Toronto Pearson Airport Passenger Reviews and Toronto Airport Traveller Reports

Customs only had one agent for the incoming flights for non residents! How ridiculous, the line exceeded one hour and there were not even many flights arriving. I travel every week and have never seen such a poorly managed situation. Terminal 3 international customs 8pm, 4/26/13.

Arrived at Terminal 1 on a flight from London Heathrow, connecting to a domestic flight to Winnipeg. This terminal badly needs two changes. The first is to find a better way of sorting arriving travelers into the appropriate Immigration lines. As a Canadian, it was embarrassing to watch international visitors being "welcomed" to Canada by two frustrated-looking greeters literally yelling at everyone to go left if they're making a connection, or go right if not; and then to see American transit passengers being abruptly told to leave the Connections line and join another line after merely following the greeters' instructions. The second change is to install screens showing passengers which gates they need to go to for their connecting flights as soon as they exit Customs, or at least a sign informing passengers that they will need to go back airside to find this information. The current arrangement leads connecting passengers to waste scarce connection time wandering around landside in search of gate information, and to interrupt airline staff who are busy with other duties.

Let me say as a Canadian I am embarrassed by this terminal. I have traveled to third world country with better terminals and better managed flow. Date April 6, YYZ to IAH: Air Canada, arrived 3 hours early, parked at viscount, took bus to Terminal 3. Link is down till possibly 2016 according to the driver. Check in took 45 mins. After check-in had to go to US Immigration, with my checked bags and wait for 1 hour. Passed US immigration, then ran to Security - took another 30 mins. Ran to plane and took our seats. Then announcement - security breach - terminal shut down. Plane sat at the gates for another hour before take off. Return Apr 13 - herded like cattle into immigration, then funnelled into 1 line to show our disembarkation card. After which we were allowed to go to baggage claim. Collected bags - then waited 20 mins just to leave because again they funnelled the exit to two lines only to get people out. Houston airport is nearly 50 years old and far more efficient.

I was traveling with an infant. Because of the infant I first had to queue at a manual airline control - then 3 hours standing queue in a hopeless undermanned border control! Of course I missed my flight and had to wait for another 3 hours before I could get aboard another connecting flight. At least the staff were nice and friendly - but a transit airport shouldn't really have a layout that makes you wait forever. I can say that I will definitely never ever go to that airport again for transit purposes and I recommend to opt for other airports if you are travelling to the US.

Another unpleasant experience at YYZ. Transferring between terminals is akin to a mystery quest now that the train shuttle is shut down. Pax must use a shuttle bus. Unfortunately, there are few signs stating where the bus can be found. A transfer that used to take 15 minutes took 30 minutes for departure and 45 minutes for return. Arriving at YYZ after a long haul transpacific flight must be a nightmare for those with mobility disabilities as the walk is extremely long from the gate to the customs area with the few auto walkways out of service. Screening security staff could use some language lessons as their English is incomprehensible and they are rude. There is no priority security screening line or NEXUS line after 8 pm. So much for the benefits of paying a higher fare which includes a higher tax used to pay for the service. YYZ has some of the highest airline landing fees in North America combined with very expensive food and beverage options. Yet, the quality of food and the level of service is poor.. It would be nice if the airport authority used some of that money for actual airport service.

The worst airport in north America. Long walks to terminals. Lines to get in line. Connections are a cruel joke. No clear information. Just the worst flying experience possible. Avoid it at all costs!

Immigration processing extremely slow. This is my 5th time arriving here and waiting from 30 to 50 minutes. Every time the positions were about 35% understaffed. No respect to travelers time and dignity. Is 15 seconds of asking "where from, how long away, what are you bringing?" Really justify the airport surcharges and total unpreparedness for even slightly heavier passengers volume?

It is one of the worst airports to transit. Because we had a connecting flight to the States, we had to wait for our luggage then check it back in. Then we had to get to the gate to board our connecting flight. All of this sounds simple, but in reality at Toronto Pearson it is a feat to accomplish. Firstly one would imagine that connecting passengers' luggage would be at least given a bit more priority? No. We were waiting for the luggage for an eternity. And because we had two pieces of luggage we waited longer as they both did not show up together. This waiting delayed us to getting to our gate which was excessively far from the luggage pick up/drop off area. We ran as fast as we could just barely making the connection.

I've been to lots of airports and found Pearson the most confusing. Normally airport signs and directions to gates or check in etc are clear but not here! When flying to NYC with Air Canada we waited in 5 queues and missed our flight. We didn't realise we needed an esta and were told we had to go online to get it. There was no one to help us because it was so busy. When we flew back in we followed signs to get a bus and managed to find a bus to the subway but as we had just got money from the ATM and didn't have change we had to go back in the airport to a machine, which didn't take our American express card, so we had to go back upstairs and buy a drink in order to get change so that we could catch the next bus. There was no information desk for the bus. Be prepared to spend ages queuing and trying to find your way to your flight.

Arrived from London Heathrow at 1210, collected the baggage from the in-transit baggage hall and went through US customs and then dropped baggage off for our flight to Miami. Cleared security and had a pleasant 3 hours wait for our on time flight to Miami. It took just 35 mins from leaving the flight from London to passing through US Immigration and security. There was even a helpful person in Canadian customs directing passengers for the USA to the correct baggage claim hall and to US immigration. This is a great way to go to North America either Canada or the USA.

We were to arrive at Toronto Pearson at midnight on December 1, 2012 on West Jet airlines from Ft. Lauderdale. The flight, for some unknown reason was late and we did not land until 1.30 am on December 2nd. We walked for 20 minutes from the aircraft to reach Customs (up and down escalators and along flat escalators which did not work and around and around). At the Customs booths there was a line-up of at least one thousand people being serviced by five Customs Officers. The wait was intolerable! Baggage pick- up showed that 6 aircraft's were also unloading at the same time. Pearson has now become the worst airport in the World. We shall never use this facility again and henceforth will make the trip to Buffalo and use their airport. Consequently, including a 20 minute drive, we did not get home until 3.30 am.

YYZ-BRU on Jet Airways. This review discusses Terminal 1. This airport definitely is of a high quality in my opinion. To people that say there is not enough signage, stop for a few seconds and look around, and you will find more than ample signage. Once you find out where your airline is located, you simply go there, quick, efficient, and friendly staff and you're on your way. I was pleasantly surprised at how clean the terminal is, and the availability of the washrooms (mind you, during the peak rush times in the evening when most of the transatlantic flights are taking off). As for the airport security, they are like any other airport security in most places in the world. Speak to them nicely and be calm, and they'll treat you normally. This airport provided a comfortable start to my journey, and if I could find one thing to gripe about, it would be the long walk from the security checkpoint to the international gates at T1.

You go up staircases, elevators, escalators, then down again, around and around, back up again and so on, through hallways to nowhere, goes on forever to get from one place to the other. Especially if you are going from one terminal to the other. Signage is very poor and confusing. Getting to customs in T2 is the longest walk in an airport I have ever experienced. Thought LHR was bad. Its also very dismal. Whoever did the interior design, could they have not come up with some colour other than boring grey/brown for the walls and carpets. I will avoid this airport in the future if possible.

I had planned to visit some friends in the USA and my flight from Hamburg to Raleigh, NC was routed via Toronto. My first time to Toronto and I received clear information on how to proceed from the gate to customs and immigration from the airline staff and the security officers (who were very helpful and friendly, a marked and positive difference to their colleagues in the United States). The only brief confusion I had was about whether I had to pick up my baggage and re-check it or whether it would be sent all the way through. Airport personnel were friendly and cleared up my questions. As I had a very long layover (11 hours), I decided to take a bus and tram into downtown Toronto during my layover. The information booth staff was nice and recommended the bus and subway I should take, gave me a map and wrote instructions on it and also pointed me to a Toronto Transit vendor for the appropriate passes. Upon returning to the airport, security moved quickly, the agents were once again friendly and I found my gate without delay. All in all, I found the airport easy to navigate and the personnel friendly and helpful. The signs could be improved however and some gates will have longer walking times to reach them but other than that, this airport was a nice experience.

I had to make a connecting flight here from Tampa to Regina and I have mixed feelings about this airport. I had a 2.5 hour layover, all of which was either spent going through customs and security or running. Customs would have been a very irritating experience, had it not have been for the pleasant workers. However, even though I was given good directions, I was lost in minutes. Hardly any signs anywhere! It's an airport, not a shopping mall. There should be more focus on the flights than the shopping. However, the TSA officer scanning my carry on when I went through security had a problem with my bag, but he was very polite and friendly about it. By the time I made it through security, I had less than 20 minutes to get to my gate. I had to run from gate D all the way to B7 with 5 minutes to spare, only to get there to discover they'd changed my gate to B27. I understand that it's unforeseeable, but I would like them to delay boarding a little if they're going to switch gates at the last minute. Overall, I did have a good experience and I plan to go through this airport again on my way home for Christmas, but just make sure you have a substantial layover time in order to get through crowds and to find your way to your gate, and then to get there when they change it on you.

Went to Cancun, and had to transfer in Toronto Terminal 1 after we arrived from Halifax. We had 1 hour between flights. Poor signage and ran to connect to far end of terminal. Just made it for pre-boarding. Did not stop anywhere in between. Coming back from Cancun with a 2 hour gap was even worse. Long lines for customs, had to wait in huge line-up with people pushing ahead to get to baggage area, had to wait for baggage and drag it to another area and throw duty free alcohol into checked baggage (not aware of this). Man at entry before you get re x-rayed etc. was screaming at all of us to move our bags and get out of the way and to throw our duty free into our checked luggage, yelled at my 7 year old daughter to get out of the way as well. Rude, unacceptable behavior. Tossed our luggage on another belt, went through x-ray again, and made our way through to the gate finally - again with only 10 mins. before boarding. This airport needs proper staffing when they know many flights are arriving at the same time, better organization, clearer signage, and needs to train its staff to be polite.

We arrived in terminal 1, 3 hours before our Air Canada flight home. The booking reference was not recognised by the self check in. We queued in the massive queue for check in. After 10 minutes the one and only Air Canada rep wandered by and I asked if I was in the right place. I wasn't, apparently I was in the domestic queue, the international check in was E. No signage. Walked to E and the queue for check in was immense. The roped off maze was full and a queue of 400m meandered around the corner. Again, there was one single Air Canada rep who told me this was indeed the queue and not to worry as they will be calling flights from it. 2.5 hours later, no flight calls at all, we reached the front, and checked in. We rushed to security and were greeted by the rudest security lady I have ever met. This airport is a disgrace to Canada. We will never come back and never use Air Canada again.

Airport Security at this airport needs training when dealing and talking to people. They were extremely rude!

YYZ gathers together in one place many of the worst features of other airports. We were kept waiting for a gate on arrival and this seemed in large part to be because of taxiway restrictions. My BA aircraft was parked about as far as possible from the body of T3 and the walk to customs and immigration was long. However, no sooner had we left the aircraft than we were subjected to an unnecessary extra passport check. The actual immigration point was less friendly than my recent experiences in the US. The baggage hall was only adequate and had no immediately accessible restrooms. Another long walk was necessary for car rental which is at least on airport. The terminal environment was claustrophobically reminiscent of the old MIA especially on a clammy evening. The Alamo staff were absolutely useless especially with directions clearly having little or no knowledge of their own city.

I have flown in and out of Toronto Pearson for many years. Toronto is the worst I've ever been in. On Sunday Aug. 26/12 my sister and I spent about 1-1/2 hours trying to find our car. For the first time we used the off-site parking garage and then took the monorail to Terminal 3. No problem. On our return we asked a porter where to go to get the monorail to get to the parking garage. We had no idea there were two parking garages that the train goes to. He directed us to the wrong on. While in the wrong one searching for the car, we asked another porter who could not speak English or understand us if there was any other parking garage. He said no. Eventually another airport employee came by and told us we were in the wrong garage and directed us how to get back on the train and get to the proper garage - Value Park. The signage in the airport is pathetic. Everywhere you look people are wondering around trying to figure out where to go because there are no signs. There are not near enough washrooms in terminal 3. We ran into another man walking around in the parking garage, trying to figure out how to get out! There are no signs directing you to the monorail. You have to continually keep asking. And on the train, there are no instructions as to what's at each stop. Even when they build something new (the monorail; a new terminal, new parking) it's never done so that it's clear how the customers are to navigate through it!

This is one of my least favourite airports and my recent experience was no better than usual. Arrived here from YHZ on way back to Amsterdam and England, had to travel a very long distance to get boarding pass for connecting flight, no dedicated connection desks and had to join general check in. Security slow, facilities nowhere near as good as airports of corresponding size, seating at gate fair. I first flew from here in 1989 and I don't feel it has significantly improved since then.

Arrived on KLM from Amsterdam, connecting to Winnipeg on WestJet. Left the aircraft fearing the long waits reported here and in the news. Yet clearing Immigration was a breeze after being told to join the "Connections" line, walking up to the baggage carousel to find my suitcase just passing by, and then going through Customs with nothing more than a "Hi, thank you" from the officer. Baggage re-check equally easy. The security check was a totally different story. Several of us were told to leave the line and follow a security officer to another checkpoint and join the back of the line there for some unexplained reason. Passengers told to "hurry, hurry" by one impatient checker, though another was friendly and helpful. Departure area tidy, but otherwise not much different from any other big-city airport.

Terrible. Arrived from Switzerland on August 8, 2012. At least 1500 people waiting at customs, children crying, people could not believe the mess we were confronted with. Once through customs (it took us about 1.5 hours), it took us 45 minutes to find our luggage. There were hundreds of bags strewn all over the place because they had been taken off carousels and had not yet been retrieved by passengers who were, of course, still standing in line. I lived in Chicago for more than 10 years - O'Hare is one of the busiest airports in North America but so much better organized than Pearson, and though Heathrow is also a mess, nothing compares to Pearson. I live in Toronto and at this point dread returning from international trips, this is not the first time I have run into trouble with either insane lines at customs or lost baggage. I am certainly not blaming ground staff, who were unfailingly courteous despite the many passenger complaints.

Very welcoming and friendly. The best experience through immigration I've seen. Agents were warm and friendly. No fake smiles or angry suspicion. Sending people off is also a much nicer experience than at other places as there are no intimidating guards in front of closed, opaque doors preventing you from that last goodbye. Instead the area is rather open and welcoming, and gives you every chance to see your loved ones before they disappear into the duty free area. Also efficient. Workers were well primed and ready to ensure passengers on the soonest flights got to the front of the line, and security and quick and efficient without the headaches. It was a very well-oiled, happy machine and the only time in my wide experience I actually enjoyed my time through the airport!

This review covers Terminal 1 only. It is a very modern building, only a few years old, but has huge deficiencies. 1. Incoming baggage handling is abysmally slow. Most recent experience was 35 minutes from disembarking (at Heathrow our bags were already on the carousel). 2. Extremely long walks and a high speed moving sidewalk that is almost always out of action. This can mean over 10 minute walk from gate to immigration. 3.Exit from baggage hall also sometimes involves long line ups because they don't have enough people at the exits to check passengers. Overall, it sometimes takes over an hour from disembarkation exiting the terminal, if you have checked baggage. 4. You have to pay for a baggage trolley, perhaps the most uncivilised aspect of the whole experience. If you are a foreign visitor, you will likely not have the correct change. "Welcome to Toronto! We'll start by ripping you off." 5. The food selections have improved recently but are still way below comparative restaurants in Europe and the rest of the world (except the US where most are just as bad or even worse). Best food option, if you have time, is to go to the hotel in Terminal 3. 6. Signage is confusing, especially directions to limos and taxis. 7. Transportation options into the city are appalling by international standards, but that is primarily the city's fault, not the airport's.

We arrived from Denver CO. by Air Canada. We were on our way home in transit, on a connecting flight back to London Heathrow. On arrival we were told to follow the sign's for connections too the E gates, as we were in transit, our bags were transferred to our next flight. On getting to the E gate, we were met by two customs men who didn't look happy to see us. One of them told us, not asked, give me your passport, boarding cards and customs entry form, which we did. He then told us that he wanted to give us a bag check, we gave him our hand luggage, but it was our cases he wanted. We told him we were in transit, and the bags were transferred to our next flight. He told us he would have them taken off the plane. He then directed us to Immigration, to go through the security procedures. We did as he wanted us to do, and were herded like cattle, until we got to the next officer. He was just as unpleasant as the other. He then told us to go to the Baggage Reclaim after he had checked and stamped our passports, we told him we were in transit, this made no difference to his attitude. We went to the holding area where officers were checking other people's luggage, and were told to wait. Our next flight was leaving in 25mins. A lady officer came to us and wanted our luggage receipt labels and boarding cards. After checking them she told us to wait. After five mins she came back and told us we could go catch our flight, she told us our bags would be put back on the plane, they didn't even check them. We then ran all the way back towards the E gates, having to pass through security checks. We made the flight with minutes to spare. Not once was there a please or thank you, or even a reason as to why they wanted to check our bags.

If you experience any problems submitting comments on the above link, please use our general   Feedback Page