Anonymous
07/08/2025 17:27
Subject: Getting out of Zurich smoothly
French person here. CDG is hit or miss. We always budget plenty of time to wait at boarding, because a couple of times when we tried to arrive a little later, we caught the plane by the skin of our teeth. Same route, CDG-IAD, but it's true that we've tried both flight times and can't remember if there's a pattern to it or not.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 17:11
Subject: Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Heathrow is awful. Throw away all toiletries before they make you - down to the unopened Benadryl.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 16:10
Subject: Getting out of Zurich smoothly
We arrived via train to Zurich and was at our gate 45 minutes later. It was very straightforward.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 14:10
Subject: Re:Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Anonymous wrote:The train to the airport from downtown is reliable and easy. The airport itself is easy enough to navigate, but lines can get long for multiple passport control checkpoints (oddly, given that these affect people trying to leave, rather than enter, the country), so I'd plan to arrive well before your scheduled departure time, just to be safe. Better to kill some time at the airport departure gate than to be stressed standing in an interminable line and worrying about possibly missing your flight.
The Schengen Area (which Switzerland is a part of even though they are not an EU member) uses entry and exit passport controls. This way they can create "sterile" transit zones of airports so people can connect without entering the country. It also allows you to connect without having to collect checked bags and recheck them.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 14:10
Subject: Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Zurich is a great airport to fly out of/connect thru— nothing like LHR or CDG
Anonymous
07/08/2025 14:09
Subject: Re:Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP here-- I will say on the topic of Heathrow (and hopefully to help others)-- there are fast track lanes that I believe you can book ahead of time and in retrospect-- wish we had done so because those lines seemed to move more speedily. Glad to hear others were able to get to their outbound flights smoothly-- definitely not our experience
I’m the PP. We had no special status at CDG whatsoever. But we stood in no line more than 5-10 minutes long. There are tons of terminals of course and we were in one of the Air France ones. It was new and bright and nice and seemingly very automated and well-staffed.
That’s a good heads up about Heathrow. Do they offer the fast lanes when you buy your ticket or you just have to know? So frustrating. It’s one of my biggest peeves about leaving the Caribbean.
Flew out of CDG on United and needed every second of getting there 3 hours prior, even with United status and fast track access.
Wow, ok. I wonder if that is a terminal/airline different or day/time difference? We flew home a weekday late June.
Terminal. United uses T1 which is way too small for modern plane sizes and numbers of flights. Air France uses T2 which is much newer and larger.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 14:07
Subject: Getting out of Zurich smoothly
To answer OPs question- have never been to Zurich but have heard it's generally a very easy airport to navigate and connect at. And the Swiss are very good about properly staffing things, etc. We flew back to the US out of Geneva a few years ago- airport was busy but everything was kept moving well. Remember you have to do exit passport control after clearing security- you will need to budget 15 minutes for that.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 14:06
Subject: Re:Getting out of Zurich smoothly
The train to the airport from downtown is reliable and easy. The airport itself is easy enough to navigate, but lines can get long for multiple passport control checkpoints (oddly, given that these affect people trying to leave, rather than enter, the country), so I'd plan to arrive well before your scheduled departure time, just to be safe. Better to kill some time at the airport departure gate than to be stressed standing in an interminable line and worrying about possibly missing your flight.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 14:06
Subject: Re:Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP here-- I will say on the topic of Heathrow (and hopefully to help others)-- there are fast track lanes that I believe you can book ahead of time and in retrospect-- wish we had done so because those lines seemed to move more speedily. Glad to hear others were able to get to their outbound flights smoothly-- definitely not our experience
I’m the PP. We had no special status at CDG whatsoever. But we stood in no line more than 5-10 minutes long. There are tons of terminals of course and we were in one of the Air France ones. It was new and bright and nice and seemingly very automated and well-staffed.
That’s a good heads up about Heathrow. Do they offer the fast lanes when you buy your ticket or you just have to know? So frustrating. It’s one of my biggest peeves about leaving the Caribbean.
Flew out of CDG on United and needed every second of getting there 3 hours prior, even with United status and fast track access.
Wow, ok. I wonder if that is a terminal/airline different or day/time difference? We flew home a weekday late June.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 13:58
Subject: Re:Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP here-- I will say on the topic of Heathrow (and hopefully to help others)-- there are fast track lanes that I believe you can book ahead of time and in retrospect-- wish we had done so because those lines seemed to move more speedily. Glad to hear others were able to get to their outbound flights smoothly-- definitely not our experience
I’m the PP. We had no special status at CDG whatsoever. But we stood in no line more than 5-10 minutes long. There are tons of terminals of course and we were in one of the Air France ones. It was new and bright and nice and seemingly very automated and well-staffed.
That’s a good heads up about Heathrow. Do they offer the fast lanes when you buy your ticket or you just have to know? So frustrating. It’s one of my biggest peeves about leaving the Caribbean.
Flew out of CDG on United and needed every second of getting there 3 hours prior, even with United status and fast track access.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 13:21
Subject: Re:Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Anonymous wrote:OP here-- I will say on the topic of Heathrow (and hopefully to help others)-- there are fast track lanes that I believe you can book ahead of time and in retrospect-- wish we had done so because those lines seemed to move more speedily. Glad to hear others were able to get to their outbound flights smoothly-- definitely not our experience
I’m the PP. We had no special status at CDG whatsoever. But we stood in no line more than 5-10 minutes long. There are tons of terminals of course and we were in one of the Air France ones. It was new and bright and nice and seemingly very automated and well-staffed.
That’s a good heads up about Heathrow. Do they offer the fast lanes when you buy your ticket or you just have to know? So frustrating. It’s one of my biggest peeves about leaving the Caribbean.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 13:16
Subject: Re:Getting out of Zurich smoothly
OP here-- I will say on the topic of Heathrow (and hopefully to help others)-- there are fast track lanes that I believe you can book ahead of time and in retrospect-- wish we had done so because those lines seemed to move more speedily. Glad to hear others were able to get to their outbound flights smoothly-- definitely not our experience 
Anonymous
07/08/2025 13:09
Subject: Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Heathrow is one of the worst airports.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 13:09
Subject: Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Interesting. We flew into Heathrow but out of de Gaulle and it was smooth.
Anonymous
07/08/2025 13:03
Subject: Getting out of Zurich smoothly
Hi all, we had a horrible experience leaving London last summer (through Heathrow so not the speediest of airports of course) and we are flying out of Zurich next month. Wondering if folks have tips on flying out of Zurich back to the States? Presumably no equivalent TSA pre check or clear but are there any tips? Thanks in advance!