Amtrak Cascades fro Seattle to Vancouver

[afdds]

Hi everyone, We booked Kogingsdam from Vancouver in 2024.  I would like to use my Southwest airline Companion pass into Seattle.  Has anyone taken the Amtrak Cascades into Vancouver?  Or would it be better to take a Canadian Airline flight?  I don’t mind the time on the train. Just thought the scenery might be nice. 

[psuboater]

I've taken this route and have loved it. Are you trying to take the train same day as when you're leaving however? I'd leave at least an overnight from taking the train to boarding the cruise. They're usually reliable and on time, but that route is prone to mudslides in the fall/spring. 
 

Otherwise, it's a relaxing way to get between the two cities, with a lot of the route right on the water. 

[gregma60]

7 minutes ago, psuboater said:

I've taken this route and have loved it. Are you trying to take the train same day as when you're leaving however? I'd leave at least an overnight from taking the train to boarding the cruise. They're usually reliable and on time, but that route is prone to mudslides in the fall/spring. 
 

Otherwise, it's a relaxing way to get between the two cities, with a lot of the route right on the water. 

How is the luggage with the train?  One checked in bag, one carryon bag, one backpack each.

 

-gregma

[DaveOKC]

11 minutes ago, gregma60 said:

How is the luggage with the train?  One checked in bag, one carryon bag, one backpack each.

 

-gregma

Luggage not a problem.  Check in the large bag at the station, carry the others on.

 

[Northern Aurora]

We also have taken the train.  Lovely scenery.  Folks keep their carry-on luggage with them and large bags are checked.  Once the train reaches Vancouver the cars disembark by each car, with the luggage lined up and very easy to locate.

 

It is also very easy to fly.  Alaska Airlines/Horizon have multiple daily flights from Seattle to Vancouver.

[afdds]

4 hours ago, psuboater said:

I've taken this route and have loved it. Are you trying to take the train same day as when you're leaving however? I'd leave at least an overnight from taking the train to boarding the cruise. They're usually reliable and on time, but that route is prone to mudslides in the fall/spring. 
 

Otherwise, it's a relaxing way to get between the two cities, with a lot of the route right on the water. 

I’m thinking fly in early to Seattle , take the train that afternoon and spend two nights in Vancouver.  For some reason , I’m just not comfortable doing only an overnight.  Never know what might happen.  On the other hand hotels are crazy expensive in Vancouver compared to Galveston , Tx

[Meander Ingwa]

if you have the time and the ability , the train is a great choice.  Sit on left side northbound and right on southbound.  I love a train ride

 

you are correct about the hotel prices but a large international urban hub city is different from Galveston.  If you are willing/ able/ comfortable to use public transit to get around you can likely fine a more economical hotel choice outside to Canada Place downtown core.  Check out places at English Bay just west of the downtown core

[martincath]

The train is a nice trip, and of all possible ways to cross the border the least annoying unless you have NEXUS (no special treatment northbound, stuck like everyone else until your carriage is released to meet CBSA at the station, but at least the worst-case is you are the last carriage on your train and it takes a half hour to get cleared, unlike at YVR when who knows how many other planes might be landing about the same time as yours!)

 

The only issue is the inefficiency of combining two separately booked travel legs same day - between now and next year the flight schedule could change multiple times, and even if the flight you end up on still has ample padding to meet the evening train your time in Seattle is going to be extremely variable. If the train is on-time you will not be in your hotel until after 11pm - already very long travel day if you're heading to your home airport in the wee small hours - and the evening train is sometimes very late (we've arrived at 2am in the past, as soon as the train slips out of its scheduled 'pocket' between freight it leads to a cascading series of being held in stations for another freight train to pass you on multiple occasions).

 

Personally, since you indicate you plan 2 nights pre-cruise, I'd book one night in a Seattle hotel and the morning train the day after - it's much more likely to be on time as it starts in Seattle rather than coming up from Oregon, and even if your flight ends up very late you won't miss the train. Seattle has plenty  to enjoy in a day there, and you'll really only be giving up one morning in Vancouver due to the swap from evening to morning train with an ETA of before noon. If you sensibly board the ship as late as possible on embarkation day you can easily find an extra five hours to see more of Vancouver, more than you lose on the train ride (and you'll be able to see the views the whole way - even in late June with sunset ~9:30pm the evening train has at least an hour of darkness on the ride).

[rover16]

Have done the reverse, YVR to SEA twice and loved it.

[CoW mAn]

The train is lovely and you can upgrade to business class for cheap

[gregma60]

54 minutes ago, CoW mAn said:

The train is lovely and you can upgrade to business class for cheap

IF business class isn't sold out. 😞   Ask me how I know 🙂

 

-gregma

[9tee2Sea]

On 8/9/2023 at 6:58 AM, afdds said:

Hi everyone, We booked Kogingsdam from Vancouver in 2024.  I would like to use my Southwest airline Companion pass into Seattle.  Has anyone taken the Amtrak Cascades into Vancouver?  Or would it be better to take a Canadian Airline flight?  I don’t mind the time on the train. Just thought the scenery might be nice. 

this may sound stupid, but MAKE sure the train you are booking is for Vancouver BC, NOT Vancouver Wa.  Made that mistake once when I was waiting in Vancouver BC to board the train back to Seattle.  I wondered why I had found a good time for the Amtrak to leave post cruise, turns out I booked my ticket to leave from Vancouver Wa.  The Amtrak folks were really nice and helpful in changing everything around ( I got the bus back to Seattle).  They said that happens very often.

[afdds]

1 hour ago, 9tee2Sea said:

this may sound stupid, but MAKE sure the train you are booking is for Vancouver BC, NOT Vancouver Wa.  Made that mistake once when I was waiting in Vancouver BC to board the train back to Seattle.  I wondered why I had found a good time for the Amtrak to leave post cruise, turns out I booked my ticket to leave from Vancouver Wa.  The Amtrak folks were really nice and helpful in changing everything around ( I got the bus back to Seattle).  They said that happens very often.

Oh no, that would be awful.  Thanks for the heads up.  Right now, I can't find a time that works unless I stay a night in Seattle or an extra night in Vancouver upon our return.  Extra night means for $ for the hotel and extra dog kennel night for our boys.  Looking like I just need to book roundtrip airfare from SA, TX to Vancouver.  But not giving up on the train just yet.  I want the train the whole way , not part train and part bus.  

[psuboater]

2 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

this may sound stupid, but MAKE sure the train you are booking is for Vancouver BC, NOT Vancouver Wa.  Made that mistake once when I was waiting in Vancouver BC to board the train back to Seattle.  I wondered why I had found a good time for the Amtrak to leave post cruise, turns out I booked my ticket to leave from Vancouver Wa.  The Amtrak folks were really nice and helpful in changing everything around ( I got the bus back to Seattle).  They said that happens very often.

This happened to me in 2019 and I'm a local!  Our Uber got stuck behind a major accident on the way to the train station, so we were panicking to make our train. We run into the station to find out that yes, we could make it, but also it was to Vancouver, WA. The Canadian Vancouver train was sold out and had been for months. We had to get an uber back home and drive to Vancouver.

 

Lesson learned -- if Amtrak doesn't ask you for your passport information when booking, it's the wrong Vancouver 🙂

[GTJ]

4 hours ago, afdds said:

Right now, I can't find a time that works unless I stay a night in Seattle or an extra night in Vancouver upon our return. * * * I want the train the whole way , not part train and part bus.  

The Cascades connection to and from Vancouver misses connections with the Coast Starlight at Seattle in both directions. I think it is because Amtrak does not want to create reliability issues with the Cascades in having to wait for the frequently-delayed long-distance train. It is unlikely that you will be able to avoid the issue of having to spend a night if you're looking to travel the entire distance, between San Antonio and Vancouver, by railroad. However, if the concern is more a matter of cost than it is the trip duration, then you might want to consider connecting at a city other than Seattle, where hotel costs could be lower. Note that the Coast Starlight overlaps with the Cascades route between Eugene, Oregon, and Seattle, so any station within that overlap zone is a potential overnight connecting point, at least if it is acceptable to arrive in Vancouver on the late night train, and to depart from Vancouver on the early morning train. (For example, alight from the northbound Coast Starlight at Kelso, Washington, scheduled to arrive at 4:51 p.m. but probably running late, stay overnight at America's Best Value Inn a few blocks north of the station for $83, then continue the next day on the Cascades train to Vancouver that departs Kelso at 3:56 p.m.)

[CoW mAn]

22 hours ago, gregma60 said:

IF business class isn't sold out. 😞   Ask me how I know 🙂

 

-gregma

The cost of it being cheap I guess. Also pent up demand as that line was shut down for a couple years during the pandemic and only somewhat recently re-opened

[gregma60]

1 hour ago, CoW mAn said:

The cost of it being cheap I guess. Also pent up demand as that line was shut down for a couple years during the pandemic and only somewhat recently re-opened

Oh I know.  And of course our original one we booked months ago to leave on the 22nd (we were getting to Vancouver one day before the cruise) turned into adding an additional day to leave on the 21st last week.  Yup, sold out.  Hopefully me and the wife will be able to sit together somewhere, but at least we have business on our way back!  Funny thing is, I just got an email from Amtrak offering us to "bid" on getting upgraded to business class for an extra $20 per person...  lol

 

-gregma

[Prost Seattle]

On 8/17/2023 at 7:41 AM, 9tee2Sea said:

this may sound stupid, but MAKE sure the train you are booking is for Vancouver BC, NOT Vancouver Wa.  Made that mistake once when I was waiting in Vancouver BC to board the train back to Seattle.  I wondered why I had found a good time for the Amtrak to leave post cruise, turns out I booked my ticket to leave from Vancouver Wa.  The Amtrak folks were really nice and helpful in changing everything around ( I got the bus back to Seattle).  They said that happens very often.

The city code for booking your ticket to Vancouver BC is VAC.  I take the cascades frequently to Bellingham, WA (last stop before Vancouver).  What I’ve recommended to folks (because I’m a Bellingham cheerleader) is take the morning train to Bellingham, spend some time there (I absolutely love Fairhaven) then take the late train to Vancouver.  Of course, Bellingham isn’t Vancouver, but it’s still got it’s charms!

[gregma60]

We lost our business class as we rescheduled to a day earlier.  Train is 100% full now, and I'm worried my and my wife won't be able to sit together?  Train starts in portland and we are getting on between seattle and Bellingham, so near the end.  They don't add coach cars when the train gets to 100% do they?  

 

-gregma

[martincath]

The train does sometimes vary in length @gregma60, but that's more seasonal than situational - there are limited numbers of the Talgo sets, they can't mix & match with regular Amtrak rolling stock and don't have many if any spare Talgos (when they have their annual service, the train becomes a regular Amtrak setup with the Highliner carriages for a while, IIRC late Fall/early Winter).

 

I will say though that at least a few folks ride it to Bellingham and other stations further south without crossing the border, and I've yet to hear of Amtrak ever over-selling, so there will be seats if you booked. If you are separated, just ask each of the pax already sitting in the other of your pair of seats to swap so you and the missus can ride together - regular economy are 2:2 rather than 1:2 in business, there aren't single seats for us plebs! - and if either is Canadian you're near guaranteed success 😉

[disneyochem]

We were just on the Cascade train earlier this month—both northbound and southbound—and the train was 100% full.  The conductors tried to designate certain cars on the train for different destinations in order to allow folks to find seats more readily.  A couple of coach cars were suppose to be for those passengers going to Vancouver while another car was for those getting on/off in Bellingham.  But, being in business class, I’m not sure if it was enforced.  I do know that the conductors were telling folks to be flexible and to be prepared to move seats to accommodate travelers who were traveling together.  I heard one woman ask the conductor to help find seats for her family.

 

[gregma60]

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement!  Good information about the coaches, never knew that there were two different types and aren't mix-matched.  If I were in charge, as soon as a train came say 85%, I'd add a coach car or business class car. More passengers, more money.  I guess they are limited though to number of free coaches available!

 

-gregma

[Prost Seattle]

I travel the route between Seattle and Bellingham about 5-6 times a year, I wouldn’t recommend business class.  You get a $3 coupon and a slightly wider seat, but that’s it, and you pay a lot more money for it.  If you get on in Everett, Stanwood or Mt. Vernon you may not initially get seats together when the train is 100% full, but a lot of people get off in Bellingham, and you’ll be able to snag seats together then.  If you can’t get together initially, go to the club car and you can have a cup of coffee or whatnot and then you’ll be able to be together. 

 

Also, lately the Seattle to Vancouver route hasn’t been on the Talgo trainsets for a while. 

[GTJ]

5 hours ago, Prost Seattle said:

I travel the route between Seattle and Bellingham about 5-6 times a year, I wouldn’t recommend business class. You get a $3 coupon and a slightly wider seat, but that’s it, and you pay a lot more money for it.

The value of Amtrak's business class varies so much from train-to-train, some being worthwhile and others not depending on the type of car used. The Amtrak website does not help much because it does not readily provide the types of cars used on each route, and so one either has to know that detail, or go search elsewhere for the type of car. In the past Amtrak and predecessor railroads did a better of job at describing train consists, but that seems to be beyond Amtrak's capabilities these days.

 

5 hours ago, Prost Seattle said:

If you get on in Everett, Stanwood or Mt. Vernon you may not initially get seats together when the train is 100% full, but a lot of people get off in Bellingham, and you’ll be able to snag seats together then.  If you can’t get together initially, go to the club car and you can have a cup of coffee or whatnot and then you’ll be able to be together.

It is a short ride, and once on board the vessel in Vancouver much time will be available for being together. At least for us, having adjacent seats is not much of a concern. All of the seats will arrive in Vancouver at the same time.

[OrcaGirl]

On 8/19/2023 at 3:13 PM, gregma60 said:

We lost our business class as we rescheduled to a day earlier.  Train is 100% full now, and I'm worried my and my wife won't be able to sit together?  Train starts in portland and we are getting on between seattle and Bellingham, so near the end.  They don't add coach cars when the train gets to 100% do they?  

 

-gregma

 

When I took the train from Seattle to Vancouver post-cruise in May 2023, it was a 100% booked train, and the station staff prioritized boarding by group size to help keep families together, e.g. all groups of five or more got to board first, then groups of four, three, etc. We were a group of three, and among the last people to board, but we still managed to get seats together.

 

They have to keep some seats free for the folks boarding at the other stops between Seattle and Vancouver, so travelling as a pair you should be fine.