We are planning a 2-week trip to France next May, focusing on Paris + area and the south of France. We would be flying to Paris, then immediately to Niece, and return to Paris later. We are looking at a flight by Level that leaves BOS at 11 PM and gets to ORY around noon. Level is a relatively new budget airline; as far as we know, the arrivals are timely. The question is whether it is possible to spend a few hours at the Orly airport and then fly to Nice from there on a separate flight by EasyJet, or should we stay a night in Paris and leave next morning. While it is safer to do the latter, it essentially wastes a day, as a lot of time would be spent getting to/from the airport, checking in/out, etc. Planning for such an "unprotected connection" is risky, but still, the arrival day would be wasted anyway. . . . What are the chances that we would make the flight to Niece if we allow 4-5 hrs between the arrival ETA and the departure time? Even if we are really delayed, I'd think the price for getting from ORY-NCE would not be exorbitant (just checked the fares for tomorrow -- doable). Thoughts?
Posted by
California USA
3951 posts
If the price is right for Level and not a through ticket (BOS to Nice) on another airline like Air France I think I’d risk it with a 3+ hour layover. It seems like there are flights about every half hour from either Easy Jet or Air France from ORY to Nice so if you are willing to have a plan B with buying a new walk up ticket if you cannot make your connection it might be worth the risk.
Posted by
Washington DC
27104 posts
It sounds as if you won't be leaving the US on April 30, but just in case: I landed in Nice on May 1, 2017, and found that there was no public transportation running from the airport into town because of the May Day holiday. There were very few taxis.
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
3691 posts
The price for a next day flight in May could have no relationship to price for a next day flight in January. That being said, I have done unprotected connections and never missed a flight but I allow 7 to 8 hours between flights. It’s funny but in the summer of 2018 I considered doing an unprotected connection after an Air France flight from SFO to Paris. Good thing we decided against it because our flight was canceled and we were put on the next flight which was on a partner airline so we went through Amsterdam and arrived 10 hours after our initial flight. Is Level really just relabeled Open Skies? I used to fly them from Newark to Orly and they had a pretty good on-time record so I say take the chance as long as you can bear the financial risk.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Folks, thanks for the replies! As you can see, some difference in opinions. So. . . .
- Yes, Level is the old Open Skies -- a miserable airline (on a recent flight from BCN to BOS they wouldn't even give us a glass of water, even though we had bought dinners) -- but their prices cannot be beaten.
- A 7-8 hour layover at Orly is not what we had in mind, and it won't help if the flight is canceled.
- Not sure what Plan B would be if we miss the connection. Is it possible to get the reasonable-priced train tickets on a walk-up basis from Paris to Niece?
- It seems that if we don't want to chance this unprotected connection, we have two choices: a) Stay one night in Paris (would be kind of useless), or b) Buy a second set of tickets from ORY to NCE for the next day (kind of silly, I know). What would you do?
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
3691 posts
I’d take the chance on the flight to Nice with the backup of buying a fully refundable train ticket ahead of time or a last minute ticket on a later flight to Nice, assuming seats are available. Depends on how many people make up we for the last-minute flight. If it is more than two, good luck getting seats at the last minute for a flight.
Posted by
Panguitch, Utah
2544 posts
Fares from ORY to NCE on Air France or Easyjet can be purchased for 30€ to 40€. Allow 3 to 4 hours for unknowns and take a flight, just book early for best prices.
If your Level flight arrives too late to make a 15h00 or 16h00 follow-on flight to NCE, just stay near the airport and try the next day or go into Paris that night and take a train from Gare de Lyon the next morning. Trains to Nice will take at least 6 hours from Gare de Lyon, closer to 8 hours from Massey (the station closest to ORY) so if you miss a flight to Nice, it is unlikely that you´ll be able to catch a train that would get you there before midnight.
Just a thought but by May, United might have started flights to NCE from EWR and Delta should have them from JFK. Tickets will cost more than what they would on Level but you save by avoiding the last minute costs of missing connections and valuable vacation time.