Arrive CDG at 1:25pm and bought tickets to Strasbourg for 3pm - strategy thoughts?

They went on sale Wednesday.

No, you can't exchange a ticket after a train has already left.

One of the reasons that trains are sold out for today / super expensivd is that it is Friday of a holiday weekend.

1.5 hours is technically doable if your plane arrives on time. Any lateness though will really hamper your ability to get over and down to the train on time.

Thanks, Kim, that’s helpful! I guess I’ll take my chances and if we end up buying a second set, well, so be it. We have pretty good luck with that Delta flight…but you never know.

I have gotten out of CDG in 45 minutes with only carryon luggage arriving in business class. I think you have a shot especially because you are familiar with the airport.

Yeah - I have just had two out of my last three Delta flights into Paris arrive à day late - so I may well be projecting my experience of that !!

Trains shouldn't be full on 27 Sep, so you should be good even if you miss it. Plus, tickets can be changed up to the last minute with a 19€ penalty per ticket, so you do not lose the whole value of the ticket, as long as you have connectivity before train departure time.

And also I trust your ability to get there on time if the plane is on time since you know where you are going and are flying carry-on only in business.

This is the exchange rule info from thetrainline.com for that fare:
SECONDE
Ticket can be only exchanged (adjustment to the current fare) and refunded prior to departure: a charge of € 19 from 6 days prior to departure. From 30 minutes prior to departure, tickets can be exchanged up to two times (for the same day and the same journey), and are non-refundable after the first exchange.

There is a 4:16pm train from Gare de l'Est that is $18.55 for a ticket right now. I'm not sure that
helps all that much since you'd have to RER to Gare du Nord and a (short) walk to Est, but it's a
cheap backup option.

Frankly, if you're worried about missing the train this far out, I'd move to the 5:30pm train now. It's
38 minutes shorter than the 3pm train, so your overall difference is less than 2 hours, and your cushion
is much more reliable.

No problem as long as your plane isn't too late. Having a biometric passport so you can use the automatic booths helps. We usually are at the station twiddling our thumbs in 1:20 minutes. We fly business, we're old, slow, always stop at the restroom, have priority checked luggage, but can use the automatic passport kiosks. So count 1 hour from disembarking to getting to the station.

We've pulled off the same CDG to TGV with 90 minute window twice. Once our plane was 25 minute late even.

As to your original question, depends on your "insurance" philosophy. My family is strongly insured in the big ways (good quality car, home, health, umbrella liability etc). But I don't insure the little things - never pay an extended warranty or service contract on goods for example. General idea is that if we always say no to these things and cover the rare occasions when something actually goes wrong we come out ahead. As much as I dislike ponying up on these occasions, they are amortized by all the little "insurance" I didn't buy, and as such we are still probably coming out ahead.

So in line with this general philosophy, I'd just wing it and eat the extra ticket cost if need be. Particularly since if need be I could save some of my original ticket cost with internet access.

But if you are cautious, it's maybe not an unreasonable proposal to buy a second set of tickets at about $110 to insure against (maybe) up to an extra $230. How will you feel if you don't use the second set of tickets? I'd feel dumb and annoyed. You might feel fine and like you wisely protected your wallet. Since the actual outcome is not predictable, it's less of a math question I think than an emotional question.

Thanks all - I have decided to just risk it with the one set of tickets:)

Luggage space on that train, even for carry-on bags, is tight. Try to get to the platform as soon as possible to get your gear into an overhead bin.

buy a second set of tickets at about $110 to insure against (maybe) up to an extra $230

Non-OUIGO train tickets are refundable minus 19€ penalty up until train departure, so the insurance cost is only 19€/ticket provided you are able to cancel in time.