mxqisit

Checking the CATSA wait times periodically throughout the day shows there's a clear morning rush, a mid-afternoon rush, and an early evening rush at various terminals and destinations (domestic, transborder, international). Keep an eye on the trends in the days leading up to the flight, but as already stated with Nexus there shouldn't be any major issue getting to the front of the queue. What happens after that is still a wild card.

tbuff

If I clear security in YWG and go to YYZ to get a connection to FRA I don't have to re clear security do I? Been a long time since I've done this.

aidy

if you remain in the terminal no, e.g. T3-T3 or T1-T1

tbuff

Yeah staying T1. That's what i thought. Was getting confused with US customs pre clearance.

Thank you

celticanvil

I'm flying to FRA on Thurs pm, looking to see if security waits have improved and what others have experienced.
Flying AC, carry-on only.
Thanks!

TheCanuckian

From what I have read, experienced, and observed, the great majority of the issues with security relate to the early morning rush. I think it is particularly pronounced when heading to the United States. You may experience some slowdowns in the evening as you head to the international area, but I would not expect it to be nearly as bad as the worst of the media reports. Then, of course, you may experience flight delays (which are a separate issue). Lost luggage is another concern, but one you’ll avoid by doing carry-on only.

If it was me, I would stick with the usual 3-hour timeframe and assume I’d make it through in plenty of time. I don’t think there’s any great likelihood that you’ll be more than an hour from stepping into the airport to clearing security.

(My recent experience was late afternoon and we were about 15 minutes from taxi to lounge.)

spartacus81

I was on the 16:45 AC flight to FRA last week. I got there about 3 hours early, but managed to check in my lugguage (self service) and go through security in under 20 mins. It might get a bit busier later in the afternoon with more international flights in the evening.

freqflyer9

Got a question about security at YYZ and NEXUS - I just got approved today and I do a lot of frequent travel domestically for work especially in the early mornings (when YYZ security is very busy). Any tips for what can I do? Does NEXUS have dedicated lanes for domestic or do we just skip the line to the front for domestic flights?

wjw

I believe Domestic is still lumped in with International. Nexus has a dedicated line entrance separate from priority security (status, etc…) but they end up at the same security lane. However if you just got approved I think you’ll need to wait until you get the actual card.

If you already have status and/or credit card benefits that get you priority security don’t expect anything too different, but if not it will get you to the dedicated lane separate from the rest of the passengers.

Entrance to Nexus is closer to where you exit from AC’s aisle 1, priority security despite ending up in the same place is closer to the normal entrance area into security.

freqflyer9

Thanks for the reply! I just wanted to provide a quick update in case anyone was wondering - I fly AC out of Terminal 1 at YYZ and there's a secluded entrance to security on the domestic side for NEXUS/GE members and I was able to get in!

matrix2907

The hours for the Amex Kioks for Domestic departures at Terminal 1 are between 6am-8pm and Transborder/ International departures are between 6am-2pm. If you have an international departure in the evening, would the priority QR code from Domestic Departure Kiosk work or priority security?

Utskicat

Tues Sep 13 report
DL departue USA transborder T3
Arrived airport at 530am for 700am departure
Nexus - no line
Normal security - no line
Checkin to Gate in under 15 mins.

pl804

Does this AmEx kiosk to generate the Pearson Security Lane QR codes require that you hold a Canadian Platinum card? Or does it work for US Platinum cardholders, too?

emcampbe

dont know if there is a specific requirement to hold the Canadian card. I can share that last year, when it wasn’t a kiosk (didn’t know there was), but when it was a table with a couple of folks looking at card, then giving the priority slip, I used my US Amex plat and no questions asked - I don’t think the Canadian and American cards even look much different that one would be able to tell without looking pretty closely.

Certainly, there is no promo of this benefit with the US card, but I believe there are other international airports where an Amex plat can get you to priority security, so I suspect any Amex plat should work.

GUWonder

Yes, there are other such airports. For example, Stockholm-Arlanda airport. The priority security benefit for ARN is marketed to Swedish Plats/Centurions, but my US Amex cards work just fine at that Swedish airport upon showing the equivalent US cards to the Swedish accounts card members who are told they get this benefit at ARN. In my case with US cards, the card scan at ARN didn’t seem to work for the staffing persons, and so they would just eye it and let me proceed anyway. Showing the physical US cards had also previously worked at YYZ like that, but this Amex priority security thing at YYZ seemed to come and go at times. Maybe I’ll get a stab at it again next month.