Border

[moisheh]

US border will remain closed again

[moisheh]

Bidbuy does a charter flight from Abbotsford or boundary Bay
I had read it is $80 per person. You fly the same day as they drive your rig across the border. BC has the advantage of being close to the border. Not too complicated. But driving our rig through the mountains with snow is a bad idea. I think we will wait for the next announcement. Could be sooner than Oct.21. If the border opens we could be ready in 2 days. If it remains closed we will put the mh. in storage. If it opens before Dec. we will drive down in the pickup. We have a home in Kino and a mh in my shop if we want to do some close by travelling .

[Almot]

moisheh wrote:
Bidbuy gave me a quote of $890USD to take our 42 ft. Mh and Silverado pu across . I don't remember if that was Blaine or Bellingham. Airfare is $80 per person. I thought that was reasonable. Too bad there are no entrepreneurs in Alberta,Saskatchewan or Manitoba.

There are importers in Alberta, I forgot the name. Thanks for the tip on Bidbuy. But I don't see any flights from Vancouver to Bellingham, other than $240 flight with stop in Seattle. I doubt there is an international airport in Blaine.

And then there is a pain to ship it, say, from Tijuana to Los Angeles - the closest airport on the US side. Here is what I learned how they work: they pick it up within 3-5 days after placing the order. Then it takes 5-7 days to get it across the border and tow 140 miles (don't ask me why, this is what I read). So you should kill 10-12 days in Tijuana. Not fun. There are no direct flights from TIJ to anywhere in the USA or Canada. All TIJ flights go via Guadalajara or CDMX, takes 8-10 hours and several hundred dollars. Same with Mexicali-Phoenix.

It's less painful shipping it from Canada - you are home and can wait until they do their job and then fly - there will have to be some storage/parking fees involved but probably cheaper than waiting for them in the hotel in the USA. Vancouver-Seattle direct flight costs $90.

The most stupid is that this all defeats the purpose - to avoid packed airplanes and airports. You still have to fly both ways. Flying from TIJ to LAX takes almost same long as flying from TIJ to Canada.

[moisheh]

Bidbuy gave me a quote of $890USD to take our 42 ft. Mh and Silverado pu across . I don't remember if that was Blaine or Bellingham. Airfare is $80 per person. I thought that was reasonable. Too bad there are no entrepreneurs in Alberta,Saskatchewan or Manitoba.BC presents other problems for Prairie people. Snow in the mountains. I have driven semis in the mountains but only with small amounts of snow. A dp towing a vehicle is horrible in snow. We did the Raton pass in a blizzard and it is not fun. Pray to the border gods for Oct. 21st.

[playaboy]

Cnadnchic wrote:
Hi there, new to this forum and new to RV'ing. I live in Plattsburgh, NY, I am an ER Nurse here in Northern NY/Vermont. I am Canadian but hold Permanent residency status here in the US. I have been traveling to and from Nova Scotia to visit my dad throughout the Pandemic. I have the luxury of being able to cross the border at my leisure. My husband and I just bought an RV in Illinois and since becoming familiar with the RV'ing community I am wondering if there is any way I can assist Canadians with RV's in transporting across the border at the Plattsburgh NY location. We have the local Plattsburgh airport which accommodates flights daily into and out of Canada. I just want to help my fellow Canadians in the midst of this maddening border closure extension here in the US. Hoping I can in some way help fellow Snowbirds transporting their RV's across the border. If anyone out there can give me some direction or advice, I would greatly appreciate it. Would love to help in any way possible!

Good for you. I have been doing the same thing in Mexico for years. People need assistance all the time. You can make some good money without taking advantage of people.


Moishe, why don't you fly this kind lady to Manitoba, have her drive the rig south and fly her back to NY. Pay for her time too. You will probably pay the same amount to stay warm this winter.

[iguana07]

I want to update my last post. My friend has arrived and he told me the company he hired drove his rig and toad across border to him in Bellingham Washington. He said they waited for his call that he made it through customs. Then they drove across border and delivered the rig to him. over Two thousand dollars.

[moisheh]

Hi That is a kind gesture. Some of the Ontario people might want your services. I wish you were closer to Manitoba. I hope you are successful. You might look at a website called Bidbuy. They are in Bellingham,WA and offer the service you are considering. Send me a pm if you need further info.

[Cnadnchic]

Hi there, new to this forum and new to RV'ing. I live in Plattsburgh, NY, I am an ER Nurse here in Northern NY/Vermont. I am Canadian but hold Permanent residency status here in the US. I have been traveling to and from Nova Scotia to visit my dad throughout the Pandemic. I have the luxury of being able to cross the border at my leisure. My husband and I just bought an RV in Illinois and since becoming familiar with the RV'ing community I am wondering if there is any way I can assist Canadians with RV's in transporting across the border at the Plattsburgh NY location. We have the local Plattsburgh airport which accommodates flights daily into and out of Canada. I just want to help my fellow Canadians in the midst of this maddening border closure extension here in the US. Hoping I can in some way help fellow Snowbirds transporting their RV's across the border. If anyone out there can give me some direction or advice, I would greatly appreciate it. Would love to help in any way possible!

[silversand]

Moisheh wrote:
"Form 3299 - Declaration of Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles | U.S. Customs and Border Protection" https://www.cbp.gov/document/forms/form-3299-declaration-free-entry-unaccompanied-articles

Thanks Moisheh for the above link. I grabbed a PDF doc from it.

[silversand]

The USA and Canadians...as of 2017, more than 3 million Canadians spent substantial time in Florida over the winter months spending just under $7 billion. Imagine; that was waaaaay back nearly 5 years ago ! However, not all 3+ million stayed in Florida for the entire winter period. That number is estimated to have be in the 400,000 range...in 1999...22 years ago. But interstingly (this is a Mexico RV forum after all) Mexico has/is host to the 2nd largest Canadian expat community in the World, right after Florida (see Mexico below).

A study in 2016 (Navarro et al) estimated the total number of Canadians in the US under a temporary resident permit to be in the range of 100,000 (that, more than 5 years ago).

I would guestimate that just before the pandemic sent Canadians home near the end of March 2020, IMO that Canadians spent close to $8.5 billion as tourists in Florida alone. Not to mention Arizona, California, and Texas.

Now Mexico. In 2017, 1.92 million Canadian visited Mexico (this, mostly, or more accurately, almost all over the winter months). That statistic from way back in 2017! 39% of them from Toronto. Canadians visiting Mexico is growing at a rate of appx 11% per annum from 2017 forward. From the Mexico News Daily. Now, by the end of statistical year 2019, 3.67 million Canadians vacationed and/or snowbirded in Mexico (wow!). By "pandemic year 2020", the numbers of Canadians visiting Mexico went through the floor catastrophically (down by 50.6%, to only 1.81 million from the previous years' 3.67 million). Mexico's Ministerio del Turismo (headed up by Miguel Torruco) announced that tourism revenue from Canadian tourists were forecasted to drop by appx $1 billion CAD in 2020.

However, there was good reason not to allow bi-directional tourism traffic back "the day where no vaccine existed" (Mexico News Daily: here--> ) However today? That has all changed, with readily-available vaccines and zero excuses not to get vaccinated across all three USMC Agreement countries.

A CBC (Canadian Broacasting Corporation) article in October 2010 estimated that between 500,000 to 1 million Canadians would be retiring in Mexico as permanent residents or part-time 6 month-ers by 2025. The number of Canadians retired to and living in Mexico way back in 2010 was appx. 75,000, "according to figures from Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI)". Read the CBC article here-->

How may Canadians RV in Mexico? I can't find any statistic on that. But it would be fairly easy to estimate if all the Mexico caravan operators got together and shared their counts from all the RV parks they frequent, making a simple statistical extrapolation from those numbers. Say, every year.

[playaboy]

moisheh wrote:
.ost of this discussion has been about crossing from Canada to the USA
Nothing that playaboy posted helps with that problem. I have posted a test that a educational tow company can move vehicles from Mexico to the USA. As for insurance Iposted that one should call their Mexican Insurance company about a non family member driving your vehicle. I would also suggest calling your Canadian insurance company for extra coverage. If a commercial service ( person is paid to drive) inoperative the vehicle coverage could be nil. Do your due diligence.

Every year there are approx 1,000,000 Canadian snowbirds escaping the brutal cold winter in Canada. Last years restrictions caught everyone by surprise. Many don't want to be locked up again. Smart Canadian capitalist have figured out a way to help people escape south. These folks seem to have worked out the logistics making it easy. It seems the demand to leave Canada has overwhelmed the list of companies Silver provided.

Maybe this year there will be about 500,000 Canadian snowbirds. The vast majority of the lucky escapees will stay in the USA and not cross 2 borders. Many will leave their rigs in the USA to avoid the continued restrictions in 2022.

Oct 21 will be an important date. If the USA opens the land borders all this discussion is mute. I sincerely hope we open. But it does not look like it will ever be as free as it was pre-March 2020


Moishe, I don't even know why you post regarding border crossings since you have decided to stay in Canada for the winter. For others the solutions have been there for months. Or have you decided to pay the price for traveling south?

[moisheh]

.ost of this discussion has been about crossing from Canada to the USA
Nothing that playaboy posted helps with that problem. I have posted a test that a educational tow company can move vehicles from Mexico to the USA. As for insurance Iposted that one should call their Mexican Insurance company about a non family member driving your vehicle. I would also suggest calling your Canadian insurance company for extra coverage. If a commercial service ( person is paid to drive) inoperative the vehicle coverage could be nil. Do your due diligence.

[moisheh]

Silver. UDMCA does not always apply to individuals. Besides the Goverments are using an emergency to override customs and border issues. Bringing a vehicle across the border is often deemed a temporary importation. When we get a 20 year or 6 month vehicle permit from Mexico they call it a temporary import. Here is another thought: when simply crossing one country together to another normal practice is to issue a permit. I wonder if there is something in US customs laws on that subject?

[playaboy]

I guess when it starts to get cold, the days get shorter, and you are on self lock down because of the Pandemic, your imaginations tend to run wild filling with doom and gloom.

Since Covid started I have legally driven/towed cars and RV's out of Mexico, 8 in all. Add to that the couple dozen cars I have taken north in years past.

I have actually been thru process. It requires different paperwork depending on the vehicle. I use an Attorney to process everything, keeping all parties and property LEGAL.

The easiest part of the process is Insurance. Just notify the insurance company that you want to add a driver. Usually a quick phone call and you get an email confirmation.

The 2nd easiest part for me is entering the USA with someone else's vehicle. Since I cross frequently in different vehicles CBP has me in their computers and knows what I have been doing. I have all the proper paperwork, if even asked. It usually takes me minutes to clear CBP.

I legally drive the RV's, cars and haul the trailers with your or my truck. I don't use flatbed or tow trucks.

I will just say that I can take ANY vehicles out of Mexico when you need it. If these travel restrictions are still around when spring time comes (if so there could be a revolution)there will be a way for Canadian RV'ers to get home from Mexico.

Just don't get caught in the negativity from the ones who chose to stay north for the winter.

[moisheh]

"Form 3299 - Declaration of Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles | U.S. Customs and Border Protection" https://www.cbp.gov/document/forms/form-3299-declaration-free-entry-unaccompanied-articles

[silversand]

Talleyho69 wrote:
Whoever thought that the biggest hurdles would become entering the US from Canada and Mexico.....

For sure. At this juncture, it is a Steven King -ish novel (actually, a non-fiction!) Orwellian in scope.