Anyone been at Pearson Toronto lately?

[Jrb1979]

I'm surprised so many fly out of Pearson. I hate flying out of there. Any trip my family has we fly out Buffalo. Easier airport to get through and most of the time flights are cheaper.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I'm surprised so many fly out of Pearson. I hate flying out of there. Any trip my family has we fly out Buffalo. Easier airport to get through and most of the time flights are cheaper.

BUF is very much our preferred airport but it’s far less expensive to fly from YYZ right now. My DD paid $330 RT but for the same dates from BUF it was going to be around $500 USD. Same with my trip in June.

 

[damo]

BUF is very much our preferred airport but it’s far less expensive to fly from YYZ right now. My DD paid $330 RT but for the same dates from BUF it was going to be around $500 USD. Same with my trip in June.

We priced things out for our trip in May and it would have been more expensive to fly from Buffalo as well.

 

[dancin Disney style]

DD and her friend arrived home last night. Take into account that the flight landed at 12:25AM. She was not aware of any delay getting off the plane but said they seemed to taxi really far....she said a good 10 minutes. I was watching on a flight tracker and I agree that it looked like 10 min. Based on the times atttached to our text conversation she got off the plane and got outside to the curb to get in the car in approx 45 minutes. The bulk of that time was in customs....by the time they got to baggage the bags were already out which I find somewhat rare for YYZ.

Not everything was that smooth though. They arrived at MCO 3.5 hours ahead of their flight as that was the timing that Mears Connect gave them. There was not a single person working at the Westjet counter and there was a sign up on the plexi glass saying that check in for their flight would begin at 4:30PM.....it was now 4:45 and no staff. Also, the sign was hand written on a torn piece of cardboard. The line was hugh and people were getting angry and while there the notifications start that the flight is delayed by 50 minutes due to weather. Someone finally arrived (1 guy) at 4:55. Once they got through there they were in line at security for 45 minutes. They stop to get food and are in another line for over 30 minutes. Then a second flight delay of another 30 minutes. By the time they get to the gate it's total mayhem.....looked like all WJ lfights were delayed. There are PA messages saying that people need to check their carryons and staff yelling out the same....yet no one is boarding. Then another delay for DD's flight. By the time they started boarding they were 95 minutes late. Then they sit out on the tarmac for more than an hour before takeoff. So that was fun.

Just a funny little bit...while in line to check their bag the woman behind them over hears DD tell her friend the flight is delayed. This woman grabs DD's arm and says did you just say we're delayed? She then starts raising her voice saying this is ridiculous, they can't do this, I have to get home and I don't want to be late. DD looks at her and says relax it's not even an hour.

 

[Susan2771]

We would have flown out of Buffalo, but there were zero non-stop flights for our trip. Everything involved connections. With the number of issues airlines and airports are having around North America, we just want to eliminate any issues between Toronto to LA, and then onto Hawaii. Pearson it is.

 

[2Lunds]

Flew through Pearson on May 17, connecting Winnipeg to Orlando. Delta/WJ booked the itinerary with 1hr 55mins layover and we very nearly did not make it. There were only 4 (of 11 I think?) US customs agents working, and had we hesitated even for a bathroom break before getting to customs, we would have missed our flight. Dozens of people in the line freaking out because they missed their boarding, and their flights left. I seriously can't believe airlines are still booking these itineraries.

 

[spewey]

We would have flown out of Buffalo, but there were zero non-stop flights for our trip. Everything involved connections. With the number of issues airlines and airports are having around North America, we just want to eliminate any issues between Toronto to LA, and then onto Hawaii. Pearson it is.

We too are flying to Hawaii in June (Kauai) and looked at Buffalo to LA as well - but as noted, very few options, expensive, and I think only JetBlue flies direct. Wasn't worth the hassle, even with the side benefit of not having to schedule and pay for the COVID tests for the whole family the day before, as that's not required when you drive to Buffalo.

But then again, when we booked (months ago) I assumed the CDC would be dropping that mandate long before we flew. That ain't gonna happen any time soon it seems - in fact, they are now advising testing for domestic flights as well - vaccinated or unvaccinated - as close to departure as possible.

Now we just pray LAX will sort out their Air Traffic Control issues, which contributed to this past weekend's massive chaos in the U.S., with thousands of flights cancelled, some at the last minute, with passengers at the airport and in line. Ouch.

 

[Susan2771]

We too are flying to Hawaii in June (Kauai) and looked at Buffalo to LA as well - but as noted, very few options, expensive, and I think only JetBlue flies direct. Wasn't worth the hassle, even with the side benefit of not having to schedule and pay for the COVID tests for the whole family the day before, as that's not required when you drive to Buffalo.

But then again, when we booked (months ago) I assumed the CDC would be dropping that mandate long before we flew. That ain't gonna happen any time soon it seems - in fact, they are now advising testing for domestic flights as well - vaccinated or unvaccinated - as close to departure as possible.

Now we just pray LAX will sort out their Air Traffic Control issues, which contributed to this past weekend's massive chaos in the U.S., with thousands of flights cancelled, some at the last minute, with passengers at the airport and in line. Ouch.

I thought the testing to fly into the States would have been gone by now as well. I had no idea about testing for domestic flights in the States. Yes, I saw in the news the chaos of all the cancelled flights across the States last week going into Memorial Day weekend. I was cringing watching the news. Will you be spending a bit of time in LA, or continuing straight onto Kauai?

 

[starlite_]

Flew out of Pearson early in the morning, flight was at 8am. Had a lil trouble checking in but nothing major. The customs line was huge, fortunately I have a global entry but I would have felt very nervous if I needed to go thru that line.

 

[Donald - my hero]

our daughter flew out of Pearson to LAX last Monday and is coming home today so I can report on how that is running later. She chose the 10:30 flight out and said the lines weren't bad at all, the plane was a tad late leaving because they had to pull luggage off for people who hadn't tested she said they only checked that at the gate and 4 groups got turned away. Had no problem at LAX other than being overwhelmed with the size of the airport and then how to get into her Uber -apparently they were all tesla and she couldn't figure out how to open the door

 

[Disney Addicted]

The news reports are making me very nervous for our flight next month. Our flight is 7:50 AM on July 2nd. We had the option of 7:50 AM or 6:00 PM. We choose 7:50 AM with the thought that if it was delayed or cancelled, we could hopefully get on another plane the same day.

 

[Donald - my hero]

update on our daughter's trip - left LAX about 10 minutes late, no trouble getting thru security but there was very little seating in the terminal, lots of people everywhere. The plane was full, no empty seats there either

landed about 5 minutes early but she's just now leaving the airport 2 full hours after landing. waited on ground crew to get them to the gate, then they let people with connections deplane first. Let them off 50 at a time, she was lucky number 50 who knows how long it took for everyone to get off.

 

[spewey]

I thought the testing to fly into the States would have been gone by now as well. I had no idea about testing for domestic flights in the States. Yes, I saw in the news the chaos of all the cancelled flights across the States last week going into Memorial Day weekend. I was cringing watching the news. Will you be spending a bit of time in LA, or continuing straight onto Kauai?

Just to clarify, so far the CDC is only recommending testing for domestic flights. Only flying into the States mandates a negative test. But the fact that they are now suggesting testing for all flights to me means they are not even looking at ending the requirement for international flights.

For our trip to Kauai we have a Friday afternoon flight out of YYZ, with an overnight layover at an LAX hotel. Then we take a 9AM Saturday connection into LIH. We did this our last vacation there - it works out well, as we get in about noon their time, pretty rested with a good night's sleep, ready to enjoy our first day.

On the way back it's a redeye connection through SFO, getting back in Toronto about 7AM.

 

[Susan2771]

Just to clarify, so far the CDC is only recommending testing for domestic flights. Only flying into the States mandates a negative test. But the fact that they are now suggesting testing for all flights to me means they are not even looking at ending the requirement for international flights.

For our trip to Kauai we have a Friday afternoon flight out of YYZ, with an overnight layover at an LAX hotel. Then we take a 9AM Saturday connection into LIH. We did this our last vacation there - it works out well, as we get in about noon their time, pretty rested with a good night's sleep, ready to enjoy our first day.

On the way back it's a redeye connection through SFO, getting back in Toronto about 7AM.

Oh thanks for clarifying

Sounds like a good plan to Kauai. We have 4 nights in LA. Hoping that helps a bit with getting adjusted to the 6 hour time difference once we get to Hawaii Island.

 

[spewey]

Update from this morning. My wife entered security at YYZ for her flight to Nashville at 9:52AM; got to customs/immigration at 10:06; cleared customs at 10:10. Place was empty.

That's good news, with two caveats. First, most of the outbound issues were/are related to morning flights (her was at 1PM), with the throng arriving between 5AM-8AM. She missed that. And second, it seems lately the chaos is mostly the return flight, with waiting for a gate, sitting on the tarmac, being pulled aside for random testing, and short staff at the Canadian customs. I'll report back on Monday for that part of her trip.

 

[lovethesun12]

The news reports are making me very nervous for our flight next month. Our flight is 7:50 AM on July 2nd. We had the option of 7:50 AM or 6:00 PM. We choose 7:50 AM with the thought that if it was delayed or cancelled, we could hopefully get on another plane the same day.

Our flight is that day as well and I'm worried, especially considering it's so close to Canada/Independence Day. We have an ~2h layover and when we did it before covid we just barely made it. I'm scared lol.

 

[Disney Addicted]

Our flight is that day as well and I'm worried, especially considering it's so close to Canada/Independence Day. We have an ~2h layover and when we did it before covid we just barely made it. I'm scared lol.

Hopefully we'll both be fine! Where are you getting your covid test the day before? I booked at Shoppers.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Going to Orlando was fine in March but coming back was rough. Short staffed counter at MCO meant we waited forever to dropoff our luggage that was already tagged and ready to go. Waited on the plane for a couple hours before doing customs and one of our suitcases was lost.

 

[lovethesun12]

Hopefully we'll both be fine! Where are you getting your covid test the day before? I booked at Shoppers.

Shoppers as well

 

[Juventus]

Shoppers as well

Where are you flying to that requires a test?