A Guide for Flying into Paris

After recently flying into Paris, I got the idea to make a post all about my tips for traveling into the city via air transportation. This guide will hopefully make flying into Paris smoother and easier for you, especially if it’s your first time.

Choosing an Airline

Obviously, which airline you choose often depends on availability first, then convenience.

My priority is to usually look for a non-stop, direct flight because that’s what I prefer when I’m flying. Either way, I always use Google Flights to search for the best rates.

Google flights will usually let you know if the flight you’ve chosen is priced typical, low, or high, and seeing the different prices when you click on the calendar of dates often allows for you to get the best rate, if you can be flexible.

I’ve personally flown with Air Tahiti, Delta, United, French Bee, and Air France throughout my years of traveling to France, but I usually opt for Air France.

While Air France offers a friendly staff, decent food options, and a wide selection of entertainment in-flight, the reason I always opt for Air France is because of their business class perks.

Like other airlines, business class offers lie-flat seats which is always appreciated on long-haul flights, but equally enjoyed is the priority access you get in security lines and customs lines.

Air France flies into Charles de Gaulle airport and the customs line is often very long for this airport, especially during high season. Sky priority customers (aka Air France premium, business, and first class) get their own line in customs, speedier baggage claim service, and (when returning) their own special line for security.

Something I always recommend if you’re flying in during high seasons is to upgrade to a sky priority seat on Air France, if you can afford to. That way, you’ll be able to use the sky priority line during customs (and during security on the way back), which makes a huge difference in how long you have to wait.

While Delta offers the sky priority access too, Air France’s lie-flat seats are superior over Delta’s. So if you’re choosing between the two and doing business classy, go for Air France to get the roomier seats.

If you decide to do a budget airline like French Bee, I highly recommend upgrading to a premium seat (still very affordable!) as the economy seats are very small.

Choosing an Airport

Choosing an airport to fly into when flying into Paris is dependent on the airline you choose. If you’re flying from the U.S. with one of the major airlines, for example, you’re likely flying into Charles de Gaulle (CDG).

If you’re flying with French Bee, however, they are one of the airlines that flies into Orly. This is definitely a great perk because Orly is smaller and tends not to be as busy as CDG. I’ve flown into that airport and walked right up to the customs counter with no one else in front of me.

If you’re staying on the left bank of Paris too (think St. Germain or the Eiffel Tower), then Orly is only a 20 minute taxi ride. If you fly into CDG, it’s double that.

If you want to fly into Orly but don’t want to take French Bee, then you may need to do a flight that connects somewhere else in Europe first, as Orly tends to be a type of “domestic” airport for travel within Europe.

One thing to take note of is that when there are airport strikes, I’ve noticed that Orly tends to be affected more than CDG does.

Arriving at the Airport

As I mentioned, you can expect to go through a long customs line at CDG during busy times of the year when you arrive. That’s typically not the case at Orly.

With either airport, however, you can expect to find currency exchange providers available for you to use. It’s typically better to get currency exchanged at your home bank rather than a kiosk in an airport.

The exception to this is if you have a French bank card, which would allow you to withdraw euros from the ATM machines in the airport without any fees.

In general, you’ll want to have change for your initial taxi ride, and then some change for tips and small purchases (think 20 euros and under). Most places allow for Visa or Mastercard (as well as American Express but not as widely accepted), but there are small vendors that sometimes won’t allow for card usage if you’re spending less than 20 euros.

When you arrive at either airport, you’ll find signs directing you to baggage claim, and after that you’ll follow “sortie” (aka Exit) signs. Once you exit out of the airport, you’ll want to look for the official taxi line.

Getting a Taxi into the City

It’s very important that you use an official Taxi (G7 sign on the taxi) rather than accept a taxi ride offer from someone in or around the airport exits.

These people often come into the airport and ask arriving passengers if they need a taxi ride with the hope that they’ll say yes.

Then they give extremely expensive rides to these unsuspecting passengers, presenting them with a hefty bill that’s double what an official taxi ride would cost.

In fact, the official taxi service offers fixed prices into Paris, so these taxis can’t charge you more or less. The fare does depend on which bank you’re getting a ride to.

If you’re traveling from CDG, it’s 56 euros for the right bank and 65 euros for the left bank. If you’re traveling from Orly, it’s 44 euros for the right bank and 36 euros for the left bank.

You can also call your hotel ahead of time and ask them what taxi services they offer and whether they can arrange for your pick-up.

Flying Out of Paris

The night before you’re leaving, I recommend reserving your taxi service for pick-up at your hotel or airbnb. You can go onto G7’s website here if you don’t have the app on your phone, and set up your pick-up.

There is usually a small fee for reserving the ride ahead of time, but it’s definitely worth it to ensure you have a guaranteed ride to the airport.

If you’re flying out during a busy time of the year, it’s imperative that you get to the airport early, especially if you’re flying out of CDG and you don’t have sky priority access. Lines move so much slower at the airport, so I recommend being there 4 hours before your flight, just in case.

You also need to make sure you pack your carry-on liquids in small bags that you can easily remove. Because TSA pre-check doesn’t exist in France, you have to follow all the security check rules of removing these items from your bag, including electronics too.

I always pack my items in a way that makes them really easy and quick to remove to make this whole process easier and less stressful.

Another quick tip when you’re flying out is to make sure your carry-on isn’t oversized. I’ve seen the airport staff randomly stop people and have them place their carry-ons in the carry-on measurement bins to make sure they fit.

Purchase Duty-Free at the Airport

If you’re flying out of Charles de Gaulle, you can expect to find an array of high-end designer stores. If you have your eye on a specific designer item, I recommend looking up whether they have a store in the airport and calling that location.

Check with an associate there over the phone to see if they have your desired item in stock or can get it into their store for you for pick-up. This is so much easier than going through the hassle of purchasing the product in the city, filling out the tax paperwork, and then turning in the forms at the tax refund kiosk in the airport.

If you do need to visit a tax refund kiosk, just know that they’re typically available before you go through the security line, close to the airline counters.

You’ll also need to make sure you have the item you bought with you (such as in your carry on) when you go to make your tax refund claim as you can be randomly stopped and asked for it when making the claim.

Enjoy Your Trip to Paris!

With some planning ahead of time, your trip to Paris will hopefully go smoothly and as stress-free as possible. And if you want to avoid having to plan anything other than your flight, then consider joining one of our fabulous retreats.

All you have to do is show up at the hotel we give you the address to, and then we take care of everything else for the rest of the week. Your luxury accommodations, meal reservations, activities and experiences, and in-city transportation are all taken care of!