After all the summer's horror stories about delays at Philadelphia, Newark and JFK, here's a secret known for some time to regular travelers between Pittsburgh and Europe: Often the easiest and cheapest way to get to Europe, as well as to Asia, is to fly through Toronto.

Having used this connection several times, I now think of this as the quiet way to get at least to London or Paris and back. Recent changes at Lester B. Pearson Airport in Toronto have made this routing incomparably more convenient for traveling to those cities than going through busy airports on the U.S. East Coast.

Pearson now has a new international terminal serving Air Canada flights (with, to and from Pittsburgh, a short bus ride connecting to East Satellite terminal). Air Canada Jazz (the low-cost regional affiliate of Air Canada) offers a convenient turboprop flight from Pittsburgh at 5 p.m. (which is rarely late because it serves only Pittsburgh and isn't subject to the accumulating delays at American hub airports). US Airways also offers several daily flights to Toronto.

At Toronto, luggage is automatically transferred to European flights, and passengers go through a special transfer section of Canadian immigration that takes almost no time and from which passengers can walk to Air Canada's international gates. On the return flight, U.S. passengers now go directly from the plane to the pre-clearance U.S. immigration and customs facilities in Terminal 1, picking up their luggage at a carousel dedicated to such passengers.

Because Terminal 1 is new and the number of transfer passengers is far fewer than those going through the eastern U.S. hubs, the transfer for Air Canada passengers is very quick.

The last leg of the journey, as I do it, involves another Air Canada Jazz turboprop flight: there are three daily nonstop flights arriving in Pittsburgh (at either 10:37 a.m., 5:22 p.m. or 9:07 p.m.) although I generally shoot for the 5:22 p.m. arrival. Pre-clearance means that on arrival Canadian flights go to a gate used at Pittsburgh by domestic services (in this case, a gate used by United, an Air Canada partner in the Star Alliance). All you have to do is to pick up your luggage at the carousel.

How many Pittsburgh-bound passengers through Newark, Philadelphia, JFK or even Dulles in Washington, D.C., get home so early, regardless of what the schedules say?

Although Toronto has fewer international flights than the typical East Coast hub, it is served by all the major European carriers (including BA, Lufthansa -- another Star Alliance carrier -- Air France and Alitalia), while Air Canada offers evening services to London Heathrow, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich and Rome.

In addition, two Canadian low-cost transatlantic carriers, Air Transat and Zoom, offer international flights from Toronto (which may help to explain the low fares charged by the privatized Air Canada). While Air Transat is mainly a seasonal leisure carrier, Zoom -- which has recently started budget services from JFK -- offers year-round services to London Gatwick, Paris, Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff, and Manchester (although many involve a stop on the way).

As for fares, I recently flew on Air Canada from Pittsburgh to Heathrow for $856 round-trip, when the usual suspects at Philadelphia and Dulles were proposing fares of more than $1,000. For a trip to England I hope to make in November, I found a round-trip fare, again from Pittsburgh to Heathrow, of only $479 (including tax) on the Air Canada Web site. Zoom's fare from Toronto to Gatwick for this trip was $592 -- without the Pittsburgh-Toronto segment.

For the same destination and days, the US Airways' Web site gives a fare of $538 to Gatwick, via Charlotte -- a long way round -- or you-know-where, arriving in Pittsburgh (in theory) at about 7 p.m.

Or you can pay $797.50 all told on Continental (according to the airline's Web site and taking the quickest connection) and enjoy the pleasures of Newark.

Or, then again, you could pay $703 (including taxes) on United (with a short enough transfer at Dulles on the way to raise anxieties about transfer of luggage) in order to shove through the late-afternoon business crowd at Dulles on the return flight. In fairness, both Continental and United promise arrivals in Pittsburgh between 5:10 and 6.06 p.m., but I wouldn't bet on either.

So, if you're traveling to London or Paris, consider taking the quiet way through Toronto (Montreal might have the same advantages, but US Airways cut all its nonstop services from Pittsburgh to Montreal).

Oh, and by the way, Air Canada (like BA and some other European airlines) offers free wine with meals (I was offered -- and gladly accepted-- two bottles of white with lunch on my return trip from Heathrow). Its food and seat-pitch is much the same as other carriers, but Air Canada's service is generally friendly, and you avoid the dreaded US Airways buttermilk muffin for breakfast and the $5 charge for anything alcoholic.

First Published: July 20, 2007, 3:45 p.m.