Connecting to US through Toronto?

IF I "had "to Connect via toronto or Montreal,I'd pick Toronto.Again,that's "had" and mainly because most,if not all, of the flights to Montreal from Ottawa are on those tiny dehavilland.Once,years ago,in Montreal ,I jokingly pointed the plane out to my wife,saying it was ours for our flight to Ottawa.Turns out ,the joke was on me.I avoid that if possible,as it felt that the plane would never be able to get off the ground,or explode trying to.
 
IF I "had "to Connect via toronto or Montreal,I'd pick Toronto.Again,that's "had" and mainly because most,if not all, of the flights to Montreal from Ottawa are on those tiny dehavilland.Once,years ago,in Montreal ,I jokingly pointed the plane out to my wife,saying it was ours for our flight to Ottawa.Turns out ,the joke was on me.I avoid that if possible,as it felt that the plane would never be able to get off the ground,or explode trying to.

I've flown back to Ottawa from Montreal a few times (as part of connecting flights home). I don't find the planes any worse than the ones you get from Ottawa to Toronto. I've had no issues with them. They are Bombardier DH4 planes.
 
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I've flown back to Ottawa from Montreal a few times (as part of connecting flights home). I don't find the planes any worse than the ones you get from Ottawa to Toronto. I've had no issues with them. They are Bombardier DH4 planes.
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You may feel that way,and that's your choice,but ,I've never had something as small or basic,going to ,or from toronto,and never knowingly will do so again.Fortunately most of my flights to the U.S.or caribbean ,i connect in the U.S and avoid both
 


Flying from Vancouver to Victoria in the 70's in a DC3 (yes I've just dated myself) we hit an air pocket and the plane dropped a few hundred feet. This was before the days of overhead compartments on planes so all the things on the upper "racks" came crashing down. It was a little unsettling but I still fly today and always with my seatbelt on because you never know when you may hit an air pocket.
 
Flying from Vancouver to Victoria in the 70's in a DC3 (yes I've just dated myself) we hit an air pocket and the plane dropped a few hundred feet. This was before the days of overhead compartments on planes so all the things on the upper "racks" came crashing down. It was a little unsettling but I still fly today and always with my seatbelt on because you never know when you may hit an air pocket.

Hehehe, the scariest flight I've ever been on was from Seattle to Victoria in about 1990. So much turbulence on a tiny plane lol. I doubt we were ever in any danger, but I felt like kissing the ground on arrival:)
 


IF I "had "to Connect via toronto or Montreal,I'd pick Toronto.Again,that's "had" and mainly because most,if not all, of the flights to Montreal from Ottawa are on those tiny dehavilland.Once,years ago,in Montreal ,I jokingly pointed the plane out to my wife,saying it was ours for our flight to Ottawa.Turns out ,the joke was on me.I avoid that if possible,as it felt that the plane would never be able to get off the ground,or explode trying to.

We live in "Northern" BC. We are lucky to have good access to flights, since we are a hub for the northern part of the province, but if we want to go anywhere other than Puerto Vallarta in the winter time, we need to connect through Vancouver, Edmonton or Calgary on a Dash-8 or Q400. The scariest flight I have ever been on was flying into Orange County on a 737 during a rain storm. Yes, the small planes are louder and not as comfortable as a 737, but we have never had a problem with any of the flights we have taken and quite often experience less turbulence than when we are on the larger planes. Choosing to connect through Toronto because of the size of the plane that goes to Montreal is totally up to you but, as someone who really has no choice and has lots of experience on them, the only time we have been delayed or not able to get out has been because of YVRs inability to deal with snow. Nothing to do with the size of the plane.
 
We live in "Northern" BC. We are lucky to have good access to flights, since we are a hub for the northern part of the province, but if we want to go anywhere other than Puerto Vallarta in the winter time, we need to connect through Vancouver, Edmonton or Calgary on a Dash-8 or Q400. The scariest flight I have ever been on was flying into Orange County on a 737 during a rain storm. Yes, the small planes are louder and not as comfortable as a 737, but we have never had a problem with any of the flights we have taken and quite often experience less turbulence than when we are on the larger planes. Choosing to connect through Toronto because of the size of the plane that goes to Montreal is totally up to you but, as someone who really has no choice and has lots of experience on them, the only time we have been delayed or not able to get out has been because of YVRs inability to deal with snow. Nothing to do with the size of the plane.
That's what you believe and that's your opinion.Yes it is up to me, as i wrote and explained before.I've done both and I will not take one of the smaller planes again,if i can avoid it.
You misunderstood.I'm not taking a plane to toronto to go to montreal,from Ottawa lol.But if "I HAD" to choose,I would rather go through toronto than Montreal,from Ottawa, as a "connection".i think you were lucky to be on that 737 during the rainstorm instead of one of the others you mentioned
 
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We live in "Northern" BC. We are lucky to have good access to flights, since we are a hub for the northern part of the province, but if we want to go anywhere other than Puerto Vallarta in the winter time, we need to connect through Vancouver, Edmonton or Calgary on a Dash-8 or Q400. The scariest flight I have ever been on was flying into Orange County on a 737 during a rain storm. Yes, the small planes are louder and not as comfortable as a 737, but we have never had a problem with any of the flights we have taken and quite often experience less turbulence than when we are on the larger planes. Choosing to connect through Toronto because of the size of the plane that goes to Montreal is totally up to you but, as someone who really has no choice and has lots of experience on them, the only time we have been delayed or not able to get out has been because of YVRs inability to deal with snow. Nothing to do with the size of the plane.

I agree 100%. The planes are very safe.
 
I will be doing this very thing exactly 2 weeks from now, arriving in Toronto at 7:52am, departing for Orlando at 9:45am. I do have Nexus, and I am travelling with carry on only, and I hope that whatever glitch was happening last week isn't a recurring problem. Starting vacation with such stress isn't a good thing. I will be flying home on a non-stop flight, so Toronto won't be seeing me on the way back :P.

I also agree with whoever said that they try to book non-stop flights in the winter. I definitely don't want to double the chances of having a weather related delay travelling through two airports that can be affected by winter weather.
 
Last week I had 2:50 hour as a connection gap when flying through Toronto. Lots of time you would think. Our flight from Ottawa was an hour late leaving. Then we had to go through US security. At the end of a long line which disappeared after we made it through (just bad timing). Then behind the same group of people to clear US customs. We made it to the gate with 20 minutes before boarding. Just enough time to grab a sandwich before our next flight.
Which airline and terminal were you in? I'm unsure which one is faster, but the information might be helpful to others.

The Toronto airport is the reason we signed up for Nexus! Hope it saves us next time.
I live in the Toronto area and YYZ is the exact reason why I signed up for NEXUS. In 2017 my office went down to Clearwater beach for a company retreat (I know, rough job) and it was around the time when they had just switched up the the security order from customs/bags/security to bags/security/customs. And it was a mess. All my colleagues took at least an hour to clear customs. I was out in 15 minutes. One guy missed the direct flight and eventually got to the hotel around 8pm that day.
 
We fly from Vancouver to MCO and if we can't get direct, we will transit through LAX, SFO or Houston. But NEVER Toronto. No thanks.
 
The MAX 8 plane situation is throwing all flight plans into a tizzy at the moment. It will be good when they are cleared to be put back into service. We may actually see some deals as the airlines will then have excess capacity they need to fill.

I live 5 min from YUL so many pilots and flight attendants from all airlines live in my neighbourhood. One of our neighbour is a MAX8 pilot for Air Canada who has been grounded at the same time as the planes. He said they are starting the re-certification of the planes soon and expects to fly again in January. That might help with flights but could also mean lots of schedule changes for the winter.
 
LAX is another of my least favourite airports though.
I agree, so much construction! Plus the terminals are old and dreary. Having said that though, we have had connections through LAX several times and it's always been a breeze.
 
We just got notification that our flight changed, so now we have an hour and 13 mins between landing from Vancouver (3:22pm) and departing to MCO (4:35pm). We do have Nexus passes, but it seems really tight.
 

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