Can we make an 11am flight home from Vancouver?

[Suzcruz57]

It seems so convenient, non stop. Other flights leave at 8pm arriving home the next day. Help!

[FOPMan]

 The airport recommends arriving 3 hours prior to flight time for flights to the anywhere but within Canada, and 2 hours for domestic flights.

 

If you walked off your bags at 7:00-7:15, you might make it if everything went smoothly.

 

[Cruise Junky]

Absolutely everything would have to go right for you to make that flight.  How many other ships are in Vancouver? 

[Roz]

@Suzcruz57, I suggest you book a  HAL airport transfer that includes a tour of Vancouver.  That will cut down on the time you spend in the airport if you book a later flight. 

[sunviking90]

Day of the week, number of other ships, etc will affect that. Can you walk off with your bags? As long as you can be at YVR by 8am then yes. It is a 30 minute drive, or you can take skytrain which is a little faster, but about 10 minutes to walk over to the station.
Living in Vancouver, we usually arrive at YVR 2.5 to 3 hrs hours early for US flights and we have Nexus. We usually have plenty of time, however, I am assuming your flight is an AC flight (the only non-stop I think) to Florida and I find their check in, bag check process to be very chaotic even if you are already “checked in”. They have self serve kiosks, which never seem to work for me and I have to line up anyway. I wouldn’t do it if you have bags to check. 

Getting to Florida from Vancouver and back is a pain for sure, and you’ll generally always arrive really late with the 3 hour time difference. For many years there were no no-stops. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by sunviking90

[Copper10-8]

I wouldn't do it either, waaay too much anxiety! Plus Canada Place does not have the smoothest disembarkation process at this time, especially with multiple ships in port. We had three total a week ago last Sunday and it all seemed kinda hectic once off the good ol' Nieuw Amsterdam

 

Just an FYI if you wind up taking a HAL airport bus to YVR. We did it one week ago yesterday during the Vancouver marathon. Once the buses reach the airport, instead of directly going to the terminals, they go to a "holding lot", pretty sure somewhere off Miller Road near the cargo area. The driver explained it as "the terminal area is so busy that they're (YVR) are making us go to this holding area until we get clearance to proceed to the terminals" The wait/hold there was not that long - about 10 minutes - but there was only one other bus with us in that lot. Don't know what it will look like and how long the hold will be when it's really busy. Not sure how long this procedure has been in place; maybe a Vancouver local will know

 

A really positive thing about YVR is that they have really cleaned up/managed the line to go through pre-clearance with U.S. CBP (Customs & Border Protection). Last time we flew out of YVR - pre-Covid - that line was the mother of all lines, slinking its way from the ticket counters/airline check-in, all the way to the front windows of the terminal building. That bad boy took at least 30-45 min. to reach a point where a sign said "Nexus pax this way" Wish we had known that one, now we do! A week ago Sunday, there was no line whatsoever inside the terminal check-in area and the entire CBP facial recognition/see the CBP agent/local security screening process took about 30 min. total. Great job YVR!

 

I second the suggestion about taking the HAL Vancouver city tour/airport transport bus when taking a later flight. It applies to disembarking pax who have flights of 2:00 pm or later. Besides, YVR is one of the nicest airports inside once you have cleared CBP and security screening. Lots of stuff to see and do

 

Good luck to you in your decisions!  

Edited May 15, 2023 by Copper10-8

[Alberta Quilter]

Could you stay the night in Vancouver, or near the airport, and take the earlier flight the next day?  Then you get home at a reasonable time of day but reduce the anxiety.  Of course, it will cost money to that...

[bennybear]

33 minutes ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Could you stay the night in Vancouver, or near the airport, and take the earlier flight the next day?  Then you get home at a reasonable time of day but reduce the anxiety.  Of course, it will cost money to that...

Great advice,   Vancouver is a great city to explore and the restaurants….

[visagrunt]

Even if everything works in your favour at Canada Place and your ride to the airport, you are still arriving at the busiest time of day not only for YVR but also for transborder flights.  You need to get through printing your baggage tags, bag drop before security and US pre-clearance. 

Priority security exists for Nexus card holders, Visa Infinite Privilege, business class and certain frequent flyer elites (depends upon the airline).  

Preclearance can be a mixed bag.  Even with Nexus, Global Entry or MPC you may still be looking at a moderate delay.

I would only try it with hand baggage only and a Nexus card.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

That's very tight.

[robotpony]

11AM would be cutting it too close for us, and the HAL airport transfer can be quite slow.

 

It's anywhere from 30-60 minutes from the cruise port to the airport, and it can take 30-45 minutes to get out of the cruise port. Check in and security at Vancouver airport can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 200 minutes, depending on the day, so I recommend arriving 3 hours for international flights on any commonly busy days.

 

Assuming the worst and assuming you disembark at 9AM, an afternoon flight (2-3PM) is the safest bet, or grab a room at one of the lovely hotels in the area and leave at your leisure the next day!

[Ottawa traveller]

2 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Not sure how long this procedure has been in place;

the holding lot for buses was being used last August.

[rodndonna]

I'll be the odd one out - I would say if it was "me" I would do it, but not sure I would recommend it for someone else without knowing them.

 

We are still in good health and very mobile (even with luggage) and are at least familiar with Vancouver and the skytrain (which is a very short walk from the cruise terminal and gets you to the airport in 30 minutes  and leaves every 10 minutes or so.

 

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by rodndonna
typo

[3rdGenCunarder]

5 hours ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Could you stay the night in Vancouver, or near the airport, and take the earlier flight the next day?  Then you get home at a reasonable time of day but reduce the anxiety.  Of course, it will cost money to that...

 

That's what I did. The only NS flight for me was impossibly early, maybe 8 AM, so I had no choice. I stayed at the airport hotel for convenience, but I could have stayed for much less a short cab ride away. I took a taxi to the hotel--this was a Cunard cruise, so I had an extra bag for the "posh frocks," no way I could manage on skytrain. I checked in at the hotel, and then went exploring two lovely botanical gardens, all easy to do by public transportation. 

 

I agree with @Copper10-8 that the clearance for the US CBP was easy. It was nice to land at Newark and not have to go through it there.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

Still have nightmares about my one Vancouver airport experience. If everything went absolutely once in a lifetime perfectly, the answer would still almost always be no.

Edited May 16, 2023 by Cruising Is Bliss

[hikergirl]

If you do decide to try to make this flight, you should hand carry your bags off the ship. This past weekend self carry passengers could leave the ship at 7:45 am.  We left our cabin at 7:40, but all the elevators were full when they reached our floor. We carried them down the steps. Sure wish we packed lighter!  We walked straight from the ship and took a taxi to the airport, which took 30 minutes. Check in and security weren’t too bad as we beat all the bus passengers. Frankly, even though it was smooth for us, I wouldn’t book a 11:00 am flight.

[PNWcruzin]

I would follow the recommended, and stay the night. We flew out of YVR two years ago and due to several airport check points within the airport it took us almost three hours from when we arrived at the airport to make it to the gate. One suggestion if you don't want to stay the night, is seeing about changing your flight to a connecting flight. You will have many flights to choose from starting at 1 pm, that's what we did, and glad we did

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by PNWcruzin

[Colorado Klutch]

As a data point, I was aboard Koningsdam this past Saturday when it pulled into Canada Place. Scheduled arrival time was 7:00 AM. We were docked at around 7:10. At around 7:30 we heard the announcement that those who were carrying their own bags could depart. 

My cabin was on deck 5. The gangway was on deck 3. Every single elevator going down was full. Furthermore, cranky passengers would yell at us when the doors opened. "Elevator is full!". Wow, sorry to interrupt your descent...

In retrospect, my group of 5 should have grabbed an elevator going up. Then, when it got it to the top, I could have yelled at those people, "Elevator is full!". (Maybe even added a nice raspberry for effect.)

I was only the one in my group capable of carrying bags. So I humped five large bags down two decks. Then we were right outside the gangway. We walked right off into the cruise port.

Once we were in the cruise port, there was a big sign almost immediately which directed people to "CABS". I told one of the very nice people directing people traffic I needed a cab for five. She directed us to wait next to "Spot 1" in the parking garage. There was a very long parade of cabs arriving non-stop. Within 2 minutes a van pulled up and the driver loaded our luggage. We piled in and headed to the airport. 

By 9:00 AM we were checked in for our 12:40 flight, but we were told it was too early to check bags. We had to wait 20 minutes to drop our bags. (Vancouver airport still uses a 1950s system where you drag your bags behind the ticket counter and drop it on a conveyor back there.)

 

We had plenty of time to get breakfast at a cafe' in Terminal E. 

That was my experience. 

[hikergirl]

30 minutes ago, Colorado Klutch said:

My cabin was on deck 5. The gangway was on deck 3. Every single elevator going down was full. Furthermore, cranky passengers would yell at us when the doors opened. "Elevator is full!". Wow, sorry to interrupt your descent...

In retrospect, my group of 5 should have grabbed an elevator going up. Then, when it got it to the top, I could have yelled at those people, "Elevator is full!". (Maybe even added a nice raspberry for effect.)

We experienced the same as you. We were on this ship, deck 5 (aft), and were also waiting for the elevator, but it was full when it reached our floor. My spouse carried the bags down to 3. Oh well. Everything worked smoothly after that, there was hardly anyone waiting for a taxi, and the airport was pretty quiet at 8:30. (Isn't it funny that in Alaska we had beautiful weather, but Colorado Springs had record breaking rain!?)

[Colorado Klutch]

3 minutes ago, hikergirl said:

We experienced the same as you. We were on this ship, deck 5 (aft), and were also waiting for the elevator, but it was full when it reached our floor. My spouse carried the bags down to 3. Oh well. Everything worked smoothly after that, there was hardly anyone waiting for a taxi, and the airport was pretty quiet at 8:30. (Isn't it funny that in Alaska we had beautiful weather, but Colorado Springs had record breaking rain!?)

 

Tell me about it. It rained so hard at my house I got water in through a window in my basement. That's never happened before. Still cleaning it up...

Edited May 16, 2023 by Colorado Klutch

[Dismomx5]

We had an 11:00 domestic flight 10 days ago. I changed it to a later flight because I didn't want to end my cruise by being stressed. When the transfer bus stopped in the parking lot to wait, I said to DH, "I'm so glad that I changed the flight because I would have been beside myself" [at that point]. Once inside YVR, everything went quickly and smoothly....and we had time for some eating, because, you know....we hadn't eaten enough the 3 weeks prior. 🤣

[martincath]

27 minutes ago, Colorado Klutch said:

...Vancouver airport still uses a 1950s system where you drag your bags behind the ticket counter and drop it on a conveyor back there....

Actually we are the most advanced airport on the continent; those kiosks that are now all over the place making immigration much faster were invented and piloted right here. The only folks who have to use the extra old-school bag drop are US-bound pre-clearance pax... because that's the way CBP want it done, with those bags completely separated into their own system away from all of the other bags. The pre-kiosk conveyor bag drop is a big improvement - back in the day we had to hand-carry all suitcases to see CBP in Toronto, only able to drop them after we had been screened, no baggage carts even allowed in the room! Fly to any other country, or within Canada, and the usual modern check-in with conveyor belt right behind the desks is what you'll experience.

 

As to OPs situation - can you make an 11am flight? Yes, easily, even on a three ship day provided that you self-disembark. Cruise transfer buses are the slowest AND most expensive way to get to YVR (per-person, even limos cost less unless you're hiring a stretch for like 2 people!) but even cabs get iffy if you have to wait to collect your bags on the pier before joining the queue, you can easily wait an hour for a cab on a busy day at the pier.

 

But if you can carry your own bags off this means you can also handle SkyTrain - while the best advice is definitely to stay overnight, as we're an awesome city to spend a day or twelve in - you will almost certainly be at YVR by 8:30am if you take SkyTrain, and most likely before 9am if you take a cab (with only fellow self-disembarkers the cab queue will probably only add a few minutes; SkyTrain avoids both cab queue and all traffic issues, it even has its own bridge to the airport, so while it is sometimes only AS fast as a cab it is consistent to within a couple of minutes every trip)

 

3 hour delays at YVR, even for US-bound flights only happen when there are major staffing issues (fixed since last year), on multi-ship days from ~10am until early afternoon, or when some incredibly rare issue like a massive power cut or YVR computer systems failure happens (which put any flight at risk until mid-afternoon!)

 

TL;DR - stay overnight if you have the time and money, but if not then book the 11am flight with confidence IF you can carry all your own bags around.

[3rdGenCunarder]

48 minutes ago, Colorado Klutch said:

In retrospect, my group of 5 should have grabbed an elevator going up. Then, when it got it to the top, I could have yelled at those people, "Elevator is full!". (Maybe even added a nice raspberry for effect.)

 

I have taken an "up" elevator to go down a few times. But I prefer to shrug apologetically rather than yell at people. I've had the angry "Elevator is full" yelled at me too many times, so I can't bring myself to do it to others.

 

48 minutes ago, Colorado Klutch said:

By 9:00 AM we were checked in for our 12:40 flight, but we were told it was too early to check bags. We had to wait 20 minutes to drop our bags. (Vancouver airport still uses a 1950s system where you drag your bags behind the ticket counter and drop it on a conveyor back there.)

 

I hate that system. Depending on where the check-in desk is, that can be a long drag. And IIRC, it was over a carpeted area, much harder to roll luggage than on a smooth floor.

[Colorado Klutch]

1 minute ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I have taken an "up" elevator to go down a few times. But I prefer to shrug apologetically rather than yell at people. I've had the angry "Elevator is full" yelled at me too many times, so I can't bring myself to do it to others.

 

Of course, you are correct. I was just kidding. But it is fun to imagine revenge! 

Similarly, I was in a full elevator on a previous day when my phone rang. I was amazed I actually had a signal and it was my wife. I answered it and some big guy in the back pushed me aside and stormed out of elevator when the doors opened. I imagined following him around shouting, "Wow, what a big, strong, impressive man you are! It was so amazing how easily you pushed me out of the way to force yourself out of the elevator!". 😄

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 minutes ago, martincath said:

but even cabs get iffy if you have to wait to collect your bags on the pier before joining the queue, you can easily wait an hour for a cab on a busy day at the pier.

 

I waited about an hour last June. There was some Humongous of the Seas also disembarking passengers and the queue was very long. First time I was sorry I didn't do the cruise line bus. Fortunately, I was staying an extra day, so I wasn't in danger of missing a flight.