Toronto Pearson (YYZ) limo and car service

Canada's largest airport, and how to leave it well

Toronto Pearson handles more passengers than any airport in the country and its ground transportation is organised accordingly: two terminals, a taxi and limousine rank at each, designated ride-app pickup doors on the arrivals levels, the UP Express train to Union Station, and a pre-arranged commercial curb where a chauffeur booked in advance waits with your name on a phone and a fixed fare on the confirmation. This page is about that last option - where it is, how it works at each terminal, what it costs to the addresses people book most, and when the train or the taxi is the better choice. The airport transfers page covers the service in general; the Toronto and Mississauga pages cover the cities.

Which terminal

Terminal 1 handles Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Rouge, and the Star Alliance carriers - United, Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Turkish, ANA, Air New Zealand and the rest - plus Emirates and a few others. Terminal 3 handles WestJet, Porter's jets, American, Delta, British Airways, Air France, KLM, Cathay Pacific, Qatar and most of the other international carriers, plus the sun charters. The airline's confirmation says which; the chauffeur's text before landing confirms it; and if a flight is moved between terminals - it happens - the tracker sees it and the chauffeur moves. The two terminals are linked by the Terminal Link train, which runs around the clock, and the drive between the two curbs is five minutes.

Arrivals at Terminal 1

Terminal 1's international arrivals come through the CBSA hall on the lower level, where the primary inspection kiosks take most passengers and the officers take the rest, then baggage claim, then the doors into the arrivals hall. Domestic arrivals come to the domestic carousels with no inspection. The pre-arranged limousine and car-service curb is on the arrivals level, outside and along from the doors, signed by the airport and separate from the taxi and limo rank that walk-up passengers use and from the ride-app pickup doors. The chauffeur's text names the door to exit by and the curb; with meet and greet added, the chauffeur is inside the hall at the exit from customs with a name board. Sixty minutes of waiting are included from the aircraft's landing time on an international arrival, thirty on a domestic one - and at Terminal 1 on a Sunday evening when three wide-bodies land together, sixty is what customs and the carousel take.

Arrivals at Terminal 3

Terminal 3 is smaller and its arrivals hall is shorter: the international hall and its carousels sit at one end, the domestic at the other, and the pre-arranged curb is on the arrivals level outside, again signed separately from the taxi rank and the ride-app doors. US flights arrive at Terminal 3 as domestic arrivals because of pre-clearance in the United States; the bags come to the domestic carousel and the thirty-minute allowance is enough. The Sheraton Gateway hotel is connected to Terminal 3 by a bridge, which matters for the 6 am departure that sleeps at the airport.

Departures at both terminals

For a departure the chauffeur is at your door at the time the engine suggests, which is worked back from the flight: the airline's recommended check-in window - three hours for international, two for domestic and US - plus the drive at that hour, plus a margin for the 401 at 7 am or the Gardiner in a snowfall. The drop is at the departures curb of the right terminal, at the door nearest the airline's check-in, which the chauffeur knows. Pearson's own ground-transportation page publishes the curb layouts we describe.

Fixed fares from Pearson: the destinations people book most

The fare is fixed by the exact address and the vehicle class and shown before you book; distance is the main driver, and Pearson's distances are longer than most people expect.

Figures are approximate planning numbers; the engine prices the exact address in seconds. The 407 toll is added at cost where the chauffeur uses it and is shown at booking; the chauffeur uses it only where it saves real time.

The vehicle for Pearson

The luggage decides it. An Executive Sedan takes three passengers with two large cases and two carry-ons; a third large case does not fit, and the chauffeur cannot stack it on the back seat. A family with four cases, a golf bag or a ski bag needs the Luxury SUV. Six or more on the same flight are cheaper per seat in an Executive Sprinter, which meets the group at the same curb. Child seats are fitted at no charge when noted at booking. The fleet page has the capacities.

Pearson's other options, honestly

The UP Express runs from Terminal 1 to Union Station in about twenty-five minutes with stops at Weston and Bloor, and for a single traveller with a carry-on bound for the Financial District it is the fastest and cheapest way downtown; the walk from Terminal 3 to the platform and from Union to the hotel is the cost. The taxi and limo rank at each terminal is a licensed, metered or flat-rated service and a fair one, with a queue on busy evenings and no flight tracking - if the plane is early, nobody is waiting. The ride-app doors are at the terminal doors on the arrivals level with the bay assigned in the app; the fare is estimated and subject to surge on the arrival waves, the car is whatever accepted the ride, and the 'XL' is not guaranteed to take six bags. The pre-arranged chauffeur is the option for the group, the luggage, the fixed time, the company account and the night the apps are surging; the comparison page sets the four side by side.

Meet and greet, and who should add it

Curbside pickup at the pre-arranged area is included in every Pearson fare. Meet and greet - the chauffeur inside the hall at the customs exit with a name board, taking the luggage and walking you to the car - is a paid add-on, and it is the right choice for a first visit to Toronto, an elderly parent, an unaccompanied minor the airline will release only to a named adult, a client the company is hosting, or anyone landing at Terminal 1 for the first time and facing the walk from the international hall. Tick it at booking; the chauffeur's text tells you where the board will be.

Delays, diversions and the winter

The flight number on the booking is watched from departure. An early landing brings the chauffeur early; a delay moves the pickup; a diversion - Pearson sends aircraft to Hamilton and Ottawa in fog and ice - brings a call from dispatch before the airline's announcement, and the chauffeur meets the aircraft at the new field where the region allows. Winter at Pearson means de-icing queues on departure and ground stops in a storm; the engine's suggested pickup for a winter departure adds the margin, and Ontario 511 is what dispatch reads for the 401 and the Gardiner.

Airport hotels and the early flight

The Sheraton Gateway inside Terminal 3, the Alt at the terminal link, and the strip along Dixon Road and Airport Road - the Marriott, the Hilton, the Delta, the Westin, the Holiday Inn - are five minutes from the curbs and the answer to the 6 am departure and the midnight arrival. A chauffeur to the hotel the night before and a short fixed fare to the terminal at 4:30 am is the two-booking pattern; the travel desk books the room.

Corporate accounts at Pearson

Companies with staff through Pearson weekly set the account's profiles with Terminal 1 or 3 as the airline dictates, the office or the hotel as the default drop, meet and greet as a standing default for guests, and one monthly invoice with every transfer by traveller and cost centre. The corporate page covers the setup; the Bay Street, Mississauga and Markham head offices are where it is used most.

Cross-border from Pearson

Buffalo's airport is two hours down the QEW via the Peace Bridge and a chauffeur from Pearson to BUF - or from a Toronto address to BUF for the US fares - is the cross-border service's most-booked run; every passenger needs a passport or NEXUS card and the chauffeur reads the CBP wait times before choosing the bridge.

Two things Pearson passengers ask the desk most

Which door do I come out of? The chauffeur's text names it - the arrivals-level doors at each terminal are lettered by the airport, and the pre-arranged curb is a short walk along from the customs exit; a passenger who comes out of a different door texts back and the chauffeur walks to them. Can the chauffeur come inside? Only with meet and greet, which is the add-on for exactly that; the airport does not allow a curbside chauffeur to leave the vehicle at the pre-arranged area, which is why the two products exist. A third, asked every December: the arrival waves on the Sunday before Christmas and the Saturday after New Year are the year's slowest at the curb, and the sixty included minutes are what they are for.

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