Montreal Airport (YUL) Limousine and Private Car to Downtown

Montreal airport limousine and private car: what to know about YUL

Montréal-Trudeau International Airport, known by its code YUL, is in the suburb of Dorval, on the island of Montreal. It is close enough to downtown that nobody calls it remote, and far enough that the way you travel makes a real difference to the first hour of your trip. For years the choices were a metered taxi, a bus and a private car. A fourth, the REM light-rail line, is coming and is not there yet.

Get an instant fare

This page sets out the realistic choices from YUL, including the 747 bus and the taxi, and the cases where a private car is the better call. It also covers longer drives from the airport to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec City and Ottawa. If you are looking for a list of Canadian airports we serve, the Canada overview has them all.

How the service works in Montreal

Onroutz.ca is a Toronto-based private-transfer desk. In Toronto and southern Ontario the cars are our own fleet. In Montreal, the ride is delivered by a vetted, licensed and commercially insured local transfer partner, and it is booked, confirmed, supported and invoiced by the Onroutz.ca desk in Toronto. One booking and one invoice cover it, and the same 24/7 desk answers every question. Partner vehicles are no more than four model years old, and up to seven for Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Maybach.

Montreal has its own rules for who can pick up passengers at the airport, and a local partner understands them. The Toronto desk looks after your booking, tracks the flight and is your contact if anything changes.

Distance and drive time from YUL

Autoroute 20 is the main road from the airport area, and the Ville-Marie Expressway (Autoroute 720) carries traffic into the downtown core. Distances beyond the island are standard road figures and will vary with weather and construction. Montreal's road works run from late spring to autumn, and a chauffeur who drives the island every day knows which ramps are closed this week.

The REM, the 747 bus and the airport taxi

The public options from YUL are changing. Here is where they stand in October 2026.

• REM light rail. The REM network has 23 stations open, connecting Brossard, Deux-Montagnes and Anse-à-l'Orme. The branch to the airport is not open yet: rem.info reports that dynamic testing began on the YUL branch in August 2026. Check there for the opening date before you plan a trip around it.
• STM bus 747. The STM runs line 747 between YUL and downtown. Eastbound it calls at Lionel-Groulx metro (Lines 1 and 2) and then runs along René-Lévesque Boulevard, with stops including Guy, Bishop, Drummond, Stanley, Mansfield, Union and Saint-Laurent, ending at René-Lévesque and Berri. The airport fare is a special one, listed on the STM site.
• Taxis. Taxis queue at the airport and run on a regulated fare for the downtown area. Check the current figure at the airport desk before you go, because we do not quote third-party prices we cannot verify.
• Rideshare. Available through the apps, with pickup areas set by the airport. Prices vary with demand.

Montreal airport transfer options compared

The 747 is useful if you are travelling alone with a carry-on, land at an ordinary hour and your hotel is on or near René-Lévesque. The weak points are the stop-by-stop ride and the walk at the far end.

Taxi to YUL airport, or a booked car? How to decide

The search "taxi to YUL airport" usually comes from people leaving Montreal, and the answer there is straightforward. If your hotel can hail a cab and your flight is mid-day, a taxi is fine. The real trouble starts at 5:00 a.m., on a wet Monday, or when five people with seven bags arrive at the kerb at once.

A booked car takes the guesswork out of it:

• The car is at the door at the time you chose, not when the dispatcher finds one.
• The fare is fixed and shown before you pay, so there is no meter to worry about and no argument about a detour.
• A larger vehicle is assigned for your group, not left to chance.
• For arrivals, the chauffeur has tracked your flight and is waiting.

Check your fixed fare

When the bus or taxi is the better choice, and when the car wins

Be plain about it: if you are alone with a single bag and flying at midday, the 747 bus or a taxi is a sensible choice. We would not tell you otherwise.

The private car wins when:

• Three or more people travel together, because one vehicle replaces several fares.
• You are carrying skis, golf bags, strollers or several large cases.
• Your flight arrives late, or early in the morning, when other options are thin.
• You are heading to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec City, Ottawa or the Eastern Townships.
• Children need car seats.
• You are on a business schedule and cannot queue at the rank.

Pickups at YUL: meet and greet and flight tracking

Montréal-Trudeau is a single main terminal building that handles domestic, transborder and international flights. Arrivals can be busy when several wide-body flights land together. Every airport pickup is tracked against your flight. We include 60 minutes of free waiting after an international landing and 30 minutes after a domestic one, counted from landing, so a long queue at customs does not cost you your car.

On request, the chauffeur waits inside arrivals with a name board, using an alias name if you prefer privacy. For travellers who want help with bags and a smooth hand-off, see the meet and greet service. Child, toddler and booster seats are available on request at booking, and most vehicles carry water and phone charging.

Business, events and VIP travel in Montreal

Montreal is a convention, aerospace, film and festival city. Delegations arrive for the Palais des congrès, executives visit the downtown towers and the aerospace cluster near the airport, and film crews and artists pass through for productions. The Canadian Grand Prix weekend is the busiest transport weekend of the year, and our Canadian Grand Prix page covers how we handle it. The jazz and music festivals in summer, usually late June and July, also stretch the supply of cars.

For executive arrivals, an Executive Sedan (Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Cadillac or similar) or a First Class Sedan (S-Class, BMW 7 Series or similar) carries up to 3 passengers. A Luxury SUV (Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon Denali, Chevrolet Suburban or similar) carries up to 6 passengers and 5 to 6 large bags, and an Executive Sprinter (Mercedes-Benz Sprinter) carries up to 12 passengers and 12 bags. Vehicles are shown "or similar", with the model confirmed at booking. Ask for a Maybach, Rolls-Royce, stretch or armoured car and the desk confirms availability with the booking.

No photographs of passengers and no posts about trips; an NDA is signed whenever you ask. We are a transport service, not a security company: there are no armed drivers or bodyguards, and we work alongside a client's own security team. See the VIP and event pages and the fleet page for more, and the travel desk for corporate accounts with monthly invoicing and multi-leg itineraries on one booking.

Longer drives from Montreal

A common pattern is to land in Montreal and drive on. Mont-Tremblant, the Laurentians and the Eastern Townships are ski and spa country in winter and a lake and golf destination in summer. Ottawa and Quebec City are both an easy day trip or an overnight. For the longer drives between Canadian cities, the routes hub lists what we arrange, including Toronto to Montreal and Toronto to Ottawa, and the Ottawa airport page covers the capital. Cruise passengers can find port details on the cruise transfers hub.

Entry rules for international visitors

Visa-exempt visitors flying to Canada need an electronic travel authorization (eTA), which costs CAN$7 and is applied for online. See the official eTA page. If you connect through Toronto or another Canadian airport, you clear customs at your first point of entry and arrive in Montreal as a domestic passenger. Signage in Quebec is in French, with English usually alongside it at the airport.

Booking, fares and cancellation

The booker shows the fixed all-in fare for your exact pickup, drop-off and vehicle before you pay. A hotel in Old Montreal and a home in the West Island are different trips and different fares. Cancellation, counted from the scheduled pickup: more than 72 hours' notice, no charge; 72 hours or less, 10%; 48 hours or less, 50%; 24 hours or less or a no-show, 100%. Major events and conventions sometimes have their own deadline; when they do, it appears on the confirmation. Payment and changes are covered in the FAQ, and the airport transfers hub explains how we work across airports.

Reserve your car