Air France CDG-YYZ Air Canada YYZ-YHZ---Luggage

[PitCritter]

We'll be arriving at Pearson from Paris on Air France after our April Transatlantic, then taking Air Canada to Halifax early the next morning.  The tix were all booked through Air France by the HAL Flight Ease department.

 

We have a 9 hour layover, so we've booked an airport hotel to hopefully get a few hours sleep.

 

I'm hoping that my luggage will be checked through right to Halifax, but I doubt I'll be that lucky.  AF and AC use different terminals at Pearson, so I imagine that I'll need to collect and then re-check my luggage.  Just what I'd hoped to avoid after a loooong day.

 

Any thoughts?

[phabric]

You might want to ask on Cruise Air.

[rodndonna]

1 hour ago, PitCritter said:

We'll be arriving at Pearson from Paris on Air France after our April Transatlantic, then taking Air Canada to Halifax early the next morning.  The tix were all booked through Air France by the HAL Flight Ease department.

 

We have a 9 hour layover, so we've booked an airport hotel to hopefully get a few hours sleep.

 

I'm hoping that my luggage will be checked through right to Halifax, but I doubt I'll be that lucky.  AF and AC use different terminals at Pearson, so I imagine that I'll need to collect and then re-check my luggage.  Just what I'd hoped to avoid after a loooong day.

 

Any thoughts?

 

We've has similar flights and when we checked our luggage in at the desk we were asked if we wanted to check it through to final destination or not. Not sure what the time boundary is for when they can and can't do that though. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Phone the company you booked with and ask them to find out 

[CDNPolar]

Checked through - if that is possible - would be the least hassle for you, however, I personally with a 9 hour layover would prefer to get my bags and check them again after the layover.

 

That will however require you to wait at baggage for your bag and that is typically a long time at Pearson and then recheck them after the layover.  This is going to take some considerable time out of your sleeping time.

 

I am thinking however that customs would be Toronto, so there may be a requirement for you to collect your bags, then drop them after customs to the connecting flight?  You may have to play a role in this.  I see people doing this all the time, but living in Toronto I have never had to so don't know exactly how it works.

 

I don't think however you can clear Canada Customs without having your bags with you.

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

I am thinking however that customs would be Toronto, so there may be a requirement for you to collect your bags, then drop them after customs to the connecting flight?

For years, flying back to Ottawa through Toronto from outside the country required us to collect and then drop off our bags for the connecting flight when clearing customs. Then a change was instituted a few years ago, and our bags are now checked all the way through to Ottawa with no need to collect/drop them in Toronto. So in theory, the OP's bags should be checked all the way through to Halifax.

 

But all of our connecting flights were within a couple of hours of arriving in Toronto, so the bags would have had little time between being offloaded and reloaded. In the OP's case, with a 9-hour layover, I don't know whether Pearson has the capacity for storing bags for an extended period time.

 

[CDNPolar]

15 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

For years, flying back to Ottawa through Toronto from outside the country required us to collect and then drop off our bags for the connecting flight when clearing customs. Then a change was instituted a few years ago, and our bags are now checked all the way through to Ottawa with no need to collect/drop them in Toronto. So in theory, the OP's bags should be checked all the way through to Halifax.

 

But all of our connecting flights were within a couple of hours of arriving in Toronto, so the bags would have had little time between being offloaded and reloaded. In the OP's case, with a 9-hour layover, I don't know whether Pearson has the capacity for storing bags for an extended period time.

 

 

But then did you have to clear Canadian Customs when landing in Ottawa with your bags?  

 

That was I think the reason that you collected your bags in Toronto as then you are on a domestic flight to Ottawa that would not entail customs clearance?  I always thought you cleared customs only after collecting your bags as they have the right to search all bags. 

Edited March 12 by CDNPolar

[Fouremco]

2 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

But then did you have to clear Canadian Customs when landing in Ottawa with your bags?  

 

That was I think the reason that you collected your bags in Toronto as then you are on a domestic flight to Ottawa that would not entail customs clearance?  I always thought you cleared customs only after collecting your bags as they have the right to search all bags. 

No, you still clear customs/immigration in Toronto. If something is amiss and you are referred to secondary for a bag search, I imagine that they have some method for retrieving your bag, but I've not come across any related information.

 

Here's a link to an Air Canada webpage on the issue:

https://www.aircanada.com/pa/en/aco/home/fly/at-the-airport/airport-information/toronto-pearson-international-airport/int-ca.html#/

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

But all of our connecting flights were within a couple of hours of arriving in Toronto, so the bags would have had little time between being offloaded and reloaded. In the OP's case, with a 9-hour layover, I don't know whether Pearson has the capacity for storing bags for an extended period time

I know the last time I flew out of Pearson (or probably a few times before that) I was there a little before 4 hours before, and was told that I couldn’t drop the bags off until 4 hours before flight time. 

[PitCritter]

Here I was looking for a simple answer...LOL

 

The link that @Fouremco provided seems to say that I won't need to collect my bags, but I wonder if that's complicated by the fact that this isn't an AC to AC connection.  Also, the lengthy layover may come into play.

 

I would really rather NOT need to collect my bags, I'll be fine at the hotel with just my carry-on.

 

I guess I'll find out at CDG and not before when I see if my luggage is tagged to YHZ or YYZ.

[Fairgarth]

Have you got one ticket for CDG - YYZ - YHZ?  Or two, one for AF and one for AC?

[BTV]

In our case we have travelled to Edinburgh from Halifax via Heathrow. All booked with Air Canada but the internal flight was with British Airways. We checked our luggage in at Halifax and picked up in Edinburgh. We cleared immigration in Heathrow  and stayed in an hotel overnight. Our flights were in different terminals  with over 15 hours lay over. We did the same on the return journey, luggage straight to Halifax. We always check the tags and have air tags as added precaution, which have proved useful .

[em-sk]

On 3/12/2024 at 8:42 AM, PitCritter said:

Here I was looking for a simple answer...LOL

 

The link that @Fouremco provided seems to say that I won't need to collect my bags, but I wonder if that's complicated by the fact that this isn't an AC to AC connection.  Also, the lengthy layover may come into play.

 

I would really rather NOT need to collect my bags, I'll be fine at the hotel with just my carry-on.

 

I guess I'll find out at CDG and not before when I see if my luggage is tagged to YHZ or YYZ.

 

That is a weird ticket.  Air France and Air Canada will interline bags and auto-transfer.  That said, it is weird, in that Air France and WestJet are partners. It would have been far more common to be on an Air France/WestJet ticket or an Air Canada for both legs.  Nothing wrong with what you have, it is just not as common.

 

Air France goes into Terminal 3 and Air Canada into Terminal 1.  I would expect you will have to pickup your bags and if they are tagged all the way through to have to drop them off again.    

 

Due to the long overnight layover you may not even be able to tag your bags all the way through.  If Air Canada asks you to pay baggage fees to check them in show them your ticket and remind them your making a connection.  You should be able to encourage them to wave it for you.