Short-ish connection, should we fly a day earlier?

[shank63]

We flew internationally Air Canada with a connection in YYZ which we missed.  The Air Canada customer service at YYZ would not assist in rebooking our flights, so we spent 3 hours on the phone rebooking.  This was an Oceania booked flight and sadly their support was non existent as well. Fortunately we built in a 2 day buffer for flight delays otherwise we would have missed the ship.  Never again will we fly to a cruise without a 2 or 3 day pre arrival buffer, and will avoid Air Canada and YYZ if at all possible.  

[PaulMCO]

18 hours ago, shank63 said:

We flew internationally Air Canada with a connection in YYZ which we missed.  The Air Canada customer service at YYZ would not assist in rebooking our flights, so we spent 3 hours on the phone rebooking.  This was an Oceania booked flight and sadly their support was non existent as well. Fortunately we built in a 2 day buffer for flight delays otherwise we would have missed the ship.  Never again will we fly to a cruise without a 2 or 3 day pre arrival buffer, and will avoid Air Canada and YYZ if at all possible.  

and you should avoid Oceania air also.  The only way to book and be in the most control is to book direct with the airline.  No 3rd party agencies either like Amex or Expedia (same thing).

[Jayne E]

Question:

If flying Alaska Air to Toronto and on to Tokyo with Japan Air, (same ticket) do we have to retrieve luggage and go through immigration in Toronto?

I saw a previous post saying not necessary but that person was flying AC on both flights….DC-Toronto-Tokyo

Thanks!

[FlyerTalker]

29 minutes ago, Jayne E said:

Question:

If flying Alaska Air to Toronto and on to Tokyo with Japan Air, (same ticket) do we have to retrieve luggage and go through immigration in Toronto?

I saw a previous post saying not necessary but that person was flying AC on both flights….DC-Toronto-Tokyo

Thanks!

 

Well, since Alaska Airlines (and there is no "Alaska Air") doesn't fly to Toronto, I think this is a moot question. 

 

And there is no "Japan Air" - perhaps you meant to type "Japan Air Lines" or JAL.  In any case, JAL also does not fly to Toronto.

 

Just what IS your itinerary?

 

And do you have a single ticket number - and that's not the six character locator?

 

 

[LHT28]

53 minutes ago, Jayne E said:

Question:

If flying Alaska Air to Toronto and on to Tokyo with Japan Air, (same ticket) do we have to retrieve luggage and go through immigration in Toronto?

I saw a previous post saying not necessary but that person was flying AC on both flights….DC-Toronto-Tokyo

Thanks!

Put your flight details into the Connections  guide  & it will tell you what you need to do

https://www.torontopearson.com/en/connections

[MEFIowa]

1 hour ago, Jayne E said:

Question: If flying Alaska Air to Toronto and on to Tokyo with Japan Air, (same ticket) do we have to retrieve luggage and go through immigration in Toronto? I saw a previous post saying not necessary but that person was flying AC on both flights….DC-Toronto-Tokyo

It all depends... Each place can be unique. They should tell you on the flight before you land in Toronto. So listen. And if you don't hear anything, ask a flight attendant. Always depends upon what your first and last "international" segments are for the two flights.

 

I flew Des Moines to Chicago to Asuncion, Paraguay in April 2022. And back the same route in May 2022. Short/ish layover both times in Sao Paulo, Brazil. My checked bag did NOT have to go thru international customs in Sao Paulo. My checked bag went direct both times. I dropped it off at the counter in Des Moines and picked it up from the airport baggage area in Asuncion, where I did go thru international customs. So on the return I dropped it off at the counter in Asuncion and then did have to go thru international customs at O'Hare, Chicago with my checked bag. I flew United (DSM-Chicago-Sao Paulo) and GOL (Sao Paulo-Asuncion), but all on "one ticket". Thru United.

 

BUT they did force us in Sao Paulo to go thru a small customs station in a different area, different terminal (non-international), before going to the flights to Paraguay. They were doing the security-type checking (take off your socks and belt and open your carry-on). And then did the same on the return from Asuncion to Des Moines. What was hilarious on the return is that the Paraguayans let us board in Asuncion with water bottles and other larger liquid items. When we went thru the Brazilian mini-customs they confiscated them all. A huge pile of bottles. They took my Pulp diet Guarani which I was going to drink on the long 5-hour layover!

 

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by MEFIowa
clarifying point

[Jayne E]

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Well, since Alaska Airlines (and there is no "Alaska Air") doesn't fly to Toronto, I think this is a moot question. 

 

And there is no "Japan Air" - perhaps you meant to type "Japan Air Lines" or JAL.  In any case, JAL also does not fly to Toronto.

 

Just what IS your itinerary?

 

And do you have a single ticket number - and that's not the six character locator?

 

 

Wow, a lesson in correcting “Alaska Air” to Airlines and Japan Air to Air Lines. 
How have I survived travel all these years without typing the full name?  However, you obviously knew what airlines I meant, despite shortening Airline to Air. 
There are some spelling mistakes in prior posts…maybe you can correct them also. 🤐

 

Thank you LHT28 and MEFlowa for your responses. Very appreciated!

[FlyerTalker]

39 minutes ago, Jayne E said:

However, you obviously knew what airlines I meant, despite shortening Airline to Air. 

 

Thank you LHT28 and MEFlowa for your responses. Very appreciated!

 

Still wondering how you will be flying Alaska into Toronto and JAL out of Toronto - when neither airline serves that airport.

 

 

[DCGuy64]

Happy to report that we had no issues whatsoever getting to Japan on time. Our flight from DC to Toronto left the gate on time, we had to wait a bit for take-off due to traffic at Reagan Nat'l but the pilot made up most of the time in the air. We arrived in Toronto with plenty of time to visit the gorgeous Signature Maple Leaf lounge (literally located next to our gate, A77). And I have to say, there was NO issue whatsoever transferring from our arrival gate to the departure one. It took us no more than 10 minutes. All in all, it was a nearly perfect itinerary. 😀

[DCGuy64]

On 4/8/2023 at 4:15 PM, Jayne E said:

Question:

If flying Alaska Air to Toronto and on to Tokyo with Japan Air, (same ticket) do we have to retrieve luggage and go through immigration in Toronto?

I saw a previous post saying not necessary but that person was flying AC on both flights….DC-Toronto-Tokyo

Thanks!

I doubt it, when we arrived at YYZ we only walked from our arrival gate to the one for our departure. The procedure for int'l arrivals > int'l departures is the same irrespective of the carrier.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Happy to report that we had no issues whatsoever getting to Japan on time. Our flight from DC to Toronto left the gate on time, we had to wait a bit for take-off due to traffic at Reagan Nat'l but the pilot made up most of the time in the air. We arrived in Toronto with plenty of time to visit the gorgeous Signature Maple Leaf lounge (literally located next to our gate, A77). And I have to say, there was NO issue whatsoever transferring from our arrival gate to the departure one. It took us no more than 10 minutes. All in all, it was a nearly perfect itinerary. 😀

Great news

 I love the SS lounge   but  cannot afford BIZ class   all the time  to get to use it  😉