Transferring terminals in Toronto on connecting flights
 

My 16 year old daughter will have a lay-over in Toronto(YYZ) in July. She will arrive on Air Canada from London, and will only have 2 hours between her arrival and departure for Charlotte, NC. She will arrive in Terminal 1, but deprt from Terminal 2. Do any of you know if she will have to go back through security, or do customs while there? Will she need to walk to the different terminal, or leave via a train or shuttle bus? This is the first time she will travel alone, and with such a long flight, and an unfamiliar airport, I am very anxious. I would love to know what to anticipate before she leaves.
Thanks!

Nannybeas, you may want to repost this on the Canada board as it gets more traffic. I haven't been through Toronto since the new Terminal 1 opened, but here goes.

When she arrives, she'll have to go through Canada Customs and Immigration.

There is a shuttle bus between terminals, check the maps www.gtaa.com for where it stops. I believe it was on the lower level of Terminal 2.

She will have to go through security screening and clear US Customs and Immigration <i>before</i> she boards her flight to Charlotte. Once she has done so, she has technically left Canada and must go back through Canadian Customs if the leaves that area of the terminal.

There are stores and restaurants inside the US boarding area, but if she thinks she may want a snack or something, it may not be a bad idea to buy them before she enters. She should also make sure she has a pen to fill out all the forms she'll need for Canada and US authorities.

As I recall, when I've connected to US-bound flights, I had to claim my luggage and carry it through US customs, then recheck it. Someone else can probably tell you if this is still true.

The description by Citylghts sound right. 2 hours is possible, but there's no room for error or anything. Tell her to just go go go.

Thanks Citylights and rkkwan. I may check into having someone meet her at the gate. With many airlines I know that you can pay to have someone meet unaccompanied minors. I usually consider that for younger children, but being a 16 year old girl who occasionally has emotional meltdowns in unfamiliar situations (aka Drama Queen syndrome!)it may be worth it...specially considering gathering her luggage, going through customs, AND having to get to another terminal.
Thanks again!

She's flying AC YYZ-CLT too, right? She should know that there's a USAirways flight at 4:30pm, 10 minutes after AC. Since AC and US are alliance partners, they should have no problem putting her on the US flight if she missed the AC. But she needs to know about this as there's not that much of a margin.

I think unaccompanied minor service is only up to 15 years old. You'll need to find out.

Thanks again. Actually, my DH is the &quot;travel agent&quot; in our home, and is out of town. As I was reading some of these postings today, I started to panic.

I think my husband did try to get her on that USAir flight when we booked it back in December, but since we are using Frequent Flyer miles, they could only book us on a star alliance flight with AC. I will have him call and see what can be done to change her flight. I will be flying over to England with her, but she will be staying for a school program at Cambridge, and will have to return alone. (Actually, I would love for her to have a non-stop from London to Charlotte, but during the summer, I am not optimistic that it will be possible.) You have gone above and beyond in your help, and I do appreciate it! Thanks again!

Nannybeas, you might also want to take a look at this post on FlyerTalk:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...hlight=baggage

If you still have questions after you look through that, you could register at FlyerTalk and add a supplemental question on that post. There are a lot of helpful people on that forum.

Anselm

AnselmAdorne, THANKS so much for the link to this forum. I feel as if it was written just for me! I am glad that I investigated this before she leaves, so she will have an idea of what is ahead of her in Toronto.