I am getting ready to book our travel to Provence for a two week trip in March.
We have decided to fly to Paris, then connect to an Air France flight to Marseille instead of taking the TGV to Avignon. It appears to be cheaper and faster overall.
However, the flights I'm looking allow only a 45 minute connection from our arrival in Paris (via Delta) and the departure on Air France to Marseille.
Will we have to go through customs at CDG? The only other time we transfered upon arrival in France (to take a connection to Strasbourg), our bags were checked straight through and we actually never went through any kind of entry process at all!
And does anyone know if 45 minutes is enough time to make this transfer? It leaves almost no time for any delays...
I have done that. Just be SURE when you leave the US that you have your bags checked through to Marseille. I doubt that 45 minutes will do it..not at CDG...flights are late, takes forever to get off, etc....you should be able to get better connections in CDG. Marseille is a great little airport..small and convenient. I did this a few years ago, when I had a house rented in the Vaucluse. My only problem was that they messed up my luggage from CDG..it arrived a day later!! Joan
You have the same options that I do, traveling from Asheville..shuttle to ATL or to CVG for international flights. CVG has improved a lot!
From past experience, I always allow one "spare" flight from AVL to get to either ATL or CVG. I have extra time at those airports, so I have a decent lunch..I know I am there for my international flight. CDG needs the extra time for connections. Always very slow and/or late arriving. There are many flights to Marseille.I almost never take the flights that the airline suggests..always too close and people miss their connections. My recent trip, I was going via ATL, my shuttle taxied out at AVL, had a battery charging light blinking, returned. I was on phone to Delta before I was back inside..in a few minutes they asked for me and put me on a flight(last seat) about to leave for CVG..retrieved my luggage, too. After I was on the plane I noticed that they had upgraded my flight from CVG to CDG to Business class!! All the others had to go back into the ticket counter for new reservations. Always call the airline via "cell" when a problem!! I had several hours in CVG..found a good restaurant..checked that my luggage was in the container for CDG, and all was well!!
In a few days, I will be making my reservations for Toulouse for next Oct..Frequent Flyer tickets that need the 330 days out. I have the flights that I want written down to tell them..otherwise they would give me flights with unrealistic connections... You have lots of choices, make it easy on yourself......... Joan
Forty-five minutes is not enough time to make a connection at CDG. We experienced the situation first-hand last month. Our Air France flight was late leaving Atlanta so we knew before we took off that we wouldn't follow our original itinerary, leaving ATL at 4:10, arriving CDG at 6:30, leaving CDG at 7:15, arriving MRS at 8:40. The 10:30 flight to MRS was full so we were booked on a 12:30 flight before we left ATL.
From the time we touched down at CDG it was over an hour before we were in the terminal. Air France is still using the shuttle buses from the tarmac to the terminal for some flights. Perhaps you can find out in advance which flights will have to bus passengers to the terminal.
Our bags were checked through to MRS but we did have to go through passport control at CDG. One of our bags didn't make it but Air France delivered it to our house in Ansouis the next morning.
Hope this info is helpful.
Linda
Posts: 242 | Location: Brevard, NC, USA | Registered: 21 January 2003
You've confirmed what I suspected. It doesn't make sense that Delta's automated flight reservation system would show this as a top option... seems like their "rules" would have a minimum layover time at CDG...
Looks like I will deal directly with a reservations agent instead of using the internet reservation system anyway...
I always find it best to look at ALL the flights myself and then call and tell them what I want. They will most always give you those "too close" connections, and/or not really tell you all your options. I prefer to see them all and make my own choice.
More personal experience. Don't do it. On May 30th, I was travelling with a group from Chicago to Paris and Paris to Rome. Even though I quizzed the Air France agent a number of times about the connection time (and we had an hour and five minutes) we did not make our connection. We landed on time, but took 25 minutes to taxi to the gate and then a bus and then passport check and when we arrived at the gate (in the same terminal and not too far away) the plane to Rome had shut their doors. When I went to the service desk they were rude and mean and would not book us on another carrier only Air France and we waited six hours in the airport. I insisted and meal vouchers and after much hassle did get sandwich and drink tickets for us. I suggest at least a 2 -3 hour layover. Judie
Posts: 228 | Location: Racine, WI | Registered: 20 August 2003
Don't worry too much--there are usually frequent flights from CDG to Marseille; so if you miss one, you can catch another. If worse comes to worse, you can transfer to Orly to catch a flight there.
Kathy, my daughter had that same connection earlier this month. We were booked on a later flight to Marseille and fully expected she'd miss her connection and wind up on our flight. She made it! But she is early thirties, quite fit, and ran the entire way.....not to imply that you are not but, I would try for the next Marseille flight on AF. Since Delta and Air France code share checking through to MRS should not be a problem but you will have to stand in the passport control line. We did think it easier to fly to MRS and drive to Saignon than take the train to Avignon. It was our first experience with the Marseille airport and it is small and easy to navigate.
Posts: 130 | Location: Virginia Beach. Va USA | Registered: 02 August 2002
There are many other choices for all the various locations..just pick and choose the individual flight that suits you best...they show different combinations that you can pick your individual flights from..not just their whole combination...they seldom show the combination of flights that I select.
Joan, thanks for taking the time to look up this possible combination of flights for me! I really appreciate it. I'm trying to weigh the various issues related to departure time, connection time, arrival time, and COST to decide which combination of flights to book. If we take the 9:35 pm flight from Atlanta to Paris, it looks like the cost of the flight drops by almost $100. If it were just me, that's not that significant, but when there are three of us, it really adds up.
Question for you. Do you use Delta's on-line reservation system? How do you price and book a ticket based on these "hand-picked" flights instead of just using the combinations tne system generates for you? I really want to use the on-line system to avoid extra ticketing charges.
When I looked, I just picked some mid-week dates for March and checked for good connections in Paris and arriving back in TYS at a decent hour. I saw that many had you arriving back about midnight!!
What kind of a price were you getting? I think the low that I got for the dates that I picked was about $664...I looked at Orbitz for the wide selection of flights and Delta.
You should be able to get the same fare by calling as online..you may not get bonus points offered online.
I will be using FF when I call in Tuesday evening for my fall 2006 flights and just used FF on my trip last month.
I finally decided on our flights, and I'm coordinating with a friend who is going to join us for part of the trip and escort our daughter back home. We were on the phone this morning and decided what flights we would take. He booked his flight while we were talking on the phone. I hung up and started working on ours. My husband came in at that point and I stopped to talk with him for ten minutes top. I had just entered all the info on my daughter and pushed "confirm." I got a message back that the fare was no longer available!!
When I went back to check on our fares, they had gone up by almost $100 at that very moment. So now my friend has a fare $100 less than ours after I've studied these fares for a couple of days! At least one of us got the cheaper fare before they went up.
This points out the need to book quickly as the fare can quite literally disappear right before your eyes.
That's the way it goes!! Often people will see a good fare but wonder if it will get even better..then they miss out entirely...you have to take it when you see it and be happy with what you have.
I will be using most of my FF points tomorrow night..so, I will be back to earning points and/or paying for my tickets!! Living where I do..and you, too..we don't get the bargains that they do in the big cities!! That's what we have to pay for living in such gret areas!! Joan
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