How exactly does landing work?

[Seronic]

Hey all. My wife is waiting for her passport to be back from the canadian embassy in moscow, and if everything goes right, she'll be here sometime in August. Now my question is this.

All the flights that I see either land in Toronto, from there she would connect to Ottawa. That isn't an issue. Basically Moscow - Frankfurt - Toronto - Ottawa, or Moscow - Toronto - Ottawa, either way, always stopping in Toronto first.

The issue is - how does the actual landing work? I thought to speak to an immigration officer or whatever once you land, you have to land from outside the country (so toronto - Ottawa, connecting, she wouldnt even get to talk to an official). I've landed in Ottawa before from toronto... you don't even go through customs, lol. Just walk out. Unless since its a connecting from international, then it DOES go through customs?

Just want it to be clarified. Want to make sure she does indeed go through customs and speak to an official here in Ottawa once she lands. Hopefully you guys understand what I mean . And you know, I'm a "noob" when it comes to how flights work.. <3

 

[Rob_TO]

The immigration "landing" is done in Toronto. Nothing to do in Ottawa. So hopefully she has sufficient connection time before the Ottawa flight, since Pearson could be busy depending on what time she lands and how much staff they have on hand to do the PR landing.

 

[rhcohen2014]

technically she will be landing in toronto, as soon as she enters the country. she is going to have to go through customs before she can get to her domestic flight to ottawa. at that point, she will go through the "landing" procedures with the officers.
make sure to leave enough time between flights so she doesn't stress about missing the connection.

 

[Seronic]

technically she will be landing in toronto, as soon as she enters the country. she is going to have to go through customs before she can get to her domestic flight to ottawa. at that point, she will go through the "landing" procedures with the officers.
make sure to leave enough time between flights so she doesn't stress about missing the connection.

Great. So when she's done in customs and gets everything done with the "landing", she doesn't have to re-go through all the security stuff and bag stuff, right? She can just go get her connecting flight?

 

[rhcohen2014]

Great. So when she's done in customs and gets everything done with the "landing", she doesn't have to re-go through all the security stuff and bag stuff, right? She can just go get her connecting flight?

as long as the flights are in the same terminal. generally in airports, all gates are connected and you don't need to go through security, because you are already in the secured area.

 

[keesio]

All the flights that I see either land in Toronto, from there she would connect to Ottawa.

How much layover time will she have? Toronto can get busy and I would recommend a minimum of 3 hours at least.

 

[MilesAway]

I remember having to take my bags, clear customs, and then re-check them in Toronto, so definitely don't plan a tight connection. Three hours would be best, to deal with the landing formalities, and to avoid additional stress. I'm fairly certain I had to go through security again, and I had a 2 hour layover, so I was cutting it pretty close. I also flew from Russia via Frankfurt and Toronto (but from St. Petersburg, not Moscow).

 

[Seronic]

Awesome. and one last question. My wife wants to bring 3 suitcases of stuff x.x

Plane allows one. Can she pay for the additional two when she arrives at the airport? Or they won't allow her to bring them?

 

[Rob_TO]

Plane allows one. Can she pay for the additional two when she arrives at the airport? Or they won't allow her to bring them?

That depends on the airline. Best to call them and check their fees for excess baggage. Usually you can just pay at the airport, and for 2 extra bags it could be an extra couple hundred dollars.

 

[MilesAway]

Check with the airline. Some have restrictions, while others let you pay (a lot of money) to bring extra bags. In some cases, it may be cheaper to pay ahead of time, rather than at the airport.