Paris/CDG airport

Yes, you may have to do a bit of research. But they're right to tell you to look it up ahead of time. This is true whether you're going by shuttle, by taxi, or by public transport.

Look through:
http://easycdg.com/airport-guide/which-terminal-information-paris-cdg-airport-charlesdegaulle/

Airline directory and terminals at Charles de Gaulle (CDG 1, 2, 3).
Use the index... to locate the correct airport terminal.

The concierge at your hotel may be able to get that information for you. Worth asking, anyway.

It should say the terminal number on your ticket. If you have done an Internet check-in it will say on your boarding "card" printout.
If all else fails go to the airline website. It must be there.

thank you all for your responses. Thank you for the website, that information is perfect.

Ann, it's a good idea to know your terminal (in addition to your airline) for any flight. In larger airports, one airline can often have flights from multiple terminals. Two examples from the New York region airports: at JFK, Delta flights to overseas destinations, San Francisco, and Los Angeles now leave from Terminal 4; other Delta flights leave from Terminal 2. At Newark, United Express flights can leave from Terminal A or Terminal C.

When we flew out of CDG the information was nowhere on our ticket or even on information for the flight on line; I finally looked up the terminal based on the airline and it listed which terminal various international airlines used. It was accurate but I found it very odd that this information was not more obvious for our flight and I was a little nervous since the terminal was not the most common one for US flights and an error might have made us late.

A shuttle is not a very good way to get to the airport especially if there will be unpredictable stops along the way; I would take a taxi. It is a flat rate of 50 from the right bank and 55 from the left. You need to be at the check in line 3 hours before a US or Canadian (and presumably other distant international) flight.

A shuttle is not a very good way to get to the airport especially if there will be unpredictable stops along the way; I would take a taxi.

The shared shuttle services generally accounts for additional stops en-route to the airport. If your are the first being picked up, they will allow for the additional travel time picking up the additional passengers. The greater uncertainty would be unusual travel uncertainties like a flat tire or accident and those uncertainties would apply to a taxi as well.

But yes, a taxi will be quicker than a shared shuttle at a up charge price.

About 20 years ago I only made a flight because I had booked the shuttle half an hour earlier than suggested as my driver got lost trying to find the last passenger in a suburb on our way to the airport and we were an hour later than expected. He also arrived late for the pick up. This was before 9/11 and security was not tight so we managed to make our plane. Since that experience I have relied on the train or a cab. One thing about European customer service is that they really don't care; if the shuttle gets you to the airport too late, you will get a shrug. I know our driver wasn't too worried about it.

Indeed, agree with Janet. Customer service is very different, though it's gotten a little better over the years. Returning items to a store is still rare. My French husband had an Orange rep yell at him on the phone, have had techs hang up on us, and on and on. We just laugh at the differences.

My first time flying out of CDG, we had a cab come get us at our apartment. We gave him our flight information and he pulled out this enormous book that had all the CDG flights, I guess, and the gates they use, or at least the sections of the airport. He looked at it for a really long time, acted like we were all set, then drove us over to CDG and dropped us off. We went inside, couldn't find our flight information on any screen we came across. After about 20 minutes of wandering, we came to realize that we were in the wrong terminal. It took us a really really long time to trek to the correct terminal. I try and avoid flying through CDG at all but if I have to, I research my gate carefully.

Cultures differ. If you find that surprising and rude, well there you go. French customer service is very different than US customer service (although theirs has gotten a bit better and ours worse over the past ten years so we may be converging) A shuttle fails to pick you up in France and it is 'your fault -- we were there and you weren't' although you may have stood on the corner for a half an hour waiting. Or they will say 'oh we don't have a driver, so we have to cancel' or they just won't answer the phone till you give up. They do not care if you make your plane. In the US if they miss a pickup they will instruct you to get a cab and reimburse you or they will send a car if there is time. I have a lot of experience of both over the last 30 years. This is typical.

If you buy something and it doesn't suit in France you are generally out of luck; they rarely do exchanges . If you want something adjusted to your preferences, good luck. 'It is impossible' is sort of the national mantra. Anyone who has spent a lot of time in various cultures knows that these things differ. I have collected a lot of anecdotes from fellow travelers around this. My favorite was a hilarious story from a man who wanted vanilla ice cream in his sundae but was not allowed to change the almond to vanilla -- after much haggling they finally agreed to let him have one scoop of almond and one scoop of vanilla in the sundae -- victory!

France does not have a customer service orientation. This is not news to people who have spent months or years in France as well as in other cultures. I have lived for extended periods in 3 countries. They are all quite distinctive although all western in culture; they each have their wonderful assets and superior opportunities and they each have things that make other people shake their heads.

RE: woinparis "I still disagree that France has no customer orientation. Simply depends on what you consider as customer orientation.

Interesting Paris logic that because of a misunderstanding/communication failure with what sounds like a single US vendor and good service from a German supplier, Paris concludes that the complaint about French customer service is an invalid complaint.

Presumably in the American free-market economy, all things equal, companies will poor customer relations (in theory) should not do as well as companies with good relations/services. The key is all thing equal in that a supersized retailer could provide poor service but at prices so low in relation to its competition that they thrive (up to a point).

If we want to do the one or two examples kind logic, The REI and LL Bean satisfaction guarantee polices would paint American customer "service" as outstanding:

REI return policy

We stand behind everything we sell. If you are not satisfied with
your REI purchase, you can return it for a replacement or refund.
Items must be returned within a year of purchase....If your item has a
manufacturing defect in its materials or workmanship, you can return
it at any time.

LL Bean guarantee

Our products are guaranteed to give 100% satisfaction in every way.
Return anything purchased from us at any time if it proves otherwise.
We do not want you to have anything from L.L.Bean that is not
completely satisfactory.

But those are only two examples of American businesses that strive for customer satisfaction. Does that mean that all American businesses are customer oriented. No, but those that are are rewarded by return business. Sounds like some Paris car services don't care if you return while other do. (I had a very good shuttle service from Paris to CDG. Too bad CDG isn't as good as the car service).

I wasn't going to answer because it was obvious the poster who insists France has good customer service doesn't know how it compares with US service, so this is a fairly futile exercise. However, I do need to correct one thing: my husband who was yelled at by an Orange rep is French, born and raised in Paris.

So when the Orange rep yelled at him for a simple question asked politely with all the polite formulas, svp monsieur, he understood every nuance. The other time when the tech hung up, it was because the tech couldn't solve the problem.

Or, my SIL who lives in the 06 had to call her provider every day for a month to get her internet restored. The juice had been diverted to new-built houses up the hill. Just disappeared one morning.

Now, compare these to the service tech who was at our house at 8 a.m. today on a Sunday after our modem blew yesterday. It took one call, 24 hours to get it fixed, and there was no charge. And this company, Comcast, is detested by legions in the US for its "poor customer service". These may all be tech examples, but that's what I call customer service-and it just ain't gonna happen in France-- at least not yet.

Back to the topic: This official site may help you sort out CdG, a complicated place http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/en/homepage There are maps for the various terminals. Once there, check the departure information in case your gate has been changed. Your airline may allow on-line advance check-in which can help with information.