The decision on which airport to use is pretty independent of your status as an infrequent traveler. If you live just across the border from BLI, BTV, BUF, DTW, etc., then by all means price all of your sensible/relevant flight options. On a cruise departing from, say, FLL, then your BTV-FLL flights will probably cost you a lot less than your YUL-FLL flights. Not always, but usually. You'll be able to weigh the pros and cons in terms of total travel time vs. money saved.

No matter what you do, you're going to have one interaction with Immigration and one interaction with some sort of airport security each direction. (They are separate, but obviously located close together if you exit the country via air.) Neither will be horrific enough that you should alter your travels.

TSA should not be a dealbreaker, as many other FT'rs have said. And yes, definitely look at the cheaper flights from certain airports. Getting to Vancouver from YOW for example has been cheaper flying to ORD-->Seattle-->Bellingham, then driving, with miles.

^ The 80/20 rule works with everything!

I have to say my experience has been different. No trouble w/ Canadians, and little trouble w/ US agents, except for their gazillion requests taking fingerprints pictures asking lots of questions....on Canadian soil. That's an issue of principle though.

The airport immigration guys from either country aren't really a problem. The only time I have a U.S.-Canadian issue is driving back into the U.S. It's always carload of Americans and a U.S. rental car that we've picked up and are dropping off at a U.S. airport. Yet it's always 50 questions about the car, the rental agreement, where we're from, why we flew to Vermont and drove to Quebec, etc., etc., etc.

I would think a Canadian in a personal car would face less questions.

I always thought that Canadians preferred the preclearance procedures since it opens up so many nonstop flights to the U.S. that probably wouldn't otherwise exist. Plus it reduces your MCT when connecting in U.S. hubs, making connecting itins that much easier to book. Is this really unpopular there?

Granted, nearly all of my Canadian friends live in one of the larger cities, so they almost never have a domestic connection prior to U.S. preclearance...

I never fly from a Canadian airport if at all possible (unless of course, flying to another Canadian city only). The fees and taxes are one reason but the big one is the time involved clearing customs (almost nil when driving, and no border lineups at the crossing I use). At the airport, the lineups are huge because all US bound flights use one line for US customs and the grilling is usually more in depth than when driving. There it is 'where do you live', 'purpose of your trip' that's it. And then the TSA. In tiny Bellingham, the TSA are actually nice. Friendly, no body scanners (yet) and maybe one or two people in line ahead of you max as there are only a couple of airlines that use BLI, not to mention not a whole lot of flights in total. I can arrive much closer to my flight time with no checked bags as I know clearing security will take mere minutes.

I can't speak for other border towns, just suggesting the OP try BLI of he lives near Vancouver. Sadly for me, the secret is now out and more and more people are flying from there so it is getting busier. I have been doing it for over 25 years (I used to work on a cruise ship and could buy a cheap open RT within US which you couldn't do from Canada back then without paying full fare) but back then BLI was REALLY small and it involved a prop plane to SEA first. But the fares were so cheap compared to flying from pre-deregulated Canada.

Have fun opn your trip, don't worry about the TSA and wear this t-shirt to get some good laughs:

http://www.snorgtees.com/t-shirts/i-...a-tsa-screener

Canada is IMO too accomodating and deferent. It's more to do with power and sovereignty... Canada always succumbs to bullying, but so is the rest of the world, like all the places that have US military bases.

I couldn't agree more.

I don't really know the whole history of U.S. preclearance at Canadian airports, but was it really due to American bullying? It truly seems like a mutually beneficial arrangement - one where passengers and airlines from both countries reap a real benefit.

I'm thankful the U.S. government is willing to provide the service and that than Canadian government allows them to do so.

Take it away, and we all lose a lot of travel options. Our transborder traffic becomes more hub-to-hub, adding connections for everyone.

I didn't mean it as much about pre clearance but more about just being too accommodating and deferent in general. We put far too much emphasis on being politically correct to our detriment in a lot of cases. But that's a whole 'nother discussion.

I definitely enjoy the benefits of pre clearance and it would make travel out of Canada much more painful if we didn't have it. Speeds things up for everyone on the receiving end as well as we don't have to line up with the herd upon arrival in the US.

Mutually beneficial.. nicely couched, yes.

Resist!

*shrug* So what kind of system would you prefer?

Honestly, I wish the U.S. and Canada could just get together and create a Schengen-like agreement so we could lose the border queues altogether.

If a couple dozen European countries, including ones who have fought wars within the past century, can all get together and figure this out, why can't the U.S. and Canada?

To put this thread back on the rails...

Enjoy your trip, OP. Visit faraway places. And if you happen to run into anyone surly, make that part of your story when you get back home.

You don't have to go through customs/security if you're making an international connection.

Great suggestion�something I would definitely consider.

I would say the difference is even greater when it comes to TSA complaints.