Flying through CDG on our way to Marseilles next month. We are arriving from San Francisco around 11AM local time. If anyone has been through CDG for the first time recently I would like to hear how it went.
Thank You!
Posted by
Bend, OR
2215 posts
This question is asked frequently on here. The answer is the same for all the different EU airports…there’s too many variables and one person’s experience does not ensure you will have the same. What will happen is you go thru the Entry Exit System, show your passport, have your picture taken, give your fingerprints, they might ask where you are going…. if it’s your first time or even if you’ve been thru it before, it might take an hour of standing in line, it might take but minutes. And you go thru the process again going home only they may ask where you’ve been. Have patience and good luck.
Posted by
Used to be Steilacoom, now it’s Las Vegas
2595 posts
We had an evening arrival on May 25th. I would have been through in about 5 minutes but jet lag had scrambled my brain and I had trouble getting the passport going the right way and standing in the right place for the photo. I didn’t need to do fingerprints. Leaving on June 21st took about 30 min. but that was an 11:00 a.m. flight heading to LHR.
Posted by
Seattle
436 posts
We arrived at CDG from SEA on May 3. None of the EES kiosks were in use. We were directed to the E-Gates where our passports were scanned and a picture taken. Once the gates opened, we were on our way: no human contact or passport stamp. Upon exiting CDG on May 14, the same: no EES kiosks in use, e-gates only, no stamps.
Posted by
California 🦋
5445 posts
Mark,
Predicting EES wait times at Charles de Gaulle is a total roll of the dice right now.
My son and daughter-in-law arrived on June 7th around 2:00 PM, and it sounded like an absolute nightmare. The scene was chaotic, lines were massive, and only a handful of kiosks actually worked.
The passport control agents appeared completely oblivious to the madness around them. It got so bad that panicked travelers were frantically cutting lines, desperate about missing their flights.
Fortunately, my family had a 4-hour layover, but it still took them around 90 minutes to get through.
Heading home on the morning of June 22nd was a bit smoother with shorter lines, but the airport still had the same tech issues with only a few functioning kiosks.
The bottom line:
Don't risk a tight connection at CDG.
Give yourself a 3 to 4-hour cushion to avoid missing your flight.
Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
596 posts
Signed up for EES in April at Rome. Flew into CDG July 10. Waited on the only line, everone scanned their passport, had their photo taken, and we were on or way
.Both trips were flying from US to europe.