Crossing at Buffalo-Ft Erie (living, bus, airport) - Canada - City-Data Forum

Repubocrat · 03-28-2009, 05:52 PM

Can anybody please describe what it is like crossing into Canada via Buffalo-Ft Erie? For practical reasons, I am flying into Buffalo and taking the Greyhound from Buffalo to Toronto. Is the bridge extremely busy or how long does it normally take for a Greyhound bus to cross. Do they ask you a lot of questions or is it relatively an easy process? Any help is appreciated!

minibrings · 03-29-2009, 12:24 AM

They will ask what you think of Obama and if you say you hate him they will give you a hard time.

J U ST K I D D I N G

Seriously it depends on time of day. During rush hour.. of course more traffic. There is a website which has crossing delays
http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/

They will ask the usual questions as when you cross any border crossing.. citizenship, look at passport, ask purpose of visit, ask if you have alcohol or firearms or if you are bringing a gift to a Canadian resident. Just look them in the eye and answer truthfully and in more cases than not you should be okay. Can you tell I cross the border a lot? If you have a criminal record they will know on your computer, btw.

Quote:
I've gone through the border at Buffalo, on a bus, more times than I care to remember, and they basically hate everyone, so make sure you have all of your ID straight and you're nice and straightforward and polite so they don't have an excuse to give you a hard time. Going through customs on a bus is the least enjoyable way to do it and the most prone to weird hassles, I've found.
posted by blacklite at 3:28 PM on November 9, 2006
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If you are crossing just to visit should not be too horrible (for someone migrating, its a different story - much longer delay)

You can also take Amtrak from Buffalo to Toronto.... that may be quicker so I have been told. Also Coach Canada has a direct bus from BUF to downtown Toronto
http://www.buffaloairport.com/Ground...sec=5#Candaian

minibrings · 03-30-2009, 09:55 AM

Will you be kind enough to share your experience of crossing the border via bus? I plan to fly out of Buffalo airport and will be taking coachCanada back to Toronto

Repubocrat · 03-30-2009, 10:14 AM

I will be happy to share my experience but I don't think it will be a big deal because the layover at the bridge is only 15 minutes according to Greyhound. I remember travelling from El Paso, TX to Albuquerque once by bus and all of the sudden, the bus is pulled over by US Border Patrol and they start to ask everybody if they are US citizens, it was really strange but I don't think this will be as bad

minibrings · 03-31-2009, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Repubocrat

I will be happy to share my experience but I don't think it will be a big deal because the layover at the bridge is only 15 minutes according to Greyhound. I remember travelling from El Paso, TX to Albuquerque once by bus and all of the sudden, the bus is pulled over by US Border Patrol and they start to ask everybody if they are US citizens, it was really strange but I don't think this will be as bad

Hmm..you'd be surprised.. I've actually seen border patrol cars in upstate ny.. and not in Buffalo... further out in Rochester.

Hope it works out for you. If greyhound says 15 minutes perhaps if someone is pulled aside by Customs they will just go ahead and leave without him.

I hope you enjoy Toronto.

buknasty · 12-26-2010, 04:39 PM

I was traveling to Belfast NY to see a buddy of mine for American thanksgiving when the person I was traveling with was pulled off the bus. I had very little hassle but I ended up for him for about an hour and a half. Apparently two years prior he had been caught with a roach crossing the border at Vermont. The story goes that during his previous ordeal he was slapped with a $500 USD fine and was forced to write an essay about why smoking weed is bad (mmmkay).

The bus clearly left without us and we were forced to take a cab into town where we were picked up by our buddy..

Needless to say his butthole had seen better days. lol.

YtownGuy · 12-26-2010, 05:12 PM

I've taken the Greyhound from Buffalo to Toronto several times, and I've had no hassles at the border. The whole process moves rather quickly.

However, going in the other direction generally takes much longer.

jambo101 · 12-27-2010, 02:55 AM

If you dont have a return ticket the Canadian border will give you extra scrutiny and on your return if you dont have a passport the American border will make your life a living hell.
Best advice? look em straight in the eye and tell the truth as these guys are fully versed in body language and can spot deceitful answers easily,its what they do for a living eh!

TarheelsMatt · 01-02-2011, 11:09 PM

Been over the border once by bus. The patrol literally came on the bus asked us where we were going and we said "Toronto to go see a Jays game", and 2 minutes after they let us through. When we came back through Windsor into Detroit it took an hour or so..