Vancouver airport to hotel transport

We are flying into Vancouver airport with 2 adults and 2 kids. We need transportation to our hotel with a fair number of bags for cruise and land trip!!

Any taxi companies that do vans?

Uber available?

Other shuttles that are recommended??

Thank you!!

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All taxi companies have minivans - it's a legal requirement to provide a certain % of accessible vehicles. When used by able-bodied folks, plenty of luggage room but only 4 seats, so ideal for you. Same price, $31 to almost all downtown hotels unless you're in a fancy-pants one right by the pier ($35) or the Bayshore/Silvia down near the park ($37). You may have to wait a few extra mins (IIRC, it's 17% of the fleets so you'll see slightly over 4 regular Prius cabs for every van). Prices in CAD, Credit cards accepted, or USD at a poor exchange rate.

Sorry, we don't have Uber in Vancouver as yet.

All taxi companies have minivans - it's a legal requirement to provide a certain % of accessible vehicles. When used by able-bodied folks, plenty of luggage room but only 4 seats, so ideal for you. Same price, $31 to almost all downtown hotels unless you're in a fancy-pants one right by the pier ($35) or the Bayshore/Silvia down near the park ($37). You may have to wait a few extra mins (IIRC, it's 17% of the fleets so you'll see slightly over 4 regular Prius cabs for every van). Prices in CAD, Credit cards accepted, or USD at a poor exchange rate.

Thank you. Are there usually enough for people that need the accessibility? I’d hate to take one from someone in a wheelchair or needing accessible vehicle for some other reason!

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Sorry, we don't have Uber in Vancouver as yet.

Thank you. I was trying to figure out on app but it beat me. :)

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Thank you. Are there usually enough for people that need the accessibility? I’d hate to take one from someone in a wheelchair or needing accessible vehicle for some other reason!

Very good of you to ask! Since there is only one taxi queue, even with just two of us one ride in 5 or 6 is a van by sheer randomness - so if it looks like we might end up with a van we always ask the rest of the queue if anyone needs an accessible vehicle before taking it.

It just struck me I didn't ask about the age of your kids, and any potential car seat requirements... in Vancouver 'professional drivers' are exempt from requiring car seats to be installed, i.e. you can jump in a taxi or limo and go even with little'uns, though of course you may personally feel that regardless of who is behind the wheel a car seat is a necessity - if you do bring your own the cabbies have to allow you to install them WITHOUT running the meter. They get training on - well, basically about not being an a**hole to folks with wheelchairs and car seats! But they do learn how the wheelchair restraints in their cabs work but since kid seats have multiple potential setups all they need to know is where the LATCH anchors are and point that out to you if your seats use those attachments rather than seatbelts.

If you are not bringing seats and would rather err on the side of safety (even the best drivers get pranged, and while Vancouver's are far from the suckiest I've ever encountered they're also generally very blase about speed limits) SkyTrain is your realistic option for safe travel to downtown. There's ample luggage space, flat floors with tiny gaps in all stations so rolling on luggage, strollers etc is a doddle, and the ticket machines are not very hard to figure out - if your kids are 14+ and paying adult fares (Student discounts require a LOCAL student ID card), a cab can actually be a little cheaper to a downtown hotel ($9.10pp peak fare, $7.85pp off peak) but if they're 5-13 Concessions tickets drop those prices about a buck a pop and <5s are free, so you usually save a few bucks taking SkyTrain as a family.

Depending on hotel location SkyTrain can involve a walk of up to a mile or more - always on sidewalks, and rarely much of a slope, but still a factor to consider. Shuttle companies that pick up at YVR itself are gone - killed by SkyTrain - so non-transit bus options to your hotel are not really an option.

It just struck me I didn't ask about the age of your kids, and any potential car seat requirements... in Vancouver 'professional drivers' are exempt from requiring car seats to be installed, i.e. you can jump in a taxi or limo and go even with little'uns, though of course you may personally feel that regardless of who is behind the wheel a car seat is a necessity - if you do bring your own the cabbies have to allow you to install them WITHOUT running the meter. They get training on - well, basically about not being an a**hole to folks with wheelchairs and car seats! But they do learn how the wheelchair restraints in their cabs work but since kid seats have multiple potential setups all they need to know is where the LATCH anchors are and point that out to you if your seats use those attachments rather than seatbelts.

 

 

 

If you are not bringing seats and would rather err on the side of safety (even the best drivers get pranged, and while Vancouver's are far from the suckiest I've ever encountered they're also generally very blase about speed limits) SkyTrain is your realistic option for safe travel to downtown. There's ample luggage space, flat floors with tiny gaps in all stations so rolling on luggage, strollers etc is a doddle, and the ticket machines are not very hard to figure out - if your kids are 14+ and paying adult fares (Student discounts require a LOCAL student ID card), a cab can actually be a little cheaper to a downtown hotel ($9.10pp peak fare, $7.85pp off peak) but if they're 5-13 Concessions tickets drop those prices about a buck a pop and <5s are free, so you usually save a few bucks taking SkyTrain as a family.

 

 

 

Depending on hotel location SkyTrain can involve a walk of up to a mile or more - always on sidewalks, and rarely much of a slope, but still a factor to consider. Shuttle companies that pick up at YVR itself are gone - killed by SkyTrain - so non-transit bus options to your hotel are not really an option.

Thankfully they are big enough for small travel boosters now which makes travel easier. Thanks for all your help!

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Thank you. Are there usually enough for people that need the accessibility? I’d hate to take one from someone in a wheelchair or needing accessible vehicle for some other reason!

 

 

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There are taxis lined up by YVR or you can take the Train Canada Line right at YVR to Waterfront Station and walk a block to the pier.

Handy Dart for those needing accessible transportation

https://www.translink.ca/Rider-Guide/Accessible-Transit/HandyDART.aspx