I'm traveling from Detroit to Rome and back each time connecting at CDG. What checks will I go thru at CDG?

Question

I am a U.S. citizen, and am flying Air France for all flights. I have only 50 minute layover oneway, and 55 minute layover the other way. Air France says that it should take me 45 minutes at the most to disembark my arriving flight, and get to my departing flight. Is this a realistic estimate?

Answer 1

air france says 45 minutes, but that is if everything goes perfectly.
you have about a 70% chance of missing your connections unless there aren't very many flights coming in at that time, you can get from the plane to the terminal very quickly, and your departure gate is not too far from your arrival gate. all those things rarely happen. there are suppose to be people at the entrance of the terminal who can help you expedite the connection, but if you miss them or they aren't there you are out of luck. i've seen this happen to many irate, stressed out and confused travelers.

yes, it can take 30 minutes or more to get from the plane to the terminal. numerous things can and do eat up valuable time during this process.
since you are traveling on air france for all flights you DO NOT have to go through passport control and claim/recheck your bags. they are checked through to rome. confirm when you check in.. there are exceptions to every rule, but to rome they should definitely be able to check them through in detroit.

you will be transferring between halls (or sections) of terminal 2. you will have your passport checked at exit (a general glance) and entry (will actually look to see if you match the passport picture and check your boarding pass). and possibly have your carry-on bags scanned and searched again. even though you haven't technically left the secure airport areas you are coming from a hall that handles flights outside the schengen zone and you aren't an EU resident.
when you return security is tighter and takes more time because you are transferring to the hall for US bound flights. you can let airport personnel know you are about to miss your connection. it's a toss up if you will get any help. i usually hear people being told "so is everyone else.. sorry." that says a lot right there. but i have seen people being sent to other lines and getting through very quickly.

if it's not too late to change flights i would look for a connection that gives you more time. 1.5 to 2 hours. or you can cross your fingers and be prepared to be stressed out for 50/55 minutes. being nasty to CDG personnel will get you no where fast.

Answer 2

I don't think that's a realistic time estimate. First of all, Air France has poor service. It takes forever to get on and off the planes. At CDG, when most of the airplanes are deboarded the passengers must get on a bus to get back into the terminal. There aren't enough terminals, so the planes stop outside, and then the passengers transfer to a bus to get back inside the building. This is the same for many outgoing flights as well. Even if everything goes smoothly and you manage to get on the first bus (on a big flight, everyone does not fit on the first bus), it will take a minimum of 30 minutes. Then you have passport control to pass (as a U.S. citizen this takes longer) and you have to claim and then recheck your bags.

A lot of the time, the connecting flight is in a completely different terminal from the arriving flight (especially in your situation coming from the U.S., and then connecting toward Rome) - so then you have to collect all your luggage, get on the airport bus and then travel to the next terminal, check in, re-check your bags, etc. The bus runs in a loop, so if the terminal you need to get to happens to be at the end of the loop then you have to wait for everyone else to get on/off at all the other terminals first. It takes forever. I've done it from Newark to CDG to Naples, Italy. You should give yourself at least 2 hours minimum to make each connecting flight.

Answer 3

Yeah, that's about right. If you're going to Rome then you're flying on a Schengen VISA which gives you as much right to be in Paris as it does for you to be in Rome therefore there's no need to do any checks as long as you don't leave the departures lounge.