Where is Customs in Paris Airport

[hollon]

My daughter will be leaving france and can anyone tell me does she go thru customs first, then find her terminal? Also, If a taxi were taking her to the charles/Paris airport where is customs - where should we tell the taxi to go, to her plane/terminal/departures or "customs"

 

sorry, just want to be prepared - thanks - hope someone can help

[Host Bonjour]

My daughter will be leaving france and can anyone tell me does she go thru customs first, then find her terminal? Also, If a taxi were taking her to the charles/Paris airport where is customs - where should we tell the taxi to go, to her plane/terminal/departures or "customs"

 

sorry, just want to be prepared - thanks - hope someone can help

 

Your daughter will need to head to whichever terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport that her airline is located in. Every terminal has customs and immigrations officers stationed to process passengers through the checkpoints prior before heading towards departure gates.

 

There is not a separate area at the airport for customs or immigration - it would be too chaotic or hectic for everyone so I can imagine your concern if this WERE the case :eek:

 

The only thing maybe to advise her about is that there ARE always people already looking at passengers in the check-in line for security - France did this LONG before 9/11 ever happened. I used to find little tiny stickers on my small backpack wondering how it ever got there but after many visits to France, I started to notice them. Again, it never bothered me...made me feel secure in the airport.

 

Just have her ask her taxi driver to take her to the terminal number where the airline she is using departs from - that is all that is necessary for her flight home - customs and immigration will be there. If you are not sure which terminal her airline is in, just google the airline name and Charles de Gaulle airport, you'll see their terminal location.

 

Wishing her a safe journey back :)

Edited July 30, 2016 by Host Bonjour

[hollon]

Your daughter will need to head to whichever terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport that her airline is located in. Every terminal has customs and immigrations officers stationed to process passengers through the checkpoints prior before heading towards departure gates.

 

There is not a separate area at the airport for customs or immigration - it would be too chaotic or hectic for everyone so I can imagine your concern if this WERE the case :eek:

 

The only thing maybe to advise her about is that there ARE always people already looking at passengers in the check-in line for security - France did this LONG before 9/11 ever happened. I used to find little tiny stickers on my small backpack wondering how it ever got there but after many visits to France, I started to notice them. Again, it never bothered me...made me feel secure in the airport.

 

Just have her ask her taxi driver to take her to the terminal number where the airline she is using departs from - that is all that is necessary for her flight home - customs and immigration will be there. If you are not sure which terminal her airline is in, just google the airline name and Charles de Gaulle airport, you'll see their terminal location.

 

Wishing her a safe journey back :)

 

Thank you so much! Yes, we know the terminal so that helps, what do you mean they are looking at you in the check in lane and you had stickers??? Are they deciding who they are going to pull out of line to investigate? Any advice NOT to get pulled out of line b/c I don't want her to miss her flt. She is leaving at 10:35 - her hotel is about 40 mins from airport, she is taking a taxi, what time should she leave?

[Pet Nit Noy]

My daughter will be leaving france and can anyone tell me does she go thru customs first, then find her terminal? Also, If a taxi were taking her to the charles/Paris airport where is customs - where should we tell the taxi to go, to her plane/terminal/departures or "customs"

 

sorry, just want to be prepared - thanks - hope someone can help

 

Why do you think your daughter needs to go through customs before boarding a plane? Customs is the amount of money or items a person brings to his/her home country (generally!!!) after a trip. I'm assuming your daughter is a US citizen which means she'll pass through customs at the airport where her plane touches down in the US.

 

What I think you're wondering about is passport control through which all fliers must pass, but it's not in a separate building. Every international terminal has its own passport control area. Which brings me to the question, "What to tell the taxi driver?"

 

The answer is the departure terminal for your daughter's flight. The taxi will drop her off curb-side at the terminal for international flights for her airline. (If you want to know the terminal right now, go to today's or tomorrow's departing flight of the same number. Generally, the information remains the same day after day.)

 

Once inside, and assuming she has luggage to check, she'll go to the appropriate ticket counter. The airline representative will begin the passport screening process at the same time. They'll ask to see your daughter's passport before letting her continue.

 

What my husband and I cannot recall is whether your daughter will have her passport looked at a second time by immigration officials, before or after security. I think we've seen both arrangements in different European airports and we can't remember the CDG sequence.

 

This check at passport control will likely not be the last time your daughter will have to present her passport before boarding. Many airlines set up additional screening desks closer to the departure gates.

 

Is your daughter traveling with a group? with a study abroad program? If so, the officials with those types of programs will provide a thorough explanation for your daughter.

Edited July 30, 2016 by Pet Nit Noy

[Pet Nit Noy]

Thank you so much! Yes, we know the terminal so that helps, what do you mean they are looking at you in the check in lane and you had stickers??? Are they deciding who they are going to pull out of line to investigate? Any advice NOT to get pulled out of line b/c I don't want her to miss her flt. She is leaving at 10:35 - her hotel is about 40 mins from airport, she is taking a taxi, what time should she leave?

 

Stickers are a thing of the past. They used to indicate that the airline employees had asked the list of questions that we all used to get asked in the early days of security screening. (Do you remember "Did you pack your bag yourself?" "Did anyone give you anything to bring on the plane as a favor to them?") Any security officer looking at a carry on bag with a little sticker on it -- and the passport -- could feel confident that the ticket agent had done the pre-screening routine. Another poster has said the system has returned to using stickers, but I'm guessing this still means some sort of minimal pre-screening like checking the passport.

 

The security people decide who should get pulled out of line for further screening. Other than not making stupid jokes about terrorism and looking the security folks in the eye with a pleasant look on one's face, the decision to screen some people is unpredictable.

 

Go to the web site for your daughter's flight; each airline is advising people how far in advance they should plan on arriving. Two hours used to be the acceptable cushion before an international flight, but I've been seeing recommendations for three hours all this summer. (Two hours is the recommendation for domestic flights, but that isn't your daughter's situation.)

 

About that 40 minute drive... What day of the week will she be traveling? That 40 minute drive may be different on a work day VS a weekend day. Will the day be a holiday? Again, there may be difference, that would impact the amount of time. Just put in a little effort to go beyond the standard 40 minute answer.

 

No one likes to wait in an airport for his/her flight to take off, but it's better to wait than to get stressed out over cutting things close.

Edited July 30, 2016 by Pet Nit Noy

[marazul]

For ANY country:

Leaving: Security and passport control

Arriving: Immigration and customs

[hollon]

Stickers are a thing of the past. They used to indicate that the airline employees had asked the list of questions that we all used to get asked in the early days of security screening. (Do you remember "Did you pack your bag yourself?" "Did anyone give you anything to bring on the plane as a favor to them?") Any security officer looking at a carry on bag with a little sticker on it -- and the passport -- could feel confident that the ticket agent had done the pre-screening routine. Another poster has said the system has returned to using stickers, but I'm guessing this still means some sort of minimal pre-screening like checking the passport.

 

The security people decide who should get pulled out of line for further screening. Other than not making stupid jokes about terrorism and looking the security folks in the eye with a pleasant look on one's face, the decision to screen some people is unpredictable.

 

Go to the web site for your daughter's flight; each airline is advising people how far in advance they should plan on arriving. Two hours used to be the acceptable cushion before an international flight, but I've been seeing recommendations for three hours all this summer. (Two hours is the recommendation for domestic flights, but that isn't your daughter's situation.)

 

About that 40 minute drive... What day of the week will she be traveling? That 40 minute drive may be different on a work day VS a weekend day. Will the day be a holiday? Again, there may be difference, that would impact the amount of time. Just put in a little effort to go beyond the standard 40 minute answer.

 

No one likes to wait in an airport for his/her flight to take off, but it's better to wait than to get stressed out over cutting things close.

 

thank you for such detail :) she is w/ a study abroad but for some reason w/ this group, it was more like "You're on your own" until class starts - that's another story. So, basically she's never flown before and going so far away is scary probably more to me than her :) Yes, I forgot about customs is when "entering", thanks for taking out the time to clear things up and helping me :)

[Pet Nit Noy]

The security people decide who should get pulled out of line for further screening. Other than not making stupid jokes about terrorism and looking the security folks in the eye with a pleasant look on one's face, the decision to screen some people is unpredictable.

 

There is one more thing your daughter can do to avoid getting additional screening: know the rules for carry on and follow them. My husband and I were recently behind two travelers who caused problems for themselves and for everyone in line behind them.

 

Traveler number one: Put a glass bottle of blue sand topped with three sea shells in their carry on luggage. Not surprisingly, the TSA folks had to figure out whether the blue sand was, in fact, sand or some chemical which might be used as an explosive device. What made the whole blue sand situation even more ridiculous was that this was a departure from a Western NY airport, not exactly a region of the world known for its beaches. I might have been somewhat more sympathetic if we were talking bringing home t a jar filled with pink sand from a Bermuda vacation or black sand from a Hawaiian vacation. But blue sand hardly says "Western NY" so I couldn't understand why the travelers didn't anticipate that item was going to produce a strong reaction from the TSA.

 

Even with the blue sand in their carry-on, the TSA officials did not yank the people from the security line for some further screening in a separate room. Once the blue sand was found to be nothing more than blue sand, the people were wanded and sent on their way.

 

Traveler Two: This traveler was next in line after the blue sand people so we began to feel that the world was playing a great cosmic joke on us. Traveler two came through security with two smallish carry-on pieces. The first one had a bottle of water. Clearly, the fact that bringing more than 100 ml of liquid from outside security since 2006 had slipped this person's mind. No biggie. The relaxed and polite way the TSA officials responded demonstrated this happens a lot. But things really went south when the TSA officials started investigating the contents of the second carry on. First, they pulled out a full-sized can of what the traveler identified as aerosol sun tan lotion. She kept insisting that this was legal because it was aerosol and not liquid. Whoops! Time to go back to school to learn what aerosol means. The TSA folks were remarkably patient as the woman kept arguing, but they ultimately confiscated the bottle. And then, they discovered the goofiest item: a 42 oz canister of oat bran. (The canister was open so I don't know precisely how much of the product was left.) At this point the TSA was frustrated with the situation -- the line behind this traveler was so backed up -- that they didn't even perform a test to see if the oat bran was wholly legit or concealing something illegal. They simply confiscated the oat bran and then wanded the woman. Even with all this nonsense, the woman was delayed no more than 15 minutes.

 

Bottom line: Your daughter should know the rules for packing things in her carry on and follow them. I hope you noticed I said "carry-on." Your daughter could even fly home with a bottle of fabulous French wine as long as it travels packed in her checked luggage.

[dogs4fun]

You have received great advice - your daughter should be just fine.

I will just add that on my most recent flight out of Paris CDG, after security, my passport was checked 2 more times. I would expect this might occur in your daughter's case as well.

[Host Bonjour]

Thank you so much! Yes, we know the terminal so that helps, what do you mean they are looking at you in the check in lane and you had stickers??? Are they deciding who they are going to pull out of line to investigate? Any advice NOT to get pulled out of line b/c I don't want her to miss her flt. She is leaving at 10:35 - her hotel is about 40 mins from airport, she is taking a taxi, what time should she leave?

 

As I mentioned in my post ;) , it was LONG before 9/11 (sorry for any confusion) the stickers....obviously things have changed - what I meant to say, France was just keen on checking lines ahead of getting to the check in counter, for security.

 

Many people interchange/mix up the customs/immigration/security issues - and actually customs CAN apply both ways - although it's not typical for most travelers....were a person to bring goods in or out of a country, technically if the goods are over a value/type, a duty would be applied. For most travelers, however, customers are only ever an issue upon departing a country they have visited. Immigration (citizenship) is always a factor when entering/exiting a foreign country. Security is a factor every day of our lives now...but of course always in an airport.

 

She will not be pulled out of the line. I am sure, like any other young person (or person!), she'll be either listening to music or reading or just waiting...all she needs to do is be patient, move along, listen, check in, always be aware of surroundings...there's not much to it. Everything will be alright :)

Edited August 1, 2016 by Host Bonjour