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Recs for Vancouver Shuttle Service to Airport


cctimmom
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I am looking for a recommendation for a shuttle/car service to the Vancouver airport -- staying at a hotel close to the port and flying home the day after we get off the ship. We are a group of 6 adults (with 2 weeks' worth of suitcases) with a flight back to the US around 9am (also wondering how early we need to be at the airport).

 

Thanks!

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Just call two cabs for 6am (preorder through local taxi app if you have smartphones, or have hotel book them for you if not).

 

All companies use same rates by law - ballpark $35 on the meter, although likely a bit less early o'clock as no traffic. Only sensible alternative is an Aerocar limo - they have 6-8 pax SUVs that cost a bit more than a cab, but fixed rate based on zones. There are other limo companies, but these are the only people in the city allowed to charge for less than the legal minimum 1 hour hire - only to and from the airport though. Everyone else is required to charge more than they do, and reviews of all local limos are a bit random so there's no qualitative reason to risk paying more.

 

Local shuttle companies all pretty much folded by 2010 due to SkyTrain line opening to airport - one company hung on doing cruise transfers until a year ago then went belly-up. Apparently they've been replaced by another, but I have no idea how good/bad/well-run the new one is, and unless they can somehow make money where nobody else could doing point to point transfers you'd have to get back to the pier after your hotel stay to use them anyway!

 

US-bound pax are recommend by YVR to be 3 hours early - but that's only needed when fighting fellow cruise pax on multiple-ship days. Since nobody can get off an arriving vessel until at least 7am, and then they have to do customs/travel to YVR, getting to the airport before 8am means you don't have to worry about hordes of disembarking cruisers - if you arrive even 2 hours early you'll probably get through check-in, security, and immigration preclearance in time to still have to waste an hour or more at your gate. Ballpark 30min drive from most downtown hotels, so even a 6:30am pickup should be enough padding - but 6am allows nervous flyers to have a bit of extra time, and can even handle a disaster like a flat tire/no-show cab that means having to call another.

 

Uber MIGHT be operating later this year - if so, without surge pricing they'll almost certainly be cheaper than a cab and you MIGHT find some UberXL vehicles big enough to fit all of you. That's several contingent maybes though, so I'd just keep it simple and plan to take a couple of cabs!!!

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