Toronto Airport review by  Mark Simons
31 August 2005

In support of previous comments I would agree with the negative comments around transfer of flights using YYZ as a hub. Two weeks ago flew Air Canada LHR-YYZ-MCO and even with a two and a quarter hour time between the flights made the US connection as they were boarding. The customs line at US immigration was a shambles with the queuing system abandoned on numerous occasions as connecting passengers were in danger of missing flights. The terminal for the MCO flight had one food outlet and very limited facilities. On the way back the terminal for International flights was bursting with standing room only available at the Air Canada gates.

Toronto Airport review by  Justin Patrie
21 July 2005

Toronto is undergoing a massive redevelopment project which involves destroying two of its 3 older terminals and replacing it with a single large "Terminal New". Unfortunately, until this project is complete (they say in 2007) Toronto is a mess to hub through. At present Air Canada has to manage with three separate terminals, one each for its domestic, US and International flights and the only way to get to each from each is a long (depending on the traffic on the tarmac) 20-40 minute shuttle bus. This adds a pretty significant amount of time to any transfer and should be noted when making bookings. The terminals that the US and International flights depart out of are temporary and thus pretty bare bones- Terminal 2 for US flights will be closed upon redevelopment completion and the "Infield Terminal" for Int'l flights was built only to accommodate traffic during expansion. The new terminal looks splendid but is crowded and again, at present only handles the domestic flights. I'm sure once it is complete Pearson Airport will finally be a great airport hub after decades of misery with the old and insufficient Terminals 1 and 2, but until then I suggest avoiding it at all costs for hubbing passengers.

Toronto Airport review by  Phillip Cross
19 July 2005

New Terminal 1 at YYZ is world class. I have been to many large airports in the world, and although some may have more bells and whistles, I have yet to find a large airport terminal as efficient, clean, friendly, modern and easy to navigate as the New T1. Good job to Toronto and Air Canada for putting a winner together. As well, when flying into Toronto, Air Canada has done an amazing job on their "Welcome to T1 Video" shown to all passengers. It really assists with understanding the process - like the temporary bussing - and for those who complain, remember it is temporary.

Toronto Airport review by  A Makins
12 July 2005

International flights out of YYZ T1 are truly horrible. Arrived back from LHR just after a storm had temporarily closed the airport. Waited for 1 hour after landing while they moved another plane from the infield terminal gate we were scheduled at. Then the bus...ah, yes a $5billion investment buys you a ride on a bus - when they show up to take you to the main terminal. Have to say I also find the new terminal extremely sterile. You then get to clear immigration - relatively quick although why they don't have dedicated lines for Canadian residents is beyond me. Next is the wait for luggage - never Toronto's strong point and even worse now they have to transport it from the infield terminal. By the time we got in a taxi it was 2.5 hours from when the plane touched down. Sure, I can accept some delay from a storm but this place really needs to get it's act together. Hopefully when the international gates open in the main terminal things will improve.

Toronto Airport review by  Richard Williams
5 July 2005

The shops in terminal 3 are spread around the gates and considering its a major airport there isn't a great deal of them which is a shame. but there is an ample seating and well lit and boarding is quick.

Toronto Airport review by  Steven Musgreave
29 June 2005

I recently travelled through Toronto en route to Western Canada using the new Terminal 1. Terminal 1 is a nice terminal. If you don't like walking, have no fear. There are plenty of moving walkways about the terminal. There are also some nice shops if you have the time. I will definitely fly through this airport whenever possible.

Toronto Airport review by  Iain Maciver
8 June 2005

YYZ - 'new' terminal 1 - a nightmare for international pax! Add an extra 30-40 minutes to check-in times as there is a infield bus ride to the International Terminal (select airlines only) which my experiences say there are an inadequate number of - the queue can be long.

Toronto Airport review by  David Griffiths
29 May 2005

I have flown LHR-YYZ-LHR into T3 twice in the last year with BA and have found the YYZ experience to be so-so. The airport is clean and modern with a welcoming feel, but there are some negative points: Firstly, in my experience Canadian immigration at YYZ are always unnecessarily rude. On my first visit they were simply aggressive and rude, but more worryingly on my most recent visit, they refused to accept my explanation as to why I did not have a return ticket. British Airways no longer issue paper tickets, having moved to 100% e-ticketing. As BA have two flights a day to YYZ, immigration must know and understand this fact very well or else they would be detaining 800 passengers a day from the UK. As they are not doing this it is clear to me that this was just some immigration officer on a power trip. All I had to prove my intention to leave the country was my email confirmation of my flights and the immigration officer chose to use this to make things very difficult (I count myself very lucky I had a printout of the email). Not a very nice welcome to Canada. I would say it was an isolated incident, but my experience on the previous occasion leads me to believe that it was not. It seems odd to me that a country with the largest undefended land border in the world would go to such great lengths to needlessly harass legitimate air travellers. It is even more ridiculous when you consider that as a British citizen I am entitled to remain in Canada for 6 months at a time and if I was considering remaining illegally, all I would need to do to get past immigration would be to purchase a return ticket and not use the return part! Secondly, the baggage delivery is painfully slow. Slower even than the dreadful service at Heathrow. Considering this airport serves a much smaller number of passengers than Heathrow and mainly internal regional flights, this is very poor. Thirdly the departures area in T3 is very poor also. There are hardly any shops or food at all and these are next to security, a very, very long way from the gates. The gate areas themselves are just row upon row of seats. If you are used to being able to wander the shops and then jump straight on your plane as you do at T4 LHR, then you will be very disappointed by YYZ. Fourth, don't waste your time trying to get your tax back after check in. It seems logical, get rid of your bags and then kill some time before the flight getting the tax back; but receipts aren't enough, they demand to see every little item - including the underwear my friend had bought - and was wearing at the time - so if it's checked, forget it. Your chances of getting the tax back also seem highly variable/dependant on the mood of the customs officer. I think if I ever go back, I will pay Sears for their service and avoid it at the airport altogether. Overall, I would say YYZ is nice enough, but feels like a small regional airport and suffers from unpleasant customs/immigration officers that I realise are not under the airport's control.

Toronto Airport review by  Marc Schwartz
17 May 2005

Important note for the traveller flying on Air Canada to the US: United States immigration and customs are located in the terminal in Toronto. So, you check in and go through security. Then you pass all the shops (duty free stuff). Then you go through US immigration and customs (with US personnel - they must be flown in for their shifts). After this, you are in the terminal by the gates. This is a really good arrangement for avoiding the typical major hassle when you arrive at your destination in the US (you arrive at the terminal just like a domestic flight - at least at LAX and I suppose everywhere). The one thing: I was travelling with my wife and we got to the airport very early. We had figured that we'd be spending the time in a big, international terminal with lots of shops and a decent place to eat. Instead we were in an admittedly new and pleasant gate area, but there was only one marginal eating establishment and one news/gift shop. Quite a boring few hours, but perhaps I should be happy that there was no good shopping!

Toronto Airport review by  Adrian Pelletier
1 May 2005

YYZ is a decent enough airport. There are plenty of shops and decent eating places and the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Terminal 1 is fine. Yes, there is the dreadful bus ride to the infield terminal, but give me a bus ride any day over the 15 minute trek that they make you do at Dorval. My one gripe is the security staff. Many of them speak limited English and no French and it can become very stressful when you are given instructions by someone you can't understand, who in turn gets equally stressed because he has to constantly repeat himself. I'm fluently bilingual English/French so it's certainly not a problem on my side. The other thing is that the management at the security position seems invisible so that a couple of agents were chatting very loudly in Punjabi for ages while the trays were piling up and a number of passengers' property fell on the floor because they hadn't cleared the trays from the belt.

Toronto Airport review by  A Cachagee
26 March 2005

I recently had the chance to fly out of the new T1 at YYZ. Let me just say that i can't wait until they get the whole terminal done. I was flying to Paris so I had to take the bus to the infield terminal. I wish i stayed and checked out the main term because there's next to nothing to do at the infield term. I had a hour to kill before my plane boarded so i found myself walking around in circles because there isn't anything to see there. It really reminded me of that old T1, that cold quiet feeling. When I came back from London, we had to take the bus again to the main terminal. I didn't have to wait too long to get through Customs and Immigration which was a surprise. But I did have to wait over 40 mins to get my bags. Once T1 is 100% done, it's going to be an amazing terminal. But for now, if you're flying international, it isn't that great because of the infield term. A word of advice, stay in the main term as long as you can before you have to be at your gate.

Toronto Airport review by  Sven Hombach
4 February 2005

The new Terminal 1 is much better than the consistently overcrowded doughnut-shaped old Terminal 1. The only think I do not understand is the complete lack of washroom space. I have never ever entered a washroom in the new Terminal that did not have a substantial line-up, and this despite the airport being at half capacity at this point. It appears that none of the men's washrooms near the gates has more than two stalls! Another drawback is the current location of the TTC stop. People arriving at the airport by public transit arise on the deliveries level, then have to go up four flights of escalators and walk across the terminal. Final verdict: The new terminal is much better than the old terminal 1, but as a person who flies a lot of domestic routes I miss the very comfortable terminal 2.

Toronto Airport review by  Tien-Lun Yao
17 January 2005

To all international arriving passengers: if you need to get some cash via your VISA card - forget it! No VISA ATM available in all Terminals! Car Rental system is very nice: each terminal has own station - not like in the US driving far away with shuttle to car rental parking!

Toronto Airport review by  M Devor

1 November 2004

I enjoyed this latest time at Toronto Airport. I flew Air Canada on purpose so that I would have access to the new Terminal 1 and accordingly AC's spacious lounge at the new terminal. I was quite impressed on both accounts. Toronto Airport is a great airport. It is very clean, spacious, and a joy to visit, as are most things in Canada. I would like to see more shops and eateries at the new Terminal 1 both land and airside. I am sure this will happen when the remainder of the new Terminal is completed. While it might sound crazy I will miss the old Terminal 1. It had a special style to it and I shall miss the car park and the great opportunity for pictures and views of the aircraft. It was a very unique terminal and shall be missed by many. I commend the airport for having direct expressway access in and out of the airport, I think that is fantastic. All airports should have this. It would be nice if they had a petrol station inside the airport grounds like at Dorval.

Toronto Airport review by   Jim Evers

21 October 2004

If you are a US Citizen returning, bypass the entire long line and go straight to the Customs counter marked for US Citizens. It will save you at least an hour.

Toronto Airport review by   Patrick Morrison

1 October 2004

This is a little tip for Toronto's new Terminal 1. The best way to avoid a long wait at the security checkpoint is to go to the 2nd one located downstairs from the check in hall. Go to the far end where check in corridor A is over the little bridge and look for stairs or the lift down and save yourself a good 20min.

Toronto Airport review by   A MacLellan

31 August 2004

We used new Terminal 1 on June 6 and returned July 7 from LHR. We were pleasantly surprised that the service at check-in was swift, security not great but comparable to or better than LHR. The bus business truly is a pain in the butt but not more than 20 minutes despite more traffic lights than we encounter from Toronto to Nova Scotia. Safety first! A proper complaint is that at the midfield terminal there is no Tim Hortons!! Horror! Baggage was reasonably timed, far better than we have experienced at many airports, and customs and immigration were excellent. While the busing to the midfield terminal is far from perfect, it eliminates a lot of walking, which may reappear when Terminal 1 has the new wing completed.

Toronto Airport review by Mark Holden

27 August 2004

I do not understand why people are upset with the new terminal 1 at Pearson. Most of the negative comments I have read should be directed to either the airline or the incompetence of the flyer. I have travelled to almost every major airport in the world and with the exception of Singapore, Hong Kong and Osaka I would much rather transit Toronto's new terminal. As for delays with getting bags I have never waited longer then 1/2 hour for my bags. Here is an idea, pack properly and you won't wait! The 20 minute bus ride I agree is horrible but it is short term until the new terminal is complete. Besides I have spent much longer on buses at Heathrow, etc.

Toronto Airport review by Patrick Morrison

19 August 2004

Terminal 1 Pearsons newest terminal is the worst I have ever seen! All they focus on is the "spectacular" design, no focus on functionality whatsoever. I recently flew in on an Air Canada domestic flight so I had the fortune not to take a 20 min bus (what a great welcome to Canada, we can't afford enough gates so take a bus). When you arrive there is no separate corridors to avoid the departing passengers, it is all one big free for all. There are 2 moving sidewalks to ferry you toward the baggage claim area, but the whole walk over is extremely crowded! The baggage hall is a disaster and when you get out the waiting hall is so small that it is like trying to make your way through the mosh pit at a rock concert. Departing from the terminal is no walk in the park either. If your a business class passenger you are used to having a separate security area as in other airports around the world including the old terminal 1, but not here! The security is behind little doors which you line up for. When I was there it was rather busy and because there were no ropes or a snake line, people were switching lanes and causing confusion allover the place. The only semi good thing about the airport is the newly designed lounge, it looks rather nice but crowded!!! Very hard to find a seat ( I managed to find one at the telephones tucked away but right next to a busy bathroom). As for food there are horrible soups and pretzls, up to the usual Air Canada standards, but there is no espresso machine only "flavoured espresso machines" which in english means highly sugared coffee. In my opinion Toronto's new terminal is all flash and no substance, it is a national disgrace! I apoligise to all foreigners who arrive in Toronto.

Toronto Airport review by Mark Hutch

18 August 2004

I find terminal 3 to be an excellent terminal, plenty of stores, shops, restaurants, bars and etc. to keep you entertained while you wait. Some people say that they wait forever for their baggage and that customs takes forever, I say stop lying. When ever i travel through terminal 3 my baggage comes in within minutes, and I get through customs with no problems. If you have trouble finding out which carousel your baggage comes out on, then your just plain ignorant, there is a sign which tells you which carousel the baggage from your flight is coming in on. The layout of the Toronto airport is very good, signs direct you to your appropriate terminal, the terminals themselves are very straight forward, so if you get confused your just a plain idiot. All baggage carts in the arrivals area are free, they are so simple to use, push the handle to disengage the brakes, what is so difficult about that? If you can't find your gate number well then, look at the sign right beside the gate, if the number matches the one on your boarding pass I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out!

Toronto Airport review by R Giggal

6 August 2004

Recently had the misfortune of transiting through the new AC terminal on a flight from Zurich. After a 20 minute bus ride to the terminal, the carousel area was a complete disaster. Three or four flights were in at once - not all that many - and the luggage people could not make up their minds which flights' luggage was on which carousel. After 4 ( i kid you not) notices of changes of carousel everyone was totally confused. Luggage from our flight took over 2 hours to appear. Most of us missed our connecting flights. There was a young man with a stop watch and a clipboard looking at labels and measuring the time it took for the luggage to appear. I suggested he ask his employer for an hour glass rather that a stop watch. I live in Asia and travel the world and have yet to experience delays such as this. The Immigration and customs procedures took very little time. My advice for travellers to Canada is avoid the AC Toronto terminal like the plague - if you have no choice, make sure your travel agent allows 3 hours for transit.

Toronto Airport review by Jeffrey Marcil

1 August 2004

It's been said repeatedly, but still bears repeating - charging money for the baggage carts at T3 is outrageous! As a Canadian expatriate from Toronto, I am embarrassed for my city each time I return home and am subjected to the ridiculousness of being asked to pay for what is a necessity in an airport - a simple baggage cart. The terminal seems to have recognised the folly of its ways for one half of the equation, as carts are now free for arrivals. Though in a continued comedy of errors, the new carts are made with cheap malfunctioning plastic handles that cause the brakes to regularly kick in as you are in mid-stride (yes I know you have to hold the lever down to prevent this, but the mechanism is so poorly designed it is laughable). But before you congratulate the airport on correcting its for-pay cart policy, passengers are subjected to a nasty surprise on the return leg of their journey - carts at the departures level still require a Canadian loonie. This inconvenient, blatant money grab is outrageous, considering you only need the cart for the (hopefully) short distance to the check-in desk. Leave it to Canadians to allow such a small, but essential cog in the wheel spoil travellers' impressions of Canada's largest airport and what should be its showcase to the world. My adopted home of Hong Kong understands this, having constructed what is undoubtedly one of the finest airports in the world. 

Toronto Airport review by Robin Fullard

16 June 2004

Had the opportunity recently to fly in and out of the new terminal 1. Flew in from LHR on AC 4 days after the terminal first opened. Plane stopped at a ramp and everybody was ushered thru this building and downstairs to a bus! Cramped on the bus and a 20 minute ride to the real terminal building. After that everything went pretty well. Immigration was smooth (probably as it was good friday and very few other flights were in) Baggage hall is decent and bags came of relatively quickly and my exit after that was good. I flew out to Saskatoon a month later, check-ins are always busy so I used the electronic ticket machine. It was a busy Monday morning but security was quite swift. The gates are in a very bright open building - only one bad thing: no Tim Hortons past security!

Toronto Airport review by V Tong

26 May 2004

Terminal 3 is beginning to show its age and is very inefficient. I didn't have an opportunity to fly in/out of the new terminal 1, but i hope that the new terminal has a line dedicated for Canadian Citizens. When you arrive at terminal 3, as soon as you step off the plane there are customs officers asking to see your passport, what is the point if people are going to go through customs anyways? it just holds people up on the plane. Then there's the LONG wait for baggage. Not once have i waited less than 1 hour for my luggage

Toronto Airport review by John Quarterman

10 April 2004

Having recently travelled through YYZ (Toronto) on JetsGO on the way home to Ottawa from Calgary, I can say it was definitely an experience I could do without. The EL-AL gate agent that was leaving just as I arrived, was plain rude when I asked if I had the right gate, the fully armed paratrooper was unnerving, the total lack of shopping facilities other than way-overpriced junk and snack food was disheartening. Terminal 3 was clean, sterile and boring for two and a half hours. If anybody at JetsGo is listening, either change to Hamilton for a Hub, or make it someplace like that where a itinerant passenger can go outside for some fresh air, or just avoid the stop altogether and put on some direct flights please. (Ottawa - Calgary and return). From the comments of other passengers I am glad I didn't have to change terminals. I have travelled through Heathrow, Gatwick, O'Hare , LAX, Pittsburgh, and others - and Toronto, you take the cake for being the pits!

Toronto Airport review by T Jenkins

30 March 2004

Having flown regularly thought YYZ, I find it to be a much more efficient airport than most say. For anyone who has recently arrived through terminal 3, you would have found that they have added some moving sidewalks for about half the length of the terminal, and are in the process of adding more. I admit that Terminal 1 is horrible, but the new terminal they are adding to replace it should be much more efficient. Even though the waiting time to get a gate can be a long wait, it is still better than airports as London-Gatwick, where I had to wait in the plane for 45 minutes before being able to unload. And our return flight was delayed 2 hours, and we had to go to 3 different gates as they were unsure where the plane was going to come into.

Toronto Airport review by Nicolas Sal

21 February 2004

I regularly fly from Sao Paulo to Toronto, back when Canadian airlines used to service that route it was usually a questionable experience; it all depended on the size of the Canadian FA. Well anyways, when you got off the plane into Canadians then T3 you hated the prospect of walking (it seemed) for eternity to immigration. That walk was not pleasant, especially if you are carrying large loads. I cannot tell you how many times I seen people actually fall, or say "when does this end?" I guess the reason they put that there, was so that after a long haul flight (GRU-YYZ 10 hours) you can stretch your feet, and avoid cramps and other such things. But it was hell, when I gated at T3 I was in agony waiting for that LONG, LONG, LONG walk to immigration. Oh the best, the clincher is the escalator, imagine with all that luggage!

Toronto Airport review by Howji Chang

20 December 2003

Pearson airport is not too bad, terminal 3 is very efficient and clean. But terminal 2 and 1 are simply horrible! In terminal 2, I checked in at Air Canada counter in the Vancouver section. You have to walk to the other side of the terminal to get to your flight. In terminal 1, it's just simply too old and crowded. I wish the airport authority would continue to speed up the construction of the new terminal so it can take both domestic and international flights.

Toronto Airport review by John Frewen-Lord

8 December 2003

Arrived recently at YYZ Terminal 3 on a BA flight from LHR which fortunately must have arrived at a slow time. Customs and immigration was by far the quickest I have ever experienced at this airport, baggage claim was close behind, and I was landside within 30 mins of touchdown. On return a few days later, landside food was very competitively priced, even if selection of restaurants was limited, security was quiet and efficient, but airside is basically down to one large duty-free shop. Whole airport up to usual Canadian standard of cleanliness. Didn't get to see any of the new construction, but a colleague who works there said that the New Terminal One is spectacular.

Toronto Airport review by S Packer

8 December 2003

For 12 years, I lived outside Canada and every time I returned through terminal 3, I felt like I was back in Canada. The wide -open sterile arrivals hall seemed like some kind of science fiction movie set and left one wondering if people actually live in Toronto. Walking ? The only place that tops this is Miami International . Make sure you're wearing comfortable shoes, although I may add the constant breaks of changing levels, twists and turns adds a dash of excitement to an otherwise dreary arrival area. Departure area- terminal 3 sucks as well. Get some half-decent seating. Forget about finding a place to stretch out and sleep if stuck there. Duty- free area is small and like a last-chance gas station before you enter the gate area- and there is no going back. If travelling to the US, it's nice to get customs/immigration out of the way.

Toronto Airport review by Steve Tsoi

15 November 2003

I share the adverse comments of other passengers on the location and services of Customs Office in the Toronto Airport. There are tons of pamphlets and guides informing travellers of the details of tax refund claim in the airport. However, when I was about to check in, I just could not locate the Customs Office on the Departure floor. Even worse, no signages were observed. I had to ask a few airport staff before knowing that the Office was located on the Arrival floor. What I had to do next? Took my bulky luggage cart and waited for the lift to the Arrival floor. It was so frustrated to see that there was still no any signage of the Customs Office on the Arrival floor. And what I could do was to ask and ask again. Thanks God, I finally found the Office. The officer stationed there was neither helpful nor friendly. I gave him all my receipts to him in date order but he just threw them all over his table. His action was rather slow. Travellers were all encouraged to claim tax refund. Did you think it is rational to 'HIDE' the Customs Office on the Arrival floor? Or in fact, the authority just does not want the travellers to claim refund at all?

Toronto Airport review by Josh Paterson

27 October 2003

To respond to the comment by Marino di Filippo, the reason that the Hong Kong flights fly from Air Canada's domestic terminal is that it is the only international destination in Air Canada's repertoire which requires a domestic stop first, when flying from Toronto. Toronto to Hong Kong flights on Air Canada go via Vancouver. Other flights to Asia (like Tokyo) require transit to another AC flight in Vancouver, but Hong Kong is the only one where the plane destined overseas starts in Toronto and sets down somewhere else in Canada first. For this reason, Hong Kong-bound passengers are the only ones who must board at the domestic terminal. And in spite of the many problems with Pearson Airport, which is, I agree, somewhat rough around the edges, the new terminal should dramatically improve matters.