Thursday, March 29, 2012

Customs & Immigration - Charles De Gaulle Airport

After looking at the easycdg.com website I%26#39;m still a little confused about immigration. While we%26#39;ll stay within Terminal 2 (going from 2A to 2F), we%26#39;ll be arriving from the US and continuing on to a Schengen country (the Netherlands) so it looks like we need to clear customs and immigration at CDG. Is that correct? If so, where would that be and are there any problems or delays we should anticipate? We have a 2 hour 15 minute connection time between Continental and KLM. If we do have to clear customs, would we need to pick up our checked luggage? The last time we were in Europe, there was no Schengen, etc.





Thanks for the help.




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Upon landing at CDG the very first thing you%26#39;ll do after descending from the plane is passing through Immigration, handled by the French national police.





Only after that do you collect your baggage and pass through Customs, handled by customs officers. Usually involves nothing more than walking by them. They will only stop you if you look suspicious.





After that you will again have to pass through security at terminal 2F, but (likely) not Immigration, as you%26#39;re flying to a Schengen country.





This has been my experience on multiple France/North America/European (both Shengen and non-Schengen) flights out of CDG.





The reason why I say %26quot;likely%26quot; above is because not all Schengen region travels are free of Immigration checks, such as traveling from France to UK via the Eurostar rail line, which does require an Immigration screening.




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What you will need to do really depends on whether your second flight is part of a single ticket (e.g., if Continental and KLM are partners and it%26#39;s a code share flight with your luggage checked to your final destination).





If not, the above advice is accurate. If so, there will be %26quot;correspondance%26quot; signs when you deplane and you will go to your connection without leaving the secure area. If you%26#39;re unclear about any of this, check with Continental to find out whether your luggage already is checked to your final destination.




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First of all check with the agency selling your ticket if you indeed need to pick up your luggage. If not, it is somewhat easier. Terminal 2 is huge and the distance from 2A to 2F big (we%26#39;ve experienced this 2 weeks ago) and you will need to do lots of walking between these two points. Yes, you will have to check in through customs, immigration and have your hand luggage screened. The correspondence indicators are ambiguous and stressed travellers can be seen at every step. We travelled Air France and were told that assistance will be provided to us if needed, well no such assistance was available as there were tons of people in need of direction and already late for their flight. In total honesty I have to admit that CDG is the worst organized airport I have seen (and we travel extensively). The check in procedure was very slow with several lines of people merging into about 3 check-in lines. We were still in the line (even after going through the Emergency line) and 10 min prior to the scheduled airplane departure. Much to our surprise once we have reached our seats we realized that we were among the first pasangers in the aircraft (which left CDG over one hour late to arrive on time in Toronto - so I guess this type of procedure is somehow %26quot;standard%26quot;). I do not want to scare anyone but in total honesy I expect this situation to get worse once the vacation season starts. If you will experience the situation above please remember that you are not alone and try to remain calm as once your luggage is checked in the plane will not leave without you (since the new security policies have been introduced).





Enjoy your vacation!




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Am I out to lunch on this or is there a super secret pathway between 2A and 2F that you can use and not have to exit the secured area?





If I remember correctly, it%26#39;s as AlbaIulia says: 2A is a long walk from 2F.




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%26lt;%26lt;...not all Schengen region travels are free of Immigration checks, such as traveling from France to UK via the Eurostar rail line, which does require an Immigration screening.%26gt;%26gt;





Actually it%26#39;s because the United Kingdom and Ireland have opted out from the core Schengen provisions, preferring to keep control over cross-border flows as a matter of joint responsibility.





en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement




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You are an idiot. Perhaps it%26#39;s your foul mouth and mean spirit that caused the issues!




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I agree with the OP who said that CDG is badly organized. I hate the place, and refuse to travel through it except at gunpoint. I just go KLM directly to AMS, and take Thalys to Paris. It%26#39;s much less stressful that way.





2 hours and 15 minutes should be enough time to make your connections, but you can%26#39;t dawdle anywhere. If your flight is late arriving, you may have to run through the terminal.





If you have a beard and/or mustache, be sure that it%26#39;s freshly clipped and tidy looking. Don%26#39;t get in line behind anyone whose beard/mustache is scruffy looking. Scruffy looking facial hair seems to attract Customs inspections which slow you down when you have to make a connecting flight.




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