Anyone flown domestically through YYZ Toronto Pearson lately?

[Jo-Anne]

It’s been 17 months since we stepped into an airport and are heading from Toronto to Sydney NS this Friday 9pm. I’m wondering how things are in the Pearson airport. Do you have to get there super early? Long lines? We will check in the night before and get seats and tickets printed. Since this is domestic I assume it’s the usual that we just get bag tag at kiosk then proceed to security - any other changes or bottlenecks to be aware of? Thanks!

 

[damo]

They don't want you there too early. The Pearson website says, ... "For departing domestic passengers, we ask that you arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes in advance of your flight."

https://www.torontopearson.com/en/ready-to-travel

 

[petunia]

It’s been 17 months since we stepped into an airport and are heading from Toronto to Sydney NS this Friday 9pm. I’m wondering how things are in the Pearson airport. Do you have to get there super early? Long lines? We will check in the night before and get seats and tickets printed. Since this is domestic I assume it’s the usual that we just get bag tag at kiosk then proceed to security - any other changes or bottlenecks to be aware of? Thanks!

We did YYZ to Edmonton last month and wasn't too busy at all, got there about 2 hrs prior! Though I did see some posts about long waits yesterday, not sure if they were international or not though..

 

[CanucksRock]

I flew at the end of May out of Toronto. At that time it was a ghost town in Domestic.

 

[Blue Belle Ballerina]

I travelled from our city to Pearson the beginning of July for some solo travel and it was a complete ghost town. That cannot be said for our trip this time (we just got to Disney last night!!!!!). We travelled from our city Saturday night and our flight was hours late, and we ended up sitting on the tarmac for an hour as there was no room for our plane. Then luggage took an HOUR to get and we were the lucky ones. I have never ever seen the baggage area in terminal 1 in such chaos before. There were tons and tons of people waiting… we overheard one woman saying many many people waited 4 hours for their luggage…. Something about being short staffed. Anyway, our flight the next morning from Toronto to Orlando was seamless!!!! Airport in Orlando wasn’t a mess at all.

 

[VianSa]

We’ve flown domestically out of yyz four times since the pandemic started and haven’t arrived to the airport earlier than 90 minutes before the flight without any problems whatsoever. That being said this past Canada Day long weekend was probably the busiest travel experience (yyz-yvr) domestically since the pandemic started, but nowhere near what I consider to be full of people. Most of the time the domestic terminals and really the airports in general (yyz,yvr,yyc) have been almost empty. .

 

[Blue Belle Ballerina]

We flew domestically from northern Ontario into Pearson on August 14 and it was a disaster. Flight delayed several hours, sat on the tarmac in the plane for over and hour and then another hour for baggage …. The baggage claims area was a total disaster and we were really stressed. Thank goodness we had an overnight stay and didn’t fly to Orlando until the next morning. I am not looking forward to the scene flying home tomorrow!

 

[Jo-Anne]

We flew to Sydney NS Friday night from Pearson and at 6pm it was quick to get bag tag and get through security. Then get a text to say that our flight delayed two hours! So got in after 2am! Ugh. We have a flight to Calgary in September mid morning so hopefully just as easy with no delays!

 

[ottawamom]

We flew domestically from northern Ontario into Pearson on August 14 and it was a disaster. Flight delayed several hours, sat on the tarmac in the plane for over and hour and then another hour for baggage …. The baggage claims area was a total disaster and we were really stressed. Thank goodness we had an overnight stay and didn’t fly to Orlando until the next morning. I am not looking forward to the scene flying home tomorrow!

I think my neighbours up the street were on your flight from northern Ontario. They missed their connection to Ottawa and Air Canada wouldn't put them up for the night. They were rebooked on an 8am flight to Ottawa the next day. The 8am flight was subsequently cancelled and they had to sit around until 6pm to get on a flight home. They could have made the drive from northern Ontario in less time than it ended up taking to fly.

 

[quandrea]

Hearing these reports added to my decision to cancel our vacation this coming week.

 

[Blue Belle Ballerina]

Don’t let our Pearson horror stories deter you from coming to Disney!!! We are wrapping up a really wonderful vacation here! I certainly wouldn’t recommend coming to Disney right now if it’s your first time or a once in a lifetime trip, but if you’re a seasoned Disney traveller you will have a great time!!! I was shocked at the low wait times…. This was probably our most “successful” trip here in terms of things accomplished. I will say I noticed a lack of stock in some of the stores, some shops closed completely and cast members weren’t as enthusiastic as usual. That being said, it was really organized here and I loved that masks were mandatory indoors.

 

[kuhltiffany]

My husband flew through yesterday, had a 7 hour layover. He said it was totally disgusting, dirty, food and garbage everywhere!

 

[Blue Belle Ballerina]

We are at Pearson right now!!! Our flight from Orlando (WestJet) landed on time and to my surprise, customs wasn’t a total nightmare. I would say we stood in line and got through in about 30-45 mins. By the time we got to baggage our stuff was already there. My youngest who is only 11 had to have a Covid swab on arrival but it was very very quick and not crowded at all. Now relaxing for a bit in the lounge before our last flight to home!!