I recently flew ZAG-CDG-BKK in J on OU and then TG (same itinerary and PNR - 3 hour transit in CDG)
In ZAG (OU's hub), they checked my baggage all the way to BKK but said they could only issue me my first ZAG-CDG boarding pass and I needed to collect my next boarding pass in CDG.
When I arrived at CDG I looked for a *A transfer desk (there were none). I asked at the information desk and they said I needed to get the boarding pass at the gate. I went to the *A lounge in the hope they could print out my boarding pass and they told me the same thing as the info desk (and wouldnt allow me access to the lounge without a boarding pass).
Trying to get through security without an onwards boarding pass was fun - the security staff almost refused to let us through to the gate. When we got to the gate, of course there were no TG staff to be seen. When we asked the neighbouring *A service desk for assistance (I think it was LX or SQ) they told us they couldnt print it and we needed to wait until the TG staff arrived, which was not until boarding commenced (90 minutes away).
Very frustrated, we ended up entering the country, going to the check-in desk land-side to collect our boarding pass for which the check-in girl was mystified as to why we were checking in for a flight when our luggage was already checked through. Naturally, TG had given away our pre-assigned seats to someone else in the time we wasted touring the various parts of CDG looking for this bloody boarding pass.
We finally got the damn thing and headed through immigration. The stamp on our passport was barely dry from entering the country barely 20 minutes before so once again we received mystified looks and questions from staff. We wasted approx 80 minutes from the time of exiting our OU aircraft to the time we entered the CDG *A lounge with our boarding pass.
This was a nightmare experience - if OU had printed our TG boarding pass we would have saved well over an hour of stuffing around. I know not every airline can print boarding passes for other airlines (although TG had no problem printing my TK boarding pass outside its hub), but this is a warning to anyone needing to collect a boarding pass in CDG - its not a matter of just finding the nearest service/transfer desk (I guess because no *A carriers are based there). Should I have handled this any differently?
In ZAG (OU's hub), they checked my baggage all the way to BKK but said they could only issue me my first ZAG-CDG boarding pass and I needed to collect my next boarding pass in CDG.
When I arrived at CDG I looked for a *A transfer desk (there were none). I asked at the information desk and they said I needed to get the boarding pass at the gate. I went to the *A lounge in the hope they could print out my boarding pass and they told me the same thing as the info desk (and wouldnt allow me access to the lounge without a boarding pass).
Trying to get through security without an onwards boarding pass was fun - the security staff almost refused to let us through to the gate. When we got to the gate, of course there were no TG staff to be seen. When we asked the neighbouring *A service desk for assistance (I think it was LX or SQ) they told us they couldnt print it and we needed to wait until the TG staff arrived, which was not until boarding commenced (90 minutes away).
Very frustrated, we ended up entering the country, going to the check-in desk land-side to collect our boarding pass for which the check-in girl was mystified as to why we were checking in for a flight when our luggage was already checked through. Naturally, TG had given away our pre-assigned seats to someone else in the time we wasted touring the various parts of CDG looking for this bloody boarding pass.
We finally got the damn thing and headed through immigration. The stamp on our passport was barely dry from entering the country barely 20 minutes before so once again we received mystified looks and questions from staff. We wasted approx 80 minutes from the time of exiting our OU aircraft to the time we entered the CDG *A lounge with our boarding pass.
This was a nightmare experience - if OU had printed our TG boarding pass we would have saved well over an hour of stuffing around. I know not every airline can print boarding passes for other airlines (although TG had no problem printing my TK boarding pass outside its hub), but this is a warning to anyone needing to collect a boarding pass in CDG - its not a matter of just finding the nearest service/transfer desk (I guess because no *A carriers are based there). Should I have handled this any differently?
