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Toronto Pearson International Airport

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).

Yup. That's why I was so disappointed with the most recent Master plan where they removed the Tran border pier (a full pier G on the scale of the domestic pier D) along with an integrated pre clearance facility. Instead focusing on the transit terminal and the assumption that additional space in the existing terminals would come from moving passenger processing to the new transit terminal.
 
Coming home from a trip and having to go through customs is such a terrible experience.

Nexus member? It's the best $50 you will ever spend. I love having it.

A friend has it, because of business travel needs, but his spouse didn't see the need. They took a trip recently to the US together, he used the Nexus line where she waited in the longer line. He arrived at the gate 30 minutes before her.

Coming home, just walking into the Customs area, seeing the long lineup, and walking by it to the Nexus machines, and breezing through in a couple minutes is worth $50 for just one arrival, when you are tired from a long flight and just want to get out of the airport asap.

My only complaint is the very long walk from the inbound gates used for international arrivals to the Customs area.

- Paul
 
Nexus member? It's the best $50 you will ever spend. I love having it.

A friend has it, because of business travel needs, but his spouse didn't see the need. They took a trip recently to the US together, he used the Nexus line where she waited in the longer line. He arrived at the gate 30 minutes before her.

Coming home, just walking into the Customs area, seeing the long lineup, and walking by it to the Nexus machines, and breezing through in a couple minutes is worth $50 for just one arrival, when you are tired from a long flight and just want to get out of the airport asap.

My only complaint is the very long walk from the inbound gates used for international arrivals to the Customs area.

- Paul

My last few trips through Terminal 3 have been for family vacations.

The last few years I have had status with Air Canada but have considered getting Nexus as I probably won't get enough flights this year.
 
Yup. That's why I was so disappointed with the most recent Master plan where they removed the Tran border pier (a full pier G on the scale of the domestic pier D) along with an integrated pre clearance facility. Instead focusing on the transit terminal and the assumption that additional space in the existing terminals would come from moving passenger processing to the new transit terminal.
I hate to say it but just building the Pier G would not have been nearly enough to handle the surge in transborder flights that depart every morning. Even though transborder service is the smallest portion of actual traffic running through the terminal, the F gates require the most number of gates because it has the most departing flights. Currently, there isn't an issue with the number of transborder F gates per se (they have so many swing gates running services are usually fine, it's the security checkpoint in T1 that needs more lanes), it's the international flights that are seriously running low on space. Pier G would have solved the capacity problem the hammerhead for Pier G was dedicated solely to international traffic and the Pier F gate was somehow connected to it via an underground tunnel or another moving walkway was installed heading in the reverse direction.

The question then becomes where you put all those US-bound regional flights that are still using CRJs, CSX00s, and ERJs. Pearson is in no way set up like any US airport, where most gates cater to these regional carriers, it is the complete opposite, where half of the F gates are sized for 787s and 767s (and they need to be), while the rest are sized for A320s and 737s (and I presume the NMA). The swing gates located in the hammerhead (E/F 70-71 & E/F 80-81) also have the flexibility to serve the occasional 77Ws that fly to LAX & SFO. The original idea for Pier G was designed with the 737s/A320s in mind, not the RJs, the recently constructed Pier G does this well. If they were to build the Pier G as originally designed, they would have to also build some of Pier H to cater to this requirement.

From what I gather based on my intuition, they went with the small Pier G and large Pier H because a full Pier H could cater to midsize aircraft like the 767, 737, A320, & NMA quite well, as well as have 2-3 gates that cater to the 787/777 for the transcon routes, leaving Pier G for all regional carriers, and Pier F for all international flights. This setup makes sense from a separation perspective, you could now mix the domestic and international terminals and have one large security area (like they currently do in Terminal 3), but the problem with this setup is where on earth you put the preclearance facility, getting to Pier F for all US bound travelers will be a huge pain, and getting to the Pier F hammerhead would be a really long walk. Pier F also isn't really set up for the banks the terminal usually experiences, where most Caribbean flights leave in the morning & early afternoon, and all long haul destinations (Tokyo, Seoul, Bejing, Shanghai, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Zurich, Vienna, etc) are all banked to leave in the evening. No solution is perfect, but for what they did, this one seems to be a lot cheaper.
 
Thanks for the jokes and well wishes, everyone! I landed a few hours ago and had an incredible time in London. Gotta say my experience leaving Pearson was quite pain free. Arriving took longer (the terminal was full and we sat on the run way), but given the horror stories one hears, I was very pleasantly surprised by my overall experience at YYZ.
 
^ You caught the incredible weather too, and when I watch the news from there (and Paris and Washington et al) the flowers are in full bloom and trees in leaves. Oh man...

How was Heathrow? I've had many bad experiences there last few times. Loved it first few times, until flying became tedious and stressful. Now fly into Exeter. They're so happy to have you, a local gendarme greets you as you arrive...I'm serious! They actually welcome you...
 
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Heathrow was very good on both arrival and departure. The weather was balmy on Monday, but increasingly cold with each passing day after Tuesday. It was quite uncomfortable by the end of the week.
 
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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. Its so obsolete now it isn't funny.

Have you flown through the new Heathrow Terminal 2, aka the Queen's Terminal, and had to line up forever for immigration? I did that last year, even though I was coming off of Icelandair's Saga (Business) Class (which was otherwise great, and a pleasant surprise after we booked our trip). Though I budgeted 140 minutes to get from our flight to a bus to the Midlands, we would have missed it if I didn't nicely ask staff explaining our circumstances and got in the priority lane (which even our business class arrival didn't afford).

Terminal 3 is bad for baggage claim, and yes, immigration can be lengthy, but come on, it isn't Heathrow.
 
Whats the Deal with T3. The international Arrivals area is simply falling apart. Time to rip it down and build a mega terminal.

I just came through last night and have no idea what you are referring to... Looked fine to me, minus the fact that a good chunk of it is clearly under construction - so probably getting the upgrade you are looking for.

Nexus member? It's the best $50 you will ever spend. I love having it.

A friend has it, because of business travel needs, but his spouse didn't see the need. They took a trip recently to the US together, he used the Nexus line where she waited in the longer line. He arrived at the gate 30 minutes before her.

- Paul

Your friend could have taken his wife through Nexus with him. You're allowed to bring a guest through. I went with my friend who had her Nexus card last week!
 
Have you flown through the new Heathrow Terminal 2, aka the Queen's Terminal, and had to line up forever for immigration? I did that last year, even though I was coming off of Icelandair's Saga (Business) Class (which was otherwise great, and a pleasant surprise after we booked our trip). Though I budgeted 140 minutes to get from our flight to a bus to the Midlands, we would have missed it if I didn't nicely ask staff explaining our circumstances and got in the priority lane (which even our business class arrival didn't afford).

Terminal 3 is bad for baggage claim, and yes, immigration can be lengthy, but come on, it isn't Heathrow.
It's been quite a few years since I've flown into Heathrow, and even though my flights there used to be pleasant (other than the shock of how awful the washrooms were, albeit that was typical of the UK at the time) in my early days, I had few problems. But once the first terror incident happened, all hell broke loose there (This was the time of the Air India and Lockerbie cases). I'm a Dual, and as such, have had the luxury of 'the short quick EU line', but my worst incident was actually returning to Toronto, on British Airways, who I'll never fly with again. Check-in agent was very efficient and courteous, but questioned my proof of status to fly to Canada, as I was flying on an EU passport. She called over a...get this...*security guard* (and I subsequently found out from digging that he had a criminal record! It's a crime to hire someone with a criminal record for that job) who claimed "These are forged papers!* Out loud! So everyone could hear it. Another criminal offence, but won't go into that. That's an absolute security faux pas, as it's diversionary. What a freakin' shit show. After he disappeared for twenty minutes with my passport (yet another offence, he doesn't have the right to seize it) he returns, and announces: "He's alright". Meantime the queue was backed up as once a ticket has been opened into their (then) computer system, it has to be completed.

Now in all fairness to BA, the check-in clerk and the others were appalled, but that was the last straw for me, I'd had too many *stressful* times at Heathrow. Have always flown into the smaller regional airports since, (mostly Exeter) and *everyone* is treated as a guest, UK, EU, or any other passports welcome. One of my bad incidents at Heathrow was the massive computer failure (lol...the first one some twenty-five years back) what an absolute nightmare that was.

A good part of what fails at Heathrow is just the massive number of persons affected when it does 'go down'. That being said, I've always found HM Customs and Insinuation easy and pleasant to deal with. They chuckle when they hear the North Am accent, but see the UK issued passport.

Just the thought of Heathrow gets me stressed...

Edit to Add: Just did a quick Google for "Heathrow airport stress"...and a litany of fury erupted. First hit:
Travellers passing through Heathrow face higher stress levels than riot police, writes leading neuropsychologist David Lewis.

12:01AM BST 11 Aug 2007

British travellers passing through Heathrow suffer higher stress levels than fighter pilots, Formula One racing drivers, parachutists and riot police. This is not an alarmist statement but the result of in-depth research my team conducted into what happens to people as they negotiate our overcrowded, understaffed flagship airport.
Having spent years measuring the physiological stress levels suffered by people who subject themselves to extreme conditions, I was shocked to find that the airport experience is putting everyday passengers' health in grave danger.
During our study, four passengers had chest monitors fitted to record increases in heart rate, pressure pads attached to their arms to monitor changes in blood pressure and sensors attached to their finger-tips to measure changes in physiological stress. The results showed that the level of stress they felt in the airport peaked at four times, but otherwise stayed at a sustained level for longer than that experienced by the riot police and others mentioned above.
Passengers are in danger of developing tachycardia (the rapid beating of the heart) that can at times prove fatal.
Within minutes of our subjects entering Terminal 4, heart rates had increased from healthy levels of about 55 beats per minute to more than 70 beats per minute. During the four hours it took to reach the aircraft, rates continued to rise, with some recording more than 200 beats a minute - up to four times the resting heart rate of a healthy human. Even athletes do not often reach these levels. Given that our travellers were young, healthy and not exerting themselves, the results show just how much psychological stress they were under. The main causes were queues, unfriendly and impatient staff, lack of information, poor air quality and inadequate facilities.[...]
Heathrow stress 'equal to facing riots' - Telegraph - The Telegraph

lol, I'm not alone...
 
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Have you flown through the new Heathrow Terminal 2, aka the Queen's Terminal, and had to line up forever for immigration? I did that last year, even though I was coming off of Icelandair's Saga (Business) Class (which was otherwise great, and a pleasant surprise after we booked our trip). Though I budgeted 140 minutes to get from our flight to a bus to the Midlands, we would have missed it if I didn't nicely ask staff explaining our circumstances and got in the priority lane (which even our business class arrival didn't afford).

Terminal 3 is bad for baggage claim, and yes, immigration can be lengthy, but come on, it isn't Heathrow.
I flew to Heathrow through the Queen's Terminal (Terminal 2) and I didn't find immigration bad whatsoever. From the time I landed I was out of there within 10 minutes. My flight landed in the early in the morning so that could have been part of the reason. Compare that with I was returning to Toronto where the customs line took me a solid 30 mins to get through via Terminal 1.

The worst thing about the Queen's Terminal is the never ending walk to go from the gates, all the way through to the Terminal's entrance. I'm a quick walker and it took me a good 15 mins to go from the gates through to customs, then another 10 to get to the main terminal hall. Baggage claim took me about 5-10 mins there which wasnt bad at all.
 
I flew to Heathrow through the Queen's Terminal (Terminal 2) and I didn't find immigration bad whatsoever.
This is good to hear, that's the new terminal, only four years old. I've avoided Heathrow for years. That said, I've never had problems with HM Customs and Ingratiation, but I'm a Brit Dual and use the EU line (although with Brexit shenanigans, we'll see if that's one more thing Blighty blights). It's the being dropped off at the wrong terminals by the coaches (distance buses), poor upkeep of the premises, gross overcrowding in some terminals, and constant system glitches that were the problem.

That may now be addressed. Good write-up at the Financial Times (save for seconding your comment on distance)
https://www.ft.com/content/201e03be-d383-11e8-a9f2-7574db66bcd5

If you are blocked by paywall, Google this:
Heathrow Terminal 2 — it’s a long haul
 
I flew to Heathrow through the Queen's Terminal (Terminal 2) and I didn't find immigration bad whatsoever.
What passport where you on? I've seen huge differences at various Heathrow terminals for a EU passport versus a non-EU passport.

With my non-EU wife I realized that bringing her with me in the EU queue (what queue?) was much, much faster - and never any complaints from anyone there about doing that (in fact, I started doing that after we entered the US on one occasion, with her in the US queue, and me on the non-US queue, and we got a lecture for not going through the same queue, if we were travelling together - despite the signage!).
 

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