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| - Terminal 1: 3/5
Terminal 3: 1/5
If you're flying within Canada and/or on Star Alliance, YYZ is alright. Otherwise, not so much.
Terminal 1 is overall a smooth experience. Check-in is simple - just use one of the many self-service machines. Security has always been quick and easy, at least for the times when I've flown. Once you get past security, the terminal has decent amenities and restaurants - at least in Concourse D, which is the only one I've used so far. I do wish that there were more options and/or that the various gates weren't cut off from one another. But on the whole, it could be worse. On the receiving end, when you arrive at Terminal 1, the deboarding and the baggage pick-up processes are painless enough.
Terminal 3, on the other hand, is a much different story. Starting with check-in: the bag check process is unnecessarily complicated - you need to stop at multiple different stations and wait in multiple different lines. Then, if you're flying to the US, you go through customs BEFORE you take off. I understand why they do it this way, but it means you need to get to the airport extra early, and the customs line is unpredictable (sometimes it takes 10 minutes, sometimes an hour). Once you get through security and customs, it's not too bad to find your gate and board the plane. But don't plan on eating or shopping post-customs, since the options are limited and not very good.
On the receiving end, when you land in Terminal 3, you'll also have to deal with annoyingly long customs lines. Then as you go through the baggage pick-up area, there are multiple checkpoints, so make sure you keep your little customs receipt with you at all times. Finally, navigating out of the airport is also confusing the first few times, due to poor signage.
It's obvious that YYZ has prioritized Terminal 1. And from a business standpoint, perhaps that makes sense. But from a passenger's point of view, it makes for very disparate experiences. You probably don't have much choice which terminal you fly into / out of - it's all based on your airline - but hopefully now you at least know what to expect.
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