SEA1K4EVR

I read the official YVR website that tells me I've got to clear both Canadian and US customs at YVR, but I swore I saw a thread on here a few months ago that said there was another option.

**Arrival from US on AC, Departure to US on UA 2 hours later**

I've got an AC ticket SEA-YVR with a separate ticket YVR-SFO-Asia on UA coming up tomorrow. No checked bags. I've got NEXUS with the iris scan so I'm perfectly fine with going through both...but I've got someone with me who has GE, but not NEXUS so he may take longer if Canadian immigration has a long line. We are not leaving the airport as we've got under 2 hours there.

On my last AC trip from SEA-YVR I also vaguely recall a way out of the path to go to immigration that flowed out to the international departures area..but this may not have been the US departures area. I know for sure we'll have to go through US immigration.. but if we can avoid Canadian that would be great.

Let me know if there are any shortcuts.. or if we really need to go the whole official route. Thanks!

**Mods .if you could leave it here a little while for me until someone answers it... albfamily and I will appreciate**

mahasamatman

I've never seen any way around Canadian immigration, though I have to admit I've never actively looked. Since the only entry to U.S. immigration is from the main lobby, I don't think there's any way you can avoid it.

RobOnLI

You will have to follow the official route. There's no short cut for this. In fact this is the exact reason why I didn't book the same itinerary you booked. I've looked at it and it would have saved money but in the end was not worth explaining to Canadian Immigration officials why the heck I just deplaned a US flight and will board another US-bound flight. For some reason Canadian Immigration folks have become "pains" and ask a ton of questions. Canada used to be the easiest country to enter with no questions but lately (last year or so) I don't get through without 5 questions minimum. (Note: i'm not saying this is a bad idea or bad policy - just saying it's changed and you will get weird looks and more questions from them on a US to US connection).

Anyway, use this site to help you guide your YVR experience: http://www.yvr.ca/en/navigating-YVR/...rough-YVR.aspx

It clearly shows you have to clear Canadian Immigration *and* customs. You will then enter the international arrivals area and will have to walk over to the US departures area of the departure terminal. At least this means both of you can use GE/Nexus to get back "into" the US from YVR. But as for Canadian Immigration, your friend is stuck in the normal line while you use Nexus. Your friend is going to get asked a ton of questions.

-RM

Kacee

Yes there is a bypass of Canada immigration and customs for international connections at YVR.

The problem is I'm not sure it's available for US to US connections.

SEA1K4EVR

Thank you... that is a good point for sure. Do they have a first class security lane there at the US departure checkpoint? I assume there's nothing like Precheck..

SEA1K4EVR

Thanks yes that's exactly the guide I used... . .it really does seem logical that to access US customs we'll have to "enter" Canada and come back in.. I'll prepare my friend for the 3rd degree...it can't be that uncommon.. I'll print out his receipt for him so they can see how cheap the ticket cost..maybe that will shut them up.


We're kicking off a guys long weekend quasi mileage run on a $2,421 RT P fare YVR-SFO-HND-SIN-NRT-SEA-YVR published several months ago..it's all UA except HND-SIN is on an ANA 787 and NRT-SEA an ANA 777 both in biz.. never tried ANA before so looking forward to it. He's flying up from DEN tomorrow morning and meeting me at SEA and we're flying up to YVR together on AC. We've got to spend about 11 hours near HND for a long overnight connection... we've been to Tokyo so we're just staying by the airport..

What I REALLY want to do is toss my AC ticket, hop on the train to Vancouver today, spend the night and catch the 6am tomorrow to SFO, then HKG on the 747 in upgraded F, and stay a night there instead of Tokyo.. hoping UA would let us do an SDC from our code share ANA flight HND-SIN and fly UA metal the whole way... P is available on all, as is upgrade space ON to first on the 747 SFO-HKG ...we would have spent the 30k miles and $600 copay... it's my 45th birthday Thursday and it would have been fun... but other things got in the way so we're keeping our original plan.

Actually those 2 typhoons last weekend were making a Tokyo weather waiver look promising...and if that happened we would have made this work and even done Phuket as an add-on with Tiger Air... but we're happy with what we've got too!

transportprof

There is a Fast Track lane for US departures at YVR. To use it you would need a green "Fast Track" sticker on your boarding pass, which is available from the Premier Access check-in desk. A Nexus card will also gain you access to the Fast Track line - which leads to a modified version of Pre-Check - fewer things out of your bags, less disrobing, etc.

transportprof

You know that they're monitoring what you post on the web, don't you? You might want to say a few nicer things about our beloved Customs and Border Protection before putting yourself at their mercy.

Officially, free SDC is only available on pure UA metal itineraties. Code shares are not eligible for SDC, although if you find the right agent, anything is possible.

But since YVR agents were outsourced, your chances of finding the right person here are not so hot.

Kacee

They are awful. Seem to enjoy giving passengers a hard time. I'm the type of pax who usually breezes through immigration; at YVR, they give me the third degree. I've had more issues with immigration at YVR then in the rest of the world put together.

The issue is the Canadians, not the Americans.

SEA1K4EVR

Since this is for flights TO the US..does a Global Entry card work too? My friend has one, and I've told him to bring it... I've got my Nexus card.. if GE doesn't work we'll stop and get a sticker.. he is Gold and we're both in first class leaving YVR also.

hey my comment was tame (in this case, you know I was talking about the Canadians, right?)... if they want to rake people over the coals over something as innocent and easily explainable as taking advantage of a good deal...well, then they can take their lumps too.

And yes, I know about the SDC rule.. I would have not left my house before knowing I could do it... it's a UA code share operated by ANA and I wanted to change to UA metal that have the space.. and I'm pretty sure they would have let me change if I called the 1K desk... if not the first agent, the second or third would have... I definitely would not have done it on the fly at an airport unless there were IRROPS.

transportprof

You don't think Canadians have an NSA ? Google "Communications Security Establishment".

mahasamatman

If he has the physical card, it should work (according to a friend of mine who used hers a couple of weeks ago).

transportprof

Funny you should mention GE. My wife has GE and I have Nexus. Sometimes, they let her in the Fast Track as US departures in YVR, and sometimes not.

If you have enough time after the Canadian Customs inspectors let you put your clothes back on , you can pick up the green stickers at the United Premier Access Desk.

Kacee

You could call 100 times and I doubt you would get an SDC from HND-SIN on NH to NRT-SIN on UA.

Well, you referenced Customs and Border Protection, so I thought you were talking about the Americans

SEA1K4EVR

Perfect! He does.. his birthdate was wrong on his original card so I told him a couple months ago to get a new one and he just did so we're all set. That will be useful.