Who to fly from LHR to CDG with?

[sinala1]

Hi Folks

Was going to post this in the Questions forum, but thought it may have been shifted by "security" to this thread, so decided to save them the effort!

Just wondering who I can fly from LHR to CDG with. Looked at EasyJet (out of Luton), BA, Air France, BMI. RyanAir dont fly that sector. Any other suggestions? This Australian and his mate will be over that way in October...

Cheers folks

[flyer2042]

Thats really the only ones who fly there direct.

Its always a good idea to check www.expedia.co.uk to see about flights if you aren't too sure who flies where!

flyer

[Boss Raptor]

At a potential flight time of 35-40 mins. there is nothing positive/negative about either AF or BA - you wont be on long enough to get any sort of service - get the best price you can - AF have a convenient bus from their terminal to central Paris however

[Bezi l]

true with regard to the AF bus, but you don't have to have flown with AF to catch the bus. I've flown into CDG with bmi before and have then caught the AF bus to go into central Paris.

[Memetic]

If you looked at Luton did you consider London City? Easy to get to from Central London.

Re the bus from CDG. YOu need to buy a ticket in the terminal before you baord the bus, worth remembering if tine is tight.

[sinala1]

Thanks for the input folks... was a toss up between BMI LHR-CDG or EasyJet LTN-CDG... both fares were about the same.. but BMI's cheaper seats have obviously been sold, as the ticket price has doubled

EasyJet here I come!

Thanks

[Land After]

What about the tunnel

Depends on your starting point, but may be good value and more convenient. No major league security, more space and centre to centre service.

[Pax Vobiscum]

... and from CDG to the centre of Paris, the fastest method (MUCH faster at peak periods) is the RER train (or you could take the TGV) ...

[Xenia]

I am just wondering if your concern is about service on board or facilities in getting public transport from airport to city and viceversa.
As far as service on board is concern it is such a short sector it shouldn't bother you to much ... BA or AF should make no difference. I could suggest you to look for the cheapest fare ... it should be only a 40 minutes flight.
Happy landings

[answer=42]

If you're going city-centre - city-centre, why not fly Eurostar? The last time I had time-critical travel between the two cities, I found that was the best way.

[Jerricho]

Second vote for the Eurostar. The missus and I used it a couple of times, and it just saves so much aggro at good old Heathrow.

(Especially if the stupid weather over that way keeps it up )

[sinala1]

Hi Folks

Thanks again for all the repsonses, very much appreciated!

A question though... the eurostar trip itself takes about 3 hours (just under) whereas the flight is apparently just under 1 hour. The question is though, will it be quicker on the train to avoid customs at CDG/LHR?

This might sound a bit dorky though, I have always wanted to fly into LHR... just once... am I sick? Should I see a doctor?

[sinala1]

Ok folks further to the above I have booked BMI BD173 LHR-CDG... is anyone able to tell me which a/c type usually operates this sector, or is it an on-demand decision made closer to the date of flight?

Cheers!

[BahrainLad]

On BA, by the time you've

1. Schlepped out of Paris on the RER (if you're anything like me, always picking the one that stops everywhere),
2. Fought your way through the mess that is CDG T2B,
3. Been delayed due to slots,
4. Endured a massive taxi to the rwy,
5. Had a delhi-belly box thrown at you,
6. Done an aerial tour of North London due to the inevitable hold,
7. Landed on 27R, long taxi to 27L, even longer wait to cross to get to T4,
8. Bussed around the bowels of T4 (CDG always seems to get a remote gate)
9. and finally queued for hours at Immigration if you're not a EU citizen....

you'll wish you'd taken Eurostar! In any case, I think the quickest journey time is now down to 2h40 due to the high speed link being half-open.

[Globaliser]

BahrainLad's missed the last step: Schlepping all the way into central London, which is basically an hour in itself.

[Bezi l]

BD173 is normally an A320 during the week and on Saturdays is usually an A319.

Have a good trip.

[sinala1]

Thanks heaps for that, I look forward to flying with BMI! Have a techie I work with who used to fly for BMI on the RJ... really nice guy, his wife worked in ground staff there too!

Cheers

[sinala1]

Ok so we got back from the trip, and yes now in hindsight I will most likely never fly LHR-CDG ever again! The flight itself was fine (flew BMI), but I have to say that LHR was a bit of a let down - nothing like what I had expected... I know it sounds a bit corny but LHR is the one airport I had always wanted to experience - there was not much to really experience about it! Very old, and very slow security lines...

The whole trip ended up taking about 8 hours - by the time you count the bus from Russell Square to LHR (too early for the tube), checking in, waiting in MASSIVE security line, boarding, taxi (not too bad surprisingly!), flight itself, then arriving at CDG to wait on the taxiway for about 1/2 hour, finally getting a bay, disembarking, waiting for baggage, getting grumped at by ar*ehole in Customs, then figuring out how to get the train into Bastille!!

Ah bitter experience, what a great teacher you are

[Jordan D]

Am going to suggest the only way for London-Paris/Brussells: take the train. Eurostar is quicker, faster, more efficient, with shorter check-in times and city-city.

My mum was based in Paris for a year, and commuted weekly from our home in London. The only time she took the plane, was when she was due to travel the day of the Tunnel fire.

Jordan

[Gonzo]

From an ATC point of view, I'd recommend AF LHR-CDG, as they always seem to pick up less of a slot delay than BMI and BA for the same departure time/route. Of course, some say that CDG Air Traffic Flow Management shows favouritism towards AF, but of course that's just idle speculation!