Allow extra time at CDG

Near Paris, it is fine to arrive at Charles de Gaulle International Airport (Roissy CDG), but we have found departing and making connections there to be very difficult.

I arrived at CDG airport on May 16, 2009, three hours before my 10:40 a.m. flight to Atlanta. It was an Air France flight but ticketed through Delta. The Delta counter sent me to the Air France counter and then they tried to send me back to Delta to check in, but I refused.

After finally checking in, 45 minutes later, I was sent to the security area. The very long “international” line led to a roped-off area and only two stations. After we inched along for over an hour, a third station was opened and the roped-off area widened, which encouraged about 50 travelers from someplace else to charge in front of us! We were left to fend for ourselves to keep from getting pushed back even further.

As luck would have it, when I finally reached the front of the line, they decided to do a detailed search of my bag. When I said I had been in the line for two hours and my flight was leaving at 10:40 a.m., the guard looked at his watch and immediately put everything back in my bag. It was 10:30!

There were three of us running down the hallway toward the gate. Because of the security problems, they did hold the plane until we boarded. What a mess!

In June ’08 I had one hour and 15 minutes to change planes at CDG, Air France to Air France. These were two domestic flights and that was the connect time recommended by the airline.

I got on the bus to go from one terminal to the other. It stopped to drop off people all along the way, and I missed my connection. The plane was still there, but the security agents would not let me and others on it! About 10 people missed that connection and were forced to stay at CDG for eight hours!

ALAINE HARRIS

Atlanta, GA