Pearson security and US customs

grantclaire

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 23, 2007
Hi, we are flying to Miami from Pearson next Monday departing at 0730. Was just on the airport website and they are advising travelers who are departing on weekdays before 1000 am. To arrive 3hours before the flight. We usually fly on a Sat or Sun and have arrived two hours before and never had an issue. Has anyone flown out of Pearson recently and can give me an update? Thanks
 
I've flown out of both recently - T3 on a Thursday morning and T1 on a Thursday evening. Family and I have NEXUS and we were through security in under 30 minutes (although it was probably closer to 20) each time.

With that said, Monday mornings may be a different animal as there will be people flying out on business, so it may be advisable to give yourself an extra 30 minutes.
 
We flew out on a Saturday morning @ 9am in November.

The line for customs was LONG. All said it took us about 90 minutes to check in and check our bags, go through customs and finally security. My rule of thumb is to get to the airport 3 hours prior to departure. There are just too many variables that can delay timing at airports these days.
 


Let us know how things work out tomorrow. Hopefully you’ve done online check in to at least eliminate waiting in that line.

FWIW, my sister in law flew out to the uk last night and it took her 30 minutes to drop bags and get through security. She was at the gate 2.5 hours prior to departure. Bear in mind that this is international though, and might not be a good gauge for the us lines.
 
Monday mornings are the worst. That's typically when business travellers are flying so the airport is packed. We flew out at 8:15 am a few weeks ago and even with Nexus card, the lines were really long. Went to the Maple Leaf Lounge and there was absolutely nowhere to sit. About 7:15 when we were heading out of the lounge, we had to wait in line for more than 5 minutes to take the elevator down so many people were also leaving. Definitely give yourself more than 2 hours. Security is also taking more time per person.
 
We fly out Monday, Dec 18 at 6:30am (terminal 1) - do you still think we need to get there more than 2 hours in advance to clear customs and security? I'm dreading having to wake our 2 and 5 year old at 3:30am to be there for 4:30am, so I can't imagine waking them up at 2:30am to be at Pearson at 3:30am!
 


Hi,
We got to the airport Monday at 5 am for our 730 flight. Took less then 1hour and we were at the gate. Was not busy at security or customs. Maybe this is a slow week? The weather is great in Miami!
 

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