Help with different flights and customs for Toronto
 

I am able to save $300 each on 2 tix to Barcelona from the midwest by booking one roundtrip ticket from a regional airport through Detroit onto Toronto. Then later in the day book a ticket from Toronto direct to Barcelona.

My question is that i am aware of Canada's very strict laws regarding any previous charges in the states. I am traveling with my sister and she received a DUI charge 3 years ago. I know if she wanted to just visit Canada she could not get in. What happens with flying though? I'm assuming since I want to do this on 2 different tickets, when we arrive in Toronto we get our bags and re-check with the other airline going over to Barcelona. But doesn't the Canadians have to "allow" us through? Which I'm thinking my sister couldn't get through.
Thanks in advance.

Help with different flights and customs for Toronto
 

What airlines and times? If your flying out of the same terminal and it's an airside connection, it might be different than if your changing terminals.

Help with different flights and customs for Toronto
 

charged or convicted? I assume you mean the latter, but it's sad that so many people use then synonymously

Welcome to FT!!

Since you are on two tickets, you would probably need to clear Canadian immigration/Customs, then go out and check in for your flight to BCN. Depending on the carriers in question, you may even need to change terminals.

I would definitely make a call to a Canadian Border services office to inquire, but my guess would be if they had not allowed her to enter in the past, they would not allow her to connect in this case. There are procedures that she can follow to allow her entry into Canada, but I believe they require some time to process.

Additionally, she may want to check if she can enter Spain as well.

What airline are you flyng into YYZ and out of?

There is airside transit US arrival to intl departure in T1.

My guess on your intinerary is that you are flying into YYZ with DL who arrives into T3 which does not have airside transit. So you have to enter Canada and be admissible.

Even if all flights were in and out of T1, there is still a passport control with Canadian Immigration. It requires luggage tagged all the way to the final destination and a boarding pass for the onward flight.

That said, I don't know how they would react to the OP's sister's situation, even if just in transit.

As others have pointed out, what was the result of the DUI - conviction, lesser charges, etc... Even without any jail time, she risks being inadmissable to Canada if she was convicted of a DUI. What Canada does ask whether the offence is "indictable" and can turn you back.

I can't remember whether T1 normally does a full passport screen or not if you go through Customs B (from US to int'l). Unless you can interline your bags, you'll have to go through the normal immigration process, where your sister will be put through the normal immigration screening process.


Your sister's trip is at real risk if she was convicted of a DUI (vs something less serious). Get the facts figured out and make sure to have the paperwork if she was only convicted of a lesser offense.

See this link http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca....aspx?lang=eng (it is for Australians but the concept applies)

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Wholly apart from the Canadian immigration issue, if the OP and her sister travel to Canada on one ticket, and from Canada to Europe on another, they might not be protected in the event of a missed connection at YYZ (due to delay or cancellation of the Delta flights, long immigration processing time in YYZ, etc., etc.)

Traveling on two separate tickets is usually a risky proposition, unless one has built in a lot of connection time (and maybe even an overnight), at the intermediate point.

There is at least one thread in the Canada forum which deals with the issue of a Toronto connection from the U.S. to another international destination.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/canad...nnections.html

I'll move this to the Canada forum for more discussion. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

From my observations the passport check is a visual check by an uniformed CBSA agent at Intl/US arrival in T1. There is a counter with the full CBSA terminal there but they are usually in front and just looking at the passenger and the passport.

I am guessing that OP will be arriving in T3 due to DL is the only airline with acheduled flights from DTW to YYZ. If my hunch is correct, her sister will be subjected to full immigration arrival including scan of the passport to transit.