Vancouver Airport Customs Question for Recent Travelers

[EskiLvr]

How long should we be allowing for clearing customs in Vancouver if we're flying in on a Saturday evening?

Thanks!

 

[hrhdhd]

About 30 seconds. Unless you have something to declare.

See here for a guide that you can customize to the country you're arriving from and the airline. It will provide you with a flowchart.

http://www.yvr.ca/en/navigating-YVR/passenger-guides.aspx

 

[xlxo]

In general when I'm doing pickups.... 30 minutes the plane lands.... you are ready for the taxi.

It's not customs that's the problem... it's waiting for your luggage.

 

[EskiLvr]

That quick? *Wow*. It's been forever since I cleared customs - and since I broke my ankle during our trip and was in a wheelchair on the way back, my experience was completely different than everyone else in my travel group (I got pushed to the front of every line - that's all I really remember...).

Thanks!

 

[xlxo]

The fun part is US customs when you get on the boat and when you leave YVR. Those US paid guards want to earn their worth.

 

[scm]

[QUOTE="xlxo, post: 53903462, member: 525858"

It's not customs that's the problem... it's waiting for your luggage.[/QUOTE]

Word!

 

[Passholder]

And when you fly out of Vancouver to return to the U.S., you go through customs before getting on the plane.

 

[firepuppy]

Thank you for the information. We will be arriving around midnight, I did not want to wait for hours to get to the hotel.

 

[bcwife76]

At that time of night you should be absolutely fine, there should be no line at customs. As long as there are no international flights arriving the same time from Asia, then you're hooped.

 

[alli817]

It depends on the time of day and if there are other flights. We've sailed through in 20mins and others it's been 90mins.

But yes waiting for your bags is what takes the longest.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

It depends on the time of day and if there are other flights. We've sailed through in 20mins and others it's been 90mins.

But yes waiting for your bags is what takes the longest.

wow that seams better then Toronto Pearson sometimes. Canada customs likes to play games there sometimes and it's not uncommon for a 2 hour wait when multiple international flights come in

 

[Jk125]

In general i find US custom much worse and longer than Canadian, but that's just me.

In Vancouver I have come back from an Asia trip and been out of there in 10 minutes, but at other time when a couple of other flight have landed at a similar time it can be an hour.

 

[drclaws]

It's not customs that's the problem... it's waiting for your luggage.

Word!

Or waiting for that one piece of luggage that didn't make the flight from San Francisco. Another reason to arrive a day or two before the cruise....

 

[drclaws]

At that time of night you should be absolutely fine, there should be no line at customs. As long as there are no international flights arriving the same time from Asia, then you're hooped.

That happened to us and they shifted the US citizens entering Canada for pleasure over to the Canadian citizen line.

 

[DisneyParkFan]

bumping