Summer Travel Tips, Stay Informed

With the summer weather upon us and several peak travel times coming up, Air Canada is offering the following tips to help ensure a smooth travel experience for travellers.

For the latest operational updates, customers are invited to visit aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter, join Air Canada on Facebook, and sign up for flight notification alerts.

• Stay Informed

Flight status and travel updates online: Operational news is available in the Daily Travel Outlook under the Fly section at the top of the home page at aircanada.com. This section also contains information on what to expect and do in case of flight disruptions. Before leaving for the airport customers should check the status of their flights.

Flight notification: Air Canada encourages customers to provide contact information including their e-mail address and phone number so that they can receive flight delay and cancellation information directly on their mobile devices or via e-mail. To register or for more information, visit aircanada.com/flightnotification.

• Go Online

Web and mobile check-in: Air Canada customers can save time by checking-in, selecting/changing their seat, selecting the number of checked baggage and paying any baggage fees within 24 hours of departure time either at aircanada.com or on their mobile devices through mobile.aircanada.com.

Self-service rebooking tool: In the event of flight disruptions that may be caused by bad weather, customers are invited to rebook themselves using Air Canada’s self-service rebooking tool available at aircanada.com or on their mobile device.

Recommended check-in times: During peak travel days, Air Canada recommends that customers arrive early at the airport to avoid problems associated with congestion.(aircanada.com/deadlines)

• Pack Right

Valuables, Medications, Car Keys: Customers are reminded to ensure that all their valuables, including electronics, documentation, medication, car keys, money, jewelry, cameras, etc., are with them or in their carry-on bags and not in their checked bags. To facilitate security inspection, customers carrying gifts on board the aircraft should keep them unwrapped. (aircanada.com/checked)

Carry-on baggage: The carry-on baggage allowance is one standard article 23 cm x 40 cm x 55 cm and one personal article 16 cm x 33 cm x 43 cm. Carry-on baggage must be light enough for passengers to lift and stow in the overhead bin unassisted. Airport agents will be screening and tagging carry-on baggage and passengers who exceed their allowance will be required to check their carry-on baggage, and additional checked baggage fees may apply.

Government regulations stipulate customers can only transport in their carry-on baggage a limited amount of liquid, gel and aerosol items: 100ml/100g (3.4 oz) per article or smaller. (aircanada.com/carryon)

Sporting equipment: Air Canada recommends that customers pre-register their sporting equipment by contacting Air Canada Reservations, Air Canada Vacations or their travel agent up to 24 hours prior to departure. Some sporting equipment is entitled to a waiver of oversize and/or additional piece charges. (aircanada.com/excessbaggage)

External and internal name tags: As external baggage name tags sometimes become detached, Air Canada recommends that passengers also place identification inside their bag.

• Travel Documentation

Travelling with children: Parents should not sign their child’s Canadian passport as it will make it invalid. (https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/plan/travel-requirements/travel-documents.html)

Parents travelling with children should ensure they have appropriate documents including a birth certificate showing the name of both parents or legal documents pertaining to custody. Children travelling outside of Canada alone or with one parent may require legal documentation proving the other parent or guardian’s consent that the child may leave the country.

Electronic Travel Authorization for Flights to Canada: Reminder to visiting friends and family from outside Canada that the Government of Canada has introduced a new entry requirement, known as an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) that must be obtained prior to travel. (www.aircanada.com/eta)

International travel requirements: All international travel requires a valid passport and in some cases other documentation, such as visas, in order to enter the country of destination and/or for transiting connection countries including ESTA to enter the US, ETA for Australia, and EVUS for some Chinese passport holders arriving in the US. The IATA Travel Centre search tool offers details regarding country-specific passport, visa and health entry requirements.

Domestic travel requires government-issued photo identification that includes date of birth and gender for all passengers 18 years of age and older.

Travelling to, from, via or over the US: United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoint lines can be longer than normal in spring and summer. The TSA recommends arriving at the airport two hours before departure if your flight is in the early morning or evening, when wait times for screening can be up to one hour. Members of travel programs, such as Nexus or Global Entry, may experience normal wait times.