Is an hour 40 minutes in advance sufficient time to arrive at CDG for a flight to Seattle?

I'm confused.

You're taking a TGV train into CDG. Then you say:

I’m on Delta flights on both legs. If I miss the connection, would Delta rebook me on other flight back without a penalty?

What two legs? Is the train part of your Delta ticket?

Don't forget, if you are leaving Schengen at CDG you will have to go through exit immigration.

If the train is not part of your Delta ticket, and you miss your flight out of Paris, Delta won't care. You will have to buy a new
ticket. It is not a connection. It is two separate forms of transportation.

the recommended time is 3 hours at CDG. If you want to risk knocking 1:20 off, actually probably longer as you have to walk to the check in, and are a natural risk taker OK with the consequences then you might decide to take the risk.

What happens if the train is delayed en route and you have even less time for all the procedures?

I'm interested to see if the French TGV train is an authorized connection with a Delta flight number and on the same ticket.

If it isn't and you lose the gamble the consequences will be on your wallet.

Sorry for the confusion. The two legs would be if I took a later flight from CDG to Boston to Chicago and then a domestic Delta flight to Seattle. The connecting time is again about 90 minutes.

In my experience with TGV, it has been very much on time. But this is a month of strikes. In the past when I’ve flown CDG to Seattle, I’ve arrived at CDG 2 and a half hours before departure and had an hour or so spare. It went very quickly…

I would get to CDG the night before, check into an airport hotel, to make sure you are in place for your flight to the US.

You are playing with fire, especially with all of the transit strikes going on in France. Miss your flight, and you will most likely be screwed by Delta.

Enough time: no. You could need the full 3 hours. Additionally, your check in will close an hour before. The airline has to turn the manifest over to the US government.

Don't count on the TGV from Aix being on time. I ride that line from where I live in the south of France to Paris or CDG several times a year. My trains have been late for one reason or another about 50% of the time: cut cables, rowdies so the police are called, electric outage, left package, even a suicide. So plan large and go the night before. You won't spend a day at an airport hotel, but you'll spend a night and breakfast. I'd want that direct flight, too.

You seem to be disregarding the fact that Delta's policy is to require 3 hours. That is partly because of requirements to provide passenger lists to the TSA some number of hours before the plane lands in the US. You don't get to decide an appropriate time on your own. While CDG has hundreds of Economy gates, lines tend to be very long. Do you feel lucky? Can you afford a walk-up priced fare?

In the interest of providing accurate information, here is a blurb from delta.com:

Check-in Times at International Airports

When you’re traveling outside of the United States, we suggest
arriving at least 3 hours prior to your departure. You must be checked
in at least 1 hour before your scheduled departure. Additionally, we
recommend being at the gate and ready to board 45 minutes before your
scheduled departure time.

So... Delta policy does NOT require a passenger to show up 3 hours before an international flight. It's a recommendation, and I typically follow that recommendation (though I showed up 2 hours before departure from Berlin a couple of weeks ago at the suggestion of my B&B owner). So you do get to decide when you show up at the airport, but you are required to be checked in at least one hour before scheduled departure time.

Delta is under no obligation to rebook you if you arrive late for the flight. But... I slept through an early morning domestic departure once on a non-refundable ticket, called very apologetically, and got placed on the next flight out of my local airport without charge. I'm sure it helped that I was a Diamond Medallion. It's at the discretion of the agent. I personally wouldn't gamble the cost of a walk-up fare on an agent's mood and/or deep-seated need to follow rules.

tl;dr: I'm with those who say arrive at Paris the night before the flight.

Sorry but IMHO no.

And unless you are buying this through the AF booking engine where you get the train and flight together no Delta will be under no obligation to get on one of those other flights! And honestly those flights may be full!

The airport is VERY busy in the morning and lines can be long. That's why they recommend 3 hours!

I guess I’ve been lucky all the other times I’ve flown back to Seattle from CDG. I will follow the consensus view. At least, I didn’t rebook with a stopover in Boston. In my haste, I do sometimes get things mixed up, as in the layover in Boston. Not five hours. That is the cross country time. The CDG Seattle flight is 10 hours, the CDG Boston Seattle is 15.5.

Any recommendations for a CDG hotel?

I have stayed at Citizen M and Novotel at CSG. Both were very good.

Thanks, Renee. That’s reassuring. Is either closer to Terminal 2E?

Denny, I stayed at the Novotel in April. Nice room and only a 2 minute walk to the CDGval shuttle.

I think arrival at CDG less than 2 hours is extremely risky. In April, things moved along okay. But in October 2022 everything was chaotic, especially the security lines.

With strikes, weather and general world mayhem, I wouldn't be comfortable staying 500 miles from the airport the night before my flight home.

Both Citizen M and Novotel are next to the CDGVAL shuttle at Terminal 3 and it’s easy to get to the other terminals. Here is a list of all airport hotels at CDG:

https://easycdg.com/hotels-cdg-airport-de-gaulle/

If I miss the connection, would Delta rebook me on other flight back without a penalty?

Unlikely, unless you have a refundable ticket or are in some upper tier of their FF program. ( I am not familiar with the Delta FF program)

Good to see you modified your plans.

I’ve arrived at CDG 2 and a half hours before departure and had an hour or so spare. It went very quickly…

If you have been getting through CDG that quickly in the past, you may have used up all your good luck.

Just how many wishes did the Genie grant you? :-)

I’ve got to move on this, I know, as I’m going back in 27 days. Not changing my plane reservation, direct CDG Paris Seattle, is a relief, as is the gnawing uncertainty of not knowing once I get off the TGV, whether I will make the flight. Ditto for a later flight, with a connection in the USA, and with the same type of uncertainty. I’ve learned something. My previous trips down south to Nice and Bordeaux via TGV or a connecting flight, I never missed my flight back home. So I never had the experience of missing the flight back home. It does happen, though, how often, though, I can only surmise.

No.

And there is no guarantee the TGB will even get you to the airport at the time scheduled.

Does anyone know of a map with a layout of CDG? I’ve flown to it or been through it around ten times in the past but still do not have even a general idea of where the different terminals with their different gates are. Thanks.

CDG Maps

Thank you, shoe flyer. I’ve been looking for exactly this map for many years.

How difficult is it to get from citizenM hotel or the Ibis Paris to Roissy village? I’ll have a day to spend near or at CDG before my flight out the next morning. I hear the village is interesting.

Why not stay in Paris and take the RER or Roissybus or a taxi to the airport the next morning?

That would take several hours in transit (both ways). I find the city overwhelming and not very relaxing.

Denny, I would just stay at the airport hotel. Since you are doing this for safety and convenience, the airport hotel is definitely your best bet. As nice as it would be to stay in Paris the evening before, you still run a risk; albeit slighter.

I do think you are smart to change your plans and get there early. I would never risk something like that.

Thanks Marcel for sharing your thoughts. Much as Zi can’t stand airports, staying at a hotel that is smack there in the airport is the lesser of two evils. If I find a convenient way to get to Roissy young, I’ll spend a few hours to Ander around, I’m guessing.

Sorry, Marlee for typing Marcel. My fingers are missing keys right and left! I’m actually half anticipating spending a day at CDG.