YYZ Transborder "pit"
 

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at booking a YHZ-MIA and an option is a YHZ-YYZ-MIA, arriving at YYZ 6:51am and departing YYZ at 8:20am (1hour 29 minutes)

With such an early morning connection, would it be safe to assume the trans border connection area would be quiet? Is it even open that early?

I have NEXUS, but my parents don't, and 1 hour 29 minutes makes me nervous.

I used this pit for the first time back in April. I asked the GTAA worker "where is the NEXUS line?" She said " Oh, the sun is shinning on the NEXUS screen, you'll be faster to just use these regular machines using your passport" and me being native said "Okay!" an hour later, and my name finally showed up on the board. what a mess.

Thanks

I take the 8am flight to DEN several times a year. IME The day of the week and time of the year makes a difference. Some days, the TB area is over run with seniors heading South. For example, Thursday early morning, seems to be a popular time for Seniors and families with very young children to travel. Same with Monday morning.

I've done this "pit" multiple times...never had an issue with or without bags. It's much faster than showing up at the regular US checkin, whenever I've gone through the little connection line is like max 50 people and the regular USA checked in people is easily 200. I breeze through even without NEXUS. The only trouble I've had was last time a US agent just decided to pull me in for extra questioning as I was about to leave the hall.

IT all depends on:

Day of the week
Which week of the year
Which airline/terminal

You might have to claim your bags and then deal with US CBP, on a Monday morning my bet is against you making it.

With parents I would take YHZ NYC MIA and get the border crossing dealt with at the beginning rather than in the middle of the itinerary.