Toronto Pearson Airport

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.