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I searched on Air Canada for a ticket from PHL (Philadelphia) to ICN (Seoul, South Korea). They offer a ticket with a transit of only 53 minutes in YUL.

Is this transit time possible? What customs would I need to go through in Montreal? Any additional security checks? I am a Permanent Resident of the US, so I do not need a transit visa. But usually, it takes me a bit extra time to clear the US customs.

Are they in the same terminal? (The US arrival and international departure)

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    I would not like such connection. I do not know which period you will travel (snow, fog, etc.), but a delay will disrupt the journey: I assume you should wait a day before taking next flight. I'll take the risk on inverse journey: short haul after a long haul flight, but not your case.
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented Jun 28 at 9:22
  • I transferred from a US arrival to an intercontinental departure in Toronto 8 years ago, so it's of limited relevance in terms of both time and place, but you still may be interested to know my experience. I was directed down a corridor to a small passport control room with two officers, who were chatting. There were no other passengers. The officer asked a couple of questions (where are you going, why) and that was it. I was traveling on a US passport, so others might get more questioning, but you're on your way out; they are surely less particular than with those trying to enter.
    – phoog
    Commented Jun 28 at 10:24
  • @phoog: I had a similar experience in Toronto. Ottawa, however, was a real nail biter and I had to beg my way through the front of the immigration line.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Jun 28 at 12:25
  • Airlines seem to be perpetually optimistic when it comes to transfer times. I've missed more than one flight due to this and now I only book connections which either have an extra hour over the most optimistic time, or a second flight in the day I can catch if I miss the first one.
    – Marianne013
    Commented Jun 28 at 12:40
  • @GiacomoCatenazzi, in the reverse direction you have to add extra time to pass pre-clearance (i.e. US immigration and customs conducted at a Canadian airport) making it less likely to be able to connect in under an hour.
    – The Photon
    Commented Jun 28 at 17:19

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If the airline sells you this connection then it's doable. You won't need to go through customs in YUL. See the connection instructions for YUL here:

United States-International

After scanning your passport at the kiosk, you will be asked to follow one of two procedures:

  • If your airline offers the option of automatically transferring your luggage, you will be directed to the international departures area.
  • If your airline does not offer the option of automatically transferring your luggage, you will have to pick it up yourself from the carousel, then follow the normal procedure for international arrivals and then for international departures.

If you're buying an Air Canada ticket through to ICN your luggage will be transferred automatically. You can confirm that when you check in.

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  • According to the website, no. Only scan the passport. I haven't connected through YUL in a while, last time I was there it was international->US, and there was indeed a step through immigration, but it was really fast.
    – littleadv
    Commented Jun 29 at 7:27

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