Non revving to Europe
 

Is it better to non rev through CDG or AMS when connecting to other European cities? I’m eliminating England because of the taxes.

Loads is your answer. Which ever one gets you across the Atlantic in biz is the winner.

That said, I find AMS to be easier to get around and make connections as CDG can be a bear getting around. KLM treats us well too, we've had the mythical ZED upgrade happen a few times now. Though AF has plenty of options as well, I'd base my decision on loads make it happen from there.

Thanks, this is what I was looking for. Just wanted to know if the Air France-isms are enough of a pain to warrant avoiding connecting there.

The other most frustrating thing about CDG is that a good deal of the Delta flights leave about the same time so you have to make your best pick, but don't overlook some of the lesser known CDG flights if Delta is running them during your trip like CDG-BOS/PIT/PHL/EWR. Sometimes those have the best odds. Also because AF uses their own system, you can't see the "airport stdby" list like here so it's often tough to see who actually failed to make a previous flights and may be flowing down.

Like other poster said though, paying the extra taxes in LHR is cheaper than two more days of hotels in CDG, so when the loads dictate....follow.
Last comment, make sure you check the nonstop from BRU or any of the Germany cities if your in that area because sometimes they have a few seats, but your right in general that there are much less options.
Bon Voyage!

STR can be payload optimized because of a hill at the end of the runway - ZRH sometimes is a good option and a relatively short train ride. We sometimes carry cars out of STR and MUC, so that hurts none-revs. Sometimes AF goes on strike and it can hurt NCE and CDG. Lots of nuances out there.

There’s a lot of truth here. If loads are similar and everything else is equal, AMS is much more passenger friendly. CDG has different terminals scattered around and I think you stay inside security, but you might have to hop on a tram/shuttle to get to a different terminal. AMS, from what I remember, isn’t all spread out over 500 acres.

I think the large taxes are coming back through LHR, so you can connect on your way out at least. And that said, I'll gladly pay those taxes if I'm in Delta One and can go when and where I want vs. sitting in steerage but saving a few hundred dollars via another route.

True, though in this case limited options for ZED fares out of London, since no BA ZED and VA is all long haul. Always train, Ryan Air or EasyJet though I reckon though.

Also wanted to mention AMS doesn't show the cleared standby list either since KLM uses the AF system or whatever. Bummer on that one.

I've successfully used ZED's on both AF/KLM. As others have said, I agree that AMS was smaller and faster to navigate than CDG, both departing and arriving. Additionally, the DL/AF JV-level ZED fares are slightly cheaper than the DL ZED Medium equivalent on KLM, yet that savings is offset by the larger taxes/fees in CDG compared to AMS.

LH ZED's have also been extremely easy for me to use in both MUC and FRA in the past, so that's another decent option with lots of connections through Europe.