CDG mid July

Sorry, the question can't be answered with any precision. It's the same even for Americans returning home: It depends on your airline's budget (jetway gate or bus-in cheapie gate), travel class, proximity to the plane door, speed walking in the terminal, the line at immigration, the luggage delivery, possible ion (unlikely, unless you look distinctive in some way) for customs inspection, and so on. It also depends on the frequency of the transfer mode you , and how far that is from your arrival terminal. The answer could range from 45 minutes (really optimistic) to 2 hours (realistic) to 3 hours on a bad day. But the numbers are very unreliable. Then you perhaps have to ask how long the transfer will take to the appointment you haven't described? All that said, I've bought a pair of CDG-TGV tickets (July 3, 2012) for 2 hours 15 minutes after we arrive. I chose the option that charges 10 Euros each to change them on the day of travel. But I've done this often enough to be comfortable taking "a chance." If you have less experience, you should only do what's comfortable for you. That may mean paying more for a more changeable train (?) ticket.

I am wondering about the same question/others' experiences. In case others weigh in with answers, what day of the week and time of day will you be landing? We are arriving on a Sunday morning at 6:55.

See above. The only thing you can reasonably assume when flying is that you will eventually land somewhere.

If you post more details, people may be able to give a better answer. 1. Which airline, which flight, and which day and time are you arriving?
2. Why are you asking? (in other words, are you just curious, or do you have to make a connection, an appointment, or something else). As said above, even with these details, no one can know for sure. But we may be able to give you guidance.

Depends alot on which terminal you land at too.. I am Canadain and Air Transat ( and Zoom when it existed ) land at Terminal 3 and basically seems we just walk off and are through and out in under an hour every time. I understand at some terminals that are busier the lines ( for immigration etc) are longer as more planes dump there at once. Edited to remove Air Canada,, I haven't used them for awhile ( Airtransat is cheaper)

Thanks for covering all the parameters. I just wondered what time to tell our transfer -- ShuttleInter -- to meet us. They have the flight #, so probably will show up when they expect to see us. Perhaps I will use Tim's 2 hour guideline and add 2 hours to our expected touchdown time.

Leslie,, I would let Inter shuttle decide when to meet you,, do not pad the time, they have your flight number and time, and they DO check it.. I used them once and flight arrived late, they were there when we emerged and knew flight had been delayed. Good news with Shuttle inter is if for any reason they aren't there when you arrive you can go to plan b and take a taxi.. since you do not prepay or even have to put a deposit down.

Some good info; as a first-timer, I would be interested in estimates of time involved in de-planeing at Term. 2F, proceeding to baggage claim, waiting for a bag, then getting feet on the ground near the Air France buses--all at 6 p.m. on a weekday. If it involves too much time, we may have to consider the no-checked-baggage option.

I'd say anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. I've walked off a plane, stopped to use the toilet and found my bag coming up the ramp at baggage claim. I've also walked to baggage claim and waited over an hour for my bag - and those of everyone else on the plane - to arrive. You can be one of the first ones off the plane and beat the lines for the passport check. You can also arrive at the same time as other flights and have more than 30 minutes of people in front of you.

DINA:
Are you saying get off the plane and go to a passport check before or after picking up baggage??

To finish off my pre-travel post, I should say that we had an incredibly fast trip through CDG on July 3, 2012. But we were in Business Class, and we were among the first at the (only) two Immigration Booths that were open. But we had to wait until 45 minutes after touchdown for the luggage (again, expedited for Business Class) to appear on the carousel-which was exactly the time the display board had promised the luggage arrival. However, when we got to the CDG - TGV station, two army men were preventing anyone getting off the CDGVAL shuttle train from entering the SNCF station. This actually created a dangerous condition with crowding, and they shut down some moving walkways, but not the escalator from the CDGVAL shuttle. I believe, but do not know, that this was a typical "unattended bag" evacuation. But it added about 25 minutes to our time to reach the TGV. Luckily (?), we still had an hour to wait for it.