Tips for making connecting flight

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by DownhillGoat

Last time I connected in Montreal I went out the wrong door and had to go through security again. Don't do that. Maybe I was super jet lagged but it didn't seem as obvious as it should have.

90 min is way beyond my comfort level for customs/connection however, but it's not impossible.

My wife has done the same thing. It’s poorly signed. They have more staff there now it seems but for anyone else looking to avoid this, you shouldn’t be processed in the large hall. Connections are in a small, very low roof area on the opposite side of the main customs hall.

[blankall]

If you do have to go through some kind of security, grab a staff member, inform them of your connection, and get them to escort you to the front of the line. Never had to do that myself, but have seem other people do it. I've also seen staff calling out to pull people to the front of the line with connecting flights.

[FurnaceFace]

Tips:
90 mins should be fine. According to Air Canada they say the minimum connection time is 60 mins. You’ll be fine.

Visit admtl.com and go through the site.

Be familiar with the layout of YUL so you know where the international is and where the Porter gates usually are. This helps visualise where yo7 need to go and make it easier.

This is the info from admtl:

After having gone through border control – primary inspection, you will be asked to follow one of two procedures:

If your airline offers the option of automatically transferring your luggage, you will be directed to the domestic departures area. (If you are not arriving from the European Union, you will first be directed to the pre-boarding screening checkpoint for connections.)
If your airline does not offer the option of automatically transferring your luggage, you will have to pick it up yourself from the carousel, then follow the normal procedure for international arrivals and then for domestic departures.

Assuming you aren’t nexus there is a smartphone app that is now available to fill out the declaration card ahead of time and then you can scan the QR code. The less you have to fill in and deal with when you might be stressed or tired the better.

Always ask anyone with a name tag where you need to go. Everyone from the cleaning crew on up knows the airport and will help.

You’ll be fine. I’ve made less than 20 minute connections in Heathrow, you’ll make yours.

[TheSutterDynasty]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

I recommend checking out the group Air Passenger Rights (Canada) on Facebook. If the airline cancels or changes your flight, you have rights under the Montreal Convention that not a lot of people are aware of. Plus, you are leaving from the EU on a European carrier and they have better passenger protections than we do in Canada.

So what I gather from reading around on their website is that it's the airline's responsibility to get you on a flight home in a reasonable time for no extra cost?

Has anyone in this thread been in a short notice cancellation for the flight home and had to reference these EU laws?

[timun]

Originally Posted by jar_e

My wife has done the same thing. It’s poorly signed. They have more staff there now it seems but for anyone else looking to avoid this, you shouldn’t be processed in the large hall. Connections are in a small, very low roof area on the opposite side of the main customs hall.

^What he said.^

I connected through Montreal last week and my flight was over two hours late, leaving only 25 minutes for me to make the connection. I made the plane; however, my bags did not. 90 minutes should be enough for you (and your bags), especially if you don't have any mobility issues.

The most confusing part was getting to customs. As jar_e says it's very poorly signed, but when you get to the main customs hall you hang a left for connections rather than going right and through customs there.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Slava

I came back from China through Vancouver and they made me go through security after customs.

This one I'm pretty sure was on me. I recall seeing notices not to take the wrong exit, just not where said correct exit was.

NM - didn't read through the whole thread yet.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by Flaming Homer

Your luggage will never get checked through when flying internationally. You always have to go through customs receive it and then check it back in as you likely fly from a domestic terminal now. I know that’s not very helpful but to the people suggesting an airline can check your luggage through for you is not possible. I fly internationally 10-12 times a year and even when flying the same airline the whole way through you will have to retrieve your checked luggage to clear customs.

Not entirely true. (As someone has already alluded to earlier).


Domestic Canadian flight connecting to an international, your bags are checked through to your destination.



Inbound international connecting to domestic actually depends on where you are coming from and on which airline. Through YYZ andYVR on Air Canada, you do not have to claim your bags after clearing customs depending on where you have flown from. Instead of needing to claim your bags, can head straight for connection customs and go from there.

[shane_c]

Thanks for all the replies. We have a 7 hr layover in Montreal on the way to Iceland then a 2.5 hr layover in Iceland on the way to Norway. And then a 4 hr drive to get to our first stop in Norway. It's going to be a hell of a long day, sure wish they didn't cancel flying out of Halifax this year. It's adding at least another 9+ hrs to the journey. I'll have lots of time in Montreal at the start of the trip to walk around and ask staff what I'm going to need to do and where I'll need to go on the way back.

One more quick question.... My friend said to do the currency exchange at the airports instead of a bank in Canada because they exchange rate is better. Do I need to bring Canadian cash to exchange or can I just use my debit or Visa card?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by shane_c

Thanks for all the replies. We have a 7 hr layover in Montreal on the way to Iceland then a 2.5 hr layover in Iceland on the way to Norway. And then a 4 hr drive to get to our first stop in Norway. It's going to be a hell of a long day, sure wish they didn't cancel flying out of Halifax this year. It's adding at least another 9+ hrs to the journey. I'll have lots of time in Montreal at the start of the trip to walk around and ask staff what I'm going to need to do and where I'll need to go on the way back.

One more quick question.... My friend said to do the currency exchange at the airports instead of a bank in Canada because they exchange rate is better. Do I need to bring Canadian cash to exchange or can I just use my debit or Visa card?

I’ve done both ways in the past for currency. In Canada I’ve used Calforex a number of times and it’s good because the exchange rates are decent and I do like having some cash for wherever I’m going. In general, I use a credit card for most things and I do that traveling anyway, but not everywhere you go accepts them as frequently. I have had a situation or two where I didn’t have the local currency until I made it to a machine or something and it’s kind of irritating.

I have also used my bank card when I travel to take cash and as long as you go to an actual bank machine, the exchange rate is decent anyway. Stay away from third party machines or machines that are particularly touristy though; the rates are terrible. And same with the little booths or shops that advertise conversions for you with no commission. There is no commission, but the rates are pathetic! I know through my bank I could use foreign machines for free and just pay whatever the exchange rate is. You need a certain minimum in the account for that, but of course it depends on the bank.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by shane_c

Thanks for all the replies. We have a 7 hr layover in Montreal on the way to Iceland then a 2.5 hr layover in Iceland on the way to Norway. And then a 4 hr drive to get to our first stop in Norway. It's going to be a hell of a long day, sure wish they didn't cancel flying out of Halifax this year. It's adding at least another 9+ hrs to the journey. I'll have lots of time in Montreal at the start of the trip to walk around and ask staff what I'm going to need to do and where I'll need to go on the way back.

Is the Halifax cancellation this year due to the 737 MAX grounding?

[Fuzz]

I just checked my flights to Glasgow connecting through Halifax on Westjet and they still say the Max, which has me wondering what is going to happen to them... Price has also climbed form $1400 to $2100. Crazy.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by jar_e

Also, whoever said that your bags don’t get checked through internationally isn’t 100% true. Anytime I fly through YVR/YYZ/YOW/YUL, all checked bags end up in my destination and make the connections without issue. They confirm if you’ve checked a bag, show a photo of it occasionally at customs, but you’re definitely not picking it up anymore. It’s been years since I’ve done that.

Yeah, in October when I was coming back home I flew from Colombia with a connector in Mexico City before returning home to Calgary. Had a 12 hour layover in Mexico City, and I did not have to receive my bags there (thank jebus..wanted to explore and my big suitcase would've totally jammed that up). They went straight from Medellin to Calgary.

It's best when checking your bags at the first departure airport to ask if you need to pick it up at the connecting airport or not, just for the piece of mind...rather than spend that entire second connector flight stressing about whether or not your suitcase will meet you at your destination city, or is just spinning around the carousel lonely at the connector airport.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I just checked my flights to Glasgow connecting through Halifax on Westjet and they still say the Max, which has me wondering what is going to happen to them... Price has also climbed form $1400 to $2100. Crazy.

When do you have that booked?

[Fuzz]

Mid August.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Mid August.

Ah, just checked Flightaware. WestJet is operating the 737-700 on the route right now. So you're all good.

[Fuzz]

Ya, it shows that for the return, not the outbound, currently anyway. The in-Canada legs are on the Max as well. I'm sure they have some sort of plan. Maybe. Worst case I ride my bike.

[Bigtime]

Ride all the bikes. Funny they haven't updated, but Flightaware does show YHZ-Glasgow on the 737-700.

[Wormius]

Despite the hate for Air Canada, they have been pretty good at communicating the flight changes because of the Max8 grounding. Still not impressed by getting bumped down to Rouge with no compensation besides the 15% off a future flight, which they seem to give out on a weekly basis anyway.

[shane_c]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Is the Halifax cancellation this year due to the 737 MAX grounding?

Halifax to Iceland was using the Max 8 but the info I remember reading somewhere seemed to indicate that they made a business decision not to fly out of Halifax this year because they’re looking to go into other markets. But it was probably because of the Max 8 is my guess. I really wish they had of made this decision prior to me booking. If so, I would have taken AirCanada direct Halifax to London and a flight from there to Oslo and would have just forgotten about trying to go through Iceland.

[shane_c]

Just wanted to give an update... our flight from Iceland arrived in Montreal last night a few minutes ahead of schedule but then we had to wait a few minutes before they let us off. But it didn't pull up to the terminal. Instead we had to pile onto those driving, ramp bus things where we had to wait at least another 10-15 minutes while the flight crew took their sweet time and couldn't decide if they were going to ride on the front one or back one. Finally got into the airport where we waited around for at least 30-40 minutes for our bags. Went through customs, followed the signs for connections, had to re-check the bags but the signage was confusing because it led us to a section that didn't have Porter. So we had to backtrack and go back upstairs to check the bags, and then back through security which was very slow. Long story short is that we just made the connecting flight to Halifax but only because it was delayed leaving by 30 minutes. Otherwise there was no way we would have made the flight with only 1.5 hrs.