28 November 2022|New York – Montreal
	10:35LaGuardia Airport B28 Nov 2022 12:00Montreal-Trudeau International Airport   Air Canada AC8635 | 1hr25mins

It was a short-haul flight. When planning for this trip, I was contemplating between the Amtrak train from New York to Montreal, which takes 10 hours and it travels during the day, thus we would lose precious time on our holiday. The other one is the bus with 6 daily departures and takes about 8h 30 minutes. The buses are more frequent, but due to border control sometimes it can be unpredictable. The slowest bus can even take up to 14 hours, with several stops along the way. There are several bus companies, such as Greyhound, Flixbus, Trailways.

So the flight is 1 h 30 minutes, even including the time spent at the airport for check in it would be around 4 hours, which is still much faster. This was my first time flying Air Canada, so I was really excited. We would be taking the Air Canada express, which is

Air Canada is the largest airline in Canada and one of the major airlines in the world. It was founded in 1937 and has its headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. Air Canada operates both domestic and international flights to over 220 destinations across six continents.

We reached the airport at 8.30am after taking a bus from the metro station. Surprisingly, the LaGuardia Link is free of charge, which is a bonus for budget-conscious travelers. Take the E, F, M, R to Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue station, then transfer to the airport-bound Q70 bus.

Check-in was efficient. We used the machine to print out the boarding pass. There are only 3 flights a day from New York to Montreal, and also to other Canadian destinations. There were not many people who were checking in the luggage, except for us and 2 other groups of travelers. After checking our Canadian ETA and boarding passes, we were ready to go to the boarding gate.

However, our flight was delayed by another hour, so we went to the lounge (Priority Pass). There was no food, but this was like a sleeping pod, with a nice sofa, study desk and television. It is called Minute Suites Express, which is located at LGA Terminal B.

Planespotting. There were many American Airlines planes parked on the tarmac, it seemed like they used LGA as a hub. Customers can also connect between JetBlue and American at LaGuardia.

Finally after much delay, when we were supposed to be boarding at 10.00am, we only managed to start boarding around 11.20am, which is a delay of 1.5 hours. Boarding was separated into zones, while business class passengers could board at anytime they wished.

The plane is an Airbus A220-300, which is a single-aisle plane with few seats, so boarding was completed in no time.

Since we had a delay on the flight, ended up we had to queue up on the runway, which affected our take-off time. It was pushed back to about 45 minute, while we were just waiting on the runway for instructions from the control tower to take off.

We were surprised to see that a snack and drink were served, even though this was a one-hour flight only. There was a choice of sweet or savoury snack, which I chose the former. I also had a cup of orange juice. To clear the trash, the cabin crew walked down with a big trash bag and collected the cups/ wrappers from the passengers. After 50 minutes in the air, we started our descent into Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

Finally, we have arrived in Montreal. Originally, we were supposed to reach at 12:00. However, due to the delay back in New York, we landed at 13:30. Immigration was fast and half an hour later, we had collected our luggage and were boarding the airport bus to the city centre. I like the Canadian customs as they did not ask too many questions (unlike the US one) and the immigration officer also gladly stamped my passport when I requested him to do so. Montreal is much colder than New York due to the higher latitude, it was between 0-4 degrees. We had to put on an extra layer of clothing to stay warm.

Bonjour! Welcome to Montreal.

Getting to LaGuardia Airport using public transport

Tips

• Allow plenty of time. Depending on your route and what traffic is like, your trip could take up to an hour or more.
• Pay Select Bus Service fare before you board. Use a sidewalk kiosk near the bus stop to get a receipt as proof of payment. Pay using OMNY, a MetroCard, or with exact change in coins.
• LaGuardia Link Q70 bus service is free. 
• Transfers from the subway to the bus are free for two hours. You still have to get a receipt from a kiosk, but you won’t be charged.
• Keep bus aisles and seats clear. Stow your bags on luggage racks if you can.