Book meet and greet at Pearson Airport: how the sign-board pickup works

How do you book meet and greet at Pearson Airport?

You add it to an ordinary airport booking. In the reservation engine, choose an airport transfer from Toronto Pearson, enter the flight number, then tick meet & greet in the add-ons before you confirm. It is available at booking, and its cost appears as a visible line inside the fixed fare, so there is no separate arrangement and no extra call. Everything else about the ride stays the same as on our Pearson airport limo service: a flight-tracked car, a fixed all-in fare and one dispatch desk. The only difference is where you and the chauffeur first see each other. Without the add-on, you collect your bags, walk out to the airport's designated pickup area for pre-arranged rides on the arrivals-level curb, and the car comes up. With it, the chauffeur is waiting inside for you. This post explains that handover in detail, so you can decide whether it is worth adding for your trip or for a guest you are hosting.

Where exactly does the chauffeur wait?

In the public arrivals hall of your terminal, on the land side of the doors that passengers come through after customs and the baggage hall. Nobody without a boarding pass can go beyond those doors, so the chauffeur cannot meet you at the gate or at the carousel; the first face you see after the sliding doors is the one to look for. Pearson has two passenger terminals, Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, and some terminals have more than one exit point from the baggage area. That is why the chauffeur follows your flight to its actual arrival details and positions accordingly, then messages you if anything changes. We do not print door numbers, because layouts and signage change; the Pearson transportation and parking page has the airport's current guidance, and the chauffeur's message on the day is the instruction to follow.

What happens, minute by minute, after you land?

1. Touchdown. Dispatch sees the actual landing time; included waiting starts now.
2. Phone on. You turn off airplane mode and find a message with the chauffeur's name and a photo of the board or the exact wording on it.
3. Customs and bags. Domestic passengers go straight to baggage; international passengers clear CBSA border processing first. The chauffeur is already in the hall.
4. Through the doors. You look for your name on the board. If you do not see it, reply to the message; the chauffeur will come to you.
5. The walk. The chauffeur takes the trolley or the heaviest case and walks you to the car in the pre-arranged pickup area.
6. Away. Bags are loaded, the destination confirmed, and the car leaves the terminal.

For international arrivals the hall wait can be long, which is why the included allowance is 60 minutes from landing instead of 30.

Who is meet and greet really for?

Frequent flyers with a carry-on rarely need it; they reach the curb faster on their own. It earns its place in these situations:

• First visit to Canada. A long-haul arrival into a large, unfamiliar terminal, signage in two languages and a phone that may not work yet.
• Older parents travelling alone. Someone to find them, push the trolley and walk at their pace.
• Hosted guests. A client, speaker or board member you want looked after from the first minute.
• Families with heavy loads. Car seats, a stroller, four checked cases and two tired children.
• Travellers with limited English or French. A familiar name on a board removes the hardest part.
• Students arriving for the first term with everything they own in two suitcases.

If the person landing would worry about finding the pickup area, add it.

Is meet and greet the same as airport assistance or a wheelchair service?

No, and it matters. Meet and greet is a chauffeur meeting you in the public hall and walking you to the car. Airline and airport assistance, including wheelchair help through the airport, is requested from your airline in advance and covers the airside part of the journey that our chauffeur cannot enter. The two work well together: the airline's assistance brings the passenger through the doors, and the chauffeur takes over from there. We have a wheelchair-accessible vehicle for anyone who must stay seated in a wheelchair or scooter, available when booked in advance; for passengers who can transfer to a seat, the chauffeur folds and stows the wheelchair or walker. Mention mobility needs in the booking notes so the right vehicle is assigned.

What should the name board say?

Whatever the passenger will recognise and nobody else will. Common choices:

• The passenger's surname, or first initial and surname.
• A company name only if the guest expects it, such as a law firm hosting a witness.
• A code word agreed in advance for executives or public figures who prefer not to have their name displayed in a busy hall.

Avoid full names plus a job title, and never put a hotel room or home address on the board. If you are booking for someone else, add their mobile number in the booking so the chauffeur can message them directly, and tell them what the board will say before they fly.

How is meet and greet different from the standard curbside pickup?

The Pearson pre-arranged services page explains the curbside system: you tell the pickup-area staff you are waiting for a pre-arranged ride and the car is called forward.

What if the flight lands early or very late?

Flight tracking handles both. If the aircraft arrives 40 minutes early, the chauffeur is already watching the live record and moves into the hall in time; the wait clock starts at the real landing, not the scheduled one. If it lands three hours late, the chauffeur simply arrives later, and you pay nothing for the delay. What included waiting does not cover is a very long customs line or a lost-bag claim beyond the allowance: 30 minutes on Canadian domestic and US flights, 60 minutes on other international arrivals. After that, time is added in 15-minute blocks, and the chauffeur messages before it starts. If you know you are stuck, say so; the car stays. Our international arrivals pickup plan explains typical timings between landing and the doors.

What if your phone does not work when you land?

It happens more often than people think: foreign SIM cards without roaming, a dead battery after a long-haul, or an eSIM that has not activated. With meet and greet this is far less stressful, because the chauffeur is standing where you will walk out and you only need your eyes. Before you fly, note the board wording and the chauffeur's name from the confirmation, and connect to the terminal Wi-Fi once inside if you need to send a message. Without meet and greet, a dead phone makes the curbside handover harder, since the chauffeur's text with the car and plate is how you find each other. If the passenger's phone is unreliable, that alone is a good reason to add the service.

Does meet and greet make sense for a departure?

It is designed for arrivals. On a departure the chauffeur collects you at home, the office or the hotel, drives you to the departures level of your terminal and unloads the bags at the curb. If an older passenger needs help to the check-in counter, arrange airline assistance for the inside part, and tell us in the booking notes so the chauffeur can help as far as the curb allows. Remember that departures curbs are for active loading only, so the car cannot wait there. For timing, our how early to arrive at Pearson guide works backwards from boarding.

Can you combine meet and greet with an hourly chauffeur?

Yes, and for hosted visitors it is the strongest combination. The chauffeur meets your guest in the hall, walks them to the car and then stays with them for the day under our hourly chauffeur service: a hotel check-in, a meeting on Bay Street, lunch and a dinner. The minimum is three hours for sedans, SUVs, vans and Sprinters, with extra time in 30-minute blocks, and the guest's luggage stays in the trunk between stops. Executive assistants often book this for speakers and visiting partners, and our corporate car service page explains accounts for repeat bookings.

Which vehicle should you pair with meet and greet?

The one that fits the luggage, as always. A first-class sedan is the usual choice for a hosted executive; an SUV suits families and anyone with car seats, which are available at booking; a Sprinter suits a delegation. For a group arriving on the same flight, one chauffeur with one board and one vehicle is easier than several cars, and for groups on different flights, each car gets its own board.

How far is the drive after the handover?

Typical planning figures from Pearson: downtown Toronto and Union Station about 27 km and 25 to 45 minutes; Yorkville about 25 km and 25 to 40 minutes; Mississauga city centre about 12 km and 15 to 25 minutes; Markham about 40 km and 35 to 50 minutes; Niagara Falls about 125 km and 80 to 105 minutes. Meet and greet adds the walk from the hall to the car, usually a few minutes, but not driving time. If your guest's trip continues to a hotel, our Pearson airport hotels guide covers the strip around the terminals, and our travel desk can book the room alongside the car.

How do you add meet and greet to a Pearson booking?

1. Open /book/, the floating Book now button or the engine on this page.
2. Choose an airport transfer from Toronto Pearson and enter the flight number.
3. Add the destination, passengers and bags.
4. Select meet & greet in the add-ons, and add board wording and the passenger's mobile in the notes.
5. Confirm the fixed fare. The chauffeur's name arrives before landing.

Already booked without it? Contact the desk through the page chrome and we can add it before the flight.

Book your Pearson meet and greet