Tips for a 57 minute Canada->YUL->USA connection?
Sep 22, 2021, 10:14 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 13
Tips for a 57 minute Canada->YUL->USA connection?
Hi folks,
Air Canada has changed our flights from a 3 hour connection that I booked with to 57 minutes. Using their website, I could have changed from this 57 minute connection they provided to a 6 hour connection, but that did not sound particularly enjoyable.
My question for ya'll is, if you have traveled through a pre-clearance connection in YUL recently, would you have any tips for us?
We do have NEXUS and plan to get Antigen tests from Shoppers. I know there is a form the CDC is requiring, so we will have that pre-filled out before we fly.
The flights are early in the day, so I would hope that worst case scenario we can get onto another flight later in the day.
Edit: Just specifying this is a domestic to USA transfer coming from another Canadian airport.
Air Canada has changed our flights from a 3 hour connection that I booked with to 57 minutes. Using their website, I could have changed from this 57 minute connection they provided to a 6 hour connection, but that did not sound particularly enjoyable.
My question for ya'll is, if you have traveled through a pre-clearance connection in YUL recently, would you have any tips for us?
We do have NEXUS and plan to get Antigen tests from Shoppers. I know there is a form the CDC is requiring, so we will have that pre-filled out before we fly.
The flights are early in the day, so I would hope that worst case scenario we can get onto another flight later in the day.
Edit: Just specifying this is a domestic to USA transfer coming from another Canadian airport.
Last edited by clearly; Sep 22, 2021 at 10:32 am Reason: Clarifying where I am transferring from and to
Sep 22, 2021, 10:26 am
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,417
Hi folks,
Air Canada has changed our flights from a 3 hour connection that I booked with to 57 minutes. Using their website, I could have changed from this 57 minute connection they provided to a 6 hour connection, but that did not sound particularly enjoyable.
My question for ya'll is, if you have traveled through a pre-clearance connection in YUL recently, would you have any tips for us?
We do have NEXUS and plan to get Antigen tests from Shoppers. I know there is a form the CDC is requiring, so we will have that pre-filled out before we fly.
The flights are early in the day, so I would hope that worst case scenario we can get onto another flight later in the day.
Air Canada has changed our flights from a 3 hour connection that I booked with to 57 minutes. Using their website, I could have changed from this 57 minute connection they provided to a 6 hour connection, but that did not sound particularly enjoyable.
My question for ya'll is, if you have traveled through a pre-clearance connection in YUL recently, would you have any tips for us?
We do have NEXUS and plan to get Antigen tests from Shoppers. I know there is a form the CDC is requiring, so we will have that pre-filled out before we fly.
The flights are early in the day, so I would hope that worst case scenario we can get onto another flight later in the day.
Oct 29, 2021, 6:44 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 155
It is barely enough time if your flight arrives on time and you don't dawdle on the lengthy walk through the terminal. From my recent experience connecting in YUL, AC will hold departing transborder flights if there is a backlog at CATSA or US CBP. Having Global Entry will help.
Oct 29, 2021, 6:54 pm
#6
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,776
A couple weeks ago, a delay to my YYC-YUL flight turned my 71-minute connection in to a 33-minute connection. The AC concierge basically made me and my wife run all the way across YUL and was in regular communication with the gate for our onward flight to BOS, who kept telling us we needed to hurry.
We may or may not have made it in time without the concierge shepherding us, but then ended up waiting nearly 20 minutes for other connecting passengers who were coming from our flight or another delayed inbound. And I actually went through the exact same thing the last time I did YYC-YUL-BOS (although that one got even more delayed due to a mix-up with some of the other passengers' bags).
But I also know that, this time, there was absolutely no other way for AC to get us to BOS that day without bumping someone else, as all their other flights from both YUL and YYZ were sold out. So not holding the plane would have been an expensive proposition. On the previous occasion, the later flights weren't so packed, but the other connecting pax were a group of about 20 people from the Harvard ski team, and that again would have been difficult and expensive for them to re-route.
Bottom line is the connection is doable, but it could well be a very uncomfortable one, and it doesn't take much to blow it up. It might make for a more enjoyable travel experience to book an earlier YYZ-YUL flight, or just pay a premium to fly non-stop YYZ-FLL.
Oct 30, 2021, 5:56 am
#7
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,190
It's not impossible, but if your inbound flight is delayed, it may require you to run and/or you might be reliant on the airline to expedite you through CBP and/or hold the flight for you.
A couple weeks ago, a delay to my YYC-YUL flight turned my 71-minute connection in to a 33-minute connection. The AC concierge basically made me and my wife run all the way across YUL and was in regular communication with the gate for our onward flight to BOS, who kept telling us we needed to hurry.
We may or may not have made it in time without the concierge shepherding us, but then ended up waiting nearly 20 minutes for other connecting passengers who were coming from our flight or another delayed inbound. And I actually went through the exact same thing the last time I did YYC-YUL-BOS (although that one got even more delayed due to a mix-up with some of the other passengers' bags).
But I also know that, this time, there was absolutely no other way for AC to get us to BOS that day without bumping someone else, as all their other flights from both YUL and YYZ were sold out. So not holding the plane would have been an expensive proposition. On the previous occasion, the later flights weren't so packed, but the other connecting pax were a group of about 20 people from the Harvard ski team, and that again would have been difficult and expensive for them to re-route.
Bottom line is the connection is doable, but it could well be a very uncomfortable one, and it doesn't take much to blow it up. It might make for a more enjoyable travel experience to book an earlier YYZ-YUL flight, or just pay a premium to fly non-stop YYZ-FLL.
A couple weeks ago, a delay to my YYC-YUL flight turned my 71-minute connection in to a 33-minute connection. The AC concierge basically made me and my wife run all the way across YUL and was in regular communication with the gate for our onward flight to BOS, who kept telling us we needed to hurry.
We may or may not have made it in time without the concierge shepherding us, but then ended up waiting nearly 20 minutes for other connecting passengers who were coming from our flight or another delayed inbound. And I actually went through the exact same thing the last time I did YYC-YUL-BOS (although that one got even more delayed due to a mix-up with some of the other passengers' bags).
But I also know that, this time, there was absolutely no other way for AC to get us to BOS that day without bumping someone else, as all their other flights from both YUL and YYZ were sold out. So not holding the plane would have been an expensive proposition. On the previous occasion, the later flights weren't so packed, but the other connecting pax were a group of about 20 people from the Harvard ski team, and that again would have been difficult and expensive for them to re-route.
Bottom line is the connection is doable, but it could well be a very uncomfortable one, and it doesn't take much to blow it up. It might make for a more enjoyable travel experience to book an earlier YYZ-YUL flight, or just pay a premium to fly non-stop YYZ-FLL.
