earliest flight from YVR?

Our ship is scheduled to debark in Vancouver at 7:00am. I realize alot of things can delay that. What is the earliest flight time you would take out of YVR? Is 11am too early if we're among the first to debark the ship (we are Platinum this cruise & generally take early flights out of Florida when cruising in the Caribbean so it isn't stressful for us).

Specifically, how long does it take to drive from the port of Vancouver to the airport (by taxi)? And how long to get through security & customs?

Earliest flight I would take is Noon. I do not care for stress.

There can be long lines getting through security and also USA customs/immigration.

Drive by car about 40 minutes but varies depending on day of week and time of day because of traffic.

Keith

YVR has a new automated passport control system of kiosks for US Customs:

http://www.yvr.ca/en/flight-information/latest-information/13-05-07/automated_passport_control.aspx

There are several other threads with info about this here on CC.

Well, 11 is do-able but noon would be better. Assuming you are disembarking off an Alaskan cruise means you will go through Canadian C&I at the pier; this will take some time. However, as stated above, the new automated passport control kiosk should help you on your way once you get to the airport.

Your U.S. flight is considered International although we do have U.S. pre-clearance here. If you self-disembark early I think you could make an 11 flight, but know that so many things are beyond your control. A noon flight would be better.

Our ship is scheduled to debark in Vancouver at 7:00am. I realize alot of things can delay that. What is the earliest flight time you would take out of YVR? Is 11am too early if we're among the first to debark the ship (we are Platinum this cruise & generally take early flights out of Florida when cruising in the Caribbean so it isn't stressful for us).

 

Specifically, how long does it take to drive from the port of Vancouver to the airport (by taxi)? And how long to get through security & customs?

Vancouver is a bit of a special case for US travellers, because not only do you need to clear Canadian Immigration and Customs when you arrive, you need to clear US Immigration and Customs at the airport, prior to entering the departure gate area (E gates, called the "transborder wing"). As the US Immigration and Customs can take anywhere from 1 minute to 90 minutes, I would recommend being at the airport 2½ hrs in advance of leaving. The consolation is you'll arrive as if you were a domestic arrival at your US destination.

The airport is about 10 miles south of downtown, but only reachable on surface streets. The fastest way to the airport is on the Skytrain(subway) Canada Line. Exit the cruise facility walk one block straight ahead on Howe (walking past the entrance to Skytrain Expo/Millenium lines), turn left on Cordova walk 2 blocks and enter waterfront station (big brick building on your left). Buy two 2 zone tickets ($4 days, $2.75 weekends), and get on a "Canada Line" train marked "YVR Airport". This beats the taxis normally for two reasons. 1) There can be a big lineup for taxis, 2) the route from downtown to the airport is all surface streets, and a taxi isn't fast. If you do take a taxi, expect it to be in the $40 range.

We disembarked the Island Princess at Canada Place on June 24. Left our cabin at 7:50 am, and were through airport security on our way to departure gate at 9:15 am. This included claiming luggage at pier, taxi ride, and going through Canadian and US C & I. So, an 11:00 flight can be doable, but personally I wouldn't try anything before noon.

This June, the Radiance was late getting into port (over an hour). We heard many passengers exclaiming how they were missing their flights. We had an 11:20 flight if I remember correctly. Fortunately, we self debarked and caught the Sky Train. We made it with very little time to spare.

Vancouver is a bit of a special case for US travellers, because not only do you need to clear Canadian Immigration and Customs when you arrive, you need to clear US Immigration and Customs at the airport, prior to entering the departure gate area (E gates, called the "transborder wing"). As the US Immigration and Customs can take anywhere from 1 minute to 90 minutes, I would recommend being at the airport 2½ hrs in advance of leaving. The consolation is you'll arrive as if you were a domestic arrival at your US destination.

 

The airport is about 10 miles south of downtown, but only reachable on surface streets. The fastest way to the airport is on the Skytrain(subway) Canada Line. Exit the cruise facility walk one block straight ahead on Howe (walking past the entrance to Skytrain Expo/Millenium lines), turn left on Cordova walk 2 blocks and enter waterfront station (big brick building on your left). Buy two 2 zone tickets ($4 days, $2.75 weekends), and get on a "Canada Line" train marked "YVR Airport". This beats the taxis normally for two reasons. 1) There can be a big lineup for taxis, 2) the route from downtown to the airport is all surface streets, and a taxi isn't fast. If you do take a taxi, expect it to be in the $40 range.

Thank you for this info..."marking it" :)

Our ship is scheduled to debark in Vancouver at 7:00am. I realize alot of things can delay that. What is the earliest flight time you would take out of YVR? Is 11am too early if we're among the first to debark the ship (we are Platinum this cruise & generally take early flights out of Florida when cruising in the Caribbean so it isn't stressful for us).

 

Specifically, how long does it take to drive from the port of Vancouver to the airport (by taxi)? And how long to get through security & customs?

Hi Heather. You seem to still be active on the boards, so I hope this gets to you. Did you do that 11:00 flight? How was your experience making it? Would love to hear about it, I'm richs1958@gmail.com.

Wife and I are Carnival Platinum. We did 2 nights in Vancouver in 2010 before an Alaska cruise, so we know our way around there a little. We are on Miracle to Hawaii Apr 10, arriving Vancouver Apr 28 8:00. Scheduled to fly on Delta @ 12:45, but they just changed our MSP connection from leaving 60 minutes after our scheduled arrival to 30 minutes before.

Our only option for same day departure is a 10:40 a.m. flight, YVR-SEA-ATL-TPA. I'm hoping we dock on time, our platinum gets us first off and taxi gets us to airport 9:15 - 9:30. Please share your experience, and also what you think our chance is of getting off ship and thru two customs in less than 2 hrs.

Thanks, Rich S.

Wife and I are Carnival Platinum. We did 2 nights in Vancouver in 2010 before an Alaska cruise, so we know our way around there a little. We are on Miracle to Hawaii Apr 10, arriving Vancouver Apr 28 8:00. Scheduled to fly on Delta @ 12:45, but they just changed our MSP connection from leaving 60 minutes after our scheduled arrival to 30 minutes before.

 

Our only option for same day departure is a 10:40 a.m. flight, YVR-SEA-ATL-TPA. I'm hoping we dock on time, our platinum gets us first off and taxi gets us to airport 9:15 - 9:30. Please share your experience, and also what you think our chance is of getting off ship and thru two customs in less than 2 hrs.

 

Thanks, Rich S.

Can you do a self walk-off so you're first off the ship and don't have to claim your bags at the pier? If possible, also check-in online the day before on the ship and print your boarding passes.

Note that April 28 is a Monday morning and US departures can be very busy with business travelers. Good luck!

p.s. Personally, I would rather change the flight and stay in Vancouver for a day rather than deal with the stress.

RnB - You should be at the airport at least two hours prior an international departure; that would mean 8:40 am in your case. I would not book a flight that early - no way, no how!

RnB - You should be at the airport at least two hours prior an international departure; that would mean 8:40 am in your case. I would not book a flight that early - no way, no how!

For US departures, I believe 2 hours is recommended check-in time, but 60 mins is deadline for check-in and bag drop-off (so, 9:40), and at gate 30 mins. prior. But you're right, if it were me, I wouldn't do it.

A couple of options if you can take a different airline: United 11:04 to TPA, only one stop at Chicago O'Hare; or American via Dallas leaving YVR at 1:40pm arriving 11:59pm.

Vancouver will be happy to have you for a day longer as well...

Vancouver is one of my favorite cities. Rather than rush to the airport, you should consider it your last port of call. There's a reason why Vancouver is constantly in the top 3 "most livable cities" in the world. (the other two are Melbourne and Helsinki)

We may end up taking an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Calgary and then to Chicago. It looks like all the Air Canada flights to Calgary depart from C concourse.

So I assume we would go through customs in Calgary not Vancouver, correct?

It's a noon flight after a 7:30 disembarkation.

Thank you

We may end up taking an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Calgary and then to Chicago. It looks like all the Air Canada flights to Calgary depart from C concourse.

 

So I assume we would go through customs in Calgary not Vancouver, correct?

 

It's a noon flight after a 7:30 disembarkation.

 

Thank you

Regardless of which gate you end up leaving from, a flight to any Canadian destination will not require you to go through US immigration at YVR. All the major airports in Canada have US staff on-site to process you including Calgary (see this map - there's a wee US flag right in the middle for the location)

Although a noon flight should be just fine even if you decide on a route that does go YVR>somewhere in the US>Chicago and would need to go through the extra layer of security & paperwork in YVR.

Regardless of which gate you end up leaving from, a flight to any Canadian destination will not require you to go through US immigration at YVR. All the major airports in Canada have US staff on-site to process you including Calgary (see this map - there's a wee US flag right in the middle for the location)

 

Although a noon flight should be just fine even if you decide on a route that does go YVR>somewhere in the US>Chicago and would need to go through the extra layer of security & paperwork in YVR.

Thank you.