After flying in from New York in Air France Business Class it was time to continue our journey on to Brussels. Air France has partnered with SNCF, the French national railway company, to provide rail connections beyond Paris Charles de Gaulle on a single ticket.
I booked our Air & Rail connection direct with Air France for 57,500 Flying Blue miles in Business Class from New York-JFK to Brussels-Midi with a connection in Paris. For all train trips booked through Air & Rail, passengers are assigned seats in the First Class cabin regardless of the class of service on your flight.
Unfortunately, aside from my app showing a train icon for the Paris-Brussels leg, there was no indication anywhere that this was a train ticket. The app showed an Air France Flight number as well as a three letter code typically associated with airports. Air France falls short in explaining the transfer as there was no additional communication from anyone else along our journey. I had read the information section on their website in advance but it could be confusing for folks who have trouble getting around or can get confused in airports.
With the Air and Rail connections becoming more common, especially with new travel regulations on short haul flights, I’d love to see them better communicate how to go about using this service.
Once we arrived from New York and cleared customs and immigration, we followed the signs for the train station. These are pretty easy to spot and located throughout the terminal.
After following the signs to the train station, we found ourselves in a large atrium surrounded by shops, ticket counters, and transfer companies. We had to walk around a bit but eventually found the Air & Rail desk after 3-4 minutes.
Once inside, we were greeted by an agent who checked us in and provided our tickets for the train. Typically, they also offer to take your bags and load them on the train for you. However, they were short staffed so we had to keep our bags with us as we waited for our train. While all passengers booked on Air & Rail connections get First Class seats on the train, passengers connecting from a First or Business Class flight receive a €16 voucher that can be redeemed at the lobby bar of the Sheraton hotel located in the atrium one level up.
Tickets and vouchers in hand, we headed up to the Sheraton where we were greeted at the front desk. A bellman took our bags and stored them while we headed over to the Galaxy bar.
There was a short wait for a table, not because it was full but due to staffing, but we were seated at a comfortable booth near the bar soon after arrival.
For those interested, the menu for the Galaxy bar read as follows.
With our internal clocks all messed up, we didn’t have a clear meal we wanted even though it was lunchtime in Paris, so we ordered some fries to split along with a coffee, cappuccino, and a beer.
The lobby bar was a pleasant place to pass the time and we ended up only paying a couple of Euro out of pocket. It certainly beats sitting in the hot atrium waiting on our train.
Our train to Brussels was departing at 1:07p so we left the Sheraton at 12:50 and headed down to our assigned track.
Summary
If you know what you’re doing and where to go, the plane to train connection can be relatively painless, other than the long walk to the station. However, if it is your first time transiting, just know that you may be on your own. Now that I’m an Air & Rail veteran, I would definitely book one of these connections again.
In this Trip Report
