OTAs? No, OT eh - flying out of Windsor Airport YQG
MGoTravelers, I'm flying to Ireland on late Saturday afternoon out of Windsor International Airport (YQG/"Your Quality Gateway"). I live in Ann Arbor, so Metro is much closer but the ticket prices out of Windsor on Air Canada were considerably more attractive.
I'll be there for two weeks and am driving myself to the airport. Those of you who've flown out of Windsor, what's the best deal for long-term parking? Also, how much time should I budget for a midday Saturday border crossing? Any advantage to bridge vs tunnel?
Thanks in advance for the advice and/or quality snark, ya hosers.
(sidenote: 2.5 hr layover in Toronto, anything interesting to see at that airport?)
I got diverted to Windsor coming back from Europe a few years ago. Bar none, the worst airport I’ve been to. (and I’ve experienced some backwoods airports in Asia). It took us 3 hours to get through the border.
the Toronto airport is nice. Nothing too crazy good or bad about it.
3 hours? You just talking traffic? I've never had anything close to that, and that includes actually being brought inside of the station because my dad's rental car was flagged since someone apparently had committed a crime with it before, so they ran checks on us 3 adults.
Any chance I get I fly out of Flint instead of DTW. The airport is much more chill, parking is right at the front door, security is easy, you don't taxi for a half hour or wait in a holding pattern, and because of that it's usually faster coming or going, so the distance driving there doesn't matter.
Same for Kalamazoo airport. When it’s busy it takes 30 min to get through security to the gate
Loved my recent trip out of Flint. Didn't love the airline
I'm from the Flint area so it works out anyway but yes absolutely. Smaller airports are so much easier to get in and out of. I sometimes flew in and out of Flint when I lived in Korea. ICN -> ORD -> FNT.
All I remember is the airport bar and chatting with these guys.
Hoser...
....Eh.
Take off, eh.....
You guys were there too?!?
Who do you think you were chatting with?
You can get a reasonable estimate of the border crossing times online (such as here). I'm in Toronto and I usually go through Buffalo, though, although if I go through Windsor I prefer the bridge.
However, you should absolutely check what Canada requires in order for you to cross the border (such as here). Canada has been relaxing its requirements to cross the border, but you're not completely off the hook. For one thing, you'll need to use the ArriveCAN app before crossing and have the QR code it generates ready when you cross.
I very strongly recommend doing exactly what they tell you to do to minimize the odds that you run into trouble at the border. A snag is at a minimum going to cause you to miss your flight.
Pearson itself is pretty much a generic airport. There may be a little local color in the restaurants and bars available, but I haven't found anything memorable. (Certainly not Tim Horton's; the only time I go there is when I'm in the US.)
The airport in Toronto is about as exciting as any airport named after Lester Pearson could possibly be.
And to think, he was the charismatic one compared to his long standing political rival John Diefenbaker
Boy, Canada was stale white bread back in the day...
Diefenbaker looks like an alien from the original Star Trek.
Kinda still is stale white bread, tbh. It's mostly just suburban/rural America with a couple completely unaffordable cities and decades-old fashion and music trends. It's got a great PR campaign to distract from that fact internationally, but Canada's outlook long-term is grim for a number of reasons.
Grim? How can that be possible with a Canadian Tire in every town?
Because Target > Canadian Tire all day, every day. And their clothes are better than Mark's (Canadian Tire's clothing store) and more reasonably priced. I miss Meijer, man.
That and how it's emblematic of Canada basically being a puppet state for the corporations that exist here.
(I'm a bit grumpy about Canada at the moment, I almost definitely tore my ACL in February and our "world-class" medical system doesn't even have an MRI scheduled for me yet.)
Finally got a meijer in my town. It’s glorious
My g'ma had dual Canadian-American citizenship (born Canadian, married my g'pa, a US citizen, and became a citizen). She moved back to Canada after gramps died to live near her 2 sisters. However, after her cancer diagnosis, she moved back to the states. She couldn't get scheduled for treatment in any reasonable time frame.
I booked an MRI for August 2024, the earliest possible date. There's nothing wrong me me but I figure by then I'll probably need one.
I'm sure you've probably thought of this, but make sure you have everything you need to travel into Canada. You'll need to have the ArriveCanada app and upload your passport info, proof of vaccination, etc.
Have fun in Ireland.
Thanks! I do have the necessary regulatory vaccine/passport prerequisites taken care of to get into Canada, and the restrictions in Ireland are less strenuous. Coming back is where I could run into a snag - need to have a negative test within 24 hours prior to departure. I'm double-boosted but, you know, the 'rona is a strange animal.
Yeah that rule is really dumb now, especially the very short notice. It doesn't make sense when there are almost 0 restrictions in the country now to prevent the spread of covid.
Hey Blue, you commented in a thread I posted a few weeks ago about buying a TV, and mentioned that we might be from the same part of Michigan. I missed your comment until the thread was long buried and responded, but doubted you'd see it. I grew up on Bluegrass Rd about 7 miles west of Mt. Pleasant, somewhat near the Cracker Barrel general store on M-20. MPHS class of '92 (go Oilers). What small town were you from?
Thanks for remembering.
Yeah, near Riverwood then, right? I had some good friends that graduated from MPHS in different classes (91-94). You actually graduated with one of my cousins.
I was a BCHS grad (very small town northwest of Mt.P, hometown of that governor you mentioned in that thread) class of 1994.
Crazy, small world. Yep I lived out past Riverwood, we used to float through the course on tubes and dive for golf balls.
I learned in middle school basketball to never sleep on the Aggies. Or Chippewa Hills for that matter. Maybe we just weren't that good?
Ha. No one's that good in middle school. By the time of high school, though, we wouldn't stand a chance against you guys.
Hope you have a good trip!
I live just outside of Windsor. Airport is definitely pretty tiny and not somewhere you’d want to spend any time on a layover but it’s obv convenient for us. There’s really only the on-site parking as there isn’t the demand for anything organized off-site (like park and fly at Detroit). Having said that there are a bunch of commercial plazas with huge parking lots (Home Depot) right around the corner and I have parked the car there before for a multi day trip without getting towed.
Crossing: 100% the bridge. The tunnel is an enormous roll of the dice on the best of days and can have ridiculous wait times since it’s only 2 small lanes (1 each way). It can be convenient for popping over to anything downtown in either City but not worth the risk when you’re on a travel schedule. Someone above commented about the link for checking crossing times- on an average Saturday I can’t imagine it would be long at all crossing into Canada.
Enjoy your trip eh!
Bridge it is! Thanks for the tip.
Can't speak to the parking situation or current border situation, but I've flown out of Windsor to go to Europe a handful of times. Super small airport, only a few gates, very limited food options if you're counting on it. I built in some time to get through security and I was at my gate within 10 minutes of walking through the door. Toronto is obviously much larger, but 2.5 hours is more than enough time to grab something to eat and get to your next gate. Sorry I don't have much more to offer than that; I just figured it might help to have an idea of what you're walking into.
I mean, they actually shoot films on occasion in the Infield Concourse at Pearson, so there is that.
I believe the moving walkway there (Terminal 1, I think) is the fastest one in the world too, so feel free to use that a few times to pass the minutes.
There is a daily lot that is $12/day. $50 max per week. It’s right outside the terminal. You can probably park, walk in, check in, get through security and be at your gate within 10-15 mins. Very tiny.
I prefer the bridge, but sometimes the trucks can block the cars from getting through. That risk is eliminated in the tunnel. There are sites you can check the border wait times online. I cross almost daily and it is < 10 minutes most of the time with a random 45-60 mins occasionally.
Toronto Pearson is a problem right now. It's a gong show as our government continues with Covid-19 protocols through (at least) the end of June. It's unclear why they are maintaining these requirements (ArriveCan App, random Covid screening etc. but it does impact and slow processing significantly. Apparently, a lot of people have been made to sit in planes for hours waiting to disembark and some have missed connections. Air Canada apparently cancelled about 10% of their flights this past week.
If you want an example of just how ridiculous it is getting check out Ryan Whitney (he of the Spittin' Chicklets podcast) and his recent experience there:
Hopefully this doesn't scare you too much but honestly the Canadian government has completely botched airport re-opening. Most of my colleagues who are flying are trying to do so out of Buffalo or DTW.
I happen to be in Toronto for a wedding today and the Pearson Airport debacle came up last night during dinner with friends of mine. When planning to book our flight, my wife and I debated if it was better to fly into Toronto or Buffalo and rent a car. Luckily, we found out we would have a commitment in Buffalo on Sunday, so that made the decision easier to fly there and rent the car. It certainly looks like it was the right decision. I will note Customs at the Queenston Bridge didn't bother checking our ArriveCan app info, only our passports.
I fly out of Windsor on a regular basis. Nice small, little airport with about 3-4 gates. Not much in amenities - think your average Speedway gas station. Getting in and out is a breeze. I park at the on-site airport lots.
I usually take the tunnel because (i) it's closer and (ii) no truck traffic. However, I also have a Nexus card.
I see you too have discovered that Air Canada flights to Europe out of Toronto are much cheaper than US carriers out of Detroit Metro - congratulations! Well-kept secret. I have many friends that actually drive to Toronto Pearson so they can skip the Windsor Airport and the long wait times for the connecting flight in Toronto.
I can attest to all of this information.
Same here. I've got a Nexus card, have flown out of YQG many times, and can't wait to do it again, soon. Not yet sure a day trip over the border to Devonshire Mall or brunch at Twisted Apron (Walkerville) is worth it if there's a risk of a 2-week quarantine, but if I'm headed out on an international flight, it's easy-peasy.
Not relevant to flying to his trip, but you can get some really cheap deals with Spirit since Detroit is a hub. Works great if you don't have a ton of bags. I bought a one-way ticket to Colombia for 175 bucks about a week ago. I'll have to pay for a check-in bag and it's an early morning flight. Layover in Miami. Bogota is as close to Miami as Detroit is. Cheap to LA from Detroit since they're also a hub.
Toronto’s airport, you say?
Try the back bacon at the Toronto Airport. All the restaurants have it and you can even get it to go on a stick.
You had me at back bacon.
It's called peameal bacon which is basically unsmoked back bacon made from pork loin and rolled in corn meal. You cook it like a boneless pork chop medium/high heat to brown.
Delicious with some pancakes and a bit of maple syrup.
I don't know the prices, but you may want to park at a train station or bus station (Greyhound type bus), and then get a taxi/ride to the airport.
Again, I don't know the prices, just giving options. It may be free parking.
Stop at Tim Hortons in Windsor, and Toronto.
Timbits are no longer...Co-created with Justin Bieber, the Biebs Brew is available plus, Timbiebs are back in the 3 flavors .
Memories, flew out of Windsor 30 years ago for Christmas. Incredibly a direct flight from Windsor to Calgary.
I don't remember much more than that. Cool story bro.
postscript: they cancelled our flight out of Windsor while we were en route to the airport, too late to make other arrangements to get to Toronto for our connection. The Air Canada rep at the booth did offer to arrange a driver to take us, which is a service I doubt we would have been offered at a larger airport. Toronto's terminal E, however, was hell on earth. Repeated, significant delays; human beings packed like sardines into too-small spaces; minimal seating because they replaced it all with unnecessarily large 4-person dining tables equipped with mostly non-functioning tablets for ordering food and/or watching various commercials. My 8-year-old knocked one over, breaking a glass of red wine which splattered on the woman across from him (wearing white). It was all terrible. There were no decent or interesting food choices. That whole city can go f*** itself as far as I'm concerned and I'll tell it that when I return in two weeks.
Duty-free liquor prices were okay; I snagged a bottle of vodka and another of Canadian whiskey for the trip. Again though, f*** Toronto and its stupid airport.
Ireland is great so far.