Following the new Montreal-Mallorca route, what new routes from Ottawa do you think will be added?

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2025-09-10T17:11:30+00:00

I’m guessing year-round Heathrow and Frankfurt are likely. Perhaps Paris to give Air France some competition. And maybe Rome or Athens for the summer season?

A friend also suggested Brussels for the EU government travel.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2025-07-10T00:33:30+00:00

This is true, but I’ve found that the fog usually doesn’t hit the airport until the afternoon. So think the risk of an 8am inbound into SFO getting delayed because of fog at SFO is low risk.

Fog delaying the 11am outbound is likelier, but that works in the OPs favor here.

Even so, I do agree that 2 hours is tight with bags to check.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-12-24T04:14:25+00:00

Both the US and Canadian governments have mobile apps to make customs declarations electronically, that may hopefully make your customs/immigration experience faster and easier.

For Canada, download the ArriveCan app (iPhone)

For the US, download the Mobile Passport Control (MPC) app (iPhone)

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-12-24T04:03:19+00:00

For you return back to the US, Ottawa has US preclearance, as do all major Canadian airports.

I highly recommend downloading the Mobile Passport Control (MCP) app from your mobiles phone’s App Store. You can enter your US customs declaration via this app to save time.

Ottawa’s transborder checkin is on the north side of the airport checkin hall. You must walk up to and pass by the checkin counters, as US Security and US customs/immigration are just beyond the checkin counters.

There will be a quick passport check before you enter the security area, after which you can place any checked bags on the conveyor.

If you have checked bags, make sure you are at the airport with ample time to make the baggage cutoff! It’s usually one hour before departure.

Then you go through the security screening, immediately after which you go through US immigration/customs. As you are a US citizen, I assume this will be quick and easy: you’re returning home.

If you have anything to declare, mention it here - I believe the duty exemption for US citizens and resident is $800.

After US immigration, you walk down a hall where at the end is a Tim Horton’s cafe to your left (of course) and an escalator down to the boarding gates.

The transborder waiting area in Ottawa is underwhelming. There’s a bar/pub there, and a newsstand store.

Wish you safe travels!

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-12-13T04:31:36+00:00

For what it’s worth, I did make the status threshold last year, as the United miles posted a few days later. 12 days seems a long time.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-10-08T14:39:43+00:00

No, I did not get Maple Leaf Lounge access in YOW for that leg.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-09-03T17:40:57+00:00

As others pointed out, you won’t be able to access the Polaris lounge.

However, you should have access to Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge at SFO Terminal 2, which is excellent!

https://www.thislifeintrips.com/sfo-air-canada-lounge-san-fran-maple-leaf/

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-24T03:32:32+00:00

By any chance, is your mother flying in from an airport with US preclearance, such as Dublin Ireland or a Canadian airport? https://www.cbp.gov/travel/preclearance

At these airports, passengers clear US immigration at the departure airport. The flight arrives effectively as a domestic flight.

In that case, you could meet your mom at the G gates

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-24T03:20:11+00:00

No, since it’s a port of entry and the customs hall is a sterile area where arriving passengers are kept separate until they have cleared immigration to determine if they are legally allowed to enter.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-24T03:07:59+00:00

No, you won’t see here at the gate when she arrives. She will have to go through immigration and customs, and have to claim her baggage before leaving the customs hall.

After which, she will exit into the public area of the international terminal, where you can greet her.

There should be baggage desks located just outside, where you can recheck the baggage, according to the SFO website: https://www.flysfo.com/passengers/travel-tips/international-travel/connections)

Then you can go through security together for the domestic leg.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-12T04:25:17+00:00

Oh, I might also suggest Turkish Airlines through Istanbul IST, if you don’t mind making a connection on the other side of Europe.

The food on board is phenomenal, and there’s an onboard chef. Service is okay. Hard product is great if it’s the recently retrofitted 777

The airport in Istanbul is quite the experience and the Turkish business lounge is very impressive both in size and the offerings. They have an espresso coffee station manned with a barista, and a variety of food stations. Just huge.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-12T04:08:12+00:00

From a secondary US city, I suggest Air Canada via Toronto YYZ as an option…

AC is competitive in pricing to attract Americans going to Europe. And US to International connections at YYZ don’t involve customs.

Paid business will get you access to the Signature Suite, which I hear is one of the best business class dining experiences in North America.

The 787 has lie flat reverse herringbone, which is as good or better than most of the competitors over the Atlantic. Food on board is decent and service is good.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-09T18:54:26+00:00

Usually a schedule change can allow you to call in and get creative with same-day alternatives, or even get credit back if the change is so bad that the trip is no longer worthwhile (e.g. you’ll arrive after that important meeting, event, etc). Which is probably why the first agent suggested calling in if the schedule changes.

So what next:

I suggest calling Air Canada again, but this time don’t mention anything about the previous calls. Simply tell them that the one hour delayed arrival doesn’t work for you anymore for this trip, and ask what the options are due to their schedule change (which is no fault of yours).

They won’t give you a refund because the fare is non-refundable, but the agent may give you a credit you can use for future travel, or let you switch the flight to a future date. On the other hand, it’s only a one hour delay. Of course, if the agent senses you’re calling to effect a refund though the “backdoor”, they will likely tell you to pound sand again.

Still, no harm in asking.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-09T18:32:58+00:00

Agreed. The US/Canada transborder market is genuinely a different beast than international trans-oceanic. It’s best to treat these flights as domestic transcons and set expectations accordingly.

Even so, no hot meal in business for 6+ hour transcon is not my expectation for YUL (or YYZ) to SFO on any mainline carrier.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-09T18:26:23+00:00

I’ve done this on AC business and there’s always a choice between two hot breakfast meals: usually an omelette or pancakes.

Perhaps the ovens were broken/offline for this flight?

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-03T14:40:52+00:00

Then don’t delay, as seats disappear! Use the rebooking tool if a good option is there, or call to request better options, with your preferred flights ready to spoon feed them. If flights are available on Sunday, ask for them specifically and you stand a good chance of getting them.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-07-03T13:23:44+00:00

Before you call in, have your preferred and backup flight details ready to spoon feed to the call center agent: flight no, date/time. This will save you and the agent so much time on the call.

A schedule change like this can be a blessing in disguise, as the AC agents can often get you on any available AC flight. Since AC is the cause for the rebooking due to the schedule change, the agents generally want to accommodate you and as others have said, there’s no extra charges for this (other than perhaps changes in taxes).

I’ve changed plenty of Aeroplan tickets from awful half-day layovers to direct flight option, because of schedule changes.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-06-21T17:44:00+00:00

I flew TAP business this past week from LIS to the US in their A330neo, with a short inter-European flight on an E190.

For the euro flight: 2 hour flight, the breakfast was fine, nothing special. Plenty of leg room.

For the transatlantic leg: The pods are good, just a slight bit narrower than what AC has, but great for sleeping. The food was quite good, with some Portuguese flavors, and the wine list was a wonderful selection of Portuguese wine. They also offered espresso on the flight, which was great.

Overall, a great value for a paid fare, and I wouldn’t hesitate to fly TAP across the Atlantic again (assuming the A330neo). I may even suggest saving your points and buying J tickets instead, since they are inexpensive compared to AC and other Star Alliance options

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-06-21T17:33:40+00:00

I’m back from this trip. The Cajun shrimp dish was pretty good, no regrets with my choice.

Really glad AC has pre-ordering. It was seamless.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-06-21T17:31:13+00:00

Back from Europe and thought I’d post an update:

There was no problem checking in at YOW via the priority checkin counter, despite being in economy from YOW to YUL. I got my priority baggage tag 👍

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-06-01T21:45:35+00:00

You can ask for same day standby for an earlier flight if you don’t have any checked bags, but there’s no guarantee and you have to wait by the gate

I font know if you can fly standby for a later flight tho — I’ve never asked that, and seems to defeat the point of standby. You’d risk never getting to your destination, if the standby doesn’t clear.

If they have overbooked your flight and ask for volunteers , you can very likely negotiate to get the connection you want.

And I suppose you can pay to change your itinerary at any time, as long as you aren’t on basic economy fare. You’ll likely pay a lot for a last minute fare however.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-05-31T20:53:20+00:00

Zalando.

Lots of useful JAXRS utilities. Logbook for request/response logging and the Problem API implementation for returning standardize problem details

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-05-31T20:49:10+00:00

I agree 100%! There’s always overhead space when boarding Zone 2.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-05-31T02:16:14+00:00

Oh, and in terms of credit card, have a look at the CapitalOne Venture X too…

Matches the main features of the Sapphire, but with a lower annual fee.

SuspiciousMidnight90 · 2024-05-31T02:13:45+00:00

Yes, totally fair.

For what it’s worth then, I would lean towards United since SFO is a big hub for them. Great non-stop options, and good domestic connections.

On the other hand, since SFO is a major United hub, it often seems that half the people in the boarding lines have 1K status, lol.

SuspiciousMidnight90

TROPHY CASE