Transit times etc LAX

[Quickstatus]

Incorrect. They may not have an agreement but as long as the ticket is purchased through a TA (VA's rubbish website won't allow bookings to YYZ at least..) you can have your bags checked all the way. Last time I flew home from YYZ - SYD via LAX (AC to LAX and VA to SYD) my bags were tagged all the way.

Incorrect. It depends on whether the TA has created one PNR from SYD - YYZ. If it is then bags will be tagged thru. If TA sold 2 separate ticketd rhen no through tagging

 

[justcallmeryan]

Incorrect. It depends on whether the TA has created one PNR from SYD - YYZ. If it is then bags will be tagged thru. If TA sold 2 separate ticketd rhen no through tagging

Fair enough, my mistake for missing that. I must have a good TA as I've never had a problem with this.

 

[Quickstatus]

Fair enough, my mistake for missing that. I must have a good TA as I've never had a problem with this.

Agree .Also it is often more expensive than 2 separate tix. But not always.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I asked the VA check in ppl at BNE Intl if they had an agreement with AC & they said no.

If AC can through check to VA they in the other direction there must be an interline agreement in place.

Despite an interline agreement it's still up to the accepting airline whether they'll through tag bags on separate pnrs eg ex Aust VA may not however ex Canada AC might.

 

[willymaykett]

Thanks everyone for the input.
Hopefully all goes well and we have a memorable trip

 

[justcallmeryan]

I've done this exact routing a few times and whilst it can get a bit on the close side if the queues at immigration are long, you should be fine. VA1 does tend to arrive around the same time as a couple of flights from Asia and as some other posters have written, this can delay things. At TBIT these days there are quite a few different queues, and I would be looking for a) the shortest and b) one that has a lot of australian/european looking people in it. Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with me being racist, but American customs officials grill the cough out of certain nationalities and are very casual with the rest.

They have also improved the baggage collection issue and that seems to be much quicker than it was last year. Once you clear TBIT you are a 10 minute walk to T2 and at mid day the queues for security aren't terrible. AC won't have much of a queue for check in either, they're usually pretty quick. And finally they have a 3.30pm departure to YYZ as well so if you happened to miss, I can imagine they would try and accommodate you on that flight. They are a decent airline and definitely better than their US counterparts.

I'm doing this routing next week on 22 May so will report back how we went.

Hope this helps!

Just back from the trip and did the exact routing above. 3 hours was more than enough. Whilst US customs was slow (45 minutes in the queue), baggage was waiting for us and we walked right out of TBIT 5 minutes later. T2 (where Air Canada is) was pretty empty so we ended up with 2 hours to kill.

Good luck!

 

[willymaykett]

Here is a review of my experience this week.
VA1 arrived a bit early, even though in the rear cabin, we made quick progress to Immigration. Got directed to a line with about 10 people in front, went really quick, even after having a chat with the officer
As we made our way to the baggage carousel, the line out at customs looked ok. Got 3 out of 4 bags, then 1 was held up because the belt had a problem, after 5 - 10 minutes, it started again and bag popped out. By this time, the line was extending out the door from the customs area, as we approached, they opened up the other side and we went straight through and headed towards the Air Canada checkin. All up I reckon it took 30-45 min.
Air Canada checkin, however, was a disaster! The line to print our passes and bag drop extended past the cattle run, then across the walkaway and along part of the wall. It was a debacle. Cramp area, not enough staff, those there took their time and got distracted by anything and everything, people waiting to get labels attached to the bags. When done, the original line had grown by about another 40m.
Went through TSA security and had about 40 minutes spare before departure.


All up, TBIT was a dream, AC a nightmare. (Boy, hasn't TBIT changed from that dark and dingy place I remember from 3 years ago)