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| - Any review of YYZ can be a tale of two airports. Terminal 1 is an OK, modern facility with a decent amount of services. Terminal 3, on the other hand, sports an unfortunate older design that is cramped, particularly behind security. Based on my past use of the airport, the experience with Pearson can be different depending on which terminal you use.
I have come through YYZ on several occasions. Normally, I fly in and out on Delta and that sticks me in Terminal 3, which I find to be one of the worst facilities I have used among the 300+ airports in which I have been. I have never used YYZ as a connecting airport so all of my comments will be confined to its use as an originating or terminating facility.
On paper, it is not hard to get to this airport as it is well served by Hwys 409 and 427 as well as major arteries in Mississauga. The potential problem is traffic, which is an annoyance in the Toronto area in general. Try to avoid going to or getting away from the airport in rush hour. It is worth arriving 3 hours early if it means avoiding the traffic rush, which can be horrendous. The long overdue opening of a rail link with downtown TO has been a very helpful option in this regard. The Pearson Express now provides a link from the airport to Union Station. I have not used this service yet but hope to do so in the near future. This service avoids the traffic issues and saves some money. The taxi drivers at Pearson are honest and generally provide good service but the cab fare to and from city centre is steep (about $50 to $70 CAD one way before tip).
The airport facilities have their good and bad sides. The check in areas are reasonably sized and accommodate the crowds decently. Depending on the airline, check in generally proceeds well. However, I tried to use Pearson during Spring Break in 2013. Apparently all schools in TO are on break at the same time and the crowds were the worst I have seen in any airport. By chance, I arrived at the airport about 3.5 hours in advance on that occasion and needed every extra minute.
For departures, the US pre-clearance area is convenient but be sure to account for this. Allow at least 20 minutes additional time for this process. Even the allowance of 45 minutes is not a bad idea, though this process has been expedited in recent times with better automation, etc. Get Nexus or Global Entry if you really want to make sure of a quick process. I should also note that the most unreasonable and difficult CBP person with whom I have ever dealt (of the 100+ whom I have encountered) was in YYZ. The security is generally decently efficient but things can get bogged down like any other security process.
In terms of arrivals, getting from the deplaning area to Immigration and Customs is a major hike. They have improved their immigration area with some renovations in the recent past so at least it is a little nicer. The biggest issue is that the Canadian Immigration people have consistently been the worst, by far, with whom I have had to deal relative to the other 35 or so countries I have visited. As an American, the assumption seems to be that I am there to steal a Canadian's job unless I can prove otherwise. To be fair, I have heard Canadians say the same about crossing into the US. So much for friendly borders!
The difference in Terminals are the areas behind security. Terminal 1 serves Air Canada and its partners such as United, while Terminal 3 serves everyone else. And it is clear who is King at YYZ. Just putting it bluntly, Terminal 3 facilities in US departures are wholly inadequate. While clean, they are cramped and offer precious few services for the number of people they process. The older design in T3 was apparently completed in 1991 and harkens back to an era when it seems like austerity was the mantra of Canadian airport design. They almost deliberately avoided aesthetics. Terminal 1 is a bit better. Opened in 2007, it is a much more aesthetically pleasing and comfortable. Even at that, the number of services is sparse compared to similar airports.
The one positive about the design in T3 is that gates are not hard to reach. You're never far away. But getting to the boarding area more than a few minutes early can be a miserable experience as you can never get very comfortable. There are three dining areas which are either expensive or small.
Overall, while Pearson is better in many ways than it was in the past, it remains one of my least favorite large airports. The opening of the Pearson Express is helpful but traffic continues to play a part in the logistics of using this facility. While Terminal 1 has a nicer, more comfortable design, Terminal 3 is an anachronistic, austere design. Both are lacking in services behind security but T3 is much worse. US pre-clearance is a nice feature and is administered reasonably, well as are the security services. The logistics of getting from check-in to gate are OK but, in general, this airport still ranks down my list.
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