Toronto Pearson International Airport

[pman]

I am flying BA Pearson to Heathrow this weekend. Any tips and tricks from you fine folks for departure and arrival?

Be prepared for a wait of up to an hour for checked baggage.
If you’re going downtown UPX is a viable option, especially in rush hour.
Don’t expect much in the way of dining options in T3 on your return flight.
Next week’s forecast isn’t supposed to be hellish, but in general never underestimate how cold Toronto can be from October through April.

 

[DSC]

Be prepared for a wait of up to an hour for checked baggage.
If you’re going downtown UPX is a viable option, especially in rush hour.
Don’t expect much in the way of dining options in T3 on your return flight.
Next week’s forecast isn’t supposed to be hellish, but in general never underestimate how cold Toronto can be from October through April.

However, in London (where @Nutrino is going) it is +22 at the moment with hot - for April - weather to follow.

 

[pman]

Oh, he’s going to London. Lucky sod.

 

[pman]

I had a remarkable experience at T1returning from Boston on Sunday. There was no line up at immigration, and our checked bag was on the carousel when we got there. There was a line of cars waiting for passengers. There wasn’t even any traffic on the Gardiner on the way home. I honestly don’t think I’ve had a better arrival experience anywhere in the world. Admittedly T1 was very quiet, so maybe it was just that.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Easter sunday does that.

 

[dowlingm]

Oh, he’s going to London. Lucky sod.

Hasn't been a lucky thing to visit Thiefrow since Concorde was retired.

 

[pman]

Easter sunday does that.

Hey, it was an Easter miracle!

 

[timio]

And the Boston Air Canada experience left much to be desired in comparison. I was there Thursday evening when a few flights were delayed leaving about 6 planes worth of people in a space designed for maybe 2-3 planes worth. Pearson is great in comparison.

 

[Sandpit]

I am flying BA Pearson to Heathrow this weekend. Any tips and tricks from you fine folks for departure and arrival?

There will be people trying to sell you tickets to something called the "Heathrow Express". Ignore them.

 

[pman]

And the Boston Air Canada experience left much to be desired in comparison. I was there Thursday evening when a few flights were delayed leaving about 6 planes worth of people in a space designed for maybe 2-3 planes worth. Pearson is great in comparison.

Absolutely. It’s almost as bad as the AC area in the old LAG A concourse.

 

[steveintoronto]

I am flying BA Pearson to Heathrow this weekend. Any tips and tricks from you fine folks for departure and arrival?

Eat a light Brexit.

 

[Streety McCarface]

I had a remarkable experience at T1returning from Boston on Sunday. There was no line up at immigration, and our checked bag was on the carousel when we got there. There was a line of cars waiting for passengers. There wasn’t even any traffic on the Gardiner on the way home. I honestly don’t think I’ve had a better arrival experience anywhere in the world. Admittedly T1 was very quiet, so maybe it was just that.

The T1 arrivals system is actually extremely well laid out, where they have swing gates everywhere to accommodate for induced demand. The real sore thumbs of T1 are the fact that it's just too small (and they're doing absolutely nothing with T3 despite traffic growing there as well) — the terminals do not have enough gates for the long term, and the godawful US preclearance (F gate) security line (preclearance itself is usually fine, it's infinitely better than T3's preclearance facility). Despite having the enhanced security system, there just aren't enough security lanes for all the traffic there. I'm not even sure the planned improvements for the terminal are going to help. I was in pier G the other day, and while it's infinitely better there now than what it was only a few years ago, it's still grossly undersized, and I'm not sure a Pier H will be able to handle all Transborder traffic in the future (or worse, whether the current Pier F will be able to handle the huge surges in international traffic).

 

[ninetykman]

Whats the Deal with T3. The international Arrivals area is simply falling apart. Time to rip it down and build a mega terminal.

 

[raptor]

Whats the Deal with T3. The international Arrivals area is simply falling apart. Time to rip it down and build a mega terminal.

Yeah, because the Airport Improvement Fees are not high enough now

 

[narduch]

Whats the Deal with T3. The international Arrivals area is simply falling apart. Time to rip it down and build a mega terminal.

Coming home from a trip and having to go through customs is such a terrible experience.

I can't believe this is the 'newer' terminal. It's so obsolete now it isn't funny.