CDG better than most American hubs

Hi,

CDG is the one airport in Europe as far as I can tell that generates very partisan opinions. There are those who find it satisfactory or recommendable, on the other extreme others absolutely detest the place, an airport to be avoided at all costs, a "never again" airport to be used. I myself don't have any problems with CDG, it has its pluses and minuses, true. The main question is whether these minuses are so acute that they bother you. I've been there when it seemed no one knew what they were doing, when you almost or give up on receiving any sort of what we recognise as customer service, etc. Basically no deal to me. I'm used to CDG.

What I have seen is that if you speak fluent French and know the cultural cues of les français, it is much easier and you'll get better service. Certainly it is better to know the language than not to. I know a French woman here who when flying to Europe always flies SFO to CDG whether as the final destination airport or one for changing planes. She finds it easy, can't understand at all what all the negative fuss re CDG is about, etc. I've never had to change planes at CDG, which could be more taxing than at Frankfurt or London LHR.

Some of my worst airport experiences have been at CDG; we hate it so much that we arranged trips for years so we finished in Amsterdam with a 3 day stay to fly out of there. We have a collection of fairly unbelievable tales of mismanagement that are rarely topped in those traveler conversations about weird experiences travelers get into. I will say that it is better now than it was 10 years ago.

Sounds like the trick is to have a pre printed boarding pass. My issue is (was) that I am staying at an apartment and don't have a way to print a boarding pass. All the kiosks were behind the roped off Baggage Check area, so I had to to through the line (long) just to get a boarding pass.

Two weeks ago I followed a process similar to the original post here, although in another part of Terminal 2. It took an hour. But I lucked into fairly short lines twice (the third one was much slower) and those lines quickly grew longer behind me. Conclusion: No way to judge efficiency or ease on just one experience (or the two now reported here.)

I've never had what I consider a terrible experience at CDG. I always plan for totally too much time. I will say that their food selections leave a lot to be desired. Especially in the Air France terminal (surprisingly). Paul seems to be the only good take away option (and while Paul is amazing by American standards...it's still du pain industriel) . There's also a Cafe Picasso or something like that. I went there once for breakfast. The price wasn't horrible but the food wasn't delicious.

I remember only one time taking American Airlines having to wait in a HUGE line. But since I've moved to near Atlanta I always take Delta or Air France and it seems to be rather well organized.

If you don't have access to a printer, there are plenty of internet cafes around the city.

Least favorite airport in Europe. No doubt.

O'Hare and Philly specialize in flight delays, but nobody does confusion, crowds, gate switches and general mismanagement better than Cdg.

I've never flown out of Seattle but use JFK, Boston and La Guardia very often and hardly ever have trouble.

"Hub" in my mind means connection from one flight to another. CDG may be not bad for starting or ending an air journey but has been my least favorite airport for connections.

My usual US hubs are SEA, PDX or SFO when starting from Rogue Valley International Airport. SEA is any easy connect but can be a long walk/ride to the international departure terminal. My SFO connections are also easy (assuming that flights are not delayed when fog closes down one of the two runways. And PDX is small and uneventful.

CDG connections on the other hand can be be tense. A 90 minute connect can be a just in time run for the departing flight. I haven't decided if the CDG security screeners are methodical or just slow. And just hope that you don't arrive at a remote terminal that requires being bussed to the passport/screening remote building then getting bussed to you departure terminal.

Hi ping, I haven't had any issues flying directly into or out of Paris (Delta/Air France), but connecting to another city in Europe can be a challenge. Last spring we traveled from Marseilles-CDG-Atlanta-CLE. We had 90 min to change planes at CDG and literally ran through the airport to catch our flight home. I wouldn't avoid CDG but be sure to allow plenty of time "just in case"!

Good point about connections. The entire CDG complex is huge and includes multiple terminals. Getting from one to another could be time consuming. Plan for it. By the way, I don't speak French and that wasn't a barrier. I'm sure that people have terrible experiences, as occurs at all airports, but just wanted to let fellow travelers know that CDG can also be painless. Come with boarding passes preprinted and, if you can, avoid checking luggage.

So far I have avoided connecting in Europe after a transatlantic flight from SFO, be it at CDG or Frankfurt. So, I can't speak to that with any personal experience to quote if it is to be avoided or "painless." The French woman I know here has done it several times, no terrible experiences, whether domestically ie Paris-Toulouse or abroad, Paris to Warsaw (the latest example), has no problems, although one time she almost didn't make the connecting plane. Landing at CDG after a flight of 11 hrs is no problem, no jet lag etc. However, I do prefer arriving at CDG rather than flying out of it back to SFO. It seems if confusion is going to happen, it is the return flight.

The one experience at CDG I found irritating was at baggage claim in 2007. At any baggage claim I expect to wait, it's a given, but on this occasion, it was longer than the usual wait for luggage to be thrown out. Obviously, no trouble shooter from Air France was around to explain why it was taking so long, so you stand, look at your watch, wait and stand some more. All in all, nothing stands out in any my experiences at CDG, which I rate as "terrible." My last time using CDG was in 2015.