Toronto Pearson International Airport

Bad signage. Surly TSA. Miserable dining options. Toronto is such a great city, it deserves a better airport.

My family and I are from Chicago, we vacationed to Toronto for the first time in May 2015.
Simply said, the Pearson YYZ Airport has NO SIGNS and Nobody to help you navigate to get to a rental car bus.
Toronto itself is Very expensive, more than Chicago but, less than Manhatten.
Not really impressed with the city, it actually reminds me of Chicago from the 1980’s.
People are okay, not your typical nice Canadians.
Best part was visiting the Blue Jay’s (Rogers Centre) and across the street is the Aquarium and next to that is the Tower.
The Toronto zoo is HUGE btw.

I’m never fully impressed by Pearson International Airport everytime I travel. The inefficiencies, chaotic amidst that this airport is spacious. It’s also one of the airport’s that charges sky high airplanes landing fees that constitutes to expensive flight tickets of you’re flying out from Canada.
Having said that, they have increased the seating areas and is considered spacious. Food is what you’d expect, expensive and overcharging for the variety and selection offered. At least they haber Tim Hortons & Starbucks! I give that a thumbs up being a coffee drinker.

I do a lot of flying and I think Toronto has done a great job of channeling such a large number of people through their airport. Other cities with such a flight hub often end up overcrowded and it takes an hour to walk anywhere. Pearson has large open hallways, you can get where you are going quickly.
Good signage, good amenities. Friendly people.

Terminal 3 is possibly the ugliest and most poorly planned place of human torture ever designed.
Confusing signage and lacking any of the finesse that was invested in Terminal 1, this eyesore brings Pearson down.
GO Buses don’t even service this terminal.
Not to mention, the airport «train» is idiotic. God forbid you get on it at Terminal 3 because the signage is unclear which direction the train is headed. Both sides of the platform say the same goddamn thing.
Luckily there are only 3 stops on this line so it doesn’t matter if you have rotten luck.
Did I mention Terminal 3 sucks?

This is a nice airport with plenty of amenities, they have upgraded dwell areas over the last few years and a lot of them now have individual tablets for you to use, either for Internet or ordering food and drink in some café areas
The lines for the security are painfully slow which is why I have taken off stars
The check in areas need a few more seats too so if you’re early or waiting on people then you have somewhere to sit

First time in Toronto, one of the two major cities in the province of Ontario, Canada. The other being the capital of Ottawa. Flew here from Vancouver on Air Canada.
Upon arrival into Toronto, it was nice to not have to go through customs and border control, because I guess I’m flying domestically through Canada. It’s pretty cool to be traveling exclusively through Canadian airspace on this trip alone, versus flying through the US then crossing to Canada on the final leg. I got to admit that I didn’t think Toronto was a large of a city as I thought, but once I saw the downtown areas when I was on final approach to landing at the airport. YYZ is Toronto Pearson international airport’s code, which is cool. I think all of Canada’s airport codes start with «Y», but that’s kind of interesting topic for a later review. Here in Toronto, it was a short 2 hour layover, but learned that my connection to Ottawa, my final destination, was delayed 30 minutes due to late arriving aircraft from Edmonton, AB. Ugh, a little pissed off, but what can you do. Not sure what terminal of YYZ I was at, but I was at the D gates and I’m glad that I didn’t have to walk all over the airport to find my connecting gate.
The overall experience here at YYZ Toronto Pearson international airport was decently nice. Always good to see new places, even though it’s just at the airport making connections. I arrived at D33 and departed at D28. Had lunch at the Thai express near my gate, which was pretty decent, although I’m probably not going to post a review about it on Unilocal.It was just a lunch take out of vegetable pad Thai that just tasted reasonably okay. How can you screw up pad Thai anyway, but to purists and lovers of the authenticity of Thai cuisine, I felt like it could have been better. For what it’s worth, $ 8.68 CAD was decently okay, price wise. YYZ Pearson international airport was clean and very easy to navigate. Since I was stuck in part of the terminal where many of the Air Canada flights were, the food selections were limited. I had a Starbucks kiosk though, which made it okay. Venti black tea lemonade was the order of the day, just to complement my take out spicy Pad Thai noodles in a small take out box.
For what it’s worth, trains take you into the city center from the airport. Of course, you can always drive here in your private vehicle or catch a cab. Even Über too, but you can’t get a pick up at the airport due to a lot of controversy surrounding that. YYZ Pearson international airport seems to be one of the busiest airports in Canada, hitting a lot of the international traffic on the eastern Atlantic side with Montréal. Vancouver tends to take the western pacific side. Spend up to two hours of more checking into your flight and get through Canadian TSA security and be waiting for your flight to board. The rest of that is to relax and enjoy your flight. This airport is very clean and orderly. Plenty of people arrive and depart here everyday and it just seems like the place to be to people watch, when you are connecting flights yourself.
While my connection here at YYZ was brief, I had a nice time here and hope to be back some day soon. 4 stars, solid!
Support local!
B

Congratulations to the brilliant minds behind the Terminal 3, international departure experience. If you could have tried to create a worse experience for your customers, you couldn’t have come close.
Big sign outside for where to drop-​off handicapped travelers. Super, except there are no wheelchairs or people to help there.
You go inside and sit on chairs marked for those who are handicapped with wheelchairs there and ask for assistance. The employees say sure then disappear. After 30 minutes you go to another employee and they blame you for following instructions. Apparently, you’re supposed to know to go to the ticket counter to ask for a wheelchair.
So now you’re in the wheelchair being pushed by an agent and they take you around to an exit saying no admittance and you go in there. That’s also the door for Global Entry and NEXUS. You’re then separated from your family members who are providing you with assistance and the employee pushing your wheelchair parks you, says goodbye, and walks away. What now?
Well, now you stand up and struggle through the metal detector with help from other passengers while security looks ok with supreme indifference. I guess they’ve seen it all before and become jaded.
Okay. You’re now through security, get back in your wheelchair, and sit in a holding area with another half dozen people who have no idea where they are in the process, why, when they’ll be released from purgatory, when, whether they’ll make their plane, and if anyone knows they still exist.
Superb. Your family member is miraculously reunited with you, asks a security guard if he can push your wheelchair, and is granted dispensation with a shrug of shoulders. Nice.
You go use an electronic kiosk placed too high for those in wheelchairs so need to stand up to again answer questions about your travels. You’re told to go to something about station 3. Apparently someone knows what that means but the woman who bars your entry into the next chamber of horrors tells you to turn right and go all the way to the end.
You get all the way to the end and encounter a sign saying flight personnel only. You obey the signage as you’d prefer not to be arrested so you get into the only other lane anywhere close. Some guy far away waves at you. You’ve been told not to talk to strangers so you ignore him.
The nice man walks over, opens up the barrier beside you, and stands there for about five seconds. He nods. You nod back. Hello. He points to the line for flight personnel. You ask if he is telling you to get into that line. Of course. Cool. Apparently you get to fly the plane.
You get to the front of the line. A customs officer welcomes you, efficiently processed you, and you’re back in purgatory. Yeah.
Now the journey begins. Go to A6, you’re told. Okay, around a corner, past the new restaurant purposely built with a flight of stairs to make food inaccessible to those with accessibility issues, then up a steep ramp apparently built to ensure that all passengers get a solid cardio workout.
Down a hall, around a corner, down an elevator which doesn’t descend to be level with the new waiting area into which you are being deposited. Success. You’re now at your gate, and a handful of others inexplicably labeled A6a, A6b, A6c, and I think A6f-​u.
Full. Full of dozens of sad, resigned, stressed passengers all waiting to be stuck into some aluminum tube and then blamed for flight rage when enough is just too much.
Hey, is that a heavily accented person speaking softly into a microphone saying that your gate just changed to A15? Huzzah. Back onto the same improperly and perhaps I safely installed elevator for a long stroll to A15. But humanity! Restaurants, iPads, actual airline employees who seem to care. Amazing.

Absolutely ridiculous that the lounges are in Terminal 1, but the US flights are out of Terminal 3 because that’s where the USA immigration happens. AND because you’re now in the «US» there are no Tim Horton’s to get your last fix, because youre in the US, so enjoy Starbucks, as told to us by the graound staff. So across the room, past the glass, you see TH but because we’re US bound, you’re cut off.
Duty free is abysmal, food choices are just as bad. Disappointing and extremely pathetic state.

No overhead music customs area, which made for a very vacant vibe.
Some confusion can be had with shuttles to certain terminals, and signage could be better, but I was able to find my way through.
Luckily I did not have to navigate a car or park at this airport, so my experience was pretty much straight forward.
Nothing stands out with this airport as being outstanding, or mediocre.
Free wifi is a plus.

My experience at Pearson, every time I come is different. Some are more pleasant then others. When I came in January I had to drop my luggage off and then go through customs — as a nexus card holder I have NEVER stopped to talk to security, I’ve just walked thought by handing my card to the agent (unless flagged for secondary inspection there is NO reason for me to talk to them as I have gone through the clearance process!) I actually had the agent yell at me to get back in line because I had a suitcase I had checked.
so today I dropped my bag off like usual and walk over to talk to a customs agent to only get yelled at again that I don’t need to talk to them and that I’m slowing down the line. it would be SO nice if they could have some consistency!

It’s an airport. Nothing very distinguishing about it and difficult to navigate. Signage is poor. They do have Wi-​fi but you have to sit under a payphone to find a plug in for your real phone. Wtf why not replace the pay phone with a wall of plugs :). Limping through airport on a foot that is asleep from sitting on it to charge your phone prior to 10 hours of additional flying should be a new chapter in Dante’s Inferno, right after Airport Starbucks. Doest I rant too much? Maybe I’ll take the drugs next flight :)

I am as proud a Canadian as he next but this airport
:(makes me hang my head in disappointment.
The newer terminal is so disorganized. You have to drop off your own luggage and the security is a nightmare! It takes forever to get through!
I honestly think it’s one of the worst airports I’ve been in and that pains me to say!
Here’s to hoping they fix it in the next few years and perhaps take a page out of Denmark’s book, now THAT is an airport.

We flew Air Canada in and out of this airport. The best part of the experience is that they have the Customs process very well organized in both directions, and we did not have long to wait.
Hanging out in the airport was pretty dismal on the way home, though, because they did not have any food available for purchase near our gate (other than candy bars) and no charging stations/​electrical outlets anywhere. I understand that the airport is under some much-​needed construction right now, but currently it is severely lacking in amenities.

* It always feels nostalgic coming to the airport.
* I used to get intimidated by the lanes approval the airport terminal because of the many different lanes going to various directions.
* I like Pearson airport. It’s spacious, very clean and organized.

I really wish I could give this airport two separate reviews: one for the main facilities, lounges, etc., and another one for the customs/​border process. The actual airport is great. Very modern, free wifi, lots of charging stations, good restaurant availability, etc.
Unfortunately, if you are unlucky enough to be arriving at Pearson from an international destination and connecting through to a US destination, you are unlikely to be able to experience any of those great features, because you will be stuck in the customs line for over 2 hours and then will have to sprint to your plane in the desperate hope of boarding before it takes off.
Seriously, I have never seen a more poorly-​organized customs check-​in. There are three zones, which are a little confusing at the best of times and become totally impossible to figure out when the entire customs area is jam-​packed with passengers. Where does the line for Zone 3 start and the line for Zone 2 end? Who knows! Certainly not the customs agents. After standing in the customs line for 10 minutes, I had more information about how the system worked than the customs agents apparently did, as I heard one of them give flat-​out incorrect information to multiple travelers in a row. It seemed the agent could not understand what people were asking. I heard her send one family to the wrong line, and another couple to a kiosk they didn’t even need to use.
A lot of people in line were worried that they were going to miss flights, and every time anyone asked a customs agent what to do about this, they were told very rudely, «I have no information on flights, you need to ask a flight rep.» It was not clear where the flight reps even were, and even if you figured out that they were located way at the back of the customs area where the entrance was, you’d have to get out of the insanely long line and lose your spot to go ask them anything.
There were a grand total of two agents checking people in, and a line of approximately 200 passengers trying to get through. Nothing was clearly marked. Agents were poorly trained and were rude and giving incorrect information to passengers. I had to sprint through half a mile of terminal to get to my flight minutes before the doors closed, and I had a two-​hour layover!
AVOID THIS AIRPORT if you are connecting through to a US destination. The customs is a complete nightmare. If you are not connecting through US customs, then you have nothing to worry about; enjoy the free wi-​fi and the charging stations.

You can arrive early at the airport, but you can’t go in at the customs line until 1.5 hours before your departure time. Although I think it needs to be earlier like 2 hours since the likelihood of you missing your flight are ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ chance! Keep that in mind!
Flying back to the US, my plane (United Airlines) was half empty at 8am because everyone missed it! The passengers were still stuck waiting in line at the custom. I barely made my flight with only minutes to spare! Sadly once I got on board, I overheard two UAL pilots that sat from across me as passengers (with full uniform) LOL… saying to another passenger that… «This happens all the time, passengers missing their flights.» WTF LMAO
There has to be a better system, or someone is making money off from passengers missing their flights?
While this was my first experience at Toronto Airport, it has left a bad after taste. I have traveled international many times even through busy airports like Hong Kong, and nothing comes close to this chaotic experience. Certainly, something to think about when considering traveling back to Canada!
Until then, be kind to one another and Cheers! ~ :p

What can I say? It’s Pearson, an airport that I rely on to get me to a work or vacation destination. It’s practically my second home.
I used to travel more than I do these days. I know the security chemical scanning procedure like I know the alphabet backwards.
Both terminals are clean and there is free wifi. The connectivity is helpful when you are in a lineup, be it to check your luggage in or to go through security.
Lineups can be a problem as far as waiting goes. I tend to get to the airport at a decent time, so it’s not a huge deal.
The shops are nice to visit. It’s just a shame that prices for food and goods are expensive. It’s practically highway robbery, especially that one time where I was off to London, UK and didn’t have my USB cable for my phone.

I hesitantly give this wonderful airport five stars. I don’t give airports five stars. I am hoping I don’t jinx myself with this. Blame it on first time Global Entry afterglow? I also may be under the influence of the terrifically nice CATSA folks I dealt with this morning at the luggage drop-​off point.
Because I had checked in online I got ahead of myself and forgot to get my luggage tagged up. When I got to the belt, I realized my error and asked the guy over there what I should do, bracing myself for the typical meanness you encounter in just about *any* American airport. «Oh, just go over to the tall man over there in the suit.» Figuring it was just a fluke that this guy was nice, I again braced myself as I walked over to the CATSA agents (seriously, it IS THAT BAD in the US). They actually *joked* with me and the female agent said they’d let me pass b/​c I’m cute. Laughter? Compliments? PINCH ME.
The tall suited gent kindly explained that next time I just need to make sure to go to the counter for my luggage tag. At this point another agent came over and said he recognized me because I’m here every couple months or so. And this did not instill panic in me at all. Everyone. So. Nice. I think I tweeted that back in November, too.
The terminal has a good array of snacks, bevvies and lounge areas with power, too. Tons and tons of outlets at these stations. Free WIFI that doesn’t expire in 30 minutes (grrr, Dallas Love). Also, because most people in Canada are on the Tony Horton line, getting through Starbucks was incredibly quick and easy at 8am. Unheard of anywhere in the US.
So, there ya go. Finally, a positive airport review from Yours, Truly.
I should review Canada next anyway, because: FIVE STAR COUNTRY!

For Terminal 1, FIVE STARS, for terminal 3, three stars.
After you check in at terminal 1 for international flights, the airport is so huge that there are the normal belts that you can stand on and… wait for it… THE SUPER FAST conveyer belts that ZIPS you by. Make sure you’re standing and holding onto the right part though, or else your feet and hands will be squished. The materialistic goods (shops) and art installations are really pretty for Terminal 1, though there’s not many shops in Terminal 1 — definitely not great to stall your time, but there’s ipads and charging stations all around for you to spend your time on.
Going into the states in terminal 1, you go past the border right away, and it’s on the leftmost part of the airport when you check in at the front. Domestic flights are way on the right side, so if you get lost, there’s a few tips right there. After going past the borders for the States, there are more shops in this section than the international one, in my opinion.
Terminal 3 however, is much older and definitely not as pretty as Terminal 1. The shops are much older as well.

Excellent aéroport doté d’une signalétique claire et des nombreux services que l’on peut attendre d’un lieu d’attente et de transit: sièges confortables, wifi performant, nombreuses prises de courant, restaurants et tavernes agréables dont beaucoup sont dotés d’iPad permettant d’accélérer grandement le service: pas besoin d’attendre le serveur pour commander ni pour payer… et l’iPad vous affiche l’ouverture de votre embarquement.

Aéroport bien entretenu, personnel rapide et efficace concernant le check in des bagages et la sécurité.
Un bémol sur l’aerogare 1: on note le gros effort fournit en matière de restos et gastronomies diverses comme chinois, japonais, burger et sandwicherie.
Personnellement je trouve qu’il y a beaucoup trop de tables avec ipad et pas assez de grandes banquettes dites classiques pour se relaxer.

L’aéroport de Torronto est un grand aéroport où il est aisé de recharger ses batteries physiologiques et technologiques. En effet, l’aéroport dispose de multiples sièges assez conforts et l’accès au lounge né semble donc pas indispensable. Néanmoins, je vous conseille de déjeuner dans l’aérogare 1 où les choix de consommation sont plus vastes. La partie vol internationaux est majoritairement peuplée de magasins duty free peu rentables. Néanmoins, l’effort de connectivité fournit par l’aéroport est notable; plus d’une centaine d’iPad sont accessibles en libre service. Un point très important entre deux correspondantes un peu tardives, sans conter les prises qui sont super accessibles.

Weitläufiger Flughafen mit langen Verbindungswegen. Es gibt einige Einkaufsmöglichkeiten aber durch die weiten Wege bleibt man eher in einem Bereich.
Auch eine Reihe an Restaurants und Fastfood Ketten stehen den Wartenden zur Verfügung.
Ganz hat mich das Angebot allerdings nicht überzeugt. Zu viele abgepackte Sandwiches, Salate und trockenes Sushi, an immer gleich aussehenden Verkaufsständen.
Alles dann auch maßlos überteuert, wie man das ja auf Flughäfen gewohnt ist.
Internet ist kostenlos verfügbar, stürzt aber regelmäßig ab.
Ansonsten ein sehr sauberer Flughafen und groß genug um sich auch bei langen Wartezeiten die Zeit zu vertreiben!

Schöner Flughafen mit sehr guten weltweiten und regionalen Anbindungen. Vor allem das Terminal 1 ist sehr gelungen und Übersichtlich. Die Wege sind zwar lang aber das liegt wohl an der gesamten Größe des Flughafens.
Auch die Wartezeiten bei der Passkontrolle sind wirklich immer OK gewesen. Anbindung an die Stadt ist derzeit mit dem Airport Express Bus der TTC möglich. Dieser bringt einen alle 10 Minuten zur nächsten U-​Bahn Station. Weiter Möglichkeiten sind der Airporter Bus 32 Can$. Der Bus fährt alle größeren Hotels im Zentrum an. Oder die Limousine für 60 Can $ zur Stadtmitte. Ab 2 Personen lohnt sich das auf jeden Fall gegenüber dem Airporter Bus. Es geht schneller und ist bequemer. Unschlagbar ist allerdings die TTC die mit 3 Can $ zu Buche schlägt ist aber mit Gepäck sehr unpraktisch. Wenn ab 2015 die direkte Bahnanbindung fertiggestellt sein wird ist die Anbindung kein Problem mehr.

Ein gut organisierter Airport, sehr sympathisch am ersten Eindruck. Die freundlichen Kanadier tun das ihre, um den Aufenthalt so angenehm wie möglich zu machen. Unter anderem findet man so witzige Technologien wie einen High-​Speed-​Moving-​Walkway! So etwas hab ich sonst noch nirgends gesehen.
Auch sehr sympathisch: WLAN ist kostenlos, wenn auch nicht unbedingt superschnell.
Allerdings stellt man bald fest, dass zu den alteingesessenen US-​Airports schon einige Defizite auftreten. Zum Beispiel gibt es viel weniger Restaurants und Shops. Die Preise in den Shops sind teilweise überteuert.

Trotz der Größe ein sehr gut ausgeschilderter Flughafen. Beim Check in sprachen einige Servicekräfte sogar deutsch, da waren auch ältere Mitreisende etwas weniger aufgeregt.
Im Gatebereich gibt es kostenlosen Internetzugang über WLAN. Daher kann ich meinen Eindruck auch sofort qypen! ;-)

Riesiger Flughafen mit sehr weiten Wegen, dafür ist aber alles sehr gut strukturiert. (Umsteigeverbindung nach US, mit nur 1.15h Aufenthalt war extrem eng.)

Wir waren schon zwei mal in Canada und sind über diesen Flughafen eingereist.
Trotz der Größe ging alles sehr schnell und wir haben uns gut zurecht gefunden. Selbst das Warten, um zum Zoll zu gelangen, ging dann ganz fix. Die Beamten waren sehr verständnisvoll und zuvorkommend.

Wir haben diesen Flughafen nur zur Ein– und Ausreise benutzt.
Trotz der ernormen Größe des Flughafens lässt sich alles schnell udn gut finden.
Das Personal ist freundlich und Hilfsbereit.
Das Angebot an Speisen/​Getränken, Souveniers und dem anderen typischen Kram ist ergiebig und auch wer noch schnell einen Koffer o.ä. benötigt kommt hier klar.
Der Aufenthalt bis zum Abflug verging sehr schnell und auch die Abfertiung bei der Einreise war problemlos.

Der internationale Flughafen mit dem Drei-​Letter-​Code YYZ liegt ca. 27 km ausserhalb der Stadt Toronto und bildet ein wichtiges kanadisches Drehkreuz an der Ostküste.
Bei den Passagierzahlen belegt der moderne Flughafen national Platz 1 und global Platz 30. Über 65 Fluggesellschaften aus aller Welt fliegen den Flughafen an. Aus Europa unter anderem die Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, All Italia, Jet Airways (via Brüssel), Turkish Airlines und viele weitere.
Der Flughafen wurde 1939 als Malton Airport eröffnet. 1960 erfolgte die Umbenennung in Toronto International Airport sowie 1984 in Lester B. Pearson International Airport.
Der Flughafen wurde und wird ständig weiter modernisiert und vergrößert. Man muss schon sehr gut zu Fuß sein, da die Wege — vor allem zwischen den Terminals — sehr weit sind.
Dennoch ist dieser Flughafen wirklich ein schöner und moderner Flughafen und ist bei weitem besser, als so manch anderer Flughafen an der Ostküste!