Charles de Gaulle Airport

[Anonymous]

If you're connecting, it's hit or miss. I flew round-trip from JFK to Geneva on Air France in February. On the inbound, the 1.5-hour connection was completely fine. I had to switch from the terminal for U.S. arrivals to the Schengen terminal, which was about a 20-minute walk, and also do passport control. But it was a nightmare on the way back. Also about 2 hours, which I thought would be fine. But then my flight was delayed an hour leaving Geneva; some of the exit passport control machines weren't working, leading to a bottleneck; and the terminal transfer from the European arrivals to the U.S. departures terminal was by bus. There was a massive line for the bus, and the ground staff wouldn't let people with tight connections cut the line. So I ended up having to absolutely sprint to the gate. I made it onto that flight because it ended up being delayed, which I discovered at the gate.

That experience was so stressful that I probably would not do a 2-hour connection there again. It's tough, though, because as PPs have said, it's bizarrely deficient in food and drink and shopping options for such a major airport.

[Anonymous]

I avoid it like the plague. I remember once we had business lounge passes (thanks to DH’s miles) and they would not let us go upstairs to access the lounge. Apparently, there was some kind of airport strike and they didn’t have enough staff. It was pure pandemonium. We saw they were letting some folks up the escalator so we had to insist they let us go as well (after standing in a mob of people for like an hour). We finally made it the lounge like an hour before our flight was due to leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The terminal where you arrive depends on the airline. United goes to the old terminal 1. Air France arrives at a different one.

You have to go through immigration control to leave. Our queue got stuck behind a man who had criminal court case problems. Every agent decided to work on that man rather than transferring him to a higher up office and continuing to work on the rest of the line.

OP is asking about departure from CDG, not arrival there.

I was talking about leaving. Many countries including France require you to go through immigration to leave. We got stuck behind the French guy who the French police wouldn't let leave France because of his French legal problems. Instead of taking him elsewhere to be dealt with, everyone else in the line was held up too. My spouse is French so could understand the whole sorry argument.

[Anonymous]

I was in Paris last July (2023) and departed through CDG. I was expecting an absolute horror show, just due to its reputation, but was pleasantly surprised. I managed to check myself in using the self-service kiosk and then just followed signs and asked a few employees which way to go after that. Security was very smooth - no issues whatsoever. The Air France terminal was quite nice, but as another PP mentioned, there's really nowhere to eat - just Starbucks and a convenience store like 7-11. I wound up getting a sandwich there and just ate it in the lounge area. All in all, I'd give the entire experience an 8/10.

[Anonymous]

Bumping this - anyone dealt with CDG recently, especially departures?

We have an early morning departure - how did yours go? I'm considering booking one of those VIP airport services to speed the trip through customs. Anyone have one to recommend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this - anyone dealt with CDG recently, especially departures?

We have an early morning departure - how did yours go? I'm considering booking one of those VIP airport services to speed the trip through customs. Anyone have one to recommend?

If you read the small print of these services, they’re not “fast tracking” you.
I departed CDG this Easter, arriving on a French domestic flight, connecting to United to US. It was quite a distance from one terminal to the next but no long waits at passport check.

[Anonymous]

Convenient if you are flying AF. Far better than Heathrow. I enjoy can, Munich or Zurich are ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in Paris last July (2023) and departed through CDG. I was expecting an absolute horror show, just due to its reputation, but was pleasantly surprised. I managed to check myself in using the self-service kiosk and then just followed signs and asked a few employees which way to go after that. Security was very smooth - no issues whatsoever. The Air France terminal was quite nice, but as another PP mentioned, there's really nowhere to eat - just Starbucks and a convenience store like 7-11. I wound up getting a sandwich there and just ate it in the lounge area. All in all, I'd give the entire experience an 8/10.

Thanks for highlighting the no food issue. Are there stores to buy snacks and it is just no restaurants or no food at all other than Starbucks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in Paris last July (2023) and departed through CDG. I was expecting an absolute horror show, just due to its reputation, but was pleasantly surprised. I managed to check myself in using the self-service kiosk and then just followed signs and asked a few employees which way to go after that. Security was very smooth - no issues whatsoever. The Air France terminal was quite nice, but as another PP mentioned, there's really nowhere to eat - just Starbucks and a convenience store like 7-11. I wound up getting a sandwich there and just ate it in the lounge area. All in all, I'd give the entire experience an 8/10.

Thanks for highlighting the no food issue. Are there stores to buy snacks and it is just no restaurants or no food at all other than Starbucks?

It depends on which terminal/gate area. Definitely look at the gate maps. One of the hard parts is that you won't know which gate area you will be departing from if flying Air France back to the US- it could be the K, L, or M gates, which are all subparts of Terminal 2E- it's pretty confusing!

https://www.parisaeroport.fr/en/passengers/access/paris-charles-de-gaulle/terminals-map

Generally you want the Departures area, "Niveau 2" (Level 2). for instance, in 2E-K, there is a Pret, a similar placed called Exki, and a sushi place. They are colored green on the map. In 2E-L, there seems to be a full restaurant called "Miyou"

[Anonymous]

Gosh, from reading these stories I am so glad I’ve never had an issue at CDG. Some parts of terminal 2E are REALLY nice and I’ve really enjoyed the shopping options. VAT is automatically deducted for goods bought at the airport!

I’ve arrived, connected, and departed from there - as well as left the airport during a long layover and came back through - without any memorable issues.

[Anonymous]

Just flew out of there last week. I found it to be fine unless you get held up at security. They enforced rules to a T. O f you got held up, your bag(s) were unpacked and then you were held up to the last group in boarding and screened again. From what I could see the biggest issue was liquids.

[Anonymous]

I was just there 3 hours before flight

We almost missed it carry on luggage security and Air France nightmare


Never again delta Air France ugh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in Paris last July (2023) and departed through CDG. I was expecting an absolute horror show, just due to its reputation, but was pleasantly surprised. I managed to check myself in using the self-service kiosk and then just followed signs and asked a few employees which way to go after that. Security was very smooth - no issues whatsoever. The Air France terminal was quite nice, but as another PP mentioned, there's really nowhere to eat - just Starbucks and a convenience store like 7-11. I wound up getting a sandwich there and just ate it in the lounge area. All in all, I'd give the entire experience an 8/10.

Thanks for highlighting the no food issue. Are there stores to buy snacks and it is just no restaurants or no food at all other than Starbucks?

It depends on which terminal/gate area. Definitely look at the gate maps. One of the hard parts is that you won't know which gate area you will be departing from if flying Air France back to the US- it could be the K, L, or M gates, which are all subparts of Terminal 2E- it's pretty confusing!

https://www.parisaeroport.fr/en/passengers/access/paris-charles-de-gaulle/terminals-map

Generally you want the Departures area, "Niveau 2" (Level 2). for instance, in 2E-K, there is a Pret, a similar placed called Exki, and a sushi place. They are colored green on the map. In 2E-L, there seems to be a full restaurant called "Miyou"

Thanks!