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Which one is better: Charles de Gaulle Int. Airport Terminal 1 or Terminal 2A? |
Travel Info I'm leaving for Paris in the near future, but still hasn't decided which airline to fly with. I have read some websites complaining about CDG. Fine, but the company I work for told me to fly directly to Paris. Which one is better (in term of efficiency, architecture, cleanliness, number of shops/restaurants, immigration/customs queue, ease of traveling, etc.): CDG 1 or CDG 2A (not 2B/C/D/E/F--simply 2A)? For me, choosing to land in the right terminal is important. I don't want to get stuck inside a terminal which has virtually nothing good. Travel Tips I can say that this is an issue and in fact it is, though it's not that big. Most Star Alliance flights (except AC and OS) fly out of Terminal 1. Terminal 1 is currently renovated, so it's get better for some of Star Alliance flights (e.g. TG and LH) but still looks bad for some Star Alliance flights, too (e.g. SQ and UA). There are many immigration queues, but usually only one or two are opened. The baggage claims are chaos as well. Terminal 2 handles Air France and most SkyTeam and oneworld flights. Terminal 2 in contrast is newer, a bit cleaner, and the architecture is more interesting. However, in CDG, the more interesting the architecture is, the more likely you'll find trouble, although it doesn't always happen. Now we're speaking about Terminal 2A. The older parts of Terminal 2 (2A-2D) were designed in 1980s and each of the terminal is only equipped with 6 airbridges (an additional 3 airbridges are available in terminal 2A) so you're likely to be transported to your main terminal by bus. This may happen if you're flying from Canada by AC and flying from Asia by Asian carriers. All of those flights landed between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. So, the faster your plane lands, the more chance of your plane to get an airbridge. Because Terminal 2A is so small, immigration queue might be painful and there are only 4 baggage claim carrousels. So, in terms of service there is no much different from Terminal 1 and Terminal 2A. But I suggest you to use Terminal 2A instead since it's newer and it has slightly more facilities to use than Terminal 1. Others This is really a non-issue. It's not as if you were going to be there for any legnth of time (unless your flight is delayed). They're as good as each other. Terminal 3 on the other hand has fewer facilities, but that's the one used by the cheap ailrines and charter flights. 2A is 'better' as it is the more modern of the two and you can easily go to the other 2 terminals. Terminal 1 is far from the others, has less of a selection of shops/restaurants and is less practical if you are going to be taking the RER. As for customs queue and efficiency, I think that the two are equivalent. See the ADP website for more information (in English) http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/adp/en-gb... American in Paris 2A is newer and better. T1 is far from others (you need to take a bus to reach T2). All restaurants and shops are in T2. Anyway, i thnk all flights from US are landing on T2. Have a nice trip I used to work at CDG T1 and honestly, there isn't much difference. I communted from another part of France so I went through T2 a lot. T1 is mainly for foreign airlines, not charters which are served from Terminal 3. T2 is mainly Air France with a few code-shared non-French airlines. I used to fly out of T2A and T2C. You have to walk a long way to get to the shops and there isn't much in the gate area. At least you can get coffee in the gate area in T1! If you opt for T1, and find there's a long immigration line, turn and start walking. It's round and there are several immigration points. There can be a long wait at one and none at another. The passengers don't realize that there are multiple areas to go through. The big problem at CDG is when you have to change airlines between T1 and T2. There is only a crowded, confusing, long bus ride. I could babble on about this but since you're going only to Paris, you need not be concerned. None of the terminals have a lot as far as shops are concerned so really, I don't think this is a big factor when deciding. Go for price, schedule and/or airline instead. Now this really is a dumb question. Why don't you also ask which airlines carry Pepsi and which Coke? There is really no difference worth worrying about. |
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