Kate_Canuck

I am flying YYZ back to LGA today and I expect to arrive at the airport fairly early, which usually would enable me to spend some time in the MLL lounge before my flight.

The last time I flew YYZ-US, I was horrified to discover that after check-in, I had to hang out in a holding pen before being able to enter the hall where US does its immigration/customs clearance. Entrance to the line for the US immigration/customs area was timed, based on your flight. In other words, the tardy people were rewarded and the early people were punished with a long wait time. This was around March break earlier this year, and I am wondering if this is now a standard practice at YYZ or whether it was due to the heavy traffic through YYZ during March break.

If this is now a standard practice, then I'll just wait at the ALT hotel (where I stayed overnight) instead.

Does anyone know what the common practice is? I also know that this is a fairly busy weekend for YYZ travel (although I'm thinking that YYZ to the US Saturday mid-afternoon is going to be a relatively quiet period). Thanks.

hostageofont

I've passed through the T1 pre-clearance twice in the past month, and the holding pen was not in use.
I did get caught in it during March Break, so it was likely in use because of the heavy traffic.