American Airlines Canada-US transfer

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Feb 27, 2019, 12:19 am

katesayson

Original Poster

Join Date: Feb 2019

Posts: 3

American Airlines Canada-US transfer

If I arrive from Canada on American Airlines and need to transfer to a domestic flight, will I need to change terminals?

Feb 27, 2019, 12:29 am

cedric

Join Date: Mar 2002

Location: YYJ

Posts: 4,137

Which airport are you referring to?

Feb 27, 2019, 1:56 am

Djokison

Join Date: Apr 2010

Location: CUR

Posts: 2,170

Unlikely, but unless you tell us where (and preferably flight number or equipment), we can’t be 100% sure.

Feb 27, 2019, 2:44 am

C46

Join Date: Jun 2018

Posts: 153

Or if you arrive at DFW, departing from CLT - yes, you would need to switch terminals...and a bit more!

Details might be kind of helpful.

Feb 27, 2019, 5:44 am

Often1

Suspended

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Location: DCA

Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL

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Please provide the details and also, for the benefit of others, have a Moderator retitle your thread to something a bit more helpful.

Feb 27, 2019, 5:59 am

apeortdz

Join Date: Mar 2010

Location: PHL

Programs: AA Executive Platinum; Hilton Diamond

Posts: 2,662

Agree with the above request for more info...and Welcome to FT!

Feb 27, 2019, 6:46 am

MathMusic

Join Date: Aug 2017

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Posts: 550

Also worth mentioning is that if you are departing from an airport without US Customs pre-clearance you will have to clear customs, etc.

Feb 27, 2019, 6:54 am

IADCAflyer

Join Date: Sep 2000

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You sometimes have to change terminals even if you are flying from Boston to Charleston (via PHL or CLT, etc.)

Feb 27, 2019, 7:40 am

ashill

Join Date: Apr 2009

Location: YYF/YLW

Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver

Posts: 5,950

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathMusic

Also worth mentioning is that if you are departing from an airport without US Customs pre-clearance you will have to clear customs, etc.

I believe that all seven of AA/Eagle’s Canadian destinations (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, ~~and Quebec City~~) have preclearance. Therefore, the OP will arrive at the US airport as a domestic passenger and the flight transfer will be just like domestic connections (except possibly in unusual situations; I think there may be a few flights that leave after preclearance closes at some Canadian airports with preclearance). That means it may or may not involve changing terminals (depending on the hub). At most hubs, it will not require reclearing security but may involve a bus (eg at DCA). But impossible to know without knowing which hub.

ETA: per below: not Quebec City.

Last edited by ashill; Feb 27, 2019 at 10:30 am

Feb 27, 2019, 7:57 am

#10

JDiver

Moderator: American AAdvantage

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Posts: 62,948

Quote:

Originally Posted by katesayson

If I arrive from Canada on American Airlines and need to transfer to a domestic flight, will I need to change terminals?

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

You’ve asked a question we’d like to answer, but can’t unless we know more. At the least we need to know which airport is your connecting airport in the USA.

For the best reply, we’d like your schedule, e.g.

AAxxxx Lv YVR (time), Ar DFW (time)
AAyyyy Lv DFW (time), Ar MSY (time)

If you preclear in Canada your flight will arrive as a domestic flight, and if your baggage is checked through (it will be if both segments are on a single ticketing) you’ll have to determine your departure gate (and possibly departure terminal or concourse) and go there without the necessity of clearing immigration, customs and security, as you’ll have done that prior to boarding.

That’s pretty general, but we don’t have sufficient information to advise any further.

Feb 27, 2019, 9:59 am

#11

andrewesque

Join Date: Jun 2015

Posts: 229

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashill

I believe that all seven of AA/Eagle’s Canadian destinations (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City) have preclearance.

Quebec City doesn't currently have US CBP preclearance, but all the other ones do. It's in progress at YQB though -- I believe the legislation has been passed though I don't know if the facility is under construction yet.

ashill likes this.

Last edited by andrewesque; Feb 27, 2019 at 10:04 am

Feb 27, 2019, 10:33 am

#12

katesayson

Original Poster

Join Date: Feb 2019

Posts: 3

Vancouver to DFW to Orlando MCO

Vancouver to DFW: AA 392
DFW to MCO: AA 2314
I only have 50 minutes between landing and departing, so I need to know if I have sufficient time to change terminals, if required.
I believe I clear US Immigrations in YVR (Vancouver)
Thanks for your help!

Feb 27, 2019, 10:35 am

#13

ashill

Join Date: Apr 2009

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Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver

Posts: 5,950

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrewesque

Thanks. In December 2016, the Canadian government announced the construction of a facility to open in 18 months, so there are lots of articles from then (and Wikipedia was updated at the time). We're still well within the normal construction delay window of 18 months from then, I think

, but I didn't immediately find any more recent updates and have no personal experience.

Feb 27, 2019, 10:38 am

#14

ashill

Join Date: Apr 2009

Location: YYF/YLW

Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver

Posts: 5,950

Quote:

Originally Posted by katesayson

Yes, you clear US immigration and Customs in YVR, so you'll need to allow a bit of extra time in YVR before departure. But DFW will be a normal connection, just like a domestic connection. AA operates out of five terminals at DFW, so odds are good that you'll have to change terminals (the train is fastest in most cases; all terminals are connected behind security), but the odds are no different than for a, say, SEA-DFW-MCO connection. 50 minutes is tight but totally feasible at DFW.