Paris CDG Airport

Arrived 25th November, 2016, a piece of "abandoned" luggage had been through security checks and was left at gate 8. The persons names were announced over the PA 50 times with no response. Arrived 6.40am left airport close to 11am, which of course made a mess of prebooked transfer to accommodation. We were herded into the baggage carousel area and left for 2.5 hours, no water, food or seating. Return journey, this time the "abandoned" luggage incident happened before I arrived at 8.45am. My flight was for 11.45am. Over 900 passengers held in customs area with 4 immigration checkpoints open. By the time I was through with the ordeal of customs, I was herded towards a train with no instructions from staff. Thank goodness for another passenger who knew where I should be. Had to climb 70 stair escalator as it was out of order and then run to catch my flight, with a handbag, coat, cabin luggage. Did not get an opportunity to "sniff" dutyfree. They are paranoid to the max, and I appreciate that, but there has to be a plan of action that does not put the passenger into such extreme situations and if it had not been for the fact that I arrived 3 hours earlier, I would have definitely missed my flight.

Out of all the airports I've visited, this has to rank among the worst. There was 1 immigration counter opened for nearly a few hundred non-EU passengers, which translated into an hour-plus wait just to clear immigration in a dingy low-ceiling room. Just when we thought the worst was over, out of the 3 suitcases we checked-in, only 1 appears on the baggage claim belt. After much searching, we find another one dumped far away in the oversized baggage area, even though it's literally the same size as the other suitcase and perfectly well within limits. The last suitcase completely vanishes and turns up a few days later with no reason given. The terminal is clean and the design relatively sleek, but this becomes largely irrelevant when it fails on the most basic functions expected of any airport.

I've been to many developing world airports in Africa, India and Asia but none are as bad as Paris CDG. Coming in from Amsterdam, changing to a flight to New Delhi, I had to queue for 90 minutes at the passport check. Probably a few thousand people had to stand in poorly organised lines, in a very hot room where some nearly panicked. And even though there were maybe 20 counters for the border police, only 6 were manned. Sorry Air France, but there's no way I'll be flying over Paris again unless CDG radically improves.

Incredible waiting time to cross arrivals customs and departures queue for over 1h at Paris CDG Airport. For an intercontinental flight from Washington DC to Paris and a travel time of 6hrs waiting in the airport that long is simply unacceptable. It's completely inhumane and careless.

This is a very large airport, on a par with Frankfurt and Heathrow. Transfers between terminals is largely by buses operating on circular routes. These are frequent but still crowded, and instructions are in English and French, but are still somewhat intimidating. It is also confusing that there a number of stops for terminal 2E. Security lines were long but moved quickly. At certain places there were somewhat officious ladies giving directions but elsewhere there was gallic indifference to queries. Terminal 2E is vast, bright and airy, but it is a long walk from one end to the other. Shops were in general very chic and expensive.

✅ Verified Review | Paris CDG Business Class Lounge in Terminal 2G Coming from Hong Kong flying on to Bremen in Business Class. The Air France lounge is the worst I had ever to experience. Too small, totally overcrowded, no windows, maybe 40 seats in a tiny room and people still have to stand in this overcrowded unacceptable hole. No washroom! For that you have to leave the "lounge" again. The "food" (not acceptable as well, tiny selection) has to be eaten on your knees, no tables around. This is what AF is offering after 13 hours flight for a inner-european connection flight. Never again AF.

✅ Verified Review | One of the worst airports I've been to in the last decade. To the frequent traveller, CDG can be a shock, a real nightmare. Arrived to terminal 2E and departed from 2A. Remember it's the "new" part of the airport. Just a summary of my encounters: Took 50 minutes to get through passport control. Staff barely speaks English. E-passport gates for EU e-passport holders didn't work. For some passengers it did, for others didn't. The security lady told me "it's only for French passport". Then why does it have 27 flags in front of it. RER train station closed from terminal 2, no reason given, and only told of that AFTER buying a ticket. Had to take shuttle to T1 and take the train from there. Departure was shocking. Signage can probably only be understood by the person who designed it. Check-in area 9 of terminal 2A is actually in the basement under terminal 2C. Once past security, forget about having options for a decent meal. An entire terminal had only 2 places to eat - a crazy-expensive, empty restaurant and a small sandwich shop with a few options to be fair, but coffee made from automatic machines. In my rating, I didn't factor in the fact that my 1hr flight was delayed by 3 hrs "due to traffic".

✅ Verified Review | I have never encountered such chaos as passport control at CDG earlier this afternoon. Having already checked in for my flight well in advance and dropped off my hold bag, I was then in the queue for border police for over an hour and a half. This was supposed to be the EU passports queue but in the end everyone was in the same horrendous muddle. Many people - some elderly or with small children - were trying to ask officials what they should do as their flights were already boarding - there were very few airport staff around and those that were just said 'wait' and were totally unhelpful. I missed my flight as did numerous others. I then asked what I should do. I am not a frequent traveller and am not familiar with this airport. All I was given were cursory waves of the hand, shrugs, and directions to desks whose staff then said I was in the wrong place. It was only after I exited the secure area that a guy at the airport information desk beside the train station was helpful, polite and kind. He took great trouble to give me the right directions to the Air France ticketing desk, and the lady there was extremely understanding and helpful and rebooked me on the next flight. These were the only two people out of numerous airport staff who took the time to understand my situation. None of this would have happened if the border police had not been so hopeless. I completely understand the need for security (actual bag checking security took a matter of minutes) but there was no warning of this ridiculous delay. Only very few police passport check desks were open. I now have hours to wait and will not be home till late at night. And although security (as in bags) at the L gates was quick, the official there was also rude and unhelpful, almost threw my bag at me. This was a completely horrible experience. My husband uses this airport up to 4 times per week and says that although today was exceptionally bad, passport control is always appalling. It certainly does make one appreciate the staff at Edinburgh Airport.

✅ Verified Review | Paris CDG is definitely the worst airport in Europe. My Air France flight arrived f5 ive minutes ahead of schedule. The end result was that we had to wait for 10 minutes for the airbridge to reach the plane. Then the infamous immigration process. No dedicated lines for EU passport. 2 bored and disgruntled staff were working out of 15 booths available - a very slow process. We were lucky to arrive at night. In the mornings when US and Asia flights arrive the queue can be so massive. Upon collecting your luggage, guys posing as taxi drivers try to hassle you. I am French and feel so ashamed of this place. Apparently no improvement is being made or planned, no one cares or seems to understand the dire situation of this place.

✅ Verified Review | Very bad experience. Coming from Cancun on an AirFrance flight (on time) we wasted a lot of time waiting for the passport control. Nobody from the ground crew helped us even if we asked them for a help showing them our boarding passes. They simply told us to wait, letting other people jumping the line. We arrived at the gate F56 (to take our second plane to Rome) at 12.30 while the plane was still there (departure at 12.40) but they told the gate was closed. Very bad customer care and cuatomer assistance. The customer service F56A team simply did nothing. Only after several complains (a total of 9 people coming from Cancun lost the plane to Rome) they started trying to book a new flight for us.