aznaphrodite

I'm flying from YQB to DFW and need to make a stop in Toronto OR Newark. Which would be better, considering customs, checking bags, etc.?

Thanks in advance!

bwiadca

Newark.

M60_to_LGA

I would say Toronto. EWR is generally a third-world disaster of an airport.

Normally I'd say it would depend on which airline you fly, but if you fly through EWR I'm assuming you'd be either on UA/CO, which is an utter mess these days, or AC, which is exiled along with US and other unloved airline stepchildren to the embarrassing Terminal A. In either case, EWR is a depressing place to be.

Also, if by going through YYZ you end up flying AC instead of UA/CO, you win.

choster

The only reason I can think of to choose EWR is if you have a long layover (>4 hours) and want to make a quick visit to New York City.

EWR is more prone to delays, especially short-haul flights like YQB. If there is a difference in clearing customs and immigration, I seriously doubt that it would be the better experience.

As previously noted, AC > UA/CO generally speaking, certainly while UA/CO works through its merger-related issues.

printingray

EWR is so easy to handle being a smaller airport.

aznaphrodite

Thanks for the feedback so far. Here's more details on the airlines...

YQB > YYZ on WestJet, YYZ > DFW on AA
YQB > EWR on United, EWR > DFW on AA

Thanks!

gfunkdave

Newark is part of the incredibly overcongested NYC airspace and suffers frequent delays. You might miss your flight.

M60_to_LGA

I'd still say go through YYZ. EWR is in general awful, and as other posters have already noted, the potential for delays, missed connections, and other generalized chaos is far higher there than in YYZ.

Plus if you have to hang out for a while in the airport, YYZ is a far better place to be than EWR, especially Terminal A.

pinniped

Does one of them have a significantly shorter total gate-to-gate duration? Does the one with the shorter duration have an uncomfortably short connection? I usually err on the side of the shorter duration unless the reason it's so much shorter is because it's right up against the minimum connection time.

I've never flown out of YQB...I assume you do U.S. immigration there like at most Canadian airports? Is that process significantly calmer at YQB than YYZ? (Although to be honest, I've never encountered a terrible U.S. immigration delay at any Canadian airport...maybe I've been lucky.)

If all things are equal and you're looking at, say, 3 hours on the ground in either place and nearly equal depart/arrival times, I'd definitely choose YYZ over EWR. EWR is a depressing, depressing place. Makes Philly looks cheery by comparison.

tentseller

WS and AA are both T3 at YYZ, get off the plane, clear US CBP and off to your gate.

If you fly into EWR from YQB you will do arrival CBP immigration and then custom along with all other international arrivals. Then a terminal change to AA.

pinniped

There ya go...that makes YYZ the winner unless the times/duration are strongly in favor of EWR...

I_Can_Fly_US_Airways

Toronto all the way! New York City air traffic is not the worst in the country.

aznaphrodite

Thanks, everyone! I've got about 6 options for each route so I'm pretty sure I'll find one with enough connecting time.

Thanks again!

Maxwell Smart

Then, based on what tentseller and pinniped said, I'd also recommend YYZ as a clear winner, since there is no preclearance at YQB. I'd say your trip would be a LOT smoother dealing with CBP preclearance at YYZ and staying in the same terminal rather than CBP at EWR international arrivals followed by a terminal transfer.

sbm12

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9930; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.163 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Definitely YYZ. Willingly choosing to connect at EWR when other reasonable options are available is a sign of issues.