Wow--big difference between Seattle & Vancouver airfare---need help!

[PurrSusan]

We are taking a SB cruise from Whittier to Vancouver. The airfare home from Seattle is so much cheaper than the airfare from Vancouver. What would be the best way to get to Seattle after we get off of the ship? Would it be better just to fly out of Vancouver? Thanks!

[azappraiser]

Amtrak runs both train and bus service to Seattle, for a reasonable fee. There are two train departures... one early in the morning and one late afternoon.

 

Our September cruise also disembarks in Vancouver. We opted to stay a day in BC (post-cruise) to see the sights and are driving a one-way rental to Sea-Tac. I reserved a mid-size car through Alamo for $99.00 per day, with an AARP discount. I then used the 10% discount to add a GPS navigation system.

Our return flight out of Sea-Tac doesn't depart until 8:30pm, which gives us plenty of time to take the scenic route.

[bracket_mom]

We are doing a NB cruise in July and are flying into Seattle then taking the Amtrak Cascades train to Vancouver. Two one-way tickets business class were $90. We paid $26 extra for business class. We planned to have a day and a half in Vancouver before we leave on our cruise. From posts I've seen, there is a ton to do in Vancouver.

 

Visit www.amtrakcascades.com and check out rates and times for trains on the day you want to get to Seattle. One block from the Amtrak station you can catch the light rail to the airport. I think the fare is $2.50.

[mapleleaves]

there are several transportation options including Amtrak and car rental. There are also a couple of bus services. If you go to the West Coast Departures forum there is a recent thread that discusses options.

[Putterdude]

Other than flying you do have several options including:

• car rental which may incur drop charges and waits at the border enter the US.
  
• Quick Coach whose advantage is flexibility.
  
• Amtrak Cascades which is more picturesque and comfortable but with only two trains a day does lack flexibility.
  

[bluemoon2009]

We had are finishing our cruise in Vancouver as well. We looked at all the flights and options before deciding. We have never visited Vancouver or Seattle so we figured either way we would enjoy a new city. We ultimately chose to fly out of Seattle. Flights are cheaper out of Seattle BUT add in how you are getting to Seattle. For us by the time we factored in transportation to Seattle it was the same price. We chose to fly out of Seattle for two reasons, we wouldn't have to go through customs on our flight home and all of the flights out of Vancouver had us changing flights twice. Having to change planes more than once seemed like a pain to me and more opportunity for delays. We decided to take the Quick Shuttle because it has a shuttle that will pick you up at the pier and drop you off either downtown Seattle or at the airport. Ideally we would have liked to take the Amtrak, but the train was either too early or too late. We didn't want to rent a car because we don't know the area that well and we didn't want a huge line at border crossing. I know that there is some risk of a wait at border crossing even with Quick Shuttle, but my fiance and I don't want to drive. I hope this helps! If you are comfortable driving I hear there is lots of pretty stops and scenery from Vancouver to Seattle. I've also heard that Vancouver is a great city. Just take in all of the options and expenses (not just money, but your time and comfort).

[Gardyloo]

If you're going to the east or the south, by the time you get to Seattle from Vancouver you've missed any chance of getting home that night, owing to the 3-hour time change (e.g. if a flight left Seattle at 3 PM + 5 1/2 hours flight time + 3 hours time change = 11:30 PM, so there aren't any.)

 

You can use overnight "red eye" flights to some destinations like JFK or DFW if you need to get to work the next day; otherwise you also need to add an additional hotel night, plus transportation from the train station to the airport. So total all the bits and pieces and see how it compares with flying out of Vancouver.

 

If you are comfortable driving I hear there is lots of pretty stops and scenery from Vancouver to Seattle.

 

Not really, unless you use alternate routes that add at least a couple of hours to the drive.

[scottbee]

We are taking a SB cruise from Whittier to Vancouver. The airfare home from Seattle is so much cheaper than the airfare from Vancouver. What would be the best way to get to Seattle after we get off of the ship? Would it be better just to fly out of Vancouver? Thanks!

 

You can get a flight from YVR-SEA for just over $100, so while all-in pricing might be a lot more from Vancouver; adding an additional ticket might not be. Sadly YVR-SEA is also a little more money than you might expect due to taxes levied on foreign arrivals by the United States; so SEA-YVR is cheaper than the other way around.

[hollon]

I'm ending my cruise in vancouver, I kept checking amtrak, quick coach, etc and finally ended up just going w/ Princess transfers to Seattle. It was still cheaper than flying home from vancouver. Thats including the hotel stay in seattle, Yes, I wanted to stay a little longer in vancouver, but the last train was 5:00 pm and wouldn't get to seattle until 10:00, too late if we got lost/or trouble finding hotel. I know seattle has a light rail that will help. I just got tried of trying to find the cheapest route, princess wasn't that more expensive, but after I end in vancouver, princess takes my luggage on the bus and I don't think we have to take luggage off at checkpoint. Hope this helps.

[markpark]

In 2010, HAL offered a $69 pp bus transfer to SEATAC on day of disembarkation, if I remember correctly. We didn't know about it until day of disembarkation. We chose to stay over one night and took Quick Coach. Would have done Amtrak if the schedule would have been better. Vancouver is a great city to visit. Seattle plus Vancouver is quite a treat.

[BCHappyGal]

Quick Coach also called Quick Shuttle is the easiest way to transfer from a cruise to SEA as they pick you up at the dock and it is direct to SEA with only maybe 1 or 2 stops...

 

I have used them many times and find the buses very comfortable and the ride easy.

[TheCalicoCat]

1. fly from BWI to Seattle

2. stay over night in Seattle

3. Amtrak to Vancouver

4. round trip cruise

5. over night in Vancouver

6. Amtrak (or shuttle) to Seattle

7. fly from Seattle to BWI.

[hexdragon]

Except the start/stop is ROC

 

:D