Toronto Pearson Airport...Terminal 3 Questions

[wee-haggis]

As of June 16th,they opened a new section of terminal 3.
On the Westjet newswire it talks about consolidating its domestic and international customers in Concourse C.
Nowhere in any websites can I see any mention of where Concourse C is (except for Baggage Claim C in Arrivals).
Does anyone know:
1)Will Westjet travellers to MCO still check in at the far end of T3 ?
2)Will we still be able to clear customs at this end?
3)If indeed there will be a mix of domestic and international check in counters,will we have to line up with the domestic passengers at the other end of the terminal?

 

[wee-haggis]

**bumperama*

 

[Kelly Grannell]

my info is not first-hand experience but from my boss' 2-month old experience

1. yes
2. yes
3. yes

I know it doesn't help much since 2 months is a long time ago when it comes to changes at Pearson airport.

 

[jncvh]

When you travel to MCO you aren't an international traveler, you are a transborder traveller and will continue to checkin at the same spot and pre clear US customs in T3. Domestic and International travellers checkin through seperate screening points as to seperate dom/int passengers and transborder passengers for US customs reasons. Once you clear US customs in T3 you are in US territory and need to be seperate from other travelers. Make sure you adjust your time accordingly as you will have to checkin, clear US customs and then clear pre board screening. It usually only takes about an extra 15 minutes depending on your departure time. Checkin times haven't been to bad lately as more people travel internationally during the summer. Enjoy.

 

[ferris198]

When you travel to MCO you aren't an international traveler, you are a transborder traveller and will continue to checkin at the same spot and pre clear US customs in T3. Domestic and International travellers checkin through seperate screening points as to seperate dom/int passengers and transborder passengers for US customs reasons. Once you clear US customs in T3 you are in US territory and need to be seperate from other travelers. Make sure you adjust your time accordingly as you will have to checkin, clear US customs and then clear pre board screening. It usually only takes about an extra 15 minutes depending on your departure time. Checkin times haven't been to bad lately as more people travel internationally during the summer. Enjoy.

It has been my experience that when travelling from Canada to anywhere in the US it is considered international. I have never heard of the term transborder.
Wait times vary depending on the time of day and day of week that you are planning to travel.
Our last trip to Orlando our flight was at 6:30 am, we got to the airport at approximatley 4:15am, and faced huge line ups through Customs as not all the Customs desks were open yet.
Once we got through customs and security we had about 20 minutes to get a snack for my son and get to the gate for boarding.

 

[mbb]

Technically, yes, it is international travel...but Can/US airline passengers are called transborder.

Confuses me too

Will there still be a terminal change for YHZ-YYZ-MCO pax?

Because - ugh - we hate that. We've *never* made the flights we're scheduled to take...unless we skip Pearson altogether...then making our flights isn't a problem!

I think AC is catching on to us trying to fly through YOW or YUL though - those connections are, on average for our dates, $100 more, pp, o/w.

 

[jncvh]

One of the main reasons that there is a difference in the terminology of international and transborder is the US customs issue. Also to be considered international you technically have to be leaving the continent that you are on. Stupid I know. Passengers travelling to the US can not mix with any other international or domestic passenger. Transborder passengers have to go through seperate screening, US customs and immigration. The busiest time for screening is in the early morning and around late afternoon.

If you are travelling transborder with Air Canada you won't be coming into T3 you will be going through T2. You may arrive into T1 on a domestic flight but will have to be bussed over to T2 then clear US customs and immigration at T2. This can add on some time to your trip. If you are flying out of T3 it is faster as you don't have to change terminals.