We flew in an out of the new terminal this past week. Here are a random collection of thoughts:
- new check in area is large and no issues there.
- self bag drop wasn't working properly, and there was no signage to indicate that it wasn't working. There was just one poor WJ lady to deal with the issues. After she did a reboot, it seemed to solve the issues. But the whole thing felt strange, and unclear. We did get our bags in the end.
- you go through security prior to customs now, which makes sense. This area has plenty of room to grow, but the new set up is pretty efficient and they moved people through the line up really quickly. The bins are bigger, and it is just better organized.
- new US customs area is not as pretty, but very functional. I like that you don't have to take your bags with you into this area. They just show you pictures of your bags on the screen so that you can confirm they are your bags. I thought that was pretty cool.
- new food court was nice. Thankfully there are some options other than Burger King.
- we ended up in the new lounge area, as one of the people travelling with us had free passes. I will admit this was my first experience with an airport lounge, but it was terrible. The service was awful. Plenty of tables with dirty dishes, while the staff just sat around. The food options were bad pastries, breakfast sausage, and white rice. This was it. Just super strange. I would have been annoyed had we paid for this.
- the call to gate was a non-issue for us, as I hate waiting around the gate most of the time anyway.
- coming back was mostly smooth. The Canadian customs machines worked well. The line up was very short. Strangely, the line up to leave after collecting your luggage was huge.
Overall, I was really impressed with the new terminal. I think it is a good upgrade. It is built with plenty of capacity for future use, and as they work the kinks out I think it will just get better.
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