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SURVEY

SURVEY: Are you planning to travel abroad this summer despite the pandemic?

Many international residents living around Europe are desperately hoping to be able to travel this summer. Please take a minute to complete a quick survey to let us know why you intend to travel and what complications you face.

Published: 26 May 2021 16:47 CEST
Updated: 29 May 2021 14:21 CEST
SURVEY: Are you planning to travel abroad this summer despite the pandemic?
(Photo by ALEX WONG / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

International residents living in around Europe have for the most part been unable to travel abroad for over a year. 

For many this has meant being unable to see close family and friends back home.

Many are desperately hoping to travel this summer but with the rise of Covid-19 variants and ongoing restrictions at borders it is not clear whether they will be able to travel abroad.

Please take a minute to take part in this quick survey of readers. We will use the information and responses you provide for a future article on travel.

If the survey does not load below you can click here to start.

 

Member comments

  1. I just completed your survey and only after I submitted it did a message appear saying thatI consent for you to use my name. THIS FEELS ODDLY DISHONEST ON YOUR PRT. I WOULD NOT HAVE SUBMITTED HAD I KNOWN IN ADVANCE. I DO NOT CONSENT.PLEASE DO NOT USE MY NAME. PKEASE WITHDRAW MY SUBMISSION.

    1. Hi j.lovenduski, the article states just above the survey that “We will use the information and responses you provide for a future article on travel”. We won’t use your name without your consent and will withdraw your submission as requested. Have a good day!

  2. Sadly, I must agree with j.lovenduski. I was surprised to see that I had consented to the use of my name after I had submitted the survey. Had I been notified at the point my name was requested, I could have made an informed decision. As such, I refuse to consent to have my name being used. Please withdraw my submission.

  3. Mea culpa. I just read the introduction to the survey and I see that it clearly states that my name will be used.
    I apologize for the above comment. Feel free to use my survey and name.

    I think this is a very interesting and useful upcoming topic. I would be curious to learn the results of the survey.

    Cheers, Michael.D

    1. No worries, Michael! Thanks for responding to the survey – we’ll share the results in an article, hopefully soon. Have a great day!

  4. Of course I am going to travel . The only ones the French don’t want are the British . Brexit has come and bitten them on their bottoms . Oh Gawd the Empire really has crashed and I am an Old Etonian laughing my head off .

  5. Of course I am going to travel . The only ones the French don’t want are the British . Brexit has come and bitten them on their bottoms .

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READER INSIGHTS

‘Painful’ – is Paris Charles de Gaulle airport really that bad?

Following a survey that said Paris Charles de Gaulle airport was the best in Europe, we asked Local readers what they thought...

Published: 30 December 2022 16:16 CET
'Painful' - is Paris Charles de Gaulle airport really that bad?

Recently, Paris Charles de Gaulle was voted the best airport in Europe by passengers.

The 2022 World Airport Awards, based on customer satisfaction surveys between September 2021 and May 2022, listed the best airport on the planet as Doha, while Paris’s main airport came in at number 6 – the highest entry for a European airport – one place above Munich. 

READ ALSO Paris Charles de Gaulle voted best airport in Europe by passengers

Given CDG’s long-standing reputation doesn’t quite match what the World Airport Awards survey said – in 2009 it was rated the second-worst airport in the world, while in 2011 US site CNN judged it “the most hated airport in the world” – we wondered how accurate the survey could be.

So we asked readers of The Local for their opinion on their experience of Europe’s ‘best’ airport. 

Contrary to the World Airport Awards study, users erred towards the negative about the airport. A total 30.8 percent of Local readers – who had travelled through the airport in recent months – thought it was ‘terrible’, while another 33.3 percent agreed that it was ‘not great’ and had ‘some problems’.

But in total 12.8 percent of those who responded to our survey thought the airport was ‘brilliant’, and another 23.1 percent thought it ‘fine’, with ‘no major problems’.

So what are the problems with it?

Signage 

One respondent asked a simple – and obvious – question: “Why are there so many terminal twos?”

Barney Lehrer added: “They should change the terminal number system.”

In fact, signage and directions – not to mention the sheer size of the place – were common complaints, as were onward travel options. 

Christine Charaudeau told us: “The signage is terrible. I’ve often followed signs that led to nowhere. Thankfully, I speak French and am familiar with the airport but for first time travellers … yikes!”

Edwin Walley added that it was, “impossible to get from point A to point B,”  as he described the logistics at the airport as the “worst in the world”.

And James Patterson had a piece of advice taken from another airport. “The signage could be better – they could take a cue from Heathrow in that regard.”

Anthony Schofield said: “Arriving by car/taxi is painful due to congestion and the walk from the skytrain to baggage claim seems interminable.”

Border control

Border control, too, was a cause for complaint. “The wait at the frontière is shameful,” Linda, who preferred to use just her first name, told us. “I waited one and a half hours standing, with a lot of old people.”

Sharon Dubble agreed. She wrote: “The wait time to navigate passport control and customs is abysmal!”

Deborah Mur, too, bemoaned the issue of, “the long, long wait to pass border control in Terminal E, especially at 6am after an overnight flight.”

Beth Van Hulst, meanwhile, pulled no punches with her estimation of border staff and the airport in general. “[It] takes forever to go through immigration, and staff deserve their grumpy reputation. Also, queuing is very unclear and people get blocked because the airport layout is not well designed.”

Jeff VanderWolk highlighted the, “inadequate staffing of immigration counters and security checkpoints”, while Karel Prinsloo had no time for the brusque attitudes among security and border personnel. “Officers at customs are so rude. I once confronted the commander about their terrible behaviour.  His response said it all: ‘We are not here to be nice’. Also the security personnel.”

Connections

One of the most-complained-about aspects is one that is not actually within the airport’s control – public transport connections.  

Mahesh Chaturvedula was just one of those to wonder about integrated travel systems in France, noting problems with the reliability of onward RER rail services, and access to the RER network from the terminal.

The airport is connected to the city via RER B, one of the capital’s notoriously slow and crowded suburban trains. Although there are plans to create a new high-speed service to the airport, this now won’t begin until after the 2024 Olympics.

Sekhar also called for, “more frequent trains from SNCF to different cities across France with respect to the international flight schedules.”

The good news

But it wasn’t all bad news for the airport, 35 percent of survey respondents said the airport had more positives than negatives, while a Twitter poll of local readers came out in favour of Charles de Gaulle.

Conceding that the airport is “too spread out”, Jim Lockard said it, “generally operates well; [and has] decent amenities for food and shopping”.

Declan Murphy was one of a number of respondents to praise the, “good services and hotels in terminals”, while Dean Millar – who last passed through Charles de Gaulle in October – said the, “signage is very good. [It is] easy to find my way around”.

He added: “Considering the size (very large) [of the airport] it is very well done.  So no complaints at all.”

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