Pearson Terminal 1 or Terminal 3: booking the right pickup
Published Updated 6 min read
Almost every problem we see on a Toronto Pearson pickup starts in the same place: a booking that names the wrong terminal. It is the cheapest mistake in ground transport to fix and the most expensive one to discover at the kerb, because Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 are not two doors of one building. They sit at opposite ends of the airfield, and the walk between them is not a walk. This is what a dispatcher checks before your car is assigned, written out so you can check it first.
Two terminals, one airport, no footpath between them
Pearson has run on two terminals since Terminal 2 was demolished, so everything arriving in Toronto clears customs at 1 or at 3. They are joined by the free LINK train rather than by a corridor, and the ride between them takes a few minutes on top of the wait for the next train. That is fine when you have planned for it. It is not fine when you have cleared customs at Terminal 3, your chauffeur is standing at Terminal 1, and you are carrying two cases and a coat.
The good news is that nothing about the money changes. A fixed airport fare is written against where you are going, not against the door you came out of, so moving a car from one terminal to the other costs you nothing and changes no figure on your confirmation. It costs a phone call and about thirty seconds at the desk.
Which airlines use which terminal
Terminal 1 is Air Canada and its Star Alliance partners, Emirates, and most transatlantic arrivals. Terminal 3 is Air Transat, WestJet, British Airways, Delta, American, and most of what flies under oneworld and SkyTeam. Airlines do move between terminals when their alliances or their leases change, and a codeshare is operated by whichever carrier actually owns the aircraft, so the safest habit is to read the terminal off the boarding pass rather than off memory.
- TerminalTerminal 1Who flies from itAir Canada and Star Alliance, Emirates, most transatlantic arrivalsHow we meet youAt the terminal limousine stall on the arrivals level, or inside opposite the customs exit with a discreet digital name card
- TerminalTerminal 3Who flies from itAir Transat, WestJet, British Airways, Delta, American, most oneworld and SkyTeam arrivalsHow we meet youThe same two options: the limousine stall on the arrivals level, or the international arrivals exit with a name card
| Terminal | Who flies from it | How we meet you |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 | Air Canada and Star Alliance, Emirates, most transatlantic arrivals | At the terminal limousine stall on the arrivals level, or inside opposite the customs exit with a discreet digital name card |
| Terminal 3 | Air Transat, WestJet, British Airways, Delta, American, most oneworld and SkyTeam arrivals | The same two options: the limousine stall on the arrivals level, or the international arrivals exit with a name card |
You will notice there is no stall number, pillar letter or carousel in that table. That is deliberate. Those are renumbered without notice, and a number printed on a website in March is a trap in November. Dispatch texts you the exact spot before you land, from what the terminal looks like that day.
Curbside or inside arrivals
Both are included in the fare, and the parking for the second one is included too. Curbside is faster on a domestic arrival when you are travelling light: you call or text your chauffeur once you have your bags, and the car is at the stall within a couple of minutes. Being met inside is the better answer on an international arrival, on a first visit to Toronto, and any time somebody in the party would rather not manage the luggage. The chauffeur parks, comes in, waits at the customs exit, and carries the cases out.
Choose when you book. If you change your mind in the hall, call dispatch on +1 (905) 555-0142 and we will change it while you walk.
If the booking names the wrong terminal
Call us. There is no fee for moving the car and no change to the fare. The only thing it costs is the minutes the chauffeur spends on the LINK or the perimeter road, and we would far rather spend those than have you wheel a trolley onto a train. The same applies when you are connecting and will finally clear at a different terminal from the one on your ticket: tell dispatch where you will actually walk out, and that is where the car will be.
A fixed fare is written against your destination, so the terminal is a logistics question rather than a pricing one.
Departures: the other half of the terminal question
Going the other way, the terminal decides which departures level your chauffeur pulls onto, and your check-in row decides where on it you are set down. We plan a Pearson departure so that you are at the terminal three hours before an international flight and two before a domestic one, then add for the hour of day and the weather. From Toronto at 06:00 that is a different pickup time from the same trip at 16:30, and dispatch works it backwards from the flight rather than from a map estimate.
Our own base is in Mississauga, minutes from the Pearson curb, which is why the car is staged before your aircraft reaches the gate rather than setting off when it lands.
Which car meets which arrival
Terminal choice does not change the vehicle, but the party does. Three passengers with three cases fit a Mercedes-Benz S-Class comfortably. A family of five coming off a transatlantic flight with six cases wants the Cadillac Escalade ESV, and a visiting team of ten is a job for the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Executive. Tell us the case count when you book; it is the number that decides the car, and it is the one travellers most often round down.
The short version
- Read the terminal off the boarding pass, not off the airline you usually fly.
- Book with the flight number and we will confirm the terminal back to you.
- Wrong terminal is a phone call, not a penalty: no fee, no change to the fixed fare.
- Curbside and inside arrivals cost the same, and parking is inside the fare either way.
- The meeting point is texted to you before you land, never guessed at from an old sign.
Dispatch answers around the clock. If you are reading this at a carousel with a car at the wrong end of the airfield, stop reading and ring +1 (905) 555-0142. We have moved a car across Pearson more times than we can count, and it is a smaller problem than it feels like from where you are standing.