Transit at Vancouver Airport to US Customs and Border Protection

I would like to hear of the experiences of those who have had to go through USCBP (US Customs and Border Protection) procedures at Vancouver Airport (YVR). I am flying to New York in June via YVR arriving at 0725 and connecting flight leaving YVR 85 mins later at 0900. I’d just like to know what to expect with USCBP and is there any chance of missing my onward flight.

Basil, it could be tighter than you'd like. I did the Vancouver shuffle a few months back - inbound on Air Canada, then transit onto an Air Canada flight to Chicago. First time for me, and what happens is that you are ushered into a room to sit and wait for your checked luggage to be delivered and identified, then the luggage is sent on its way to the US flight while you go through a US customs area. Minimal queue for the later during my trip, but if you have 85 minutes from one flight arriving to the next departing, that probably means a bit more than half hour on the ground and in transit, which I'd think is tight for any connection, let alone one which has a few extra complications like Canada-US.

Many thanks, David

I've done a similar connection from a Canadian domestic flight early in the morning and the lines can either be very long or very short. In my case Air Canada fortunately delayed the onward flight so that all passengers could make it aboard, otherwise with a connection time that short and an on-time flight, we'd have missed it and had to wait for the next one.

Thanks, Chris

USCBP at YVR had been getting a reputation as a "soft" entry to the USA, so officers there now ensure that isn't the case. Expect the same "face time" with an officer at the counter as you would at LAX or JFK. Entry is almost always a lot longer than you'd expect in Australia (automated gates aside).

Thank you, Wilsoni