YUL to London - Which Flight would YOU take?

[Globaliser]

So, just for fun, I punched in the dates for the end of March to LHR, and while YUL-LHR came up at CA$765.38, YQB-LHR came up at... CA$721.38! Yes, Continental is charging me $44 less from YQB.

Apart from the unknown (to me) factor of what it's like for you to drive to YUL, IMHO a saving of CAD44 is not worth it for having to do the US immigration/customs shuffle in both directions. Frankly, I'd pay more than CAD44 not to do it once, let alone twice. So it's really down to a question of whether the drive to YUL is too much angst to deal with.

[DanJ]

He'll have to do the US immigration shuffle in both directions if he books Continental anyway. Only difference is the outbound will be in Montreal that he clears, and then it will just be a domestic to international connection in EWR. On the way home, he will clear at EWR either way he goes. In these 2 examples, I would fly from YQB. If I was going to drive the 2.5 hours or so to YUL, it would be for a non-stop flight.

[steve20832]

Delta and American have been rated the worst for loosing luggage for many years so I would stay away from those two airlines.

You can see November's report here (PDF file)http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/2009/January/200901ATCR.PDF

DOT is slow at compiling this list so December's won't be out for a couple more weeks.

[Ephraim]

Apart from the unknown (to me) factor of what it's like for you to drive to YUL, IMHO a saving of CAD44 is not worth it for having to do the US immigration/customs shuffle in both directions. Frankly, I'd pay more than CAD44 not to do it once, let alone twice. So it's really down to a question of whether the drive to YUL is too much angst to deal with.

 

Canadian flights are subjet to pre-clearance, so US customs are in Canada. The flight, when it lands is considered domestic.

 

On the way back, they will in fact have to clear US customs. US CBP often asks Canadians to line up with the Americans, instead of with the International. They will have to clear, but it should be rather quick and painless. (Unlike Europeans who have to be fingerprinted - I'm still in awe that the only country that reciprocated on that one was Brazil, as far as I know).

 

There is one other choice, that just came up recently and apparently some of the charters are already flying to the UK from Toronto. They usually only fly in the summer, but for some reason they are now flying in the winter as well. Transat is flying on Mondays and Thursdays to Gatwick. So a flight to Toronto from YQB and then a charter to London is also a possibility.

 

Flight from Toronto and 2 nights hotel is about CAD$800 from Toronto. (And believe it or not, the package with 2 nights hotel is cheaper than the flight alone.

[Twickenham]

My only warning to you, is to the best of my knowledge, there is no US Preclearance at YQB... which means you need enough connection time to deboard, collect ur luggage, clear US customs, recheck your luggage, go through security... (not to mention the possibility of changing terminals).... whereas if you go from YUL you just get off ur plane and go to the next gate, everything else is done for you.... you might work out better leaving from YUL

 

How much cheaper is the US Airways flight? If it's significant i'd probably consider it too.... your YUL-PHL flight will suck alot (no entertainment, charge for soft drinks/water) but the Transatlantic one shouldn't be too bad (but then again, Aeroplan miles are important to me, and US Airways is part of the star alliance)

 

The customs thing in Newark is what worries me as well. The morning flight would give me 1:40 to do the switch, but my problem is, if there's a problem and I miss my flight, I spend the day in Newark waiting for the next one.

 

Apart from the unknown (to me) factor of what it's like for you to drive to YUL, IMHO a saving of CAD44 is not worth it for having to do the US immigration/customs shuffle in both directions. Frankly, I'd pay more than CAD44 not to do it once, let alone twice. So it's really down to a question of whether the drive to YUL is too much angst to deal with.

 

The drive to YUL is easy enough, probably 3 hours my house-terminal. But that's versus a 20 minute drive to YQB, which after the renovations is really a lovely little airport. Plus, you're speaking to Madam Cheapskate here. All in all, I'd rather save the $44 and do the whole US customs thing (however, I would gladly pay $44 to avoid Pearson *shudders*)

[Globaliser]

Canadian flights are subjet to pre-clearance, so US customs are in Canada. The flight, when it lands is considered domestic.

Not for a departure from YQB, according to the discussion above, hence the question as to how many times to do the US immigration/customs shuffle.

[DanJ]

Canadian flights are subjet to pre-clearance, so US customs are in Canada.

 

Only 7 or 8 Canadian airports have US preclearance. Off the top of my head, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

[Ephraim]

Only 7 or 8 Canadian airports have US preclearance. Off the top of my head, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

 

Didn't really think about that. It's actually...

 

Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg.

 

I guess I never really thought about it, since the smallest airport that I have left from was Ottawa and Halifax.