Montreal Airport

[Newfiescotian]

Hi folks;
We will be flying from Hfx to Orlando on Air Canada, with a short stopover in Montreal (< than 1 hr). Was wondering if anyone can share their experiences of what the airport is like with regards to retrieving baggage, customs, ease of layout, etc. Also, is the new Trudeau a replacement for Dorval b/c my itiniary says Trudeau but also refers to it as Dorval???
Thanks

 

[tribus121]

Dorval was renamed P.E.Trudeau Airport after he died

it has been years since i have flown from there to the US but it was a breeze

 

[princess pooh]

The line for US customs usually moves quickly and is very organized. The luggage usually comes quickly too.

The line for security can get long but they might let you go to the front since you have a tight connection.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

We had problems with our luggage when we went (Air Canada didn't put it on the plane from Halifax as far as I can tell) but they waited in the luggage area until they basically said that we had to go without it. Then they escorted us to the proper area to make sure we could make our connection. I found them really helpful. DN and I made it in time to get boarded. We didn't even sit!

 

[Ham Ham]

Dorval was renamed P.E.Trudeau Airport after he died

it has been years since i have flown from there to the US but it was a breeze

Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport or P.E.T airport. Pet is slang in French for flatulence, It always made me laugh when I see his initials that way.
I had the pleasure of meeting him on a story I did when he was in Toronto talking with some high school students.
Nice guy. R.I.P. Pierre.

 

[kaia739]

In my experience, the Montreal baggage 'Within Canada' retrieval area is terrible. Maybe they do something different if they know you're only stopping over, but there's only 2 carousels, sometimes only 1 operating, and there's often back-ups. I might have different experiences because I usually go during rush times (back and forth to university during holidays), so my experiences could be very different from yours... Figured I should prepare you for the worst though!

As for customs, I've had no problems, and with the exception of unusually long hallways to get to the U.S. areas, it's all pretty straight forward (and you'll get practice for all the walking you'll do at WDW)!

Much luck!
-K

 

[MikeyNS]

Hi folks;
We will be flying from Hfx to Orlando on Air Canada, with a short stopover in Montreal (< than 1 hr). Was wondering if anyone can share their experiences of what the airport is like with regards to retrieving baggage, customs, ease of layout, etc. Also, is the new Trudeau a replacement for Dorval b/c my itiniary says Trudeau but also refers to it as Dorval???
Thanks

Did Montreal last month and we'll never do Toronto again. It was sooo quick. By the time we got to the customs baggage area our luggage was waiting.. they have a "Connections" line for going through customs, so we waited MAYBE 2-5 minutes to actually get through customs (about 8am on a Friday morning).. it was so much more pleasant than going through Toronto. There is a bit of walking from the end of the terminal to the other, but even having a 2yr old toddling along it wasn't a big deal.

We had absolutely no problems coming back either.

 

[MinnieMommy]

Hi NewfieScotian! (love the name )

I'm wondering what time of year you are going? We had a 20 min. delay for de-icing leaving Halifax last December. We arrived in Montreal with a 35 minute connection time remaining and they wouldn't let us through. They said there wouldn't be enough time to get our luggage, make it through customs and get to the plane.

You always have to anticipate possible delays due to weather, but we were disappointed in how they handled it. We planned an early morning flight with hopes of being in Orlando before noon. The very nasty Air Canada agent moaned and groaned as though we'd ruined her day as she tried to get us on another flight. We ended up on a flight connecting through Chicago. She told us we were lucky and we should thank her, she was able to move some things around and get us on a flight that day, or she would have sent us to Toronto to wait there until the next morning.

Sorry for the rant... that reminds me.. I never did get around to writing a letter of complaint.

Anyway, my advice would be when you check your bags at Halifax, ask if you need to have a "rush" or "priority" tag on your bags so they will be unloaded right away. They may say no, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I know these tags don't always work the way they should, but it's worth a try.

Also, I always carry the disney dining number and our ADR number with us also in case I have to re-schedule an arrival day meal from an airport.

 

[Newfiescotian]

Thanks folks. I really appreciate all the great advice!