Canadians Traveling to the USA in 2025

[deanimal]

Regarding Florida, the key development will be if Canadian snowbirds fail to return to Florida in late 2025 / early 2026. All the reports I have read indicate that not only are many snowbirds saying they won't return, they have put their properties up for sale.

I suspect the money a typical Canadian tourist family spends during a one-week trip to (say) Disney World is insignificant compared to the money a wealthy snowbird couple spends during a 4-month winter stay in (say) Fort Lauderdale.

This will certainly be the big question in the months coming up.

We recently visited some relatives who spend 4-5 months of every year in Florida, and have for the past 20 years. They are well off retirees, which means that a good chunk of their Canadian pensions and investment income goes straight into the American economy every winter. They had every intention of going down every year for the rest of their lives.

Now that plan has gone out the window, at least for the foreseeable future. They plan to go down for one week in January this winter for a family event and to use up the points they can't carry over on their timeshare (not really sure how that works but they are very happy they never bought property in Florida) and they are re-planning their whole retirement around finding a winter base somewhere else. And they are not even "political" types, if anything they are extremely conservative by Canadian standards!

So yeah, I think the real impact of the Canadian boycott is yet to be felt. A cancelled trip or weekend away here and there does make a difference, but thousands of snowbirds and their money will be felt much more keenly.

 

[CanucksRock]

I have Nexus, going thru customs - where are you going? Orlando. Thank you have a good flight. That’s it. That’s all. I love Nexus.

 

[Reepicheep]

I have Nexus, going thru customs - where are you going? Orlando. Thank you have a good flight. That’s it. That’s all. I love Nexus.

I have mixed feelings about Nexus. I remember, during our first post-COVID trip to Orlando via Toronto (when masks were required during flights, what a horrible time that was), the lineup at customs was almost 90 minutes long. We didn't clear customs until 60 minutes after our West Jet flight was scheduled to leave. While in line, we approached employees a couple of times to ask if we could go to the front of the line, but they said "no", and assured us we would have no trouble catching our flight.

When we cleared customs, my wife and daughter ran to the gate while I lumbered along as best I could. Our plane was still there, and the West Jet employee at the gate explained that there were so many travellers caught in the customs lineup that they delayed the plane departure by an hour. We boarded the plane, and over the next ten minutes the last few stragglers (maybe, 15 total) arrived and the plane then took off.

So, in this case, Nexus would have saved us 90 minutes in the customs lineup, although the time saved would have still been "wasted" by us sitting on the plane awaiting takeoff.

In the August trip we just completed, there was no line-up at customs on either our outgoing or incoming flights, so Nexus would not have been an advantage.

So, while I understand that Nexus, at times, can be a blessing and time saver, I'll probably continue to be a cheapskate and continue to rely on the stars aligning during our travels and us never missing a connection (or, more accurately, never missing a connection where Nexus would have allowed us to catch the flight).

 

[ronandannette]

I have mixed feelings about Nexus. I remember, during our first post-COVID trip to Orlando via Toronto (when masks were required during flights, what a horrible time that was), the lineup at customs was almost 90 minutes long. We didn't clear customs until 60 minutes after our West Jet flight was scheduled to leave. While in line, we approached employees a couple of times to ask if we could go to the front of the line, but they said "no", and assured us we would have no trouble catching our flight.

When we cleared customs, my wife and daughter ran to the gate while I lumbered along as best I could. Our plane was still there, and the West Jet employee at the gate explained that there were so many travellers caught in the customs lineup that they delayed the plane departure by an hour. We boarded the plane, and over the next ten minutes the last few stragglers (maybe, 15 total) arrived and the plane then took off.

So, in this case, Nexus would have saved us 90 minutes in the customs lineup, although the time saved would have still been "wasted" by us sitting on the plane awaiting takeoff.

In the August trip we just completed, there was no line-up at customs on either our outgoing or incoming flights, so Nexus would not have been an advantage.

So, while I understand that Nexus, at times, can be a blessing and time saver, I'll probably continue to be a cheapskate and continue to rely on the stars aligning during our travels and us never missing a connection (or, more accurately, never missing a connection where Nexus would have allowed us to catch the flight).

Agree. There’s a little bit if FOMO involved in not having it but in reality, we’ve never come close to actually needing it. And with only taking one or two US trips a year, the expense isn’t justified.

 

[SirDuff]

Agree. There’s a little bit if FOMO involved in not having it but in reality, we’ve never come close to actually needing it. And with only taking one or two US trips a year, the expense isn’t justified.

It is useful for any international trip as you can use it when clearing Canadian immigration on your return. It also gives you access to TSA pre check and some Canadian airports now have expedited NEXUS lanes for security.

Might still not be worth it for you, but it is used beyond trips to the US.