CANPASS application

[Paul Tomblin]

As anybody who flies across the US/Canada border knows, the standard
procedure for Canadian customs is to call 1-888-CANPASS before hand, fly
to your airport of entry, and then call 1-888-CANPASS after you arrive.
However, one of the places I commonly fly to, Oshawa Ontario, doesn't
allow that after 16:30 local time. So I'm filling out a form for a
CANPASS ... not sure what they call it - preclearance maybe? Anyway, if
you have this preclearance, you can land at airports of entry as well as
designated non-AoEs, even if customs is officially closed at that time of
day.

I'm hoping somebody whose done this procedure before is reading this,
because I'm having a problem.

The problem is the box on the form labelled "Airport". Am I supposed to
list every airport that I *might* land at in the next 5 years? How do I
know? I've put down all the airports that I've landed at in Canada in
the past (CYOO, CYTZ, CYKZ, CYOW, CYSN). But I also might some day want
to go visit the Canadian Aviation Heritage museum, so should I list
Hamilton? And a few years back they had a fly in at Downsview, so should
I list that in case they have it again? Oh, and it might be cheaper to
land at Rockcliffe instead of Ottawa, so maybe I should list that? You
see, the list just keeps growing and growing.

--
Paul Tomblin > http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Get with the program, jeffrey. No one is 'wrong' on Usenet. They are
either 100% totally correct, or they are 'a lying, scum sucking weasel.'
There is no in-between. -- Garrett Johnson

[john smith]

Why not call CANPASS on their toll-free number and ask them directly.
I have always found them to be helpful and friendly (just the opposite
of US Customs).

Paul Tomblin wrote:
> I'm hoping somebody whose done this procedure before is reading this,
> because I'm having a problem.
> The problem is the box on the form labelled "Airport". Am I supposed to
> list every airport that I *might* land at in the next 5 years? How do I
> know? I've put down all the airports that I've landed at in Canada in
> the past (CYOO, CYTZ, CYKZ, CYOW, CYSN). But I also might some day want
> to go visit the Canadian Aviation Heritage museum, so should I list
> Hamilton? And a few years back they had a fly in at Downsview, so should
> I list that in case they have it again? Oh, and it might be cheaper to
> land at Rockcliffe instead of Ottawa, so maybe I should list that? You
> see, the list just keeps growing and growing.
>

[mark]

I have a canpass for my private aircraft. They want to know where you
land now, or may land, but it doesn't have to be a complete list.
They're more interested in a complete list of possible aircraft, as
they do an owner check on them as well. If you're flying up in a
non-usual plane, your canpass will still work, but you have a higher
chance of a "random check" since the plane hasn't been pre-cleared.

This is what I got when they called me when they got my application (I
left a number off the credit card portion of the app.. ooops..)

[Paul Tomblin]

In a previous article, john smith > said:
>Why not call CANPASS on their toll-free number and ask them directly.
>I have always found them to be helpful and friendly (just the opposite
>of US Customs).

Because I called the number listed on the web site for "more information".
The 800 number didn't work from the US, so I tried the non-800 number, and
and it gave me a recorded message, then said to press "0" to talk to a
customs agent for more information. I pressed "0", and started to explain
my problem, and they said "I'll transfer you". The person who answered
the transferred call said "What did you call here for, I can't help you"
and then put the phone down so that I could hear him in the background
talking to his wife about his dinner plans. After 10 minutes of that (at
prime time long distance rates), I hung up.

Then I tried the number listed for the closest of the three processing
centers listed on the application form, and I got busy signal after busy
signal. Then I finally got through, where I got a "Please hold" message
for about 2 minutes, and then it started ringing again. And ringing and
ringing for about 5 minutes (again, prime time long distance rates) before
I hung up.

So maybe they are helpful, but I can't afford the long distance bills
waiting for somebody to actually help me.

--
Paul Tomblin > http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Your mouse has moved. Windows NT must be restarted for the change to
take effect. Reboot now? [ OK ]

[Paul Tomblin]

In a previous article, "mark" > said:
>They're more interested in a complete list of possible aircraft, as
>they do an owner check on them as well. If you're flying up in a

I listed all the planes that belong to my club. I think over the years
I've flown all of them to Canada at some time or another.


--
Paul Tomblin > http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
"Tower zero one request clearance for takeoff."
"Cleared runway three contact ground point six three when off the runway."
- Michael Crichton destroys whatever technical credibility he had left.

[mark]

Paul Tomblin wrote:

> I listed all the planes that belong to my club. I think over the
years
> I've flown all of them to Canada at some time or another.

Should be fine then. Its a great way to get in and out of canuckland.
I wish the US would put their system back online.

[jsmith]

The US system only applied to aircraft owners.
As a renter, they would not approve an application.

mark wrote:
> Should be fine then. Its a great way to get in and out of canuckland.
> I wish the US would put their system back online.
>

[mark]

jsmith wrote:
> The US system only applied to aircraft owners.
> As a renter, they would not approve an application.

I didn't know that. That seems odd. I wish they'd put something back
into place. They even discontinued their commercial airline INSPass.

[Robert M. Gary]

Paul Tomblin wrote:
> In a previous article, john smith > said:
> >Why not call CANPASS on their toll-free number and ask them
directly.
> >I have always found them to be helpful and friendly (just the
opposite
> >of US Customs).
>
> Because I called the number listed on the web site for "more
information".
> The 800 number didn't work from the US, so I tried the non-800
number, and
> and it gave me a recorded message,

Why not just call the CANPASS number? We know that works from the U.S.
I've found them to be very helpful, if not a bit bizarre. Last time I
called them from California for a direct flight. I had the following
strange conversation with the CANPASS woman.
C - "Are you bringing any alcohol into Canada today"
Me - "no"
C - "So, you don't drink"
Me - "Ah, yes I do but I'm not bringing my own, I'll buy something when
I get there"
C - "So you're sure you don't have any alcohol"
(At this point I thought it might be a trick
Me - "Well, I have mouth wash, I think that has alcohol in it".

C - "Ok, what about tobacco".
Me - "I don't smoke, I'm not bringing any tobacco".
C - "Does anyone in your party smoke"
Me - "No"

C - "And you're sure you're leaving from California"
Me - "Yes"
C - "OK".

I thought it was just strange.
-Robert