SnowyNinja

So, finally my parents are able to come and visit me in Newfoundland.

they have the choice of flying into Toronto or Montreal.

any recent experiences of either to help inform their choice? I’ve heard Pearson was pretty awful in August. Any improvements?

thanks

Siouxie

Could they fly to Halifax instead? It's one of the additional airports that have been approved for international flights from August
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...ravellers.html
This thread might be of use, for Toronto : LHR to YYZ travel experiences - testing, travel, vaccination proof etc.

SnowyNinja

I looked this afternoon and couldn’t see any flights from LHR to Halifax. That would be better! I’ll check again

Atlantic Xpat

Hello fellow Newfoundlander. Well, Come From Away living in Newfoundland…😀

if you can wait until next week I can share experience of going to St John’s via Montreal. I’m currently in the UK - flew out via Montreal last weekend and it was an absolute breeze. I deliberately chose to go via Montreal due to the reported issues at Toronto. We’ll see whether that was a good choice or not!

Travel via Halifax is obviously easier (until that glorious day when the direct flight returns) but I’m not sure when either AC or WJ plan to restart that connection. At present Montreal or Toronto are your only choices.

SnowyNinja

Hey!
yes we can wait. My parents are feeling very daunted by all the list of things they have to do. I feel oct/nov is the best window of opportunity, for travel, however things do change pretty quickly around here!

how was heathrow? I’ve heard it had long queues at one point.

would love to see the St. John’s Heathrow direct make a comeback!

at the moment we’ve found flights that fly into Heathrow - Montreal - St John’s, but the return flight is via Toronto.

given it’s a domestic flight, is it still going to be as hectic in Toronto?

Thanks and enjoy your trip!

Atlantic Xpat

Heathrow was a breeze. I used the e-gates (which you can with both a UK or a Canadian passport) and the queue was a little longer than normal due to social distancing but I was through in <10 minutes. Mind you this was 6.30am on a Sunday morning! Note that the Montreal AC864/864 flight currently only operates 3 days a week which is why you may not be seeing it as a return option.

I'll let you know how I get on next week when I return via Montreal.

Gozit

I'm interested as well, i'm flying into YYZ in October (taking a vacation with a friend), but debating re-routing via Montreal based on the reported queues.

SnowyNinja

That would be great! Thanks! I’m debating whether I will be the one to travel to the Uk instead of my parents.

I need to get a connecting flight to Scotland. I feel like airport travel is a walk into the abyss at the moment!

safe travels

ChrisBan

Flew into T3 last week from LHR. Was out the front door of the terminal 40 mins after the wheels hit the ground. No queues, nothing. Granted I only had carry on and I was at the front of the plane so that helped slightly, as they were unloading in groups and it was 8pm, but still was quite surprised given the horrors I’d been hearing about.

HGerchikov

I flew back from the UK last night into T3 at Pearson. The longest wait I had was to get off the plane because I was seated right at the back and they disembark by row starting at the front. Not a problem, had a chat with the stewardesses about dealing with difficult passengers. Once I got off, the customs hall was practically empty - I would say mostly just the people from my flight and most of them were struggling with the machines. I walked straight up to an available machine, then there was one person ahead of me for the face to face with border control. My luggage was waiting by the carousel when I got to the baggage hall so straight out. Once off plane I would say less than 10 minutes until stepping out of the airport - this was at approx 8:15pm.

Heathrow at 7am on a Thursday morning was a whole other story. I had a short connection time so was eventually pulled to the front of the line. Someone who had purposely booked a longer layover to avoid the stress was in line for 2.5 hours.

Gozit

Glad to hear you had a good experience...

The disembarking by row makes no sense as they have zero distancing on board the plane, and when the airport is crowded none in there either so why they insist on slowing down the deplaning process is beyond me but so is much of Canadian gov't antics.

HGerchikov

It was British Airways, so not Canadian Government as they did it the same way for all flights including the shuttle from Heathrow to Manchester. Not sure it does take longer from start to finish, obviously for those at the back it does remove the option to grab your back and barge up the aisle before other passengers have moved.

Gozit

Ah ok.

When I flew Lufthansa/AC in the summer the crew made it clear it was a Canadian government rule, embarking/disembarking the plane was the normal process in Germany and Malta, but had to go by row in Canada.

Atlantic Xpat

Ok, I returned to St John's via Montreal earlier this week. TL DR it was pretty straightforward.

You need negative PCR test before you can board the flight to Canada. I did mine a couple of days prior to travel at Expresstest Kings Cross. (Other providers are available). I believe you can get a rapid PCR test at LHR Term 2 but you would need to be there 4-5 hours prior to departure and it's more expensive than the next day service I used.

LHR T2 was easy, not busy at all. Arrived 8.30 am for 1 pm flight (allowed more time than needed to get from London) and check in desks didn't open till 9.30. I flew Premium Economy so used the priority check-in but the regular line didn't look too bad. No so many AC flights going out these days I guess. LHR T2 security as swift as ever, Airside T2 some changes - my favorite restaurant, The Gorgeous Kitchen, is no more, as is the John Lewis store and Cath Kidston. Fuller's pub is still there for that last pint on the way out. I bought food at Pret for the flight because AC's onboard food sucks.

The plane was about 50% full. (and only 15% on way out).

Arrival in Montreal was easy enough. I was quick off the plane & you follow the "Connections" signage, assuming you are connecting of course. Directed to the usual machine, scanned passport, took pic, answered all the questions. I clicked the "No to all" and got in trouble for that by the immigration officer as I think one of them was "Have you been vaxed which is obviously new since I last travelled. Straight to the immigration officer - hand over printed slip from the machine, show Arrivecan receipt and proof of vaccination, answer usual "where have you been and what are you bringing in" questions and then on my way.

Connecting at YUL involves lots of walking down rat run passageways. Plenty of people around wanting to see your boarding pass to keep you on the straight and narrow. I'd hazard a guess that immigration clearance for connecting flights is quicker than immigration clearance if your destination is Montreal but I have no hard evidence to back this up. Got out into the domestic part of the terminal about 15-20 minutes after I got off the plane and ready for my 4hr+ layover before the St John's flight!

Note that restaurants & bars (& the AC lounge if you are able to access that) require you to show proof of vaccination before they let you in. Either an App if you have it or a printed record if you don't. Can recommend Microbrasserie Archibald as a place to kill some time and enjoy a burger and a couple of pints.

For the OP and with respect to older parents, the Montreal to St John's flight was full both ways & is a smaller aircraft (CRJ). Not a lot of hand luggage space and likely to be busy. 2 hr flight from Montreal. To enter Newfoundland you need to have completed a travel form (similar to the UK passenger locator form) in advance. There is a checkpoint where you need to give your reference number and they check you out, before you can leave the airport. Only passengers are allowed in the terminal so you'll have to wait outside to meet them.

mcleodfamily

I just arrived back in Canada from Scotland yesterday and British airways disembarked the plane by grouping of rows for my flight as well.

I personally hope this is something all airlines adopt and keep in the future because it created some kind of order to the process and you did not have people jumping up and pushing their way to the front of the plane to try and get off first.

My flight into Heathrow was full and it took maybe 5 minutes for me to get off the plane once they starting letting people off. I was sat in the middle of the plane