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We will be finishing an Alaskan cruise in Vancouver, and will fly back to our home in the United States. Do we go through customs and immigration in Vancouver before we fly, or at our connection airport Atlanta? Our connection time with Delta was just changed and now only have an hour and 15 minutes in Atlanta.

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You will go thru 2 sets of customs when you arrive at Canada Place..1st you will go thru Canadian customs, CBSA, at Canada Place then you will go thru CBP pre clearance at YVR so you will have lots of time to make your connection.

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So the CBP pre-clearance at YVR will prevent us from having to do anything extra in Atlanta?

 

 

That is correct, you will not have to clear CPB in Atlanta...you should have lots of time to make your connecting flight.

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  • 3 weeks later...
I was wondering the same thing as we fly from YVR to LAX and then MSP. I was hoping that all customs and immigration would be taken care of at YVR. Thanks for the info

 

Just make sure to have about a 3 hour window when you arrive at YVR. We got to the airport at 2:50 a.m. and it took almost all of that to get through customs and security. Have a great trip!

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My Husband and I fly from Greenville,SC to Newark to Toronto and then our final destination Vancouver before our cruise. will we hit customs in Toronto or Vancouver or both?? how long to get thru customs.?

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My Husband and I fly from Greenville,SC to Newark to Toronto and then our final destination Vancouver before our cruise. will we hit customs in Toronto or Vancouver or both?? how long to get thru customs.?

 

You should go through customs in Toronto. You will probably also pick up your luggage in Toronto and re-check it through to Vancouver. Boy was that a surprise!

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My Husband and I fly from Greenville,SC to Newark to Toronto and then our final destination Vancouver before our cruise.

 

Wow, that's a lot of jumping around. Are you spending time in Vancouver pre-cruise, or at least coming in the day before? Please say yes. :D:D

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Just make sure to have about a 3 hour window when you arrive at YVR. We got to the airport at 2:50 a.m. and it took almost all of that to get through customs and security. Have a great trip!

Holy cow...SERIOSLY? Is this similar to our US TSA issues?

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

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Thank you for the info Lawgirl86, I was hoping we would go thru customs in Toronto and not have to worry about it in Toronto...

Langley Cruisers yes we are in for 2 nights before our HAL Cruise. The extra stop on our flight helped keep the cost down, we wanted to spend on excursions.

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It's possible she did mean 2:50am (3 hours early for a flight at about 6am, which there are always a few of).

 

The reason for ALL the delays at that time is very simply down to US gov't staff schedule - CBP don't let anyone through until 4:30am when they open. And of course when they DO open, there's a big queue built up they have to clear which can eat the first half-hour or more - so folks arriving three hours early for flights at 7:30 or even 8am can get caught up in that.

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Holy cow...SERIOSLY? Is this similar to our US TSA issues?

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

Oh no, nothing like our TSA issues. Everything in Vancouver is streamlined and the lines move steadily.

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It's possible she did mean 2:50am (3 hours early for a flight at about 6am, which there are always a few of).

 

The reason for ALL the delays at that time is very simply down to US gov't staff schedule - CBP don't let anyone through until 4:30am when they open. And of course when they DO open, there's a big queue built up they have to clear which can eat the first half-hour or more - so folks arriving three hours early for flights at 7:30 or even 8am can get caught up in that.

 

Exactly! LOL. We were so impressed with how efficient, streamlined, and professional it was going through the procedures in Vancouver compared to just trying to get through security in the US. And yes, it was 2:50 a.m. for a 6:10 am flight. They started boarding at 5:30 :)

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  • 3 months later...
It's possible she did mean 2:50am (3 hours early for a flight at about 6am, which there are always a few of).

 

The reason for ALL the delays at that time is very simply down to US gov't staff schedule - CBP don't let anyone through until 4:30am when they open. And of course when they DO open, there's a big queue built up they have to clear which can eat the first half-hour or more - so folks arriving three hours early for flights at 7:30 or even 8am can get caught up in that.

 

I have a flt that leaves at 9:30 am and I'm thinking of booking by the airport, what time should I arrive? Question 2, my family leaves at 8:00 am what time should they arrive, also they are looking at a 6:00 am flt, if the customs don't open up until 4:30, is there any reason to get there earlier than 4:30 like 3 am? that's so early, any thoughts

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I have a flt that leaves at 9:30 am and I'm thinking of booking by the airport, what time should I arrive? Question 2, my family leaves at 8:00 am what time should they arrive, also they are looking at a 6:00 am flt, if the customs don't open up until 4:30, is there any reason to get there earlier than 4:30 like 3 am? that's so early, any thoughts

For your flight, 2 hours beforehand should be enough - even if it's a 3-ship cruise day, nobody will be off the ship and to the airport before 8am so you can ignore the big surge of cruisers. If you're on the more nervous side, by all means abide by YVRs official recommendation to show up 3 hours early instead but you'll probably have to kill a lot of time at the gate. If you want to eat a sit-down brekkie before boarding, showing up at 6:30am would work nicely - dine after security so you know exactly how much time you have to get to the gate.

 

For your family, a 6am flight is challenging - I'd try to arrive at 4am if they need to check in, or 4:15am if they don't. This should get them through Security and at CBP for pretty close to when they open. Arriving at 3am will probably see them at the front of the queue, but waiting well over an hour for CBP to open!

 

For the 8am flight, 6am arrival is what I'd aim for. Any surge of early people should be long gone, but again they'll there be well before anyone getting off a cruise.

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Vancouver is way more efficient than a large or medium sized US airport. My rule of thumb is arrive the same time before you would a domestic US flight. You need to allow time for US customs but security and check-in are much more efficient. I arrive 90 minutes before. Most people might prefer 2 hours. Anything more than that is overkill especially early in the morning.

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  • 2 months later...

We sail from Los Angeles and end in Vancouver with an overnight stay. Questions:

1. Do we go through Canadian customs when we get off the ship or at the airport?

 

2. Since it is an overnight - would we be able to take an early morning flight to the US? Wondering about hours of getting through customs.

 

3. Did I read right - we will go through Canadian customs and then through US customs in Vancouver?

 

Thank you ---- yep, I'm a bit confused ~grin~

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We sail from Los Angeles and end in Vancouver with an overnight stay. Questions:

1. Do we go through Canadian customs when we get off the ship or at the airport?

 

2. Since it is an overnight - would we be able to take an early morning flight to the US? Wondering about hours of getting through customs.

 

3. Did I read right - we will go through Canadian customs and then through US customs in Vancouver?

 

Thank you ---- yep, I'm a bit confused ~grin~

1) As you disembark the ship - you're entering Canada both in the physical and legal sense, as are your goods, so you'll do both Customs and Immigration at the pier as you arrive (simultaneously if it's a short rep from LA to Vancouver without other Canadian stops)

2) Absolutely. In fact it's a damn good idea to be on a flight at say 10am or earlier, instead of noon or later, as this way you avoid all the folks who disembark and head straight to the airport, i.e. you should not have anywhere near as much queuing to worry about.

3) No in this context. You will be going through US customs & immigration at YVR if your flight goes to a US airport, whether it's direct or just a stop to change planes. On the Canadian customs front - no in your particular case, since you are already in Canada having done Customs/Immigration at the pier the day before. The whole 'do Canadian and US customs' issue arises for people who arrive by ship and go to the airport or train station, or arrive by plane/train then go straight to the ship - i.e. they need to legally enter both Canada and the US on the same day.

 

But even then it's in two different locations - unfortunately many posters are very sloppy at recognizing the differences between Security, Customs, and Immigration and often mix up exactly what they're talking about, which is why there are reports about 'Canadian Customs causing delays when boarding at Canada Place' despite it being literally impossible for that to happen...

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2. Since it is an overnight - would we be able to take an early morning flight to the US? Wondering about hours of getting through customs.
If you share your departing flight time, we can provide some strategies to make best use of your time.

 

In general... you want to arrive at the terminal 3 hours before your flight for your check-in, searches, and customs. Yes you can do it a little closer to departure time, but it's not pretty when you see others arriving 2 hours pre-flight and see a huge line getting their hand, body, weapons, liquids, cavity and random secondary inspections. Then there's the passport machines and those needing to repack their unweighed luggage. You want that extra contingency time to find your way around or explore the airport. If you have an extra hour post-security.... use it for breakfast.

Edited by xlxo
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Since it is an overnight - would we be able to take an early morning flight to the US? Wondering about hours of getting through customs.

 

Here is a link to the YVR website with CBP information. They open at 4:30 am so an early flight is absolutely do-able.

 

http://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/navigate-yvr/customs-and-immigration/us-customs-and-border-protection <--click here

 

.

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