Montréal-Trudeau (YUL) limo and car service

One terminal, three ways to arrive

Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International in Dorval is the country's third-busiest airport and its gateway to Europe and Africa, and unlike Pearson it is a single terminal: the domestic gates in the centre, the international jetty at one end, the US pre-clearance jetty at the other, and one arrivals level below them all. Its ground transportation is a taxi rank with a flat rate to downtown, the 747 express bus, ride-app zones, and the pre-arranged commercial curb where a chauffeur booked in advance waits with your name on a phone, a fixed fare on the confirmation and both official languages. This page is about that last option - where it is, how it works from each arrival area, what it costs to the addresses people book most, and when the bus or the taxi is the better choice. The airport transfers page covers the service in general; the Montreal page covers the city.

International, US and domestic arrivals

International arrivals - Paris, London, Frankfurt, the Caribbean, Africa and the rest - come through the CBSA hall on the arrivals level: primary inspection kiosks for most, officers for some, then the international carousels, then the doors into the public arrivals area. US arrivals have pre-cleared in the United States and arrive as domestic flights, their bags on the domestic carousels with no inspection. Domestic arrivals - Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City, the West - come to the domestic carousels at the centre with a short walk to the doors. The pre-arranged limousine and car-service curb is on the arrivals level outside, signed separately from the taxi rank and the ride-app zone; the chauffeur's text - in French or English, as you booked - names the door to exit by and the curb. With meet and greet added, the chauffeur is inside the arrivals hall at the customs exit with a name board. Sixty minutes of waiting are included from landing on an international arrival, thirty on a domestic or US one; Aéroports de Montréal publishes the layout at admtl.com.

Departures

The chauffeur is at your door at the time the engine suggests: three hours for international, two for domestic and US - the US pre-clearance queue at Trudeau is the one to respect - plus the drive at that hour on the 20 and the Ville-Marie or the 40, plus a margin for the Turcot's reconstruction and the winter. The drop is at the departures curb by the airline's check-in, which the chauffeur knows.

Fixed fares from Trudeau: the destinations people book most

Figures are approximate; the engine prices the exact address. There are no road tolls on the island routes; the Autoroute 30 bypass and the Autoroute 25 bridge carry tolls the chauffeur avoids unless they save real time, shown at booking.

Tremblant, the Townships and the corridor

Mont-Tremblant is ninety minutes north on the 15 and the airport-to-resort transfer in a Luxury SUV with the skis in the back is the winter's booking; the Eastern Townships' wineries and Magog ninety minutes south-east on the 10 are the autumn's; Ottawa in two hours and Quebec City in two and a half are the city-to-city corridors, priced as fixed fares with the return built in and a bilingual chauffeur as standard. Winter tyres are the law in Quebec from December 1 to March 15 and every vehicle runs them; Québec 511 is what dispatch reads for the Laurentian roads.

The vehicle for Trudeau

The luggage decides it: an Executive Sedan takes three passengers with two large cases and two carry-ons; a family from Paris with four cases needs the Luxury SUV; a delegation for the Palais des congrès or a Grand Prix team is cheaper per seat in an Executive Sprinter. The fleet page has the capacities.

Trudeau's other options, honestly

The 747 bus runs from the terminal to downtown around the clock with stops along René-Lévesque, and for a single traveller with a carry-on bound for a downtown hotel on the route it is cheap and reliable, forty-five to seventy minutes depending on the traffic. The taxi rank offers a flat rate to the downtown zone set by the city, which is a fair product with a queue on a Friday evening and no flight tracking. The ride-app zone is on the airport with the fare estimated and subject to surge on the arrival waves. The pre-arranged chauffeur is the option for the group, the luggage, the South Shore and Laval, Tremblant, the fixed time, the company account and the passenger who wants the conversation in the language of their choice; the comparison page sets them side by side.

Meet and greet at Trudeau

Curbside pickup at the pre-arranged area is included. Meet and greet - the chauffeur inside the hall at the customs exit with a name board - is the add-on, and at Trudeau it is the right choice for a first arrival from Europe or Africa, an elderly parent, an unaccompanied minor, a client the company is hosting, or a passenger for whom a bilingual face at the exit is the difference; chauffeurs who speak Arabic, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese are available on request.

The Grand Prix, the festivals and the busy weeks

The Canadian Grand Prix weekend in June, the Jazz Festival that follows, Osheaga in August and the Formula E fill the airport's arrival waves and the city's hotels, and every chauffeured car in the city is booked a month ahead; the Grand Prix teams' and sponsors' movements from the airport to the circuit are built as programmes with the desk. The Montreal page has the calendar and the trade shows page the programme's shape.

Delays, diversions and the winter

The flight number is watched from departure; an early landing brings the chauffeur early and a delay moves the pickup. Winter at Trudeau means de-icing queues on departure, a snowstorm that closes the 20 for an afternoon and the occasional diversion to Ottawa or Quebec City, which brings a call from dispatch and a chauffeur at the new field where the roads allow. The engine's suggested pickup for a winter departure adds the margin.

The airport hotel and the early flight

The Marriott inside the terminal - a walk from the check-in - and the hotels along the Côte-de-Liesse and in Dorval five minutes away are the answer to the 6 am departure and the midnight arrival; the travel desk books the room.

Corporate accounts at Trudeau

Aerospace in Saint-Laurent and Mirabel, pharma in the West Island, the AI labs, the banks downtown and the universities set the account's profiles with the hotel or the office as the default drop, the language preference on the traveller's profile, meet and greet for guests, and one monthly invoice in either language. The corporate page covers the setup.

Two things Trudeau passengers ask the desk most

Is the Turcot still under construction? The interchange's rebuild ran for years and its ramps still close for work some nights; the chauffeur reads Québec 511 before every pickup and the 40 is the alternative when the 20 is closed, at the same fixed fare. Can the chauffeur speak to my mother in French and to me in English? Yes; that is what bilingual as standard means, and a chauffeur who also speaks Arabic, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese is available on request in the booking notes. A third, asked every June: the Grand Prix weekend's arrival waves are the year's busiest and the cars are booked a month ahead.

The South Shore, Laval and the bridges

The Champlain Bridge to Brossard and the South Shore is new and fast; the Jacques Cartier to Longueuil closes for the summer fireworks; the Victoria is a truck route; the Autoroute 15 and 13 bridges carry the Laval traffic north and back up at 5 pm. A transfer from Trudeau to the South Shore or Laval adds ten to twenty minutes to the downtown figures and prices by the distance, and the chauffeur's choice of bridge is made on the live feed and is invisible to the passenger.

The West Island

Pointe-Claire, Beaconsfield, Kirkland and Dollard are five to fifteen minutes from the terminal and the pharmaceutical and aerospace companies along the 40 book the shortest corporate transfers at this airport - ten minutes from the curb to the office, priced accordingly, with the hourly chauffeur for the day across the West Island's campuses as the usual follow-on.

Winter at Trudeau, in detail

De-icing queues on departure add twenty to forty minutes on a snowy morning and the airlines' check-in windows already assume them; on the ground, the 20 and the Ville-Marie tunnel are the first to clog in a storm and the 40 the alternative; the winter-tyre law from December 1 to March 15 applies to every vehicle on the road and every vehicle in the fleet runs them. A diversion to Ottawa or Quebec City in an ice storm brings a call from dispatch and, where the 40 or the 20 allows, a chauffeur at the new field; a cancelled flight is a free cancellation on our side. The engine's suggested pickup for a January departure adds the margin, and the Marriott inside the terminal is the answer for the family that would rather sleep beside the check-in.

Book a Trudeau transfer