20:43 arrived gate
21:13 waiting for next flight

In between I cleared immigration, customs, walked over to AC checkin, dropped off my bag, went through security and walked to the AC gate. And I was worried I'd be short on time!

AC staff said no need to retag bag or get new BP. The CX issued ones would do fine.

From CX First to AC economy....

Ouch.

Talk about a shock treatment ! :p

Couldn't you have flown direct to YYZ?

Had expiring miles and needed to burn at least 180K. No F to YYZ.

I would have asked CX to try and sell the AC ticket on the same PNR.
It avoids Canadian HST.

MSC does not apply on separate TKTs, but AC may choose to waive bag fees given int'l connection. Also, I see http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...e/checked.html says first bag is free.

OP is on an award TKT...and AC is not an AM member...

Yes that's correct. I didn't have a chance to test the MSC rule as I had only 1 bag of less than 23kgs.

Your other option would have been to go to JFK or ORD and connect to YYZ there on AA... on one award ticket.

LAX would also be an option (although not the best)

Both JFK and LAX options require 40K more AM to be spent, plus I am traveling during thanksgiving week so there is virtually no award availability of any kind of North American travel.

What I did actually worked out decently well. From a transit point of view CX-AC on two separate tickets is as good as CX-AA on a single ticket. Only possible downside of what I did is IRROPS but luckily I didn't have to deal with that.

Hey folks

Needed to check the MCT at YVR for a CX-AC Connection for a trip next summer (CX888-AC230 to YYC). Fairly certain that what I'd really prefer isn't do-able, but thought I should check nevertheless (would love to not have to overnight at/near the airport).

I guess both flights are in terminal 'M', albeit on the International and Domestic sections respectively. CX gets in at 2125 while the AC flight departs at 2310 - will be separate tickets.

KVS reads:
DD DI ID II
STANDARD: YVR 020 060 060 090
TERMINAL: YVR M TO M 045 050 090 090

However I see that CX has an exception:
CX M --- 090 120 120
-ALL- M
(and another exception for connections to the US)

Am I reading this all right - that CX purposely asks for extra time for bags to be tagged through?

Cheerios

For CX to North American transits I think for most ports they require 120 mins

You have a 2 hour 5 minute connection, both flights are at Terminal 'M' (thought at completely opposite ends, it's a bit of a trek with bags).

I recently (last month) did exactly what you're trying to do, also with a 2 hour 5 minute connection except going to Toronto instead of Calgary. It's very possible, with plenty of time to spare (assuming CX on-time arrival into YVR).

The procedure looked like this:
1) At HKIA, CX tagged bags to my final destination (YYZ, for you will be YYC)
2) CX gave me boarding passes for BOTH flights (including the Air Canada one)
3) Arrive YVR, go through immigration and then collect bags
4) Walk your bags all the way through to the other end of Terminal M (long walk, when I was there the lifts weren't working, nuisance), and dump them onto the Air Canada baggage belt (which is just behind the AC self check-in counters). You do not need to get them re-tagged before doing this.
5) Use the CX-issued BP to board the AC flight. You do not need to exchange for a new BP in YVR.

For me this worked as I was within both the CX and AC baggage allowances. If you're over your AC baggage allowance I don't know what would happen.

But as long as you're within allowances, the procedure is very smooth and easy.

Thanks, midlevels

Unfortunately, my dates are in the summer schedule, which has CX getting in at 2125 instead of 2025 - giving me 1:45mins for the connection (AC leaves at 2310)

Ah. Sorry. I need to recheck my mental arithmetic which is obviously getting rusty. In this case you're below MCT so CX won't help you out.

BUT, if CX is on time and you don't get bogged up in immigration, you probably have enough time to recheck yourself with AC. However, if CX is a bit late, you're risking trouble...