Long enough time to get through customs Toronto...

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

We are flying from the US to Toronto and then to Frankfurt for our BIE cruise. My concern is that we only have two hours to go through customs to board our flight to Frankfurt. We had to go through customs last summer in Toronto and it was a nightmare...a total nightmare. It was during the height of flight issues and at that time Toronto was the airport having the worst issues, so I am sure it will be better at this point,  but I am still concerned. TSA there was horrible and pulled a large percentage of bags going through and went through every item in your bag piece by piece. When they touched my toothbrush I was about ready to lose it. They stuffed everything back in my bag and broke the zipper. Somehow I'm hoping we can avoid having to go through TSA again there but I have concerns that getting to our second flight may take us out of security. 

 

Has anyone gone through there recently and is two hours enough time? 

[Meander Ingwa]

Usually when you are connecting, internationally, you do not go through customs.  You bags are checked through to your final destination and you have passport check there.  You will simply walk to your new gate   I have not had my bag checked at a final international destination since a very strange transit from Papua New Guinea to Singapore.  I think that was an issue with the airline rather than the port.  

[ropomo]

Agree with poster above. At most you will go through Passport Control. We flew through Toronto enroute to Bergen via Copenhagen in 2019 and that's all we did. Painless and less than 5 minutes. Electronic scan of Passport and no human interaction. Security personnel let you pass once you got a green light on the kiosk you use to scan Passport.

[Moonlion]

1 hour ago, Sunflower & The Scientist said:

We are flying from the US to Toronto and then to Frankfurt for our BIE cruise. My concern is that we only have two hours to go through customs to board our flight to Frankfurt. We had to go through customs last summer in Toronto and it was a nightmare...a total nightmare. It was during the height of flight issues and at that time Toronto was the airport having the worst issues, so I am sure it will be better at this point,  but I am still concerned. TSA there was horrible and pulled a large percentage of bags going through and went through every item in your bag piece by piece. When they touched my toothbrush I was about ready to lose it. They stuffed everything back in my bag and broke the zipper. Somehow I'm hoping we can avoid having to go through TSA again there but I have concerns that getting to our second flight may take us out of security. 

 

Has anyone gone through there recently and is two hours enough time? 

I think - but suggest that you call Air Canada to confirm, that transiting through Canada from the US to Europe, you only go through passport control in Canada but not "customs" (where you have to pick up your checked bags, they go through your luggage and then you recheck your bags for the next flight).  However, if you return from Europe through Canada, you do go through customs which I agree is a nightmare in Toronto. We went through Toronto last September on our return to the US and it look almost 2 hours.  The only reason we didn't miss our connecting flight was because every flight, including our connecting flight to the US, was delayed by hours in Toronto. 

 

Another airport to watch out for is Brussels.  After our May '23 BIE cruise, we flew from Oslo to Brussels and had a connecting flight to the US.  Our layover in Brussels was 1.5 hours but it took more than 1.5 hours to get through passport control (not even customs!). The lines snaked through the airport!  I was sure we would miss our connecting flight to the US.  However, there were so many people stuck in the long lines, United delayed departure by 30 minutes until everyone got through.   

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

Thanks....this is good to hear. When we flew last July we connected to a flight to Thunder Bay, and they made us go through customs, it seemed odd. Wonder if it was just what was going on then

[duquephart]

We went to Stockholm via Rjykevik on Iceland Air. Never saw our bags until Stockholm.

[Moonlion]

1 hour ago, duquephart said:

We went to Stockholm via Rjykevik on Iceland Air. Never saw our bags until Stockholm.

The US has a special agreement with Canada that flights returning to the US via Canada go through formal US customs in Canada; when you arrive in the US from Canada, you don't need to go through customs again. I believe that fights to the US via Dublin Ireland have the same arrangement. 

[duquephart]

4 minutes ago, Moonlion said:

The US has a special agreement with Canada that flights returning to the US via Canada go through formal US customs in Canada; when you arrive in the US from Canada, you don't need to go through customs again. I believe that fights to the US via Dublin Ireland have the same arrangement. 

 

Indeed. We cleared US customs in Vancouver after Alaska. We were warned not to go back through the door.

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, Sunflower & The Scientist said:

Thanks....this is good to hear. When we flew last July we connected to a flight to Thunder Bay, and they made us go through customs, it seemed odd. Wonder if it was just what was going on then

Having to clear Canada customs in July was because you were effectively visiting Canada (Thunder Bay). Your flight from Toronto to Thunder Bay was a domestic one, so boarding it was no different than if you had flown to Toronto and left the airport to visit friends.

 

When you connect through to Europe, you're in transit, and don't leave the transfer area in the airport. You should have lots of time. 🍺🥌

[bookbabe]

https://www.torontopearson.com/en/connections
 

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

8 hours ago, bookbabe said:

https://www.torontopearson.com/en/connections
 

Thanks