Montreal Stopover worries

[Kogo Shuko]

Hi all!

I have booked my flight for September, and I have a stopover in Montreal.

I have an hour and a half between flights.

I was wondering if Montreal is like Toronto:
Will I have to go get my luggage, get in line at customs, then drop my luggage off, and then get to the second gate?

Or will I not have to worry about my luggage? I'm unsure if picking up my bag was a Toronto thing or a customs thing.

So now I'm worried!! Any advise about a Montreal stopover would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lizabu]

I've never had a stopover where I had to get my own luggage. It's possible if you booked your own flights separately but if you bought your ticket like that they move your luggage for you. Honestly in an hour and a half I'd probably go pee and eat something and that's just about an hour killed.

 

[abdmom]

No experience in Montreal, but picking up the luggage is a customs thing, not an airport thing.

 

[minnie mum]

Canadians almost always have to pre-clear customs before flying into the US. Since you are on a connecting flight, you will have to do this in Montreal. But 90 minutes should be more than enough time.

 

[Kogo Shuko]

I really hope so.
In Toronto, their instructions were not clear, and I barely caught my flight because the lineups for customs was so long.

 

[bankr63]

Trudeau Airport was the first major airport to get baggage pre-screening for customs, so no, you will not need to pick up your luggage prior to clearing US customs. For more on the connection process, see the airport website:
http://www.admtl.com/Passengers/Formalities/ConnectingFlight.aspx

This is the same system now in use at Terminal 1 at Pearson.

 

[Kogo Shuko]

Well that's a load off my shoulders!

I wonder what events would stop them from having the information about my luggage. I'm crossing my fingers that Air Canada knows what they're doing!!



I hope that being about 7 in the morning will make lines at customs less hectic than in the afternoon. The worst part about flying is the whole getting from one flight to another thing!

 

[lizabu]

I would just confirm it when you check your bag just for your own peace of mind but I'm sure most airlines transfer your bags for you.

 

[joanjett1976]

Trudeau is my home airport - and it is nothing like Pearson. You should have plenty of time, the airport is much smaller.

 

[bankr63]

Well that's a load off my shoulders!

I wonder what events would stop them from having the information about my luggage. I'm crossing my fingers that Air Canada knows what they're doing!!



I hope that being about 7 in the morning will make lines at customs less hectic than in the afternoon. The worst part about flying is the whole getting from one flight to another thing!

As I understand it: basically what happens to your bags at Trudeau (all while you are disembarking and making your way to Customs), they are offloaded from your inbound flight and transferred to a customs clearing area, the bags are sorted and photographed with the photo attached to the barcode bag tag, which is also linked to your boarding pass. The bags are probably sent through x-ray and other scanning equipment to flag any suspect bags. All this must happen before you get to customs.

If you get to customs and this has not happened yet, you will be asked to wait while your bags catch up.

When you present at US Customs they will scan your boarding pass. The picture of your luggage will pop up on a screen and you will be requested to identify that it is your bag. If they have reason to suspect your bag or your verbal declarations, you will need to go to a secondary clearance area where your bag will be manually inspected. If all is good, you will proceed through to boarding area and your bag will be loaded on your departing flight.

When it works well, it is quick and painless. The only glitch I have seen is that when travelling as a family group the ticket agent may not tag "your" bag to "your" boarding pass correctly within your party. There's a good chance that the bag pictures will be mixed up in your group. Speaking from experience, it can be pretty embarrassing when the customs officer asks if that child's "Barbie" suitcase is your bag, but they understand.

 

[TagsMissy]

Hi all!

I have booked my flight for September, and I have a stopover in Montreal.

I have an hour and a half between flights.

I was wondering if Montreal is like Toronto:
Will I have to go get my luggage, get in line at customs, then drop my luggage off, and then get to the second gate?

Or will I not have to worry about my luggage? I'm unsure if picking up my bag was a Toronto thing or a customs thing.

So now I'm worried!! Any advise about a Montreal stopover would be greatly appreciated.

Montreal xfers are a godsend! you do NOT pick up your luggage. You just go through US customs -- they have a specific line up for those transferring that's separate from the regular custom's line. So much better than Toronto to transfer through BUT it is a sizable airport so be ready to hump it from one side to the other.

 

[KittyKat1978]

Wish they had this when I went to a wedding in 2011 in the Dominican through Montreal. I did only carry on because of the bad experience I had the previous year going through Toronto. I was running around like a crazy women trying to get to my gate in time.

I may fly through Toronto next time to go to WDW (with airmiles) so this helps ease my concerns.

Thanks