Flying into Canada (2018)

[stmartinfan]

The preclearance in Canada was new to me, so figured others who aren't frequent travelers to Canada might not be aware of it either. It's available in 8 Canadian cities, as well as places like Aruba. Here's a link to the info on the US website:
https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance

I try to eliminate any extra cards from my wallet that aren't absolutely essential when I travel to reduce the hassle if it's stolen, and haven't ever needed the Global Entry card on previous trips.

 

[Luanne]

The preclearance in Canada was new to me, so figured others who aren't frequent travelers to Canada might not be aware of it either. It's available in 8 Canadian cities, as well as places like Aruba. Here's a link to the info on the US website:
https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance

I try to eliminate any extra cards from my wallet that aren't absolutely essential when I travel to reduce the hassle if it's stolen, and haven't ever needed the Global Entry card on previous trips.

I don't carry any unnecessary cards either. But I'm never sure if the Global Entry card will be necessary so it always travels with me.

 

[Sandy VDH]

The preclearance in Canada was new to me, so figured others who aren't frequent travelers to Canada might not be aware of it either. It's available in 8 Canadian cities, as well as places like Aruba. Here's a link to the info on the US website:
https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance

I try to eliminate any extra cards from my wallet that aren't absolutely essential when I travel to reduce the hassle if it's stolen, and haven't ever needed the Global Entry card on previous trips.

This is NOT new at all in Canada, it has been going on for decades already. At all Canadian airports, you get Canadian Customs and Border Control when landing and at most Major Airport (Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg) you get Pre-clearing US customs and Border Control before departing. It is nice if you have to connect in the US, as you will be treated as a domestic flight when landing.

 

[Luanne]

This is NOT new at all in Canada, it has been going on for decades already. At all Canadian airports, you get Canadian Customs and Border Control when landing and at most Major Airport (Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg) you get Pre-clearing US customs and Border Control before departing. It is nice if you have to connect in the US, as you will be treated as a domestic flight when landing.

Thanks for the further information. I put in "at least since 2011" since that was the first time I flew out of Vancouver back to the U.S.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Thanks for the further information. I put in "at least since 2011" since that was the first time I flew out of Vancouver back to the U.S.

Preclearance arrangements between the United States and Canada began at Toronto Pearson International Airport in 1952. I am from the Toronto area, so that is the bulk of my experience. But like I said, DECADES.

 

[moonstone]

Preclearance arrangements between the United States and Canada began at Toronto Pearson International Airport in 1952. I am from the Toronto area, so that is the bulk of my experience. But like I said, DECADES.

I think it may have been later than that. When we flew out of Toronto to Tampa on our honeymoon in 1977 we did not clear US customs in Toronto, but in Tampa.

From https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-12...ole-number-and-power-its-border-agents-abroad
"The idea for preclearance stations goes back to the 1950s. Informal talks about the one at the Toronto Pearson airport began in 1952 and was formalized in 1999. Initially, the preclearance stations were set up so that passengers clear customs at the point of departure. At that time, not many US airports had customs facilities."

For anybody interested in the history of YYZ;
In 1958, the City of Toronto sold the Malton Airport to Transport Canada, who subsequently changed the name of the facility to Toronto International Airport. The airport was officially renamed Lester B. Pearson International Airport in 1984, in honour of Lester B. Pearson, the fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) assumed management, operation, and control of the airport in 1996, and has used the name Toronto Pearson International Airport for the facility since their acquisition.

I remember being able to walk right to the departure gate with departing passengers (family) and then standing on an outdoor viewing area to watch their plane take off.


~Diane

 

[Sandy VDH]

I remember being able to walk right to the departure gate with departing passengers (family) and then standing on an outdoor viewing area to watch their plane take off.

Back in the old Terminal 1 days. The rooftop viewing deck. I remember that too.

 

[winger]

One more thing re credit cards. Costcos in Canada (at least Vancouver area) take Mastercards only. Visa not accepted, not even US Costco visa. They do take US $ and give a pretty good exchange rate.

Costco Visa with picture is sufficient tho for entry into Costco.

I wished I learned about this prior to our most recent Vancouver visit in 2017 - we missed out on trying the Costco food court's fried chicken : (

 

[CanuckTravlr]

I wished I learned about this prior to our most recent Vancouver visit in 2017 - we missed out on trying the Costco food court's fried chicken : (

You were visiting Vancouver...with one of the most varied and vibrant food and restaurant scenes in Canada...and you wanted to eat fried chicken in the Costco food court!??! Shakes head. I guess to each his own, and certainly no disrespect intended, but I obviously don't get it.

 

[bbodb1]

I meant to update the OP when I returned from this trip and have neglected to do so - thanks for bumping this back up!

Updated information or lessons learned will be posted in red throughout this post and should look similar to this!

After doing a bit of reading and searching on TUG about travel into Canada, I see a lot of info out there but a significant amount of it appears on the older side. Because rules and procedures change over time, I though it was time for an updated discussion on traveling into Canada from the U.S..

At present, I'm concerned about the following areas - each requiring some pre planning (I'm sure there are other aspects I have NOT listed here - please add to this list if you see items missing):

1. Crossing the border
2. Renting a car in Canada
3. Other purchases in Canada - using banks and credit cards
4. Cell phone usage

For our particular trip, we have a reservation at the WM in Blaine but have chosen to fly into Vancouver since it is so much closer than Seattle.

Crossing the border
We already have passports (current, and not expiring for several years), and Nexus cards so much of the concern here has been addressed but still having NOT traveled into Canada for many years, I am still a bit unclear if I need to fill out any customs forms prior to landing / entry. I've heard about an app that can help with this but is it necessary if I have Nexus?

A useful (?) website might be: https://travel.gc.ca/air

Whether our crossings were by land or air, the Nexus cards proved to be timesavers! Some of the land crosssing times would have been quick regardless of the lone we choose but three of them would have taken at least 30 minutes (or longer) if we did not have the Nexus card. Nexus lanes were clearly identified as we approached each border crossing. The border guards asked us a question or two at most and asked if we had any thing to declare. Within moments we were on our way again. We only had to deal with customs at the Vancouver airport (both arriving and departing) - as arrival was near midnight the Nexus card did not help any time wise then. For departure, the card was a help as we moved through lines much quicker. Nexus is highly recommended based on my experience.

Renting a car in Canada
We have an existing reservation with Hertz (and we have used Hertz previously and have gold status) but are there other aspects to consider here? Is there any reason our current auto policy would not cover us in Canada in case of the unexpected?

We found that one of our credit cards (issued by Chase - our Amazon Prime cards) did not incur foreign transaction fees in Canada so we used these credit cards while in Canada and incurred no extra transaction expense. Also, while asking Chase about this, we also asked about insurance coverage and they indicated we should decline all coverages offered by Hertz / Canada as our card provided coverage for those areas. We also did confer with our auto insurance agent and notified them of our Canada trip (State Farm). Fortunately, we had no problems while driving in Canada so we never tested any of this in the wild!


Other purchases in Canada - using banks and credit cards
We have accounts with a major US Bank and have notified that bank we will be in Canada for a period of time. The bank told us they have an agreement with ScotiaBank so any ATM withdrawals performed at a ScotiaBank would NOT be hit with a non Bank usage fee. However, I am still a bit fuzzy on what will happen with credit card purchases. Would we be better off making an ATM withdrawal and pay in Canadian currency? The larger question here is what are the best practices when it comes to spending money in Canada? Still a lot of fuzziness here....

A useful (?) website might be: https://www.tripsavvy.com/debit-and-credit-card-tips-in-canada-1481710

For this trip, we made one withdraw in Canada at ScotiaBank (our U.S. based bank in BOA) in Canadian funds which was enough to meet our cash needs for this trip. Since ScotiaBank and BOA have a partner agreement, we avoided an out of network charge from BOA did we still had to pay an international fee. Obviously YEMV so check with your banks but I was a bit disappointed in this because I thought BOA had said we would not be hit with any fees.

But the most helpful aspect here was the ability to use our Chase issued credit card WITH NO transaction or international fees levied.


Cell phone usage
Another big area of uncertainty here as we have learned our Verizon plan does NOT extend into Canada.

With respect to cell phone service, we converted our Verizon plan to their newest offerings prior to departure and they worked fine in Canada although I did need to reboot my phone once or twice AND change a setting to allow roaming. We have had a billing cycle end since that trip and NO CHARGES were applied to our account for calls, texts, or data usage in Canada. This reinforces the suggestion that Verizon customers should check their plan and strongly consider one of the recent plan offerings from Verizon as all of them include phone usage in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

Note: just to reemphasize, this thread is meant to document what is learned as we move through this process of research and learning. No doubt, some of what is listed here could be wrong or outdated so as new or better info is discovered I'll add it here. Hopefully, this thread will benefit others traveling into Canada in the coming months.

 

[bbodb1]

Something else I have discovered is the Hertz car rental counter in/at the Vancouver Airport is NOT open 24/7. Our flight will be arriving around 11pm and the Hertz Counter closes as midnight.
Given that we will have to get through customs after we land, even with Nexus cards, are we cutting this too close?
In other words, IF we land on time (scheduled 11:10 pm), do we have any chance of making it to the Hertz counter before midnight?

Here is the other update I need to make - this is TECHNICALLY true - the Hertz counter in Vancouver does close at midnight ... for new reservations.
However, if you arrive after midnight and have an existing reservation, the counter clerk said it was standard practice the counter did not close until 1 am to serve those customers with existing reservations....

 

[winger]

An update on Verizon:

with their new data plans (offered starting June 18), Verizon now offers coverage in Mexico and Canada as part of these data plans. For those who transition to the new plans, you do NOT need Travel Pass.

The new VZW unlimited plan that came out in Feb 2017 also includes Canada and Mexico voice, text, and data without using a Travel Pass, but high speed data is limited to 500MB/day (counter resets at EST).

 

[winger]

You were visiting Vancouver...with one of the most varied and vibrant food and restaurant scenes in Canada...and you wanted to eat fried chicken in the Costco food court!??! Shakes head. I guess to each his own, and certainly no disrespect intended, but I obviously don't get it.

We love Costco, and that was our first Canadian Costco visit, and first with fried chicken and fries!

 

[dmurray007]

We love Costco, and that was our first Canadian Costco visit, and first with fried chicken and fries!

So the way I understand it is you can't get roasted chicken and
fries at US Costco's?

 

[winger]

So the way I understand it is you can't get roasted chicken and
fries at US Costco's?

I haven't seen fried chicken or fries at any US Costco I've visited

 

[bizaro86]

I haven't seen fried chicken or fries at any US Costco I've visited

None of thr local costco stores in my city (in Canada) sell fried chicken either, just chicken strips. Seems odd that Vancouver would be different. Maybe it's a test/experiment. They are relatively close to Costco headquarters there...