monteal connection concerned

[DianaNS]

this saturday five of us fly air canada halifax to montreal to orlando we leave halifax at 630 and arrive in montreal at 710 we leave for orlando at 805 that is just 55 minutes to clear customs and get on our next flight barring no delays, i called air canada and they said not to worry it is a legal connection and that we do not need to pick our luggage up in montreal to clear customs. has anyone done that flight? with success?

[keaster]

I have not done that flight...but I'm thinking you should be clearing customs in Halifax, so there would be no need to do it again in Montreal.

[Leafsgirl36]

You will clear customs in Montreal as it is your last stop in Canada before entering the US. You do have to pick up your bags and go through customs and security. In Montreal they have 2 lines, one for connecting flights and one where you are staying in Montreal. As long as you get off your flight and head straight for the US customs you should have plenty of time. I wouldn't stop and look around and do any shopping as you won't have time.

[Leafsgirl36]

Correction to my previous post, just pulled this off the Air Canada website for going through Montreal.
Follow overhead U.S.A. Connection signs.
Have all documentation in hand and ensure all
applicable forms have been completed.
Customers are not required to pickup their
baggage in Montreal.
Proceed through Passenger Pre-board Screening.
Proceed through the U.S. Immigration Primary
Inspection line.

Never done this before, always had to pick up my luggage. We are going via Montreal in February so this is good to know.

[DisneyFreak06]

I have done flights with similar times out of Charlottetown. If the flight is not delayed out of Halifax, you have plenty of time. If you are a little delayed, you are rushed, but it's do-able. We were a few minutes late out of Charlottetown last time, and I had to push my friend in a wheelchair to get through the airport in time (while she carried some bags and I tried to pull a wheeled suitcase too) and it was rushed. I find the people in Montreal very helpful and they will rush you through if you say you are on a connecting flight to Orlando that leaves at 8:10 kind of thing. Just be polite about it, and they'll let you. In 2010, they held the plane for us because someone at customs called ahead to let them know we were coming.

[MikeyNS]

We've done that flight many times and have made it each time. It seems daunting, but it's actually not too bad (as long as your flight comes in on time). I wouldn't worry about it, but just be aware of your timing. Pee before you land.

[DisneyFreak06]

Originally Posted by MikeyNS

We've done that flight many times and have made it each time. It seems daunting, but it's actually not too bad (as long as your flight comes in on time). I wouldn't worry about it, but just be aware of your timing. Pee before you land.

Very true!!! Great advice!!

[lizabu]

I haven't done this exact connection before but I have done lots of short connections before. 55 minute is tight. It is pretty rare for you to have to get your bags. If the airline has a code share or its the same airline they will transfer your bags for you. Make sure you get to the airport early and confirm with the airline when checking your bags that they transfer. Most do. Things to do are like mentioned before make sure you pee on the first plane. Have all your carry ons packed up and ready to grab and go. You don't want to waste precious moments. Ditch any liquids because you will most likely be going through security again. This is the time killer. As soon as you can get off the plane boot it to the next plane. Follow the signs for connections. Use the moving sidewalks and walk fast on them. If it's a code share they should wait for you but I would still boot it there as quick as you can.

[jeffd101]

Have done this connection twice with bad experiences both times. All went well until we went down to confirm the pictures of our luggage while clearing customs in Montreal - our luggage (amongst others) was delayed in showing up in the system each time causing us to hurry once and sprint the other time. The previous poster who commented on the using the restroom before landing is right on the money.

Others on our flight seemed not to have the same issue so it could be just bad luck. As much as I dislike going through Pearson, we are doing that on Sunday for this very reason.

The system seems very slick when it works though.

[Northstar]

One reason that Air Canada is not too concerned about the tight connection may be that they have lots of flights to your destination and will just put you on to the next one if you are delayed and miss your flight.

This was my experience with Continental... I flew quite a lot from Halifax to Newark then on to another U.S. airport back in the days before we had pre-clearance at Halifax.

Continental had so many flights out of Newark. It seemed they knew some people wouldn't make their connections, so they'd put them on the next flight out (probably in the seats that weren't taken by the people who'd missed THEIR connection and would be put on the next flight after that). I always made it to my destination the same day!


It's great not to have to pick up your luggage for preclearance in Montreal, though. That's a big help.

[monkey30]

That is great that you dont have to pick up your luggage!
I know in Vancouver, they have a seperate area where you get your luggage do custums and then send it back on its way! Seemed kind of pointless, but it worked it was all in one small area.

Good luck I hope everything goes smooth, and you enjoy your trip. Oh and make sure you have a extra set of clothing with you incase your bags dont make it to the plane in time, it will just come on the next flight and be delivered later.

[gilsan]

We did this connection in February and are doing it again in October.

In February our plane from Halifax left 20+ minutes late, I was stressed out the entire flight.

When we got to Montreal we had 20 minutes to make the flight. The agent at the gate of the first plane told us to hurry to catch the plane. When we got to the customs area an Air Canada rep was there telling us they were holding the plane, there was a bunch from Halifax catching it. Customs was easy follow the connecting signs and you should have no trouble. It is a bit of a hike especially with kids and carryons.

When we did get to the gate we found out the was a problem with the plane and we ended up not leaving for another hour and half

I am hoping it will be smoother in October.

As to flights to MCO later in the day there were none direct from Montreal in February, so I don't know how much it would have sucked had we missed our connection but I don't think it would have been fun.

[Disney Daniel]

Originally Posted by gilsan

As to flights to MCO later in the day there were none direct from Montreal in February, so I don't know how much it would have sucked had we missed our connection but I don't think it would have been fun.

You may have had the option of connecting through another airport and going to MCO from there at that point (either with AC or with a Star Alliance partner). For instance you may have ended up flying AC or United to Chicago and then onward to MCO from there with United.

A few years ago we missed our connection in Toronto due to our flight departing an hour late from Halifax. The next direct flight to Orlando was not for 12 hours and unfortunately we could not get seats to connect via another airport. We ended up having AC switch us to a Toronto-Tampa flight which was leaving about 10 hours before the Orlando flight. This would not have been an option if we were not renting a car, but we just changed our pick up airport from MCO to TPA with National and were in business.