Can UK/Irish pax pre-clear immigration in Canada?

[Tea]

Someone else mentioned this on another thread- is it the case? Would be amazing as some fab prices on Kayak etc with air canada

[Rockette]

Not the pre-clearance that I've seen for US citizens, although you do clear immigration in Canada but beware as the lines can be long. Make sure you have at least 2 hours between flights. I've used AC several times, connecting through Toronto and loved their service.

[Toria_dee]

Found this on TA.

When flying to the United States, you will clear U.S. Customs and Immigration in Toronto. This is called "pre-clearance" and means your flight will arrive in the U.S. as a "domestic" flight. But it does lengthen the check-in process in Toronto, so make sure you leave plenty of time. You'll also need to have the street address of your hotel (or wherever you're staying) handy to fill out the customs form.

HTH

I remember reading it on here I'm sure as we considered it for out holiday next year as we have family in Toronto so were considering a night stop, but ended up getting a good deal via LGW for a flydrive.

xx

[Toria_dee]

There's also this

torontopearson/en/Preclearance/#

[Tea]

What I'm trying to avoid is standing in line in MCO basically! If I can do that cheaply, I'll be happy.

[Toria_dee]

Have you considered flying into Tampa?

We're flying in there next year and I've heard from fellow Dibbers that the BA flight is the only one in at that time so the queue at immigration is very short as it's only that flight in it.

x

[Tea]

The thought of driving to the airport on the way back would freak me out; I'm practically vomiting on the return leg worrying we'll be late... gets me super stressed

[snowbelle]

Toronto can be extremely quick and have only six people in front as we did , but it can also be horrendous with up to two hours wait .
Our flight had only 57 mins connection time and I was panicking the whole time as the next flight wasn't til very late and if it was full you would have to wait until the next day.

The return was a long layover in Montreal which was a killer as Montreal airport is very expensive and very boring.

I cannot fault air canada for their service, planes ,seat pitch etc.
But I would have to get a really good price to do it again.

In regard to Tampa it is one of our favourite airports to go into and is always fast and efficient .

If you are concerned about the timing of the return flight why not have a night in Tampa ? There are some nice restaurants and Ybor City is nice to have a look around.

[Rockette]

Originally Posted by Tea

What I'm trying to avoid is standing in line in MCO basically! If I can do that cheaply, I'll be happy.

See more...

You get straight off at MCO, straight to baggage reclaim, no immigration queue.

[catlady]

Consider flying via Dublin, Shannon or Cork too? If your next stop is usa you pre_clear immigration before you leave Ireland . All done a dusted right at the beginning, meaning stops can be shorter within the usa and no queues as you land as you are a domestic passenger