Paris CDG Airport

Terrible experience. There were only two officers at passport control, resulting in long waiting times and frustration. Some passengers complained (reasonably) to the only worker there who responded by turning her back and calling the police. The shops are expensive, employees at an international airport do not speak English, the place smells. If I could avoid the transit via Paris, I would definitely do so. There was nowhere to sit for a coffee either!

Staff are very arrogant in dealing with any problems, not helpful at all. The airport itself smells of smoke and is filthy. Shops and duty free are very expensive. Be careful as many members of public allowed to wander the airport even though they have no reason to be in airport they seem to hang around the toilet areas. Very unhygienic airport make sure to carry wipes with you as your clothes and hands will need to cleaned.

I have used Paris CDG many times over the past few years, since I live in Paris and travel regularly for business and to visit friends abroad. Whilst I admit the first time I used CDG it was not a pleasant experience, once I had gotten familiar with it it is now my favourite airport (if you get the good terminal(s)). Terminal 2E is the best one, it has lots to do, games to play, loads of food places and generally is a nice place to be stuck for a while. The downside is getting to it, the airport is huge and finding your way around as a newbie is not a simple task. The security checks tend to go smoothly with little waiting, the same can not be said for the passport checks though. There have been many times I have been stuck in what seemed like endless passport queues where there's very few people on the desks. Overall though it's a great airport for regular travel.

✅ Verified Review | The last review of CDG airport says that it's unusual to wait more than 10 minutes to get through the passport check area these days. I can't speak to what's "usual", but we waited over 80 minutes yesterday. We had a 90 minute layover. Our flight into CDG was on time. Let's say it took us 10 minutes to get off the plane, and walk to the passport check area (though I don't think it took us that long). We were still in line by the time our outgoing flight was scheduled to depart at 10.10 am. In talking to others in line, there were at least three other flights scheduled to depart at 10.10 or 10.15. Who scheduled that? After finally getting through that painfully slow moving line (including skipping part of the line when we showed one of the attendants that our flight was leaving), we ran to the gate. Unfortunately, the gate was at another part of the airport, so we had to take a shuttle bus. The bus driver waited until the bus was completely full before taking off, and when she did, she drove slower than every other car on the road. When we did get to the terminal, the signs weren't clear how to get to the gate. Fortunately for us, they held our plane. We showed up at the gate about 20-25 minutes after our scheduled take off. We ended up taking off 45 minutes late, as others were still getting on after going through the passport line. The entire time we were in line, no one was explaining anything to people in line. Everyone in line, to their credit, stayed calm. But on the inside, we were all freaking out about missing our flights. I say, stay away from CDG if you can.

✅ Verified Review | Paris CDG airport, one of the world's largest hubs and France's main entry gate has, during the last past years, made a quantity of huge efforts to deserve the title of a good international airport. Before, I tried to avoid Paris CDG airport, as I really didn't like to fly there. Today, I would easily recommend this airport to travelers. The airport made considerable improvements in matters of access (additional train and bus services, including intercity buses services) and accessibility (for disabled people), of information (now there are clear signs everywhere in the airport). Services also gained a lot in efficiency and rapidity. Now it's very rare to wait more than 10 minutes in passport control, or more than 15 minutes at luggage claim (it was sometimes up to 45 minuntes before). Even the food and shops have ben made more attractive. Now you can find something to eat or to buy at almost any time of the day or night, which was a real problem before. Now there is a totally free wifi service, without restriction, and more and more plugs are added for people to charge their equipement, in all terminals. i'm happy to see these improvements and I would today clearly recommend passengers this airport for departure, arrival or transit.

✅ Verified Review | Paris CDG airport is completely inadequate as an international hub, both from logistic stand point and due to the attitude of the staff. The incoming flight (within Schengen area) arrived in terminal 2F, passport control has taken 45 minutes with SkyPriority lines not clearly marked (they were visible only after being in line for 15 minutes at least). Once through this step, you are taken by bus to departure gates M (to the USA), insufficient number of vehicles are provided for the number of passengers (and long lines again) and again arrogant staff that are not helpful. I finally made it 5 minutes before closing the gate but I don't recommend this airport at all. Next time I will use Amsterdam. My score is not lower because the shops and lounges here are quite nice and this may be valuable for some travelers (and for me if I had time!)

✅ Verified Review | What a terrible experience waiting in line. The French are too cheap to staff adequately, despite waiting times longer than an hour. 2/3 of the booths were unstaffed. Let's face it: they know exactly how many people will arrive, they know how long it takes to process one person, and so they can predict how long we will wait at each staffing level. This is planned purposeful discomfort. Delta and other airlines will lose passengers by routing people through CDG. Avoid it at all costs!

Paris CDG Airport security and passport control was unbearable, several hours in a queue. Confusion, aggression and depression was, in my view, the general emotions of the thousands of people trying to get on planes. I don't think the staff faired much better as it can not be pleasant for them either. Allow at least 3 hours before flight or you will miss it. Don't expect much help from staff as they are overwhelmed and under pressure from all sides. Try the train.

✅ Verified Review | My wife and I are about 70 years old. We were flying from Vancouver, British Columbia to Florence on our first visit to Italy. We had a connecting flight at Charles de Gaulle airport. Our incoming Air France flight from Vancouver arrived on time. We were to get an Air France connecting flight to Florence and were on our way until we hit Passport Control. Hundreds of people were waiting for two passport officers, one for EU and one for everyone else. It didn't matter which line you were on, both moved glacially. There was no one there helping prioritize the most immediate flights. There was no there who expressed concern, other than the passengers themselves, many of whom were angry and anguished, some of whom tried to push their way ahead, nearly causing fights. We missed our connection. There was no one from Air France at the gate by the time we got there. We were eventually re-routed to Bologna by Air France and left to our own devices to get to Florence. We were fortunate to meet a kind woman in the same situation who had someone able to pick us all up on our arrival in Bologna and take us to Florence. The chief impressions I had from CDG were impassivity, lack of organization and inadequate staffing. From what I have read this is not a unique experience. My wife and I plan to avoid this airport when at all possible in the future. I am writing in the hope of warning others of what appears to be systematic deficiencies accompanied by a lack of responsibility and concern for passengers passing through CDG. As an aside, terminal toilets were not clean and hand towels were absent.

I try to avoid Paris CDG airport when possible based on previous experience but sometimes I'm left with no choice but to use it. The border control is always (in my experience) very crowded, disorganised and chaotic. Having to take a train to the baggage hall is not ideal, and transfers from one terminal to another sometimes confusing and not very convenient. On this occasion, I arrived in Terminal 2E and departed from Terminal 2G which is a separate building a bus ride away. I had a 5-hour wait between flights and Terminal 2G offers very few shopping and dining options. Overall, Paris CDG is not a pleasant experience.