Attention Canadian Passporters! About This Page:

[Shadowfax]

Have any of you used Air Canada? Any problems to report? Have any of you flown through the Toronto airport?

We live in Maine and are searching for a way to get to Vancouver for our Alaskan cruise. We thought about doing Portland to Boston (bus), then Boston to Seattle (plane), then Seattle to Vancouver (train), but it all got very confusing and expensive.

I found an Air Canada flight out of Portland, ME to Vancouver with a stop/change of planes in Toronto. It's reasonably priced and brings us direct to Vancouver. We've never done this before and are a bit nervous.

Any advice?

[Disney Dream'n]

Air Canada is the main carrier here. If you've found a great price....SNAGG IT. Flying from T.O. is so expense. The airport taxes are usually more then I pay for our flights from Detroit. We usually fly from the states for this very reason.

[cdnmickeyfan]

I live in Toronto and the airport here is really nice and easy to get around. Air Canada is our main carrier here and is very good. If the price is good.....i'd say go for it!!!!

[chezp]

Thanks for asking this question. I'm going through the same thing for our Alaskan cruise and have been wondering about Air Canada, as their baggage fees are much more reasonable than American airlines generally.

[GoofyMom]

While Air Canada is not my favourite airline because of the behind the scenes customer service and the nickel and diming (they were the first airline to introduce paying for a blanket and pillow), I have no complaints at all about the actual flying part with them. Their flight attendants are generally very courteous, and the planes themselves, especially for those long flights like yours will be, are very nice. Clean. Well-stocked with soda pop, juice, alcohol and snacks. They have the tv/movie screens and they actually use them (unlike some other airlines I've flown with) and the movies are current. They do not charge baggage fees for the first bag and it's $30 for the 2nd bag - that's per passenger so everybody gets one free. If you want to buy anything on board the plane you need to use a credit card because they don't accept cash anymore. A blanket and pillow cost $5 (well, they did last time I flew with AC) and headphones are $3. The headphones are not absolutely required because the plugs accept normal headphones so you can bring your own and use them.

Toronto airport is easy to get around. You will likely have to clear Customs there and they have a very large area for that. I find it very easy (we have to clear Customs there sometimes when we fly through TO).

[Shadowfax]

Thanks for the input! We are planning on only one checked bag each, plus our carry-ons, so we should not have to pay for baggage. We won't get a blanket or pillow, but we will bring our headphones so we can while away the time. For the fee we are looking at, they said that snacks would be an extra $7.00. Does that include drinks (non-alcoholic like soda/juice) do you think?

[GoofyMom]

Soda, coffee and juice are still free. If you like soda, ask for the whole can because they like to give you lots of ice and then fill up one of those little bitty glasses. The snack box prices will probably vary - they have ones like pepperoni, cheese and oreos; or one of those really small cans of Pringles. Sometimes they have a sandwich of some kind. Usually there's a kid-type snack box available too but I don't remember what they have in them. $7 sounds pretty close for the cost of the pepperoni box. If you are interested, DH says alcohol is $6 a drink.

Oh, I meant to mention this earlier. I also find Vancouver airport very easy to get around in too. You'll be fine.

[Shadowfax]

Thanks again, Donna! One more question...
Our flight, right now, would be $612.00 USD round trip, per person. Would you say that is reasonable? (I think it is...Dave is saying that I should wait a few months before booking to see if the price comes down.)

[GoofyMom]

No problem Meg, I'm glad I can help a little.

As far as cost goes I would say that $600pp is quite reasonable. It's about USD$650 to fly round trip from Vancouver to Toronto in August, so you're already ahead of the game being that yours is a farther flight and is international and is 2 legs. The price for Canadian flights does fluctuate, but it's not like American airlines. The closer you get to your departure date the more expensive it will generally get. Landing in Toronto is really expensive -- something sticks in my mind that Toronto is the most expensive airport in the world to fly into/from. You may get lucky and get in on a seat sale because they do happen, and especially with your flights being between TO and Vancouver. but I've never been lucky like that.

[rlb38]

I've never had trouble with Air Canada but it does tend to be expensive. Have you checked West Jet ? I've flown with both carriers and had no troubles.

[Shadowfax]

West Jet does not fly out of Portland, ME.
So far, Air Canada is the cheapest and most straightforward way we can find to get to Vancouver.

[GoofyMom]

I forgot to mention - if you want water, they pour it from a pitcher rather than having individual bottles. That may or may not make a difference to you - if you really prefer a bottle water buy one once you are through security and bring it onboard with you. And it's cheaper to buy your own (regular-sized) can of Pringles in your grocery store and bring it onboard in your carry-on - those little short cans they sell onboard are $3. You aren't allowed to bring certain fruit across the border, but you may find it better to bring your own snacks like cheese & crackers or cookies or carrot sticks from home rather than buy the snack box from AC. You might have to declare them and if you get a Customs agent who got up on the wrong side of the bed you may have to surrender them, but we've never had any issues with that. Generally anything that is pre-package snack size (so long as it's not liquid) is fine.

We're flying with AC in November (Winnipeg -> Toronto -> Anaheim, then Orlando -> Toronto -> Winnipeg) so when I get back, if there's anything else I can add to this info, I'll post it. We'll have to clear Customs both way in Toronto too so I will have that procedure fresher in my mind too. Last time I did that was about 3 years ago. If you think of any other questions about specific things like costs onboard or places to eat in Pearson airport before we leave or stuff like that, feel free to PM me and I'll see if I can check on them and answer you when we get back.

[Shadowfax]

Donna, you're a treasure! Thank you!
Are you going to be in WDW in Nov? I'm there for a conference Nov 18-24.
If I think of any more specifics, I'll PM you. I'd love to hear about customs, etc in Toronto when you get back.

[GoofyMom]

Hey, no problem! No, we won't be in WDW in November. We're going to Disneyland in November, cruising the Panama Canal, then arriving in FL in Dec. When we're in FL we'll be staying at CSR, but only actually spending one day in a WDW park.

And I forgot something kind of important. **blushes** We changed our return flight home, so we aren't flying with AC through Toronto from Orlando. We are still flying with them to California though so I will still be able to check some things out for you if you think of any questions.