The question is often raised here of what is sufficient layover time at CDG. I’ll share a recent experience. We were flying from Casablanca to San Francisco, on Air France, changing at CDG. We were to have 1 hour, 55 minutes for the change. NB: one ticket, one airline. I knew that AF would have to get us to SFO, so didn’t fret too much. Also, I knew that coming from and going to non-Schengen countries meant no passage through passport control.
Our flight from Casablanca left almost half an hour late. (Is there a law of the universe that dictates this will happen when you have a tight connection?). However, some of the time was made up during the journey. Both legs were at terminal 2E, a definite advantage.
After deplaning, we needed to take a quick shuttle to section,”L”, then pass through a security screening. Our gate, 34, is at the end of a very long arm of gates (another law of the universe?). When we arrived, our boarding group, the last, was already moving onto the plane; however, takeoff was about 20 minutes later. My husband’s Fitbit clocked us at having walked almost 1.5 miles.
Conclusions: Don’t think any less time is realistic. If you don’t have the positives mentioned above, don’t dream of any shorter layover time. Even with them, close to 2 hours seems like the least you should plan for. And, before anyone pops in with their tale of a shorter transfer, I’ll note that people posting such queries don’t want to now what the all-time world record is, but what is possible given real world flying conditions and CDG’s well-known quirks.
I should also give AF credit for our bags arriving at SFO with us.
Posted by
Cincinnati, Ohio
303 posts
I totally agree! We have had similar experiences at a layover at CDG. We now try to avoid this airport at all costs!!
Posted by
Paris
10193 posts
Fascinating, really useful post, Rosalyn. Yes, the separate buildings comprising Terminal E could almost each be their own terminals!
The 1.5 miles was all at CDG? And within the same terminal! Very telling.
I wish I'd had a step counter on yesterday when I arrived back into CDG. Heck, I had to take an airport rail shuttle within Terminal 2E just to get to immigration control from the airplane! I don’t think I've ever done that before. (Hmmm, maybe at Heathrow?)
Posted by
New York, NY
4071 posts
(Is there a law of the universe that dictates this will happen when
you have a tight connection?).
Answer: YES!!! It is UNCANNY how often that can and does happen and not just at CDG. I'm glad you made your flight! Newbies and seasoned travelers alike need to read this thread.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11877 posts
(Is there a law of the universe that dictates this will happen when you have a tight connection?)
Sounds like 'Murphy's Law' to me.
Just to prove there are exceptions, my SIL and niece just did a 75 minute connection at CDG ( SEA-CDG-ATH) single ticket.
Never say never, but planning to fill an inside straight every time may not be a good strategy.
Posted by
Berkeley CA
1321 posts
Excellent information Rosalyn!
I now give myself no less than 3 hours if I have to transfer.
I once had an airline switch flight times to 55 minutes later. I had a month's warning but it resulted in my needing to pay the change fee to switch to a flight a day earlier and pay for an overnight near the airport. It was 2 separate airlines and tickets. Luckily I had recently retired so I had the extra day to add to my trip. (My total time away was 7 weeks so I decided to just amortize the extra costs across the 50ish days, say arghhh a few times, and not let it spoil my holiday.)
I do wish folks would ask here first before booking those tight connections instead of buying the tickets and then asking if it will be okay.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14731 posts
"I do wish folks would ask here first before booking those tight connections instead of buying the tickets and then asking if it will be okay."
Yes! It's like asking for forgiveness instead of permission. That doesn't apply to airlines, haha!
Rosalyn, thanks for the useful transit tale. Very helpful and I laughed out loud at your comment on "all-time world record". Truth!
Posted by
OP
Portland
3643 posts
SharYn’s post reminded me that when I originally made the booking, the transit time was a bit longer; but AF changed it several times. In case anyone is not aware, the airline is obligated to get you to your destination if they sold you the ticket with the short transit time. However, the itinerary might not be as pretty as the one you originally booked. I had mentally reconciled myself to the possibility that we might have to accept a substitute that wasn’t non-stop.