathrow) to Calgary? Or go through Paris on the return?

 

As I will be travelling with my elderly mother, I will be arranging for assistance for her which has, usually, eased the transit through the airports on prior trips. And we hope to be flying business class so we will have use of airport lounges.

 

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Calgary(YYC) to Frankfurt(FRA) would be OK. Avoid Toronto(YYZ) and Heathrow(LHR), if you prefer to fly via Paris(CDG) then connect try to in Montreal(YUL) because there are more flight between Montreal(YUL) and Paris(CDG). Nice is a smaller airport but both FRA and CDG are large.

Here are some airlines to think about:

Lufthansa via FRA

KLM via Amsterdam (AMS) would be some possible routings.

Air Canada via YUL

British Airways via LHR