This post offers some advice for those departing Paris via British Airways.
At CDG, British Airways is remarkably understaffed and lacks proper resources if a problem arises. On Monday, our flight from CDG to LHR was cancelled. While BA texted and emailed us - once we were at the airport in line for close to two hours, the reader board behind the BA counter still said our flight was on time. As the line slowed to a crawl, the readerboard caught up and advised of the cancellation.
There were a total of five BA counter stations. One for WORLD TRAVELER and other elites, one for baggage check-in if you had boarding passes, three for everyone else. We were in line for close to 2-1/2 hours. Good we got there early.
The only reason we were in line in the first place is because we had been unable to download our boarding pass the night before; we do not check baggage. When we tried to check-in on-line, BA had informed us that our birthdates were incorrect. Both my wife's and mine. The same birthdates that we used successfully four weeks earlier to fly to France on BA. The same birthdates we have had all our lives. No, it was not a DDMMYYYY MMDDYYYY error.
We soldiered on and got to the counter where we learned:
1. The birthdate issue is a common problem. With our passports, they could and did correct that.
2. Since our new departure was more than 24 hours away, they could not print boarding passes for Tuesday's flights.
3. They only have two phone lines that they can use to call London to resolve issues. (More on this, later.)
4. Yes, it would be best for us to simply go back to Paris, enjoy the afternoon and download our boarding passes once we were within the 24 hour window.
So, back to Paris, off to the Musee Orangerie, back to our NEW hotel for our 5th night in Paris and onto BA's website. No, we cannot get our boarding passes. There is an "issue" with our tickets. We must go to the counter at the airport.
So, Tuesday, we are back. Once again, the line looks like it will be close to two hours. Essentially the same staffing and configurations as Monday. We get to the front of the line that we have been in for close to 2 hours. No, they cannot issue boarding passes, we are too early for our flight from Paris to LHR; boarding passes will only be available at the counter starting two hours before departure. My response: If they are available "on-line" within 24 hours, you must be able to generate them here at the counter. We have been told "on-line" there is a problem with our tickets. Here is the message we got via email. We are not getting out of line and away from this counter without boarding passes for BOTH our flights. CDG to LHR and LHR home - or at least without some other, definite travel plan. We need to identify the "issue." The agent goes to check with another agent, and then with a supervisor.
There are other BA passengers with similar issues as we are experiencing. BA keeps trying to send them away or suggest that they come back later, since they (like us) are "too early" to do whatever. Some accept that; others do not.
What we learn: BA counter agents in Paris must CALL London to find out what is going on. They cannot re-issue or change anything on their computers in Paris. They cannot learn what the "issue" is on their computers in Paris. After about 45 minutes, with one agent and her supervisor working this online and via telephone, we learn that whatever the issue was had been resolved and we get boarding passes for both our CDG-LHR and LHR-SEA flights. Once we have cleared security and passport control and check our watches, we see that we arrived at the airport about 3 hours 15 min. earlier.
We are not yet to the gate, though we are close and we are still two hours from departure. We have boarding passes in hand. Life is good. BUT ALLOW 3-1/2 Hours for BA/CDG Departures.
UPDATES 16 & 27 Nov. 2023, below