GPicard

Traveling to France in November and need advice. I'm ticketed on American Airlines/British Airways from HOU to CDG. I have separate tickets and booking numbers to continue via Air France to Bordeaux, France. Since my luggage will be tagged through to CDG, and I will be claiming them upon arrival, what is the process once I claim my bags and clear customs? Will I be able to recheck my bag with Air France to Bordeaux in the vicinity of the customs area or will I be required to proceed to the Air France ticketing counter and begin the checkin process for a new flight? I've read something about a "self-connecting transfer" area, but I've never done this before and am uncertain of the specific process or location. Thanks in advance for anyone's expertise in helping to minimize any travel hiccoughs.

Sarastro

A "self-connecting transfer" simply means you are on your own with no guarantee that, in the even of a delay of any kind, you will be protected on a backup flight.

AA arrives CDG at terminal 2A, not sure where BA arrives but from wherever you arrive, you will make your way to the AF check in desk. Recent delays at CDG passport control have been well in excess of 60 minutes and recent AF baggage check in has been extended to 2 hours before scheduled departure.

Hopefully, by November things will be back to normal, but I would schedule 3 to 4 hours between your CDG arrival and planned departure.

balthy

Are you flying IAH LHR on AA then connecting on BA to CDG? AF have a direct flight IAHCDG which I would have thought made more sense to take as you could have had one booking all the way thru to BOD from IAH with luggage tagged to final destination.

Otherwise if you travel as booked, you’ll have to clear immigration and customs at CDG then pick up luggage then check in for your next AF flight to BOD, on top of a transfer at LHR from T3 to T5. There are no ticketing counters. They went out decades ago. It’s check in counters or bag drop counters or self service kiosks and even self service bag tag machines (then drop bags at self bag drop desks).

My experience of AF is that bag drop is open several hours before flight departure, the recommended time to arrive for the flight is 2 hours but that doesn’t mean you can only bag drop max two hours before the flight.

GPicard

Thanks so much for the quick reply. Our actual itinerary is HOU-DFW on AA, DFW-LHR on AA, and then LHR-CDG (AA codeshare with British Airways), all on a single booking number. I agree that the AF direct IAH-CDG would have been the superior itinerary; however, considering that we booked first/flagship business class on AA for a little over $2,000 per person, compared to nearly $6,000 on DL/AF, it was an incredible deal that we couldn't pass up!! After we booked our itinerary we decided to add on a couple of nights in Bordeaux. So, essentially, we will be checked through all the way to Paris, but whenever we arrive in Paris we will have to clear immigration/customs, pick up bags and then check in for the AF flight to BOD. I'm trying to determine whether I will have to return to the main ticketing area/lobby at CDG to check in at a counter or kiosk with all of the other arriving passengers, proceed through CDG security, and then to gate just as if we were starting the trip from scratch again... OR whether we will be able to continue through customs/immigration after landing to a ticket counter/kiosk, drop off bags and continue on to our AF gate.

I appreciate your info. GP

GPicard

Thanks for the info. Our arrival time into CDG is scheduled for 11:00 .am. on British Airways. I was hopeful to book the connecting flight with Air France at 1:45 p.m., which would allow me 2:45 connection time for immigration/customs and check-in to AF flight. Think this would be too tight?

GPicard

Thanks for the reply. Our current itinerary is HOU-DFW/DFW-LHR/LHR-CDG on American Airlines / British Airways codeshare. We will be ticketed through to Paris on a single booking record. I agree that the Air France direct flight from IAH-CDG is much more convenient indeed; however, I was able to book us all in first/flagship business on American Airlines for just over $2,000 round trip, compared to the Delta/AF round trip fare of nearly $6,000. We decided to add on a couple of nights in Bordeaux after booking our original itinerary, thus the reason we're adding a separate booking record on Air France to get to Bordeaux. I'm trying to determine if, once we clear customs/immigration with our bags, will I have to physically re-enter the airport main ticketing area and check in my bags for the CDG-BOD flight on Air France like I'm starting the entire process from scratch, including security clearance? Or will I be able to proceed through customs/immigration and while I am still within the airport security continue on to check in for AF flight and drop bags off and continue to gate?

twk

Can't answer your question for sure, but I flew into CDG from DFW on AA back in May and I don't recall any place where you could check your bags for Air France before exiting security. I'm sure you'll be flying out of a different terminal (not 2A), so I'm afraid you will have to do security, again.

Sarastro

No.

You are NOT a connecting passenger at CDG. You will clear immigration/customs inbound at CDG, proceed to the AF check in desk, which as of last weekend had a 2 hour before departure check in time, then go through security and on to your BOD departure gate. I would allow no less than 3 hours for the CDG formalities, 4 hours would be better.

mjs

Agree with Sarastro. You have a lot of moving parts to your flights with four segments. Hopefully you have some Trip delay/Trip interruption/Baggage delay/Baggage loss insurance through your credit card or travel insurance. Would also check out FlightAware and see the reliability of your flights.

aliced

Agree with the potential issues of connecting flight to Bordeaux. You might want to look into staying Paris some nights and taking train to Bordeaux. It was a lovely ride. Do you intend to spend any time in Paris? If so, I would do it upon arrival, as once on way home, complications such as lost luggage are not as traumatic . We trsined to Bordeaux as wanted an overnight in Limoges for the National Porcelain Musee, and rented a car in Bordeaux for few weeks. This Fall, we are doing no connecting flights, but are taking trains once on the Continent and coming back to US too. People are suggesting cross-packing few items, and ensuring your carryon has at least one add'l clothing option. We are hoping the "issues" will be resolved by early September, we go late September-Oct.

Seamus

Risky plan - you are essentially arriving Paris in completion of one itinerary and then beginning a second trip CDG-BOD which requires checking in at Air France after clearing passport control and retrieving your checked bags. BA arrives in Terminal 2A and AF to BOD departs from 2F. Customs is typically a non issue as you just exit via the green lane into the airport non-secure land side area. You will have to physically re-enter the landside arrivals area and go to an AF check in kiosk or counter to check the bags by their 40 minute deadline for domestic flight to BOD. I would not try this with anything less than a solid three hours and even that would make me nervous. In fact, I'd probably do as aliced recommends and spend a day or two in Paris then take a TGV to Bordeaux.

GPicard

We are spending a week in Paris, but will be starting the first two nights in Bordeaux. So we will arrive CDG on Friday at 11:00 am. Air France does offer a later departure at 5:00 pm which would give us 6 hours to connect through CDG. We considered also the TGV to Bordeaux, but were hoping to arrive in Bordeaux a little earlier in the day. I appreciate your honest feedback about no less than 3-4 hours connection time in CDG. I was even wondering if booking business in AF would offer us a speedier check in process at CDG.

balthy

6 hrs is too much, that’s a long time to wait after all the flights you’ve taken in one day. Is it not possible for you to stay a week in Paris first then take the train to Bordeaux? Are you only staying in BOD for 2 nights?
You’d be checking in online or at least you should be then only dropping bags. There is a separate desk for bag drop for Sky Priority & business class.

GPicard

Thanks for the reply. I, too, agree that six hours is too long to spend wasted at CDG. We are currently looking at starting our trip in Paris after arrival and traveling to Bordeaux via TGV for two nights. May do Bordeaux in the middle or towards the end of our stay. I agree that the connection time at CDG is too long and risky if we take an AF flight.

Christina

yeah, that's what I would do. No way in the world would I hang around CDG for 6 hrs to go to Bordeaux. Going in the middle of your trip isn't a bad idea, actually, if you have a week in Paris. That way you could spend 3-4 days in two different hotels in different areas, I like to do that myself when in Paris for more than a week. First hotel you could book near the train station to Bordeaux (which I think is Montparnasse). Second one you could book on the Right Bank, for example, then you'd b e closer to CDG to leave. Although since you have to take the train back to Paris, I guess it would come back to Montparnasse also but lots of metro lines go through there where you could get to a hotel elsewhere, I've done it. I just like staying in a couple different neighborhoods that are different as I usually stay around my hotel at night for dining.

I like to stay in the 9th arr near Trinité metro stop myself, and that's on a direct metro line from Montparnasse. Of course you could take a taxi anywhere.

Seamus

Think that's good planning, GPicard. Arrival time is never guaranteed as delays have become common and touchdown may be different than the time you actually get to the gate, so calculation of transit time is always a best guess. Plus you'll have less travel wear and tear when you do get to Bordeaux.

GPicard

Thank you!

Southam

Fast train from CdG to Bordeaux is scheduled for a little less than fours on some direct trains. Nice way to travel, through countryside that is often worth looking at.