McMaster University airport limo.

Pearson to McMaster, flat

The flat GTAA-tariff fare for 1280 Main St W, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, HST included, the same in both directions. Hamilton is priced by neighbourhood zone, so a residence a few streets away can sit in a different zone; enter the exact address and your fare shows before you confirm. 65 km · about 45 to 60 minutes. Never surges.

McMaster sits in Westdale at the west end of Hamilton, beside Cootes Paradise, about 65 kilometres from Pearson and 45 to 60 minutes by car: the 427 to the QEW, over the Burlington Skyway, and Highway 403 to the Main Street West exit. It is close enough that a family can land, ride, and be at the residence before the day ends, and far enough that a fixed fare and a driver who knows the campus entrances are worth having.

Hamilton is priced by zone on the official GTAA tariff, and the campus sits in the lower-city zone rather than the Mountain, so the fare above is the number for the campus address itself, not a citywide floor. HST is inside the number, the return leg costs the same, and the driver takes card or cash at the end. There is no deposit and no card on file, which suits a parent arranging the ride from overseas.

The medical centre on campus, the Ron Joyce Stadium and the health sciences programs bring conference guests, patients' families and visiting faculty through the same process all year. Sedan for a weekend visit, SUV for move-in: three bags fit the sedan, five fit the SUV, and a year's belongings rarely fit in three.

Your first landing at Pearson, in order

1. Your flight is tracked automatically from the moment you book, so a late departure or a slow taxi to the gate moves your driver's timing without a call from anyone.
2. Included waiting starts from wheels-down: 60 minutes on international arrivals, 30 on domestic. That is enough for immigration, a study permit interview, and baggage for almost everyone.
3. When you reach arrivals with your bags, look at your phone. Your chauffeur has texted the exact spot they are standing, curbside at your terminal, with the car's licence plate.
4. Walk out, find the plate, and the driver loads everything. Nothing to sign and nothing to pay yet.
5. At the campus door you pay the driver, by card or cash in the car, exactly the flat fare you saw when the trip was booked. HST is already in it.

Where the car goes on campus

• The residences are spread across the campus and each has an entrance the driver can reach: Les Prince Hall, Mary E. Keyes and Hedden Hall on the west side, Brandon, Woodstock, Whidden, Edwards, Moulton, Wallingford and Matthews closer to the core, Bates and McKay by the north end, and the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning at the main entrance. Name the building in the booking notes.
• The driver comes in from Main Street West or Sterling Street depending on the building; the Cootes Drive side is the approach for the west residences.
• Westdale village, the student streets between Main and King, and Ainslie Wood are inside the same zone as the campus. An address on the Mountain is a different zone and shows its own fare on the booking page.
• McMaster University Medical Centre is on campus and takes the same fare, which families visiting a patient ask about often.
• Off-peak the drive is about 45 minutes; the Burlington Skyway and the 403 through Burlington are the chokepoints on a weekday afternoon, when it can run to 60. For a departing flight we set the pickup from live traffic.

Every trip includes

• GTAA published flat rate, two rates for Downtown vs Mountain.
• Meet & greet at arrivals: coming soon.
• Flight tracking automatically.
• Complimentary airport wait from wheels-down: 60 minutes international, 30 domestic.
• Free cancellation up to 3 hours before pickup.