Trip report: ORD->YYZ->TLV, Air canada

Easy check-in for AC814. Bags were each about 69 pounds and I got the feeling
from the agent that it wouldn't have bothered him if it was over. No hassle
over my carry-ons either. Flight was about 65% full.

Transfer pains at YYZ. Looks like Canada has copied the US requirement of
requiring immigration and customs to transfer between international flights.
The bright side was that I did not have to screw around with my luggage. But I
did have to clear customs in T2, take a bus to T1, and from there take a bus
to another T1 terminal.

No special security for TLV flights. Plenty of electrical outlets in YYZ.

My 4.5 year old laptop started having troubles while I was in the US, so I
purchased a replacement - and because carry-on rules are now a bag and a
personal item aka laptop rather than two bags, I did not pay a premium to get
a tiny machine. It is difficult using a 15" screen when the passenger in front
of you is reclining. Oh, well.

Flight arrived slightly early, and appeared to be the only arrival at
BenGurion. No lines, so I went thru regular immigration rather than the card
bypass. About 35 minutes for bags. One had a TSA examination note, but despite
that nothing appeared to be stolen.

--
Binyamin Dissen
http://www.dissensoftware.com

Should you use the mailblocks package and expect a response from me,
you should preauthorize the dissensoftware.com domain.

I very rarely bother responding to challenge/response systems,
especially those from irresponsible companies.

Binyamin Dissen posted:

Transfer pains at YYZ. Looks like Canada has copied the US requirement of
requiring immigration and customs to transfer between international flights.
The bright side was that I did not have to screw around with my luggage. But I
did have to clear customs in T2, take a bus to T1, and from there take a bus
to another T1 terminal.


Canada never had transfers between international flights without going
through Immigration and Customs. Partly because there are few passengers
who interchange between full international flights (as opposed to the
special international flights to the USA) and partly because of the
layout of the airports.
In fact YYZ has become worse for international flights with the opening
of the 'marvellous' new terminal and the need to use buses to access the
satellite terminal.

--
Harry Dodsworth Ottawa Ontario Canada
----------------------------------------------------------------

On 2 Sep 2004 14:27:36 GMT (Harry Dodsworth) wrote:

:Binyamin Dissen posted:

:Transfer pains at YYZ. Looks like Canada has copied the US requirement of
:requiring immigration and customs to transfer between international flights.
:The bright side was that I did not have to screw around with my luggage. But I
:did have to clear customs in T2, take a bus to T1, and from there take a bus
:to another T1 terminal.

: Canada never had transfers between international flights without going
:through Immigration and Customs. Partly because there are few passengers
:who interchange between full international flights (as opposed to the
:special international flights to the USA) and partly because of the
:layout of the airports.
: In fact YYZ has become worse for international flights with the opening
:of the 'marvellous' new terminal and the need to use buses to access the
:satellite terminal.

I do remember going thru Montreal (some years ago) and not having to clear
immigration or customs.

--
Binyamin Dissen
http://www.dissensoftware.com

Should you use the mailblocks package and expect a response from me,
you should preauthorize the dissensoftware.com domain.

I very rarely bother responding to challenge/response systems,
especially those from irresponsible companies.

Harry Dodsworth wrote:
Canada never had transfers between international flights without going
through Immigration and Customs.

What about Vancouver ? I was under the impression that pax arriving from USA
could just transfer to an outhound international flight, bypassing canadian
customs/immigration ?

And on the inbound, passengers could transfer from an intl flight to a US
flight with only the US customs/immigration (bypassing canadian customs/immigration).

With the death of the CP-AA partnership though, I suspect that these
capabilities have become little used in Vancouver.

Toronto is supposed to eventually get this working once T-new is complete and
has sufficient capacity to put both intl and transborder flights in the same terminal.

Binyamin Dissen wrote:
I do remember going thru Montreal (some years ago) and not having to clear
immigration or customs.

Impossible, unless it might have been at Mirabel.

Dorval has no physical access between international arrivals and USA
departures. And upon arriving from the USA, your flight would likely have been
at a USA gate and this joins up with the intl "system" only at the luggage
hall where you can't escape customs/immigration.

"nobody" schreef in bericht
...
What about Vancouver ? I was under the impression that pax arriving from
USA
could just transfer to an outhound international flight, bypassing
canadian
customs/immigration ?

I think so too. And also in the other direction. When I arrived at YVR on a
flight from FRA, there was a sign before reaching Canadian immigration
leading to "US departures". I was under the impression that if a passenger
connects to a US flight he could by-pass Canadian immigration / customs.

Sjoerd

"nobody" schreef in bericht
...
What about Vancouver ? I was under the impression that pax arriving from
USA
could just transfer to an outhound international flight, bypassing
canadian
customs/immigration ?

I think so too. And also in the other direction. When I arrived at YVR on a
flight from FRA, there was a sign before reaching Canadian immigration
leading to "US departures". I was under the impression that if a passenger
connects to a US flight he could by-pass Canadian immigration / customs.

Sjoerd

Canada never had transfers between international flights without going
through Immigration and Customs.

They used to have this at YVR. In fact, one of the marketing points
of the "new" YVR when it was built in the mid-to-late 1990s was that
you could fly from the USA and then xfer to an international flight
without having to go through customs and immigration.

For example, if you flew in from the USA they used to have signs that
directed you to "tranfer to international."

However, all these signs are now gone.

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada

On 2 Sep 2004 13:44:01 -0700, (Geoff Glave)
wrote:

They used to have this at YVR. In fact, one of the marketing points
of the "new" YVR when it was built in the mid-to-late 1990s was that
you could fly from the USA and then xfer to an international flight
without having to go through customs and immigration.

For example, if you flew in from the USA they used to have signs that
directed you to "tranfer to international."

However, all these signs are now gone.

You follow the rest of the passengers into the immigration clearing
area and then tell the official at the desk that you are in transit.
They give you a transit visa and a piece of card[1]. You then follow
the signs that take you round the far edge of the immigration area,
right to the back and hand the card to the official, get into the
elevator and get out in the international departure area.

A little bit slower than the dedicated inspection and then just nip
downstairs that it used to be. Having said that they have improved[2]
the transit arrangements for incoming international passengers going
the other way. Rather than collecting luggage in the transit area and
then going through US immigration one now does the immigration before
collecting the luggage. The immigration officer sits in the booth
until all of the expected passengers have been processed. No need to
queue up with the ordinary US bound passengers.

Chris.

[1] The piece of card is very important, without this the official by
the elevator up to the international departure level will not let
you through.

[2] Provided you arrive at a time when there are only a few
international-US transit passengers. Given the wait for baggage to
make it to the transit belt it probably wouldn't make much difference.

When I arrived at YVR on a
flight from FRA, there was a sign before reaching Canadian immigration
leading to "US departures". I was under the impression that if a passenger
connects to a US flight he could by-pass Canadian immigration / customs.

Flights from YVR to the US are pre-cleared at YVR by US immigration officers
rather than at the destination. So even for the most bureacratic scenario it
would be a little silly to clear Canadian immigration and then 50 yards
further on clear US immigration.

Kind Regards, Howard