a recent Pearson experience
 

Oh my... flew into Pearson on 2 August and out again on the 16th. I had noted dbd33 [& others] views on the unsuitability of the place, but assumed they had just not had an opportunity to go through Gatwick recently. But what an absolute cluster. I will skip all the detail but it is hard to believe that anyone is actually managing the place. It did take us only just under two hours to get groundside from stepping off the plane [which itself was delayed by an apparently ad hoc checking of passports at the airbridge exit, thereby holding up everyone on the plane]. This relative speediness was only because we were standing in the right random spot when a new exit was carved out of the swarm of people swamping those border control machines and the queue to have the machine printout checked [it was a single swarm, but multi purpose]. I don't think I have ever been to such a disorganised airport. And the staff... clearly not happy to be there.

I would never have believed that Heathrow would be the high water mark, but on the return, opening the doors to groundside was just over 15 minutes. Inbetween was a JFK arrival and departure, which was much closer to the Heathrow experience than Pearson.

I am going to take dbd33's advice and use Buffalo in the future.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Note that I go through Gatwick two or three times a year and will do so again in September. I also go through Geneva quite often (not a shining example of Swiss efficiency). I hear people complain about both airports sigh inwardly, "not been to Toronto" I think.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I've seldom stopped in Toronto, so primarily my experience is as a transit passenger. Aside from one dreadful experience with a US immigration officer - which isn't Pearson's fault - it's all be relatively smooth. I think not having to collect bags at Pearson is the important thing!

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Bags are often late but that's just time wasted. The immigration procedure, the paper in mouth thing, is ridiculous; it's both time wasted and anger generated on all sides. I think though that what really gets me down about Pearson is that there's no attempt to improve it; the immigration procedures are worse now than when you could fill in the forms on the plane in advance of arrival. The processes were always poorly thought out but now the equipment is old and breaks down compounding the problems, As always, I wonder how it can be that an airport is run by people who have plainly never tried another airport.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Nexus...Nexus....Nexus....

I can't say this enough.

Well worth the money and time investment.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Strange but true, but I think the only time we have come through Pearson immigration was all the way back in 1973 when we made our first trip back to the UK.

All our subsequent trips, including in 1975 (only 2 years later) were direct flights from Vancouver to London or Manchester. We have been transit passengers through Pearson on domestic flights, and would cheerfully replace that with a transit through Ottawa!

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

On this trip, we were directed to the wrong baggage carousel. Eventually found our bags where they had been offloaded from a carousel to somewhere almost close by.

It was the decision to route the 'paper in the mouth' queue **through** the machines that was the most intriguing, meaning people who had already done their machine thing were crammed next to people trying to do the machine thing. That also meant the machines furthest from the arrival gates were underused as those in the back were unaware that many people ahead of them already had their slip of paper.

On the US Border control thing, my [then] 16 year old son on a solo trip got the full effect: pulled into a back room, harassed, bullied. As you said, that is on the US authorities. To be fair, he only had the student visa in his passport and a soft copy of the visa letter, not the original hard copy, so clearly up to no good. Apparently it took some convincing that he had not sold the hard copy, presumably on the black market to someone who does not understand the role played by computers in immigration. On this visit - ~4 years later - he still flagged up on the US border system and was asked a few targeted questions.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Can't get Nexus in St John's, would have to travel to an airport with US immigration. I've never managed to try and schedule that with a trip for another purpose & it's not worth scheduling one specifically with the amount of travel I do these days. (substantially lower than 5-6 years ago)

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Awful place, always avoid when possible.
Last time we flew in from London it took about 2 hours in total from stepping off the plane to getting in the car.
They'd mixed up a load of bags from an Air India flight and it was a free for all scrummage.
The staff there don't seem to care and the whole experience is depressing.
Then when you do manage to get out you have the wonderful 403/401 to look forward to..

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Last time I flew back to UK (May 2023) I flew from Montreal and it was very efficient. I didn't take any checked bags and I caught the train from my local VIA rail station and got the shuttle to the airport from there. I would definitely do it again.

The return journey the plane landed at 4.10pm and I had a train to catch at 5.20pm and made it by 10 minutes ....again I didn't take checked baggage so maybe that cut down a lot of wasted time.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

To be fair to the airport administration, when the carousels were installed they didn't consider how many bags can fit on an aeroplane nor that multiple aeroplanes might arrive contemporaneously. There are always more bags than space on the carousel; it's just not set up for people arriving and, short of using a different approach for new terminals, there's not really anything they can do. Again, I think the key thing would have been to have the airport designers and managers visit another airport. I suspect this is a parochical thing, they don't go travel beyond Etobicoke.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I've had three flights from Pearson to Gatwick and back over the last year. Gatwick was very good. Just use the eGates and off you go. My girlfriend was, after going through the eGate, asking if that was it, no other immigration stuff, and I said nope. Pearson. Well, it's the usual shit show it's been nearly every time I've come through it. The second trip wasn't too bad through immigration, I was prepared for being in a huge line-up for an hour and half, but it was maybe 20 minutes if that.The first and third trips were back to usual stupidly long wait times. I really wish they could use the same setup as Gatwick, The last thing anyone needs on their return home is to deal with a stupidly long line.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I dont find Peason Airport too bad, although there was a security guard there who could hear that was was late for a connecting flight and for some reason we had to go through security again (renovations), and he waited for us to pack everthing back in our carry on cases before coming over to ask me to take my laptop out again and turn it on to verify it was real... just to make sure we missed our flight. Montreal however, reminds of an old drinking pub, the carpet is thread bare brown coloured and sticky :whatchutalkingabout
The path you take for connecting flights is fustrating, they check boarding slip 5 times, just to slow everyone down and make you miss your flight. it looks like your still in the 70's including the toilets where unless you are absolutly desparate, you are better of going in the plane.

I also hate Montreal airport even more after we flew our dog to canada this year and they just threw his create down on the floor by the baggage reclaim area and left him there alone, the create was twisted and water was all over him the the force it was dropped or thrown so he couldnt even drink, and there was no staff to be seen. As we got through security we could hear him crying and hyperventilating it took us 40 minutes to get him to calm down and breath properly, we thought we was going to lose him at one point.

I fly from heathrow terminal 2 and this is light clean and spacious, and they have some new xray scanners which take the stress out of security and are amazingly clean, the only part that then lets tourists down is the trains :( if there isnt a strike, they need more and clearer signs, I see soo many confused passangers wandering around between the heathrow express and underground as they are labelled poorly.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Oh, don't tell me that... I had Montreal on the list of potential entry points to bypass Toronto.

I agree on the train signage at Heathrow.. I **know** there is a stairway route from the Underground to the Central Bus Station, but I can not find it, I end up having to use the lift.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Fred drifting....

Halifax is an annoyance when connecting from an international flight from the UK to domestic. They do have the setup for transit pax to go through a seperate immigration area/kiosks and thence straight into airside departures. I've used it, once. But it seems to be always closed off now, forcing you to clear immigration, pick up your bags (if you have them) and then dump them back on to a transit belt. Then you have to deal with legendary enormous queue for security to get back airside. It's a study in inefficiency.

I know the COO at YHZ, she used to be the marketing VP at St John's. I should get around to asking her why this is the case but I suspect the answer will be "CBSA".

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

A befuddling factor when switching to a domestic flight at Halifax is that, if you have duty free that you carried on to the flight from the UK, you can't take it on the domestic flight and so have to chug it in the terminal.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Almost not worth mentioning in relation to all the other (legitimate) complaints about Pearson, but...

It does seem that they have a special algorithm to route *all* landings (and return taxiways), domestic or international, to absolutely the farthest possible spot from the arrival gate, to maximise the time between touchdown and gate arrival -- and that's when everything goes as expected!

I have experienced worse at some other airports (DFW stands out). But DFW sometimes surprises you on the upside, and YYZ never does.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

If you have checked luggage you can, of course, put it into your checked bag(s) before they go back onto the transfer belt (After CBSA). If you only have hand luggage it is a PITA I agree. Presumably, if the airside-airside transfer was used, you'd be able to take the booze with you.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I think the key lesson is that one should travel to Canada with Australian wines.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

But, but, but... ice wine! Silver medals in some unrecognisable wine tasting competition or another, blind taste testing... [I was raised in Niagara, I have been indoctrinated since the days of Brights Wines]

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Easier to chug than a bottle of whisky, I'd agree...

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Critically, Australian wines have screw caps.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I flew into Pearson on 27th and i also experienced the ad-hoc checking of passports at the airbridge, but over all everything went smoothly. Probably took 1hr from stepping off the plane to boarding the UP express train

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I fully agree and the new Nexus machines at Pearson are a godsend. Place your Nexus card on the glass, take photo, then take your receipt to give to the customs guy on the way out.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I looked it up, but Nexus is only for flights between Canada and the US?

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

It’s for exit or entry into any Canadian or US airport. It makes no difference where you are flying to or from. If you are at a Canadian or US airport you use Nexus.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I love it. The line to see US customs is massive.

You just shoot on the side. Tape your card. Quick retina scan and then the machine says "Welcome to the United States".

At least a whole beer in the bar before the sap with out Nexus gets through.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

You sound like a secret agent. :lol:

You're not Ethan Hunt by any chance?

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I flew out of Pearson about 10 days ago, to LHR, and there was a huge line for security - so naturally I went on line to book a slot on YYZ Express. But that said you can’t apply if you have a NEXUS card - I showed that instead at the Express line and went straight through.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Under 'who is eligible' for Nexus on the site, it says:
>> U.S. and Canadian citizens and permanent residents may apply for a NEXUS membership.
All good here.

But the website introduces residency as a requirement under 'What you need before you start'
>> Proof of residency

Sorry for the amateur google-fu, but is Nexus only for those who live in the US and Canada?

Edit - speaking of security queues, yesterday my son found LHR T5 security queued around the building with lots of Border Force personnel around, and even passport checks to get onto the plane. So now we know what happens when the authorities misplace someone suspected of terrorist offences.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

My amateur googling found a couple of places which said non resident citizens aren’t eligible and ‘you must have lived continuously in the US or Canada, whichever is relevant, for at least three years’.
We got our cards in January and I know we had to provide some documentation, although I can’t remember exactly what, which presumably helped prove this.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Another trick for queue avoidance at YYZ is to wave an Amex card, there's some sort of deal for cardholders to skip standing around.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

I, for my sins, have a flight from Pearson today. The airline advises being at the airport "at least 5 hours before the flight. There are queues. Something, something, covid".

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

After my 75 minute - late BA flight landed at LHR yesterday, it turned out the one person who knows how to operate the air bridge was on holiday, or something. 30 minutes later, with threats to use those wheeled stairs [except they were in use on another plane], and a few other messages, someone found the manual and got the air bridge connected. I was through border control and customs as quickly as I could walk [those lovely machines]. So, it can be done. Sort of.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

The Toronto airport is unchanged. The customs arrrangement continues to present the most extreme example of the use of technology to make life worse I have yet encountered.

There used to be system whereby the airlines carried and gave out customs cards to be completed on the plane. There was alway a scramble for pens in bags in overhead bins but, once on the ground, one could present the card for inspection, get a red stripe through it and proceed to the baggage claim. Now there are machines in the arrivals hall which one can use to type in the intormation and print it on a thin slip of paper. There aren't enough machines, they're slow and many are broken so there are people there to hand out the cards that used to be available before landing. The pen scramble is displaced from many planes to one crowded hall. None of the staff at the airport speaks English good and many of the travellers don't speak English at all so there are chaotic scenes while the staff bully people who try to point out that they can't use the broken machines. The consequence of the introduction of the machines has been larger crowds, slower throughput and increased tension.

We all know, of course, that the baggage hall is set up to cause the maximum upset and frustration. Everyone has had their card or slip of paper marked as ok so they put in a deep pocket of their bag and go on thier way. When they get to the exit there's someone there demanding to see the card so they have to stop right in the middle of the exit door to fish the paper out. Other people push past or climb over them, it's like a rush to the lifeboats only there's a slow witted fat guy on the gangplank.

Experienced users of the airport know that the card will, illogically, be required. Their hands are full of luggage so they put the card in their mouth something that's less effective with the machine paper as it tends to come apart when wet. The card collectors get bent out of shape at having to handle other people's spit all day. I've no sympathy, the system has been like this since before they signed up as spit splatterees and, since it's their system that cause the chaos, they could change it for a better one like they have in, well, ****ing everywhere.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

:rofl: Are they at least using a different flavour of card since they did away with the declaration cards? I had the unfortunate task of experiencing Pearson at the beginning of April. Now I have a NEXUS card but elected not to use it as I was with my 84 year old mother who of course is still a PR and travelling on her UK passport. For some reason the kiosks did not want to recognize my Canadian passport so spat out a ticket with a code on it basically saying Go see an officer. So now get into another line and hopefully they have enough officers working the inspection lines for those who need to see an officer. Eventually saw one explained the kiosks are better at my Airport to which she nodded in the affirmative and then it was off to see the officer at the exit.

As I have explained many times I do not appreciate being handed any type of card that has been in anyones gob and full of mouth secretions. I have no idea who you are or what you have been doing with that gob before giving me the card even if I am wearing latex gloves. Fortunately I no longer work at the Airport so don't have to put up with that crap anymore but I do feel your pain as the kiosks always seem to be going down or not working as they should be. It is just not CBSA who is to blame for that shit show in International arrivals.

Who thinks it is a good idea to have multiple large wide body aircrafts all arriving within minutes of each other and then unloading them into areas not big enough. As you noticed travellers are not always alert and have no idea what to do on arrival. At least you cant say the staff at the airport are not multi cultural and speak a variety of languages except English.
Will anything improve well it's not gotten any better over the last 20 years so why think it will. Yes you can look to other countries as to how they process passengers but they have problems as well. Put it this way Heathrow is not a model implementation as I went through that shit show in March. Granted the E gates accepted my Canadian passport but how often are they down and staff shortages.

Flying sucks these days period.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Arriving at Pearson from San Francisco early Friday morning and found the Canada was closed. Well, at least as far as CBSA were concerned. Following the signs for connections we found ourselves waiting around in a corridor by a locked grate for 5 minutes until CBSA decided to start work for the day. It would seem fairly reasonable to align CBSA shift patterns with, you kno, when planes actually arrive, but apparently not.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Pearson is a shambles.

I flew out last Wednesday to Blighty and their whole luggage system broke down. I had to wait for my luggage to follow me out the next day.

Returned to Pearson today and was subjected to a line up to leave the airport. This was after customs and collecting luggage.

The signage from the Terminal to the UP Express is also terrible.

I can't stand the place. It gets worse every time I fly.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

Ah yes, and there's an obvious mistake in not labelling Union Station as "Downtown". There are always people looking at the map and wondering where Toronto is. I think it's just parochialism though, there's probably no harm in the people who run the airport, it's just that they haven't been anywhere.

Re: a recent Pearson experience
 

any suggestions for apps or other tactics to streamline my upcoming journey through Pearson? I am a Canadian citizen/passport holder, but not resident in Canada.

Any value to trying to use that small bank of card issuing machines that one passes on the trek from the air bridge to the main collection of machines? Suggestions welcome [sadly, it's too late for 'don't fly into Pearson']