Pearson Airport to TIFF private transfers
Landing for the Toronto International Film Festival and going straight to a screening is a tight afternoon. The pickup runs through the Pre-Arranged Limousine Desk, so the car meets you at the post rather than you searching a rank.
Pearson Airport to TIFF Private Transfers rates
Airport work is quoted on the distance actually covered, not the GTA hourly rate, which is why this page gives the vehicles rather than a single number. The published card is here.
Up to 2 passengers
Mercedes-Benz S-Class Maybach
The car for a premiere arrival
Up to 6 passengers
Cadillac Escalade
The most booked festival vehicle
Up to 14 passengers
Executive Sprinter
Fourteen seats for a delegation
All rates are plus HST 13% and gratuity 15 to 20 percent. The $35 per passenger pre-arrangement service applies on arrival pickups. Departures back to Pearson are a straight transfer and priced on distance.
How a pre-arranged Pearson pickup actually works
This is the part visitors get wrong, and it is worth being exact because the process is not what most people expect from a private car.
We track the flight, so a delay moves the pickup rather than costing you a missed booking.
Nothing to arrange while you do it. Your driver is already allocated.
Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 each have one. You check in there. The chauffeur does not come inside, does not wait at the carousel and does not hold a nameboard.
The vehicle is brought to the pickup post and the chauffeur takes your bags at the kerb.
If you are going directly to a screening, say so when you book so the timing is built around it.
The $35 per passenger pre-arrangement service applies on arrivals. It is the airport’s process rather than a fee we invented, and we would rather set it out here than surprise you with it.
Landing and going straight to a Toronto International Film Festival screening
Pearson to the Entertainment District is not a long drive, but festival week adds two variables: the afternoon traffic into the core, and the fact that the festival venues sit within roughly 200 metres of one another so the last few hundred metres are the slow part.
If your plan is to land and be at a screening the same afternoon, the honest advice is to build in more margin than the map suggests, and to tell us the screening time rather than just the flight. We would rather set the pickup against the thing you actually cannot miss.
Crews, delegations and several flights
Festival arrivals rarely come in one aircraft. A crew lands across two or three flights and often two terminals.
One flight, one car
Six people and bags.
- Simplest and cheapest
- Pre-arrangement per passenger
- Straight to hotel or venue
Several flights
One booking, several pickups.
- Each flight tracked separately
- Nobody waits in arrivals for the others
- Quoted as one job
A crew with equipment
Fourteen seats and a real boot.
- Kit and people in one vehicle
- No decision about what gets left
- $195/hr in the GTA, distance-priced from Pearson
Once the party is in town, the festival days themselves are usually a held vehicle rather than separate transfers. That is set out on the industry and press page.
Pearson Airport to TIFF transfers: questions buyers ask
How does a Pearson pickup work for the Toronto International Film Festival?
As a pre-arranged pickup. You clear customs, collect your bags and check in at the Pre-Arranged Limousine Desk in Terminal 1 or Terminal 3. The car is then brought to the pickup post and the chauffeur takes your bags at the kerb.
Will the driver meet me inside with a sign?
No. The chauffeur does not come into the arrivals hall, wait at the carousel or hold a nameboard. That is how the pre-arranged process at Pearson works, and it is faster than it sounds because you are directed straight out to the post.
Is there a fee for the pre-arrangement?
Yes, $35 per passenger on arrival pickups. It is the airport’s process rather than something we add, and departures back to Pearson do not carry it.
How much is the transfer itself?
Airport runs are priced on the distance actually covered rather than the GTA hourly rate, so the figure depends on where you are going. Everything is plus HST 13% and gratuity 15 to 20 percent.
What if my flight is delayed?
We track the flight, so the pickup moves with it. That is why we ask for a flight number rather than a landing time.
Can I go straight from Pearson to a screening?
Yes, and tell us the screening time when you book rather than just the flight. Festival week adds traffic into the core, and we would rather set the pickup against the thing you cannot miss.
Which terminals do you serve?
Both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, each of which has its own Pre-Arranged Limousine Desk.
Can a crew arriving on different flights share one booking?
Yes. Each flight is tracked separately with its own pickup, all quoted as one job, so nobody sits in arrivals waiting for the others.
What vehicle suits a crew with equipment?
An Executive Sprinter, fourteen seats and a boot that takes the kit without anyone deciding what gets left behind. It is $195 an hour in the GTA and priced on distance from Pearson.
How many bags fit?
The Escalade takes six passengers with luggage comfortably. For a group with camera or sound equipment the Sprinter is the honest answer rather than two SUVs.
Do you do the departure run at the end of the festival?
Yes, and it is a straight transfer priced on distance with no pre-arrangement fee. It can sit on the same booking as the rest of the stay.
Is gratuity included?
No. Quoted figures are plus HST 13% and gratuity 15 to 20 percent, stated separately so you can compare like with like.
How far ahead should I book an arrival?
One to two weeks is comfortable, and earlier during festival week because the larger vehicles clear first. Same-day arrivals are sometimes possible.
Can you take us to a hotel rather than a venue?
Yes, and it is the more common booking. The downtown hotels are where most festival guests stay, and the onward festival days are covered on the hotel to venue page.
Do you serve Billy Bishop as well as Pearson?
Yes. Billy Bishop is a different and simpler pickup because there is no pre-arranged desk process, so say which airport when you book.
What if we clear customs faster or slower than expected?
The desk check-in absorbs it. The car is allocated to you rather than parked on a clock, so a slow bag or a fast exit both work.
Do you handle talent arrivals discreetly?
The vehicles are unbranded with no decals and no nameboards, which suits it by default. Anything beyond that, tell us at the quote stage.
Can you invoice rather than take a card?
Yes, for corporate and production accounts, with a purchase order reference if you use one.
How many people fit in one vehicle?
Two in the Maybach, six in the Escalade, up to fourteen in the Executive Sprinter. Above fourteen we quote a 27-Passenger Mini Bus.
Is the drive from Pearson long?
Not in distance. Festival week decides how long it takes, which is why an arrival heading straight to a screening needs more margin than a map suggests.
Can you collect from outside the GTA on the way in?
Yes, from anywhere in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, priced on the distance covered.
What do you need to book?
The flight number, the number of passengers, the terminal if you know it, and where you are going. A fixed figure comes back and nothing is charged until you accept it.
Related TIFF services
Send the flight, not just the date
Give us the flight number, how many of you there are and where you are heading. We track the flight and price the run on the distance it actually covers.