I’m live-blogging my SAS EuroBonus SkyTeam Milion Mile challenge this week. Click here for background and route information. After three flights in economy class, I just wanted to get to bed…
We should have just slept in the terminal at CDG Airport…the hassle of trying to get to the Marriott CDG via shuttle and then Bolt was not worthwhile.
We arrived in Paris at just after 11 pm into Terminal 2D and headed out for the shuttle to the Marriott CDG, just in time to catch the last one departing at 11:15 pm. The pick-up point is the bus stop area between Termianl 2B-2D and we were out on the curb at 11:13 pm.
It initially looked like the exit was closed, but we just had to walk down the hall (carefully stepping over homeless people sprawled out in the terminal…see, it’s not just an American problem) before stepping outside.
The sign even listed our hotel:
But no bus showed up. I messaged the hotel on the Bonvoy app and was told teh shuttel was coming. But by 11:40 pm it was clear it was not coming and by 11:45 pm the front desk told me…there were no more shuttles.
So I ordered a Bolt, which perhaps I should have done from the very start considering it was only 10.60€, but it was less about the money and more about the schedule…we were at the bus stop at 11:15 pm…
Anyway, there was a road closure that began at midnight outside Terminal 2 and that meant we had FOUR drivers cancel on us…
Finally, at 12:20 am, our Bolt driver pulled up and we made the short journey to the hotel.
We reached the hotel at 12:30 am, checked in swiftly, and were in our room by 12:35 am…with the alarm set for 5:00 am.
What was the point? I guess for Augustine it was worthwhile because he went right to sleep, but it was during US work hours and I stayed up all night and worked.
Honestly, we should have just stayed in the terminal and slept there. As we stepped off our LOT Polish flight, we saw nice couches that would have been just fine and probably given Augustine an extra hour of sleep and saved me a whole lot of stress.
It was one of those nights where it honestly made sense just to stay in the airport ahead of our early morning flight…
Would you have gone for the hotel or stayed in the airport?
Despite the short stay, I would have still gone to the hotel, but getting out of CDG after 10:00 PM always seems to be a pain.
I was headed home for Thanksgiving once when ai was single the Wed night before. There was one chance for me that night an America West flight with a connection in Vegas. Not only did I get lucky and make the flight but I even scored a seat in First.
But we had a mechanical delay and by the time we got to Vegas everything was gone. So I found a place in the terminal where there wasn’t an arm rest between every seat and tried to get some sleep. Except all night long every 45 seconds the Wheel of Fortune slot machine cried out and every min or so the announcements were made to not leave luggage unattended. Needless to say I got zero sleep.
I swore never again. I’ve since slept in crew room couches a few times but sleeping in the terminal? No thanks.
Flight crewing is crazy considering , need for alert awareness for long hours , body clocks , poor nutrition , and lack of proper sleep ; especially for women . Crew deserve every penny they receive .
Kneejerk reaction was about to say why not the YOTELAIR before going into the post but then I realized that the flight was with LO into 2D.
Sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some.
For CDG airports, there’s the Yotel airside in 2E-L, and the Sheraton landside in terminal 2 by the train station. Then there’s the airports accessible via the CDGVAL light rail, most at Roissypole (“T3”), and some by the parking lot Px (or Pr, I forget). Then there’s the shuttles. For many of those, you have to use CDGVAL to get to the pick-up point.
CDGVAL doesn’t run between 1 and 4 AM. Otherwise, it comes regularly, the drivers never go on strike, and the hotels don’t suddenly start charging for them.
At T3, the hotels are within five minutes walk of the station.
I learned the lesson the hard way. Same happened to me at AMS where I decided to save money and wanted to get points at Hyatt so booked a Hyatt Place that needed a shuttle. The shuttle was late, we waited outside with people smoking and it was a disaster. Never again. I now only book the Sheraton AMS where I can just walk to the hotel. BTW, I avoid CDG like the plague. What a pain to move from one terminal to another, buses, stairs, etc..
@Santastico … Agree . Inside-Airport hotels are the Only way to go .