User Reviews for Toronto Pearson International Airport

Research User Reviews for Toronto Pearson International Airport (1-1 of 1)

• Add Your Own Review »

Jul 18, 2007 by Mike from Fergus, Ontario
Overall Rating: 6

• Food prices are excellent; it's clean and well-maintained throughout.
• It's drab. Nothing sets it apart from any other airport. Elevators/washrooms can be hard to find.

“As airports go, Pearson's pretty good. While there could be more information screens, the staff is polite and knows their stuff, and I found the layout more or less intuitive. The one bump in the road was the necessity to take a shuttle bus to an in-field terminal, but I understand that's been phased out by the new main terminal. Within the parking garage, the elevators are in the logical places, but once you're inside the terminal, they can be difficult to find; if you can grab a staff member, they can point you towards the nearest one, but it's still a good idea to avoid using them if possible. There were similar problems with washrooms, at least until you cleared security. The design airport itself is par for the course: lots of glass (and light), high ceilings, and white paint. There's an interesting piece of art hung in the departures concourse, and while I was there, there was a photography exhibit in the departures check-in area, but not much else to speak of. There is admittedly a lack of entertainment once you're through the barrier; a 15-minute loop of CBC headlines airs throughout the departure gates, but that gets dull after awhile, and you'll likely want to escape from it if you're around for any length of time. There's no wireless internet as far as I know that might be different in the VIP lounges, though. The food prices on the other side of the security barrier are a blessing; in any other restaurant, you'd be paying through the nose for a cup of coffee, but the Tim Hortons on the airside half of the terminal is large, efficient (with a big seating area) and seemed to be charging more or less what you'd pay at your neighborhood joint. A warning: It's very difficult to get from Pearson to downtown Toronto. If you're traveling with no luggage or just a carry-on, the shuttle bus to the subway is an excellent bet (and a cheap one at 2.75 or so per adult, 1.50 per child), but you might be waiting as much as half an hour for the bus; that being said, the subway takes you right into the downtown without changing trains, and the PATH system connects more or less everything within the downtown core. There are airport-hotel busses at rates that seem pricier than they should be (20-25 dollars round-trip), but the busses do have to go significantly farther than you'd see in another city. Then there are the taxis and airport limousines, but that'll run you at least sixty dollars one-way. Car rentals are the standard fare and the standard rates. Park-n-Fly is another option--and a decent one if you're flying from Pearson and staying somewhere long-term but the shuttle bus to the parking lot is infrequent, the terminal stop is incredibly difficult to find, and sometimes you'll have to phone ahead to let the driver know there's someone to collect. This being said, it's also cheap.”

1 of 2 people found this review helpful.