Is a flight out of CDG easier in the morning than the afternoon?

We just returned from Paris last Saturday and our flight departed at 1:30 (delta) and it was the fastest that we’d ever experienced. We arrived 4 hours early per the current recommendation and checkin/baggage drop took all of about 5 min. VAT refund took 5 min. Passport check took maybe 10 minutes and security took another whole 5 min. There were essentially no lines. Could have been a fluke but it was a happy surprise.

This was the first later in the day flight we have taken from CDG but we did it for the same reason you mention. We are not a fan of getting up at 4 or 5 in the morning to catch an early flight. We may have had an additional benefit. The later flight got us back to Phoenix at 11pm and by the time we got home and settled it was almost 1am. Since we didn’t sleep on the flights we were pretty tired and slept well and really had no jet lag. A bit foggy on Monday morning but much less jet lag than normal.

We usually leave Paris CDG between 10 and noon. Its been fine. We take the train to the airport and I'm guessing its less busy mid day.

We had a 3pm transatlantic flight last week. It was less crowded, except at the boarding gate.

Either way but it is easier to eat breakfast at the hotel leaving later. That way you skip one uncomfortable possible experience on the plane if flying coach

I fly CDG transatlantic sufficiently often to say that there are no rules or guarantees as to the traffic at CDG. It can take hours to check luggage, go through immigration, and security. On the other hand, I recently went from Paris to my departure gate in about 45 minutes, most of that time I was on the train. You never know. The biggest time saver is flying first class and accelerating through immigration without a wait. There are all kinds of reasons why it usually takes a lot longer.

It is to connect passengers easily that airlines fly transatlantic eastbound at night and westbound during the early part of the day. I assume a 13h10 CDG departure would reach SFO around 17h00. A very easy day if you are not making any connections. If you are making connections, a 13h10 CDG departure will get you to SFO late at night.

I do not really like early morning departures either, but on the whole, I do not do it that often, and I can easily catch up on rest en route. By the way, the United CDG to SFO flight starts back up in a few months. It will leave CDG at 09h00.

In my experience, for AM flights, particularly before 10 AM, the check-in and immigration lines are worse. We opt for late morning to early afternoon flights whenever available, but other factors like connections in the US and when you actually land at your home airport factor into the decision, too.

To mitigate, if we have an early AM flight, we tend to spend our final night in Paris at a CDG hotel...

there are no rules or guarantees as to the traffic at CDG

Yes, this is how I think about it.

I am just assuming the worst for my upcoming Thursday departure and hoping it won’t be as bad as I fear it might be. We shall see.

I don't like CDG for transferring flights because of the size and sprawl but arrival and departing flight have been pretty smooth. Our last flight home was from CDG, maybe around noon. I think we depart around 8. Traffic to the airport was not bad because we were outgoing. Check-in and security was quick but it help be in business class and the United lounge was very pleasant, nice pastries, coffee. I think a 1.10 departure would be fine.

I flew back to SFO from CDG last month on a Monday morning at 10:35am.
I got to the airport about 3 1/2 hours early and was past check in and passport control and security in maybe an hour or less.
(Security was a disorganized and stressful procedure, for what it's worth.)
I had plenty of time to grab coffee and a breakfast at the cafe air side.
However, Air France held the plane's departure for over 45 minutes because so many passengers were in the security line and couldn't be bumped forward.
I imagine that it only got worse as the day progressed, but of course I don't know for sure.
But I've booked the morning departure again for my next trip with plans to arrive very early.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. Since there doesn't appear to be any real downside to leaving later than sooner, we're going to aim for an afternoon flight. It's going to be so nice to just relax and have that last warm baguette from the corner bakery slathered in butter for breakfast one last morning in Paris. We'll be feeling so great we may even try taking the direct train to CDG. Happy travels, All. Kim, I hope everything goes smoothly for you on Thursday.

I guess I'm in the minority here, but for me the most stress-free way to deal with CDG is to stay at an airport hotel the night before. That's why I just stayed at the Hilton. Had breakfast at 6, hopped on the little shuttle train and was inside Terminal 2 in 10 minutes. Do as much of the paperwork in advance as you can, Delta allows you to upload your documentation the night before. There was some wrinkle where they made us go to the Air France site to complete our check-in, even though it was a Delta flight on Delta metal. The Delta check-in at CDG was simple (although the agent messed up our boarding passes which we luckily noticed), going through immigration was a breeze, security was well just as security always is. You still have to virtually disrobe, it turns out my travel wallet had RFID shielding in it so it set off all the alarms.

Yes I imagine it is less stressful to stay at the airport the night prior to departure but I am not going to pay for a hotel when I already pay a mortgage!

I totally get staying the night before in the airport hotel but I personally am loathe to give up my last night in Paris :-) All my past trips I have flown out around 10:30-11am and just hated that early morning wake up and the hanging around waiting for the Delta counter to open. I usually chose that time-frame, so as to make it home at a fairly reasonable hour. For our upcoming trip, I opted for a 3:50pm flight out (on a Tuesday), getting home at 10:40pm -- so we'll see how that goes!! Part of the choice as well was the layover length in ATL -- it will be tight coming back as it stands but the only other option was a 6 hour layover. Did that once. Nope, not doing that again.