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I have an 6-hour transit coming up in Montreal (YUL), and I'd like to drop into town for coffee/lunch with some old friends. Realistically, how much time can I spend in the city?

Details: I'll be coming in from Europe, so I need to go through immigration, and I'm continuing to the US, so I need to go through preclearance as well. Both flights on Air Canada so I'll likely have my connecting boarding passes already, I have an APEC travel card that gets me priority immigration, and have no checked bags. The 6-hour window is during the day outside rush hour.

My guessestimate: 30 min to clear incoming immigration (APEC lane), 45 min to hop on the 747 bus and get to the city, 45 min to get back, 1 hour to get through security and US preclearance (access to crew lanes via APEC) and make my way to the gate. This adds up to 3 hours, leaving me with 3. Add a little buffer both ways, and I should have around two hours in town?

lambshaanxy
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1 Answers1

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That sounds right.

For the buffer, I would put more towards the security and US preclearance to enter again. Maybe 1.5- 2 hours to be sure.

I have not been to montreal US preclearance but in Toronto it can be 2 min, or it can be 2 hours, depending on how busy and how many staff. I know one time i arrived early morning 3 hours in advance for a flight to USA in Toronto and it took almost 2.5 hours to get through a very busy US immigration. I had just enough time to get to the gate. Not sure about Montreal, but its possible its busy, that is where i would put that extra buffer time.

But other then that it sounds like a good plan. I would also check when the next busses arrive incase you miss one so you can plan how much extra time to catch the next bus, but you even know the bus route so you probilly know the times already.

Have a good trip.

adam clare
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