Long connection in Montreal - What to do?
 

I may opt to make a long connection in Montreal en route to Paris in mid May (originating in Hartford, CT). My choices are a 1 hr 10 min connection which seems way too tight, 7 hr 22 min connection which is a very long time to sit in an airport but probably not long enough to spend a lot of time in Montreal itself?, and a 10 hr 52 min connection). The plane size does not phase me, but the BDL (Hartford) to Montreal (YUL) flight is on a Be1900D flown by Air Georgian/Air Alliance so this might need additional time if Montreal has a satellite terminal.

I was wondering what you guys might suggest as a means to go into the city on a budget (I believe there is a bus/shuttle?) and what to do in those few hours. Also, how long might it take in each direction? And I imagine this would mean I could not leave my luggage checked while I went into the city?

Finally, I consider my passport stamps as a souvenir and was wondering if passport control habitually stamps US passports or generally no. I would think that they would stamp for people entering Canada but not connecting passengers?

Thanks in advance for your help.

If you're going to Paris, spend your time there, not shuttling around in Montreal. If they route you for a quick connection go for it, especially if there is another flight to Paris afterwards in case there is a delay. The Beech is okay for short flights and your seat is both aisle and window. There's a sort of toilet at the back. And if no one is in front of you, the seatback folds down and you can put your feet up. If you wind up in Montreal for a long connection, there are lots of old threads on the subject of visiting in this forum. There is essentially no low cost public transit from YUL and the airport shuttle bus is not a speedster. And Canada Border Services agents are not in the habit of stamping passports of visitors from the US. You don't even need a passport for entry into Canada, just to go home to the US.

As long as UA connects your bags to AC, you can go to an immigration "bypass" counter which should be only a cursory passport and boarding pass check. YUL isn't that big an airport, so 1:10 is fine. AC actually gives a MCT of only 40 minutes for YUL for a US-Int'l connection. So in ACs view, you should have a solid half hour cushion. On the way back, they want 1:10 but only because you need to preclear US customs.

Thanks guys. Unfortunately there is no early (or later) flight to Paris, so my option is the short connection or a long one. The flights are once daily each from Montreal and Toronto (and if I land in Montreal late, the Toronto flight might leave before I could connect there as that flight departs something like 90 minutes later). My only concern is that I would be screwed if the Air Georgian-operated flight is delayed at all, hence my looking at the longer connections. You know how much more likely commuter planes are to be delayed...

If you opt for the long connection and dont want to head downtown (which could be a pain for the reasons stated by others), I would look into heading to the waterfront in Dorval or Pte-Claire which is a max 15 minute cab ride to the airport with little or no traffic. You could sit by the Lake and read a book and relax instead of being stuck inside.

If you're a golfer, you could also head over to the driving range at Golf Dorval (http://www.golfdorval.com/) which is located near the airport (actually directly to the North West of the airport)

My experience with Air Georgian is that they are on-time operators. If you miss the connection, they'll put you on a flight to London or Frankfurt or Dusseldorf with a short connection at the other end. On the other hand, what if after your long wait the flight is delayed or cancelled?