Transferring at EWR

[Matt_01]

In all my years of flying I have never landed or departed from EWR so this is new to me.

I am looking at some reward flights that will go LHR-EWR (BA) then EWR-YYZ (AC or UA). I know I will have to collect my bags and transfer but can this be done international to international or will I be forced to go landside. I did some research and there is an airside train and bus however most of the forums I have read involves international to domestic or domestic to international.

At EWR the transfer is most likely to be from terminal B to A. I know this connection it is a bit odd but with *OW I do not want to transfer JFK to LGA as connection time will not work and I also do not want to do other hops within the US to get to CA.

I know I could fly BA LHR-YYZ but choosing not to,that is another story.

 

[Mattg]

I've connected at EWR a few times over the last year, including when flying from Europe to YYZ.

You'll need to clear immigration, collect your bags and clear customs on arrival into EWR. There are no airside international transits. You may be able to re-check your bag after clearing customs but before entering the arrivals hall. (You can do this when connecting UA to UA, but not sure about BA to UA - possibly you'd need to take your bags with you to the United terminal and check in there.)

After entering the landside area you can take the (free) airtrain from the terminal where you arrive to the United terminal, and after checking in you'll need to clear TSA security (note - this can take over an hour).

There is also an airside transfer bus between terminals but you won't be able to use this as you will be arriving as an international passenger.

It's not an easy transit.

 

[dajop]

I am looking at some reward flights that will go LHR-EWR (BA) then EWR-YYZ (AC or UA). I know I will have to collect my bags and transfer but can this be done international to international or will I be forced to go landside.

There is really no such thing as "international" as far as departures go. Domestic and international departures are comingled, as with most of the US.

You will have to go landside, and as your bag will not be through checked, not sure if you can even use bag drop after exiting customs or if you will have to go to the UA or AC check in. You will of course have to go through security to re-enter the airport which is probably the longest part of the process after customs.

Edit: Oops, took too long to post, so almost a duplicate, but good thing that answer agrees with Mattg's

 

[Matt_01]

@Mattg and @dajop Thanks for the prompt response. Your answers are along the lines of what I expected but was hoping it would not be the case. I am used to the US terminal concept when it come to *OW or *A but *OW to *A I have always suspected it would cause me issues so I have avoided. It was just wishful thinking that this may be an easy option and would not have to go landside

Bugger, time to go back and look at more familiar connections maybe JFK to LGA is a better option in the end.

 

[dajop]

Bugger, time to go back and look at more familiar connections maybe JFK to LGA is a better option in the end.

Oh I would take inter-terminal transfer at EWR, over JFK to LGA any day. It's really the immigration processing and security times that will take the most time, not the movement between terminals. You can't necessarily escape long immigration queues at JFK nor long security queues at LGA. And it's not really an alliance to alliance thing either .

The other option (with $$$ not miles alas) is to take Porter Airlines Q400 service from EWR to YTZ (Toronto City Airport), it goes from Terminal B - same terminal as BA arrives.

Now the best option is of course to spend the night in New York (who can say no to that?) so you don't have to worry about transfers!

 

[Matt_01]

The other option (with $$$ not miles alas) is to take Porter Airlines Q400 service from EWR to YTZ (Toronto City Airport), it goes from Terminal B - same terminal as BA arrives.

Thanks for this bit of advice, it may work using Porter as I don't mind paying if I have to. The trip will be a OW rewards in F so I was looking to maximise a many F cabins as possible and as I could not find F between LHR and YYZ so the US was the next option but was trying to avoid landside. I am also considering LHR-ORD-YYZ.

As my +1 is flying direct LHR-YYZ I could give her my checked luggage and with HLO the Terminal B option is looking promising.