Where will we go through customs YVR or YYC?

[Ireallyneedavacation]

We are flying back to the US from Vancouver with a connecting flight in Calgary. Will we go through customs at YVR or YYC?

[FlyerTalker]

If your route is YVR-YYC-USA, it will be in Calgary.  If it is YYC-YVR-USA, it will be in Vancouver.

[Ireallyneedavacation]

5 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

If your route is YVR-YYC-USA, it will be in Calgary.  If it is YYC-YVR-USA, it will be in Vancouver.

Thanks, that is what I was afraid of. I booked these flights thinking the entire time we would go through customs in Vancouver. It dawned on me last night that YVR to YYC is a domestic flight. We have a little over 1 1/2 hours to get through customs and make the flight in Calgary. I hope it is doable! I would have never chosen this connection had I been thinking sanely! Maybe we will luck up and our flight be early and the lines be short. 

[em-sk]

On 6/24/2022 at 4:56 AM, Ireallyneedavacation said:

Thanks, that is what I was afraid of. I booked these flights thinking the entire time we would go through customs in Vancouver. It dawned on me last night that YVR to YYC is a domestic flight. We have a little over 1 1/2 hours to get through customs and make the flight in Calgary. I hope it is doable! I would have never chosen this connection had I been thinking sanely! Maybe we will luck up and our flight be early and the lines be short. 

 

There are a couple of routes in the Air Canada network that are what they use to call "rapid air", in the us some of the airlines called these "shuttle" routes.  Vancouver to Calgary is one of them.  With the exception of the very lowest cost tickets they offer free standby on earlier flights.  When you get to the airport if you tell them at the check in counter your worked about the connection, they will likely put you on standby for an earlier flight.  That route pre-covid was hourly.  Likely they are back to that.

 

If your on WestJet there is a good chance they will do the same.

 

Calgary is also a smaller airport for international travel.  It is dominated by domestic.  Your not going to have long lines for US customs pre-clearance.  Connecting passengers are also a separate line from the passengers leaving locally from Calgary.  

Edited June 29, 2022 by em-sk

[Ireallyneedavacation]

On 6/28/2022 at 10:04 PM, em-sk said:

 

There are a couple of routes in the Air Canada network that are what they use to call "rapid air", in the us some of the airlines called these "shuttle" routes.  Vancouver to Calgary is one of them.  With the exception of the very lowest cost tickets they offer free standby on earlier flights.  When you get to the airport if you tell them at the check in counter your worked about the connection, they will likely put you on standby for an earlier flight.  That route pre-covid was hourly.  Likely they are back to that.

 

If your on WestJet there is a good chance they will do the same.

 

Calgary is also a smaller airport for international travel.  It is dominated by domestic.  Your not going to have long lines for US customs pre-clearance.  Connecting passengers are also a separate line from the passengers leaving locally from Calgary.  

Thank you, we are flying West Jet, but it is worth a try! Plus, it is good to know that Calgary is smaller for international flights and customs should not be long….knock on wood! We are flying on Monday 6:00 AM out of Vancouver, so I hope this is in our favor as well.  Would you happen to know if we have to pick up our luggage and check it again?  We are flying West Jet the entire way. The rep from Royal Caribbean said no, but he had no idea you could go through US customs in Canada. He put me on hold to confirm what I told him.

[Ireallyneedavacation]

On 6/28/2022 at 10:04 PM, em-sk said:

 

There are a couple of routes in the Air Canada network that are what they use to call "rapid air", in the us some of the airlines called these "shuttle" routes.  Vancouver to Calgary is one of them.  With the exception of the very lowest cost tickets they offer free standby on earlier flights.  When you get to the airport if you tell them at the check in counter your worked about the connection, they will likely put you on standby for an earlier flight.  That route pre-covid was hourly.  Likely they are back to that.

 

If your on WestJet there is a good chance they will do the same.

 

Calgary is also a smaller airport for international travel.  It is dominated by domestic.  Your not going to have long lines for US customs pre-clearance.  Connecting passengers are also a separate line from the passengers leaving locally from Calgary.  

Looks like 6:00 AM is the earliest flight out of Vancouver. Hopefully, we will make it. Since we booked through the cruise line, it would have been $250 change fee US, plus the going rate of the flight. My response to the rep was, “so, it looks like we are going to just try and make our connection”. A lot can happen. We will see how it plays out. If it was just me, I wouldn’t be as worried, but I booked this same flight for 6 of my family members as well. A few of them have work to get back to the next day….including me, but I work from home and could at least catch up on emails.

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, Ireallyneedavacation said:

The rep from Royal Caribbean said no, but he had no idea you could go through US customs in Canada. He put me on hold to confirm what I told him.

 

Today's "endorsement" of cruiseline air.  IMO, 90+% of the folks in the "air department" are order processors who follow a script and just push out what they are given.

[em-sk]

4 hours ago, Ireallyneedavacation said:

Looks like 6:00 AM is the earliest flight out of Vancouver. Hopefully, we will make it. Since we booked through the cruise line, it would have been $250 change fee US, plus the going rate of the flight. My response to the rep was, “so, it looks like we are going to just try and make our connection”. A lot can happen. We will see how it plays out. If it was just me, I wouldn’t be as worried, but I booked this same flight for 6 of my family members as well. A few of them have work to get back to the next day….including me, but I work from home and could at least catch up on emails.

 

It is disappointing they are being restrictive on the changes.  I did that 6:00 am flight about three weeks ago but was connecting domestically in Calgary.  That is the first flight of the day for WestJet out of Vancouver.  It has a high likelihood of being on time.  When flights start to run late, they tend to be later in the day.

 

I have not done a US connection in Calgary since the pre-COVID days.  Assuming everything is still the same, you follow the signs for US Connections (US Flag).  The bags are automatically transferred.  Photos of them show up on a computer screen and the US customs agent hits a button to bring them up if they want to see them.  Usually they don't and he/she hits another button and releases them.   

 

Calgary use to have two segregated departure halls, domestic, US pre-clearance and international.   With the drop in international traffic they removed international being segregated from domestic.  I don't know if that impacted anything with the transfers to the US.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by em-sk

[em-sk]

5 hours ago, Ireallyneedavacation said:

 

 

One more thing to mention.  Is Calgary has A, B, C, D and E gates.  

 

E is exclusively US flights and segregated.

D use to be exclusively international and segregated Now it is international/domestic and you can walk back and forth to A/B/C.  

A/B/C are all domestic.   

 

If you come in at A or B it is a long walk to E.  You will notice Link stops for this weird looking electric shuttles.  Wait for one of them and grab the shuttle.  They may look weird but are quite fast.  

 

For that 6:00 am flight I arrived on a D gate.  However there is no guarantee that will happen on any other day.

 

Also Calgary is one of WestJet two main hubs.  There is going to be lots of WestJet people around you can ask.  

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by em-sk

[Ireallyneedavacation]

16 hours ago, em-sk said:

 

One more thing to mention.  Is Calgary has A, B, C, D and E gates.  

 

E is exclusively US flights and segregated.

D use to be exclusively international and segregated Now it is international/domestic and you can walk back and forth to A/B/C.  

A/B/C are all domestic.   

 

If you come in at A or B it is a long walk to E.  You will notice Link stops for this weird looking electric shuttles.  Wait for one of them and grab the shuttle.  They may look weird but are quite fast.  

 

For that 6:00 am flight I arrived on a D gate.  However there is no guarantee that will happen on any other day.

 

Also Calgary is one of WestJet two main hubs.  There is going to be lots of WestJet people around you can ask.  

 

Thank you so much! This is great information. I will make sure to look for the electric shuttle. We will range in age from 5 to 78, so I think this will spend up the process. Hopefully, we we will be lucky and get that D gate!
 

You have been quite helpful, and I do feel somewhat better about it. I will have to come back and let you know if we made it!

Edited July 1, 2022 by Ireallyneedavacation

[Ireallyneedavacation]

On 6/30/2022 at 3:44 AM, em-sk said:

 

It is disappointing they are being restrictive on the changes.  I did that 6:00 am flight about three weeks ago but was connecting domestically in Calgary.  That is the first flight of the day for WestJet out of Vancouver.  It has a high likelihood of being on time.  When flights start to run late, they tend to be later in the day.

 

I have not done a US connection in Calgary since the pre-COVID days.  Assuming everything is still the same, you follow the signs for US Connections (US Flag).  The bags are automatically transferred.  Photos of them show up on a computer screen and the US customs agent hits a button to bring them up if they want to see them.  Usually they don't and he/she hits another button and releases them.   

 

Calgary use to have two segregated departure halls, domestic, US pre-clearance and international.   With the drop in international traffic they removed international being segregated from domestic.  I don't know if that impacted anything with the transfers to the US.

 

 

Just wanted to let you know we made it! We were flying back to Atlanta, and there was no possible way to get there any quicker, as we did not sit down at a gate to wait. We had to see an agent before making our initial flight in Vancouver. I’m not sure what was going on, but the West Jet agents did not start checking people in until after 4:00, then the agents were continuously having issues, maybe they were new hires or maybe there were computer issues. Then, most of our carry ones got pulled to search. We literally got to this flight as final boarding was being called. Thankfully, in Calgary, customs was quick and easy. We walked onto this flight as well with no waiting. All in all, we had good experiences with Air Canada and after initial check-in, West Jet. We had never flown either airline. Thanks again for the information you gave me. It did help my nerves!