Border Delays with cut backs

[csm101]

Fellow 'nuks I read and heard that with the US Gov't cut backs that border services maybe delayed. This morning on the news in T.O. YYZ is asking passengers to arrive 3.5 hrs before flight now. With March break next week could be a very hetic time. See link below

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/27/budget-cuts-would-impact-border-wait-times-2

 

[donronjj]

Thanks for the info. I really hadn't planned for that!

 

[wdwmom3]

We are flying out of buffalo in April. We don't need to be at the airport until 4pm. We decided this time we will cross the boarder early and just have a leisurely lunch and go to the mall before our flight. That way any long delays at the boarder won't mean we miss our flight. I'm hoping it doesn't get bad trying to cross.

 

[dmbcanada]

Flying out of Buffalo in April as well. We are staying the night before as to avoid any delays and of course waking up at 3am!

 

[mamaCta]

I've heard about this too. We are going to end up sitting in longer lines at the highway crossings since we are driving down. We are going to have to decide if we want to cross near Vancouver or guess that Osoyoos won't be as busy.

 

[papertraveller]

I have looked on the GTAA site and don't see any advisories about U.S. Customs & Immigration pre-clearance taking longer than normal.

Can anyone direct me to a location for an advisory, news release or similar item? Or are there any recent travellers out there who can tell us about their experiences?

Thanks so much!

 

[stefanospops]

Has this taken effect yet? We crossed the border at 7am on MOnday morning to catch an 8am flight from Buffalo and we had 0 delay. Drove right up and right on through. We were supposed to be at the border an hour earlier but my son's nose started bleeding as we were loading the kids into the car at 4:30am and an hour later was still bleeding so we found an emergency room in Burlington to have checked out. A wonderful nurse managed to get his nose to stop bleeding and we didn't stay to see the doctor. They just started boarding when we got to the gate. I love flying out of Buffalo. Clearing security there is so much easier than Pearson!

 

[Golden Amik]

We have one hour and 15 minutes between flights at YYZ. If I wasn't panicked before, I am now.

 

[wdwmom3]

Has this taken effect yet? We crossed the border at 7am on MOnday morning to catch an 8am flight from Buffalo and we had 0 delay. Drove right up and right on through. We were supposed to be at the border an hour earlier but my son's nose started bleeding as we were loading the kids into the car at 4:30am and an hour later was still bleeding so we found an emergency room in Burlington to have checked out. A wonderful nurse managed to get his nose to stop bleeding and we didn't stay to see the doctor. They just started boarding when we got to the gate. I love flying out of Buffalo. Clearing security there is so much easier than Pearson!

I think it may be a couple of weeks before the cuts are really felt. I'm only thinking this because I find it unlikely that they would cut staff already scheduled to work. Crossing on a Monday morning is usually really quick. We did that last time and just drove right up to the guard with 0 wait . We are a little more nervous this time since we are crossing on a Sunday afternoon. But we are going to cross at the peace bridge so hopefully there won't be long lines.

 

[Ima Disnewby]

we fly out of Buffalo first thing in the am on May 2nd...i'm hearing the actual cuts won't take effect until April so i'm worried about what i may expect come time for my trip.

dh and i haven't flown in YEARS (since we were teenagers) so this is pretty much all new to us and then having all of this thrown on top, makes me nervous! we'll defintely be heading over to Buffalo the day before to cross in case it takes longer than anticipated, staying at a sleep/park/fly and getting to the airport super early.

 

[JennyT2]

Will this effect both border and Toronto airport? We generally fly out of Buffalo and rarely have any waits. Dh and I have a quick no kid trip to FL first week of April .... we both have Nexus and are flying out of Toronto but only planned on getting there 2 hours before. Nexus usually gets you through faster and hoping this is still the case.

 

[kamik86]

I have some friends that work for the government in other areas and most of the layoffs and furloughs aren't supposed to start until early April. That being said some areas are starting early just to prepare.

 

[sherilaine]

I read about this as well - we fly to LAX in May - we are flying on a Wed evening, so I am hoping it won't be like flying on the Sat morning during March break - but maybe it will be now with these cuts.

Last year we flew on a Sat morning and while it was not March break it was still very busy - so that is why we opted to change to mid week.

 

[abdmom]

We arrived at Pearson at 4:30 pm to drop my son off for his 7:30 flight to Europe (lucky guy) and our 9:00 flight to MCO. Checked in for our flight by about 5:15. We've been sitting in lounge Q in Terminal 1 since then. It's now 6:35. They won't even let us into the immigration and customs area. It looks like it will be another 90 minutes or about 60 minutes before our flight, before we're allowed in. I certainly wouldn't come earlier than usual.

ETA: They say Customs and Immigration is all backed up. How in h**** are we supposed to get through immigration and security and to our gate in 60 minutes if they're all backed up?? I just discussed with dd and we are cancelling our planned August trip to WDW.

 

[sherilaine]

ETA: They say Customs and Immigration is all backed up. How in h**** are we supposed to get through immigration and security and to our gate in 60 minutes if they're all backed up?? I just discussed with dd and we are cancelling our planned August trip to WDW.

Will be interested to see if you got to your flight on time. I can't imagine they are going to just have half the people miss flights - that is not something they are going to try to start - however, I can see by only allowing people to enter customs when it is close to their flight time a way of managing lines - rather than having everyone in a line for 4 hours when only a quarter of the people have to be there.

Please update with what actually ended up happening once you made it through and onto your flight - thanks very much and hope it well okay.

 

[wdwmom3]

We arrived at Pearson at 4:30 pm to drop my son off for his 7:30 flight to Europe (lucky guy) and our 9:00 flight to MCO. Checked in for our flight by about 5:15. We've been sitting in lounge Q in Terminal 1 since then. It's now 6:35. They won't even let us into the immigration and customs area. It looks like it will be another 90 minutes or about 60 minutes before our flight, before we're allowed in. I certainly wouldn't come earlier than usual.

ETA: They say Customs and Immigration is all backed up. How in h**** are we supposed to get through immigration and security and to our gate in 60 minutes if they're all backed up?? I just discussed with dd and we are cancelling our planned August trip to WDW.

This is another reason I'm glad we are flying out of buffalo. Cheaper flights and no customs issue at the airport. Even if the price was the same I would still consider flying out of buffalo. When we flew out in June the airport was almost empty. Loved having no line at security

 

[sherilaine]

This is another reason I'm glad we are flying out of buffalo. Cheaper flights and no customs issue at the airport. Even if the price was the same I would still consider flying out of buffalo. When we flew out in June the airport was almost empty. Loved having no line at security

You still have to cross the border though right, I mean if you are waiting in your car or in the airport - it is all going to be affected.

 

[wdwmom3]

You still have to cross the border though right, I mean if you are waiting in your car or in the airport - it is all going to be affected.

Yes we still have to wait but we can cross and go through customs when we want. If we had a morning flight we would cross the nigh before. You can get a park and fly package for close to what you would pay for parking at Pearson and you only have to be at the airport 90 mins before. In June when we crossed we had no wait. I also like that you can check online for boarder delays and then you have your choice of multiple bridges. Usually the peace bridge has little wait.

Yes I'm expecting there to be longer waits now but we can manager it easier then at the airport. This time we are also expecting longer waits since we are flying out Sunday evening But we decided to just cross the boarder early and have a late lunch and maybe hit the mall before our flight. Much less stress then worrying about lines at pearson. It also helps that we are saving between $800-1000 on our flights .

 

[alc571]

I have looked on the GTAA site and don't see any advisories about U.S. Customs & Immigration pre-clearance taking longer than normal.

Can anyone direct me to a location for an advisory, news release or similar item? Or are there any recent travellers out there who can tell us about their experiences?

Thanks so much!

There is an operational update on Pearsons website: http://www.torontopearson.com/en/operationalupdates/#

 

[Inga]

Will this effect both border and Toronto airport? We generally fly out of Buffalo and rarely have any waits. Dh and I have a quick no kid trip to FL first week of April .... we both have Nexus and are flying out of Toronto but only planned on getting there 2 hours before. Nexus usually gets you through faster and hoping this is still the case.

With every customs point in Canada there are Nexus lines so I am sure this is still the case as you most often don't even need to speak to a customs officer with Nexus