Delta or Air France

One consideration is how you handle jet lag and what you will do until you can check into your hotel. Arriving at 8:30am may require you to wander around until check in time, usually around 3:00pm. You may be able to leave luggage at a hotel, but probably not at a shared home rental.
A 1:40pm arrival will probably get you to your lodging at just the right time. So- is that important to you?
In any case, have a great trip. Safe travels!

I think the later arrival is preferable for hotel check in if no other reason.

Curious, when you say Premier on Delta or AF, what are you referring to? AF Premier is super cushy, very limited availability, and super expensive...are you referring to their luxury first class cabin? What are you deeming Premier in Delta? Delta One? Or "premium" economy, maybe?

Speaking only for myself, I would always take the earlier arrival. More time in Paris is better than less.

I always go for the Delta flight to Paris from SeaTac - it's way easier to arrive and have your hotel room ready for you vs. wandering around until the room is ready.

I also vote for the later flight. Like Valerie, I have taken that one several times. By the time I get into Paris my hotel room is almost always ready.

I guess I will add that the later one works better for me because I am connecting from Spokane thru Seattle so this way I can leave Spokane later in the morning.

When you arrive at 1:40pm, it will likely be 2 hours from arrival at CDG to your accommodations in Paris, so you can immediately check in to your accommodations, freshen up and go out until you are tired. Exactly how it played out for us in April.

If you arrive at 8:30am, you'll have a lot of hours before you can check in. When you are jet lagged it feels like you are spinning your wheels and killing time. Of course you are in Paris; not like it's a burden, but I feel so much better when we arrive in the afternoon than the morning. We always pay for an extra night if we have to arrive early in the day, and then let them know we will be coming the next morning.

I avoid first thing in the morning flights as I have found that I can more sleep when flights arrive later as it corresponds better to my normal sleep time.

I would go for arriving at 1:40 pm.

Thank you all for your responses! Really appreciate it!!!

Hi there and welcome to the forums.

I will offer my perspective on the jet lag issue. I think of it as two parts. The initial difficulty in getting through arrival day until you can get some real sleep. The second part is adjusting to the time zone difference. There can be one or more days when you wake up in the middle of the night and be wide awake. Sometimes for extended periods before dropping off back to sleep.

Early arrivals in europe can make for a long day. I’m tired and feeling out of sorts. But I’m excited to be there. I just do simple things. Go get any toiletries or supplies that I forget or need more of. Do a walking tour of the neighborhood near my hotel. Make note of any shops that might be useful. I take a photo of the shop/bank/cafe with my phone. I leave location services on so that I can find the location easily. I get a local SIM card if needed. Otherwise weather permitting I just enjoy the daylight outside to help me adjust. It’s a long day and I do hit a low point mid afternoon but towards evening I get a second wind. It’s a bit of a slog but I find that I adjust to the time zone difference more readily. One difficult day and I can sleep through the subsequent nights.

So the early arrival works better for me.

BTW some forum members have reported that the timeshiffter app has helped them adjust.

Have a great trip!

Premier? Delta doesn’t have a premier cabin. It also doesn’t have a premium economy cabin. Delta’s product is called Premium Select & it is a lower quality product than Air France’s (or any European carrier’s) premium economy. So if money is no object, I’d pick Air France for that reason AND the morning arrival in Paris. I don’t like later arrivals unless I’m flying a day flight to Paris. Air France will be A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE.

Delta’s Delta One cabin and Air France’s business class cabins are similar. Air France’s La Première class is well…a splurge! Additionally, Delta has a premium select cabin while Air France has a comparable premium cabin. Both carriers offer two seats together options in the premium blocks. I’ve flown Delta’s premium select but not Air France’s. Both carriers have served me quite well for price, destination, experience, food, staff, etc. The decision for me would simply be price and time of day that I would prefer to arrive. I am an early bird.

Given these 2 choices, an early morning arrival versus that in the early afternoon from SFO (in my case), I would absolutely take the 8:30 AM. Flying from SFO , the flight gets in somewhat later in the morning, certainly not as early as 08:30. That's however much better. Good that the prices are pretty much the same.

Thank you all for your responses!!! They helped us to make better choices! Truly appreciate you all!