yyznomad

Lame! Sometimes US INS officers ask for a printout of your e-ticket and other related stay information - so then you're forced to check what you're required to bring with you through US INS?!

nwalbert

Made first trip to the US since the new restrictions were put in place this morning. Connected YSJ-YYZ-DFW. I had less than two hours for the connection and wasn't quite sure if that was going to be enough, but figured I would be OK.

As others have mentioned my longest wait was for baggage in the customs area. Everything else moved quickly and I only waited about 15 minutes total for the secondary screening. I did come across one woman who was extremely upset about being searched. She had a billion things out of her tony purse on the table. A little preparation ahead of time probably would have saved her some grief.

Just to make it clear, as I had not seen anything definitive, backpacks are perfectly OK as long as they contain the appropriate items. When I first passed US customs a CATSA employee attempted to send me to a table for a search but a suited AC employee looked at my bag and said it would be fine and sent me on my way. Not sure if SE tags helped or not.

My biggest issue, beyond checking a bag, was the fact I didnt go to the MLL as I wasnt sure how much time I would have and instead ended up at my gate 50 minutes early.

To sum up my experience, a pain, but not to the point that I wont travel. Good luck to everyone else!

mevlannen

Silliness about papers. Have my own story to tell.

Had four sheets of paper clipped together in my laptop bag, passing through YYZ transborder CATSA on the late afternoon of the 7th. CATSA pre-screener insisted in looking in my one small bag (at the 'do you have liquids or gels?' table); saw the papers, insisted that because of papers the bag with contained laptop had to be checked. I expressed my objections, received the 'do you want to fly today?' speech. After further discussion he relented to say that if I just checked the four sheets of paper I could carry the laptop through; my offer to carry them by hand was not good enough for him.

Wearing a skirt suit with no pockets, about my only other option was to fold the sheets and tuck them into my brassiere, which I did. That satisfied the CATSA guy and he then waved me onwards.

Have now had my meeting down here in BOS, and we have consensed to conduct all further meetings via videoconference and facsimile machines; Air Canada is now out the revenues of our crossborder travel (plus my cross-Canada travel to get to YYZ, another 5.5 hours and two segments each way).

CATSA will doubtless have an easier time of things once all those bothersome passengers have stopped travelling.

frank664

I will be flying to the US from Calgary at the end of this month. Would it be okay to have:

Laptop
Power Cables
Serial Cables
Air Card
Headphones and Ipod
Cell Phone Charger
and
a couple of cliff bars

in a laptop bag from my carry on luggage.

Also I usually carry and empty water bottle and then fill it up after security so I have some water for the the flight. Would this be okay still?

Thanks

margarita girl

Tell me this is a joke!

braysu

Wanted to report on my YOW YYZ MCO flight today- Jan 12th AM (in progress)

I had a 7:00AM flight out fo YOW to YYZ, arrived at 5:30AM ( much earlier than I normally would- normally I arrive around 45 minutes prior)

Checked baggage (executive class) 4 minutes
Canadian security 3 minutes total- no line up- light pat down for 15 seconds no problems
Picked up luggage from connections area- 20 minute wait
US security- 5 minutes- no one in front of me in line just had to wait for someone's bag to go through the scanner again.

I had a small laptop bag accessories & 5-6 sheets of paper with my itinerary, my glasses & case, wallet, toothbrush & small tube of tothpaste (oops forgot to take it out- a gel), paperback book ,feminine products ( was hoping they wouldn't pull those out!)all in side my laptop bag,

blackberry & small 60ml contact lens solution & laptop I put in a bin . Had lipstick & car keys in my pocket & left them in my coat pocket & put in a bin.

No questions or problems whatsoever, no patdown. I noted going into the Maple Leaf Lounge that 3 young guys travelling together all had backpacks. I asked them how they managed to get through with backpacks & they indciated they all had laptops in them thats all so seems they have loosened that rule ( thankfully) One lady behind them mentioned she was not allowed to bring her purse ( I suspect it was too big)

Just was advised that I should go to my gate early since the RCMP will be doing another manual search? We'll see how that goes.

mevlannen

Oh, I but wish it were a joke.

I was feeling rather upset and a bit fried from already having flown across (steerage class: in middle seat) from the West Coast, and the first think I could think of was the 'park it in the Left Bank' solution, that I sometimes use for carrying little things like flash drives, walking across my office while balancing a coffee cup and a couple of file-folders. Cleavage comes in so very handy, sometimes.

The look on the CATSA guy's face was priceless, though. Utter amazement, so much so that he couldn't get back onto his script at all.

Dead serious about packing it in for cross-border travel, though. It's trivially easy for me to take Amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle, and then directly across to Boston (via Alaska, if memory serves correctly). Cheaper, too. Only hassle lies in getting to the central railway station for 0530, when the city's light rail system is still in the throes of starting up for the day.

28isGreat

To be nit-picky, the executive branch of our government is perfectly able to issue a whole lot of "do this, do that" commands without the legislative body being in session. Parliament hasn't been in session since well before Dec 25, and yet TC/CATSA made changes since then.

Not that I expect they'll do anything useful anyway.

StephenSzikora

I forgot to mention in my earlier report that my flight to Boston had 3 people on it! Coincidence?

mevlannen

Ours, on the 7th, was virtually empty as well. Between the security theatre in the various airports, and Air Canada having gloriously screwed up my MLC renewal, I am off to a fine start for the travelling year.

Amtrak transcontinentally, alas, is a wee bit too spendy for my budget as yet.

ProudEdmontonian

This will be the justification. But why no full pat-downs, restricted carry-ons etc. for flights into Canada?

Tells you how moronic this all is....

jdso

Thanks for the updates everyone.

I'm planning on going to Orlando from YEG to YYZ to MCO. What are the chances that my fiancee will be able to carry a small purse with only a wallet inside and her wedding dress in a standard garment bag?

Any thoughts? Shipping to our destination wouldn't work and we are leery of putting the dress in our checked luggage.

gtpdiddy

That�s nuts! I went through with a brief case, containing my laptop, a folder with various papers, no problem. I think ppl need to pick their battle about who to pass through and where to walk to get to 1st screening at YYZ or anywhere else. Makes a huge difference.

MissingYVR

I'm flying from YYZ-DFW-ACA tomorrow.

I just heard from a coworker that three different people he knows on facebook said they - get this - had to remove their shoes before getting on the plane, were given a pair of slippers to wear during the flight (this is all passengers on the flight), everyone's shoes were put in a bin during the flight, and they got them back at their destination. Um, what???

This can't be for real - the carriers suddenly spent thousands of $$ on slippers??? Come on.

Has anyone else heard of this happening? This is getting out of hand.

MissingYVR

I hope the screening staff have just how anal they're going to be with you stamped on their foreheads, otherwise how will I know whom to avoid?