CDG to du Nord in June 2019

Should be doable if the flight is on time - you'll get off the plane first, anyway. Sometimes there is a long line at immigration. Sometimes not. If it's not an hour in line, and your bags aren't delayed or something, I'd guess you'll make it no problem. The only other variable would be delays on the RER.

Assuming you land on time, I think you will make it, especially if you have access to the priority lanes at passport control. If FC means first class, then you will probably make it. The priority lanes are available for all passengers in business or first class. I fly BC (copying your abbreviation style) to Paris and with priority access, I am usually through passport control within 20 minutes of stepping off the plane. The hold up for me has been getting checked baggage. Sometimes the priority tagged luggage comes out first and other times not so much. It's not so much with British Airways (or it got left at Heathrow), about 50/50 with Air France and pretty good with United.

😊. Yes..FC is first class! The flight history on the American Airlines flight is 70%...
with average delay of 31 minutes since 2017. Thinking about not checking any bags just to be on the safe side. Packing challenge.

Well, if you are locked into it now, there's no point in worrying too much about it. Be pragmatic about how you get from point A to point B.

More importantly: what's your contingency plan? Probably just buy another ticket on the next train at full price, assuming there is another train afterward. Just know when it is and what it would cost - and be prepared.

Yes, carrying on instead of checking bags might be a good idea. I've been doing that for years. The very first time was difficult, but now I swear by doing carry-ons only!

Absent a delay on the RER, unless your flight is very delayed and by that I mean so delayed that you do not leave the airport until 9:15 (8:50ish if the train you are trying to catch is Eurostar) or so, I think you will make your train.

Thanks so much for all the info. Yepper..I’m locked into the tickets. I’ve plotted & time lined the transfer..just started second guessing as soon as I hit “purchase”. Bottom line...if we don’t make it...we will be on the next train & i will have a convo with my travel insurance. Last time we did this..we sailed right through.

I travel with a carry on only and have flown through Iceland each trip into Paris (so passport control is there with virtually no wait).

It has been remarkably consistent for me. By the time I land, get to the RER station, buy a ticket, board a train and am pulling out of CDG, I look at my watch and it's just at one hour from landing. The trip to Nord is 45-50 minutes. If you have priority access for passport control (and luggage doesn't take an hour), you're probably fine.

I have missed a train before (not coming from a plane but went to the wrong station and didn't notice until I printed my ticket). I talked to the "conductor" at the station and it was no problem to catch the next train. I lost some time but it wasn't a disaster.

That may have been because my ticket was second class and not reserved for a specific train? I didn't learn that not every ticket is booked for a specific train until after that.

All high speed TGV trains, Eurostars, Thalys are specific seat and not usable on another train.

Odds are good of making this train especially with priority at immigration. Since FC luggage is offloaded first you might even get bags within the hour. It takes about an hour from immigration clearance to the RER (purchase ticket, wait for train etc) to Gare du Nord. so you probably make this train. I'd have a plan B in mind and then not worry about it. Carry on only increases odds of course as luggage can be slow even with priority.

@ ntodd74,
I think you will make it but if you could report back and let us know how it turns out, that will be great. By the way, have looked into taking a train from CDG to your destination? I do not know where you are headed to but, it is possible that there is a train to that destination that leaves from CDG.

I will absolutely post the results. Looking forward to the adventure.

UPDATE: Just wanted to give a shout out to everybody that posted tips & suggestions for our trip through CDG, AND give a quick report.

Our flight from the US was only 10 minutes or so late. The flight attendants were not given any priority passes for passport control. However, they did tell us that our boarding passes with FC or BC would work. The couple with us had extra priority passes from previous trips..so we used one of those that worked for both my husband & myself. I believe we were in & out of passport control in 5 minutes...& since we did not check any luggage...out into the airport by 7:20. By the time we left passport control another plane must have unloaded & the lines were long. However, each station was open.

No lines at all buying the RER tickets..huge lines at the ticket Windows. My US chip credit card worked perfectly. There was a train waiting...not the express. In our section on the train there were only 4 other people. However, by the time we got off at du Nord, the seats were full & people were standing.

We were at Gare du Nord around 8:15 & it was extremely busy. Took us a while to orient & get to the stairs to the trains. We were looking for coffee before 8:30! It all worked.

There was a large police presence in Nord...heavily armed police in groups. Then, they were joined by groups in camo carrying machine guns. Possibly something to do with the D-Day dignitaries...we were there the morning of the 6th. Lots of beggars...several people were being detained & questioned by the police (possibly homeless).

Our THALYS train to Amsterdam was late arriving...& there was zero security checks...even though the metal detectors were all setup.

Hope all our transfers go as smoothly the rest of this trip! Safe travels to all.