yyznomad

Ok, I see what you mean. I agree. YVR security is a close second, IMHO.

lcohen999

Oh I agree.

YVR follows the rules, they ... just .. do ... so ... at ... a ... slow ... pace

To round up the top 3, we can easily add YQR

gcashin

Totally agree. I'd been looking forward to the new YYC terminal, and it's continued to be a major disappointment on many fronts. YYC just can't seem to get their act together.

Fizzer

As for YQR it depends entirely on the time of day ( if we are still talking security that is). First thing in the morning, especially in the winter with charter flights to Mexico etc. it is without a doubt a zoo, with the security line trailing back past the escalators and into the restaurant shop area.. The rest of the time it takes no more than 5 minutes IME. Of course when it is busy using the Nexus line, which makes you push in at the front of the regular line, always causes some form of confrontation with those who have been lining up for 30 minutes or more.

yyznomad

Just to be clear, you're referring to YQR and not YUL/YVR...

Fizzer

Yes. Sorry about that. I will edit for clarity.

Fizzer

I have a question for anybody that has flown through YYC recently. We have a flight arriving AC from YQR connecting to UA to SFO. We have a 43 minute connection time and have Nexus/ GE. My suspicion is that we will not be able to make the connection as the AC website says 50 minutes is the minimum, although that is presumably without Nexus.

My question is that given the enhanced electronic screening on flights to the US is there any chance of making it if we hustle. Or are we better contacting UA to change now or should we gamble on making it. BTW we are connecting in SFO to OGG so if we miss one connection it dominos from there.

Stranger

If this is a single ticket, someone violated the rules, but it's the issuing airline's problem.

If these are two separate tickets, you should riun and change them.

Fizzer

They're a single ticket but I will probably try to change. I suspect a flight time changed somewhere along the line.

gcashin

It's possible to physically make that connection if all the stars aligned, but you could end up offloaded or have trouble checking in due to not meeting MCT. I'd give your chances of making that connection less than 50%. With an onward connection to OGG, I wouldn't risk it and would look at alternate connection options and call the ticketing airline.

Fizzer

Thanks. I have checked and it is the last connection of the day , so I will have to opt for a 5:30 am deParture YQR-YYC and have a long layover. Thanks again.

Done. Rather a 6 hour layover than a ruined mini-break.

Adam Smith

It could be too late now that you've changed it once, but if it was an AC or UA schedule change that forced the tight connection, you might be able to re-route in a better fashion than having a 6-hour layover at YYC.

Did you just change the YQR-YYC and leave the rest the same?

Depending on timing, you could have looked at changing the YYC-SFO as well, or, if you were lucky, doing something like YQR-YVR-OGG, if it were available.

Did you see whether there were any alternatives like that?

californiadreamin'

Minimum connection times are sometimes overridden by airlines for marketing purposes. Hence, if you were ticketed this way, then the connection is protected in case you were not to make it. Having said that, if you have the time to spare, it's probably better to have been proactive.

Adam Smith

Not sure what you're talking about "for marketing purposes".

AC will not allow booking a ticket with a connection below MCT, on ac.com or through the GDS. I even once hit a problem where AC's system had the wrong MCT applicable to a CM-CM connection at PTY and there was no way to override it despite the agreement of AC's expert ticketing people that their system was wrong.

It was almost certainly a schedule change that caused Fizzer's connection to fall below MCT. Yes, (s)he would have been protected, but in this case, it was definitely worth being protected given the high consequences of missing the connection.

Fizzer

There was a schedule change from 1:08 to 43 minutes it seemed. We had confirmed UG on the subsequent segments so decided to keep them the same and to go to Calgary earlier. We were offered a different routing via YYZ and LAX but it was also a 6 am start so not a lot in it. Thanks everyone for the input. I have to remember to check my reservations more frequently.

Fortuitously, while checking options for this connection, I was on the AC site and realized that another booking I have, through AP on this occasion, has me on the same AC flight to YYC in 10 days. The flight changed from 6:45 am to 5:30 am and I was totally unaware. I don't recall receiving a schedule change email. As I don't always use OLCI (as it won't give me free bags as a UA *G) it is possible that I might have turned up too late to make my flight. I think I would have checked at least the day before but if I'd got busy I might have overlooked it. Caught in time and lesson learned.