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| - As far as airports go, Pearson is above average. The newer updated terminals are fancy. Some terminals have many places to eat and lounge while others are poorly equipped and leave you bored out of your mind during long layovers. It could take a few pointers from DFW Terminal D.
Forewarned, customs doesn't open until almost 5am, so if you have a 6am flight, you'll either be waiting forever or stuck in a massive line. Wish that was posted somewhere. I wasted a lot of time standing there not knowing. Security wouldn't even tell us what was going on. I fly often, so I now choose to fly a little later.
I absolutely love the new automated custom machines. They make the line go much more quickly and reduces the wait times significantly. If you do get hauled into customs even after using the automated machine (story of my life), they put you in a much shorter line than those with visas or international passports, so the wait time is never long. If you aren't lucky enough to be in an area with the automated system, good luck to you, be prepared to wait. Coming back into Canada is always a breeze though. Fast and painless.
Air Canada terminal is the worst. While it looks nice and new, it has the longest lineups and most disorganization. It takes absolutely forever to get through security. It does have quite a nice lounge area once passed security though. I often choose to fly Delta or American instead and find that terminal much more organized and significantly less busy.
Staff around the airport in general aren't friendly. Actually, they look flat out miserable. I haven't had the pleasure of the friendly staff that other reviews have spoken of. Customs is exempt, despite getting hauled in for questioning every time, I have never had one officer who wasn't friendly going into the US and coming back into Canada.
Overall though it's gotten a huge facelift making it nice to be in. It's clean, signage is clear as finding bathrooms and gates go. There's plenty of places to grab coffee, snacks and a good book and if you're lucky enough, some sit down restaurants.
It gets four stars because if you've ever been to the Minneapolis airport, you'll understand airports like Toronto are far superior.
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