Canberra to Vancouver via San Francisco and/or Portland

[willsaway]

Booked Serenade for a 7 night Alaska inside passage from 23 Aug 2020. Unfortunately Qantas direct flight to Vancouver does not operate post 1 August.  However, they do fly from Brisbane to San Francisco, and I can get frequent flyer seats from Canberra for my preferred date.  Has anyone chosen this way to getting to the US, or been to SF before, and then trained or flown to Vancouver.  Quite like the idea of flying from SF to Portland and getting Amtrak Cascades the whole way, but even flights from SF to Vancouver are relatively inexpensive.  Looking for imput/suggestions please.

[MicCanberra]

I have looked at driving myself from SF to Seattle over a few weeks but that is the closest I have come, I didn't look at flights.

I like the idea of seeing more of a country than just cruise ports and airports.

[Suzbluz]

We flew Qantas to Vancouver in December 2016. couldn't fly direct so went via Sydney and LA. The LA Vancouver leg was my favourite flight ever, I could not take my eyes off the changing landscape below. It really was beautiful. San Fransisco is a great city, well worth a visit. 

[Gnomey]

We went early season and caught a repositioning cruise from LA to Vancouver, but you are going later in the season so that wont work. We also considered the train to Seattle from LA, but a lot of that ride was going to be in the dark. I believe the coastal train to Vancouver from Seattle is very scenic, also considered that too. Domestic flights in the USA can be very cheap. Coming back from Alaska we flew with JetBlue from Seattle to Long Beach and as said above, it was a really scenic flight. A window seat is recommended. As also mentioned above, if you can spend extra time in SanFrancisco it would be well worth it. A very busy but super scenic area, for a City. Lots to see there. We also flew JetBlue from Anchorage to Seattle and thought they were very good. We were given a "free" drink and snack which is apparently something you don't usually get in USA! Hope this helps.

 

Steve.

[mr walker]

When we went to Canada to travel on self-drive tour (9N) of Canadian Rockies, we flew Syd-Vancouver-Calgary on Air Canada. Option was to go via LA, but I would always try and avoid transiting thru LAX.

 

Our Alaskan cruise that follows the driving trip departed from Seattle. We caught the Amtrak train Vancouver-Seattle & can thoroughly recommend it. Wonderful scenery & it was actually one of the highlights of our Rockies/Alaska/Hawaii bucket-list trip.

[MicCanberra]

I would try and avoid LAX as well. I have flown into DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) instead which was much better.

[lyndarra]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

I would try and avoid LAX as well. I have flown into DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) instead which was much better.

I agree. We flew Sydney to Ft Worth then to Calgary. Heaps better than going through LAX. Although our luggage got delayed. It was during extensive renovations which, I would assume, have been completed by now. I remember the flight well as it was our first time with Delta. Doing self check in in Sydney I had a look, (mainly from curiosity as it was an option) to see if there was any chance of a Business class upgrade. There was. AUD630 each. Thank you very much, we'll take it! Made the 15 hour flight much more comfortable.

[MicCanberra]

51 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

I agree. We flew Sydney to Ft Worth then to Calgary. Heaps better than going through LAX. Although our luggage got delayed. It was during extensive renovations which, I would assume, have been completed by now. I remember the flight well as it was our first time with Delta. Doing self check in in Sydney I had a look, (mainly from curiosity as it was an option) to see if there was any chance of a Business class upgrade. There was. AUD630 each. Thank you very much, we'll take it! Made the 15 hour flight much more comfortable.

good work.

[IslandThyme]

Since I was born in San Francisco, have lived in Portland, and now live near Seattle, I do have some thoughts for you. (I'm flying down to Sydney later this month: Seattle - San Francisco - Auckland - Sydney.) 

 

First, I agree with everyone who counsels avoiding LAX if at all possible. The train from Seattle to Vancouver is indeed very scenic, and the train from Portland to Seattle is pretty nice as well. The train doesn't actually go into San Francisco itself, so from SFO I imagine that you'd be taking a bus to Oakland to catch the train. If the train is running more or less on time, you wake up in the morning to some gorgeous scenery.

 

But if you do decide to train it, be sure to leave yourself an extra day. The Cascades train, like all of Amtrak, is subject to frequent delays, because they don't actually own the track and so are often displaced by freight trains.

 

The drive from San Francisco to Vancouver is breathtaking, and very long. It's only worthwhile if you drive slowly up the coast. Inland on the I-5 is tedious and heavily trafficked in many areas. If you have a week or 10 days to drive up the coast, go for it! If time would limit you to the inland highway, I'd fly.

[MicCanberra]

Great advice, cheers.

[Sparky74]

Last night I booked an Alaskan cruise!  

21st August 2020, Radiance OTS,  7 nights, Vancouver to Anchorage. 

The information in this thread is very helpful. 

I'll investigate flying to Seattle and then the train to Vancouver. 

We have 8 weeks holiday next year and have already booked to sail home on Serenade OTS from Hawaii. Much more civilised than a long flight at the end of our holiday. 

[sewgood]

Here are some photos from when we were on the train.

I'm sorry about the quality of some of the photos but they were taken through the window of a fast moving train.

The train did slow down when we went through White Rock so we could get a good look at the eagles on the beach.

Some of them flew really close to the window.

It was a memorable trip on the cassades train.

We went business class and for the extra $20 it was worth every penny.

There were only three seats across the carriage (they were very padded )

so it was very comfortable.

[sewgood]

If you love beautiful old buildings the Seattle train station is worth a look at.

[SeaDog-46]

Air NZ has a direct service from Auckland to Vancouver most days of the week.

 

[gbenjo]

June just gone,  we flew Hawaiin Airlines to to Seattle ( visit to Boeing  factory)via Honolulu  and then took a coach to Vancouver  for our Alaskan cruise. Apart from a fairly tight connection time due to US Customs in Honolulu we found the flights excellent and the coach to Vancouver ( about three hours) was a great way of seeing the countryside  between Seattle and Vancouver.  Just another option for you to consider.