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changing planes in CDG (Paris)?

Posted by (Alabama) on

Three of us are flying from Atlanta to Florence in May-June, and on the way from Atlanta to Florence we are planning to book flight with a decent layover in Amsterdam. The return flight is more difficult. We are taking a workshop, and the organizers are getting us back to the airport at 10am on the day we need to fly out. All the decent flights that day appear to leave earlier than 10. There are a couple that leave after 12 (12:10!) but go through Paris. The only option that really looks decent only has an hour and 10 minutes layover in Paris.

This doesn't seem to me to be enough time to get from one plane to another. I have no idea what it's like to change planes there, and whether we would have to get our luggage and recheck, etc. How can I find that information? What are your suggestions? My thought is to find a place to stay that night and fly out early the next day instead, but our options are limited for several reasons.

Thank you!!

Posted by
11877 posts

If your Florence to Paris to ATL is one ticket, your checked bags are not a problem. The airline will handle the baggage transfer ( and be responsible to get you on a flight if you miss the connection)

If you are booking Florence to Paris and Paris to ATL as a separate flights, you have no realistic chance to make a 70 minutes connection. If this is the case then your fly home the next day idea is the reasonable choice.

Posted by
32 posts

Thank you, Joe! I think it will be one ticket, so the baggage perhaps won't be an issue!

Posted by
5431 posts

I don't think 70 minutes is enough time, given that you will have to go thru passport exit control, then security before the US flight.

Posted by
375 posts

To tag on to this post....We are thinking about a similar connection....I was looking at some flights that allowed 2 hours for the layover. We have travelled through CDG before. So I think that is the minimum for us, but I would prefer 3 hours. Any thoughts?

Posted by
11877 posts

Found this on the Delta site. Is this what you are looking at?

FLR 12:10 PM
to ATL 7:02 PM
Flight Number DL 8369, FLR-CDG
1 hr 20min layover
Flight Number DL 85 CDG-ATL
Travel Time 12h 52m 1 stop

Delta seems to think it can be done

Delta also shows this which looks less likely to cause a heart attack

FLR 12:10 PM
to ATL 8:25 PM
Flight Number DL 9549, FLR-AMS
2hr 35 min layover
Flight Number DL 9374 AMS-ATL
Travel Time 14h 15m 1 stop

Posted by
378 posts

This was our experience last fall:
Our outbound flight arrived at CDG on Thursday, 9/21 and we had a 1 hour 45 minute connection. Our flight was early, so we actually had about 2 hours. Border control was a nightmare and we arrived at the gate about 15 minutes before departure.

Returning on Sunday, October 1 was even worse. Our connection was 1 hour 45 minutes again. Long lines at border control again with only 3 windows open. We finally got through at 10:02 and our flight was 10:20, so we ran. We got to the buses to go to terminal M to find another huge line. We had to wait through multiple buses and got off the bus at 10:20. DH ran ahead and I got to the gate as fast as I could behind him. Thankfully we didn't miss the flight, since at departure time Delta had 47 passengers missing and they ended up holding the flight for 25 minutes.

I think we'll stick to AMS next time.

Posted by
1103 posts

When we went to Florence, we flew home from Rome. We took a train from Florence to Rome, spent a leisurely afternoon in the Eternal City, then continued to the U.S, This enabled us to avoid a very early departure from Florence.

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