em-sk

6 hours ago, rodndonna said:

We came through yesterday (Saturday mid-day) and there were no real delays or issues. We did Arrivecan before arriving and were then in the "express"  line but even without it, the line for non-Nexus and non-completed Arrivican did not seem bad.

I have also gotten in the habit of always doing the Arrivecan app.  Having the express arrivecan lane helps when it is busy.  When it is not busy as you say it does not matter. 

7 hours ago, Z'Loth said:

 

Uhhh.... I'm a electronics geek, so yeah, browsing at electronics shops is my thing. Still, not really interesting in paying the airport premium at the airport gift shops. 

You should not fell compelled to buy anything.  

I find US airports very unpredictable.  Some are extremely disorganised with how they do the security checks.  Most US airports also do this weird passport/driver license check just before the security check.  

At the airport there are these marketing people trying to sell membership in clear.  Some weird express security subscription.  However it is a bit of scam, in they get you out of line to fill in out an application at near the end it asks if your a US citizen and rejects your application if your not.  Then the sales rep looks confused and sends you to back of the line again.   It is uniquely US things.

In other countries security can be faster or slower.  Really depends on the country and airport.

17 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

No, that wasn't the problem. The OP inadvertently called a scammer, and inadvertently gave the scammer written permission to change the tickets and to take more money from their credit card. It's the written permission that the credit card company seems to be relying on in order to refuse to refund that money.

Perhaps banks behave differently in the US than what I am use to in Canada.  Banks have little desire to see money go into the hands of scammer and have no problem yanking it back from them.  If the OP signed some paper it should have said what it was for.  If they did not deliver then it is pretty clear justification to undo the transaction.  

54 minutes ago, 6rugrats said:

I’m not going to debate semantics.  Seems quite silly.  
But none of that has happened.  

Perhaps I am miss reading the OP story but it sounds like, the OP was told her tickets had been changed and was not able to use them now.   

It is fairly simple, the OP paid for a flight from point A to point B.  If the airline is saying the ticket can't be used then the OP should be getting her money back.   

The details about how someone hijacked and repurposed the ticket is interesting but that is the airlines problem to solve not the OP.   Clearly the airlines does not have adequate safeguards in place.   

3 hours ago, 6rugrats said:

But, reading the posts, it appears OP did receive tickets?

They are not buying tickets, they are buying air travel.  If they are denied boarding or the airline tells them the tickets are not good that is sufficient to dispute the charge.

On 6/7/2023 at 11:39 PM, SelectSys said:

So I just got off the phone first with QF, my credit card company and then finally AA.  QF told me that the ticket I had was now invalid and/or awaiting payment as my original reservation was taken over by the scammers.  The net effect of this is that I had no flight home from my cruise. That would have been a real shocker to show up at the airport or discover at check-in time that my reservation was garbage.

 

Next in talking with the credit card company I discovered that I didn't have any way of getting my money back as I had provided consent via an email.  This was my key error in terms of responding to the fake email and not seeing that the underlying email domain wasn't right.  So dumb...

 

 

 

I would phone the credit card company again and talk to a different agent.  

Tell them it is not a legitimate merchant and you want to dispute the charge as you did not receive the service you were charged for.  

4 hours ago, larrybritt said:

We are flying back to Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Just not being frequent travelers and no Problem getting up early we just want to get an idea of traffic. I figure Saturday morning won’t be too busy heading to airport. If we have to leave at 5am no problem. Just getting ideas from people that know. Thank you

Skytrain is not going to be overly crowded heading out of downtown to the airport.  Most traffic is heading into the core.  Also being a Saturday it is going to lighter than a weekday.

At the airport it is going to be busy.  Many of the flights from Asia and Australia arrive early in the morning and a good number of those passengers are connecting onto the US.  Add in the local and cruise traffic.   It is busy but the lines tend to move quickly.  

You don't need to leave at 5AM.  I would head out around 7 AM and then grab breakfast at the airport once your past security and US customs.  If your in the US departures area there is a Starbucks and a sit down restaurant (named after the local hockey team) around gate E81 if you want a proper breakfast. 

On 5/31/2023 at 9:01 AM, Fishy 1 said:

We were hoping to be able to change our flight and pay any difference in air fare.  We thought we would be able to do that through Air Canada.

 

We did in fact get a good price on the cruise and did not book the package for the BOGO air.  We actually contemplated booking our own air arrangements, and as it turns out, should have done that.  

 

Trying to find out if anyone has had any luck changing a flight with the airline at the airport on day of departure when NCL has booked a bulk rate?

 

The way this works is when a travel agent (or some other entity that is kind of acting the same way like a cruise line) books a flight they are in control of the ticket until around a day or two before when control transfers to the airline.   Under rare cases the airline will take over control earlier.  So Air Canada is going to tell you to go talk to NCL.

This is the published economy fare structure at Air Canada for flights to the US:

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/fare-options-and-fees/to-the-us.html#/

The special deal NCL and Air Canada negotiated is going to be based on these, there could be some special "NCL" specific conditions that we don't know about.

If you are in Basic then you can't make changes.  If your in Standard you can change it at the airport or in advance but it costs money.  If your in a higher fare class the change may be free.

If Air Canada reschedules your flight then that opens up the ability to make changes for free.  

9 hours ago, RickT said:

Frowned upon yes, illegal no.  Have done it a few times over the years but generally when doing carry on only.  Given the suitcase and having to deal with customs and immigration I believe it will be pretty difficult.  
 

And yes, I’ve looked into having my bag shipped but the price is pretty astronomical.  Still searching for other options to deal with this. 

Yes, you can short check your bags to Vancouver and not have them tagged to fo onto LAX.   If the flight from YVR to LAX is the not the last leg on your ticket you should expect all subsequent legs to be cancelled. 

The one tricky thing about short checking a bag is you may not be able to do it at an automated kiosk.  You probably need a human to do it.  The airlines are not doing a great job of training their front line people to deal with these "special cases".  The check in agent may need to ask ask someone for some help if they don't regularly do it.

Yes, your basically manipulating the fare rules.  If you do it very infrequently and if asked by the airline you say, "well my plans changes" nothing will come of it.   If your doing it regularly the airline concludes your regularly trying to game the system, then yes they may decide not to sell you any tickets in the future.  

1 hour ago, Gray Lady said:

Thank you. That really makes sense. We also get business class with Regent for international flights. We just have to hope they have seats and agreements with United and /or Lufthansa so we can get one of those flights without paying an additional arm, leg, or other body part! 🤞

The Lufthansa business class within Europe is just a regular economy class seat with some upgrades.

The Air Canada flight would be proper business class all the way.

Also you want to consider your return flight.  On your return you will want to make you connection in Europe or Canada.  That avoids having to deal with bags at the connecting airport.

19 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

My experience with Aeroplan and Air Canada / Star Alliance, is that until I submit missing miles, my flight miles don't show on my Aeroplan.

 

Anyone else experience this?

 

It makes me think that unless I am monitoring every flight, I may not get the miles credited.

It is weird.  For me it tends to be the flight from Vancouver to Victoria that from time to time does not post.  I usually have to identify it as missing and then it shows.  Every other flight for me usually shows up, sometimes it takes longer than other times.

The only thing I would add is frequently on air line reservations I have seen Terminal M show up and yes that is the Main terminal as others have stated.

When you exist customs you can go upstairs in the terminal as posted above.  Or you can head outside, walk past the line up of taxi and the line up of busses and access the street are escalators that will take you up to the skytrain.

Most of the signage in the terminal I believe say something like "Train to City" .   Either option will get you there.  

On 5/24/2023 at 1:25 PM, cabland said:

Thanks for the heads-up!  We are in Victoria for 2 nights and then return to Vancouver for 2 nights before the cruise (did that to explicitly avoid any challenges on cruise day)!  Also thanks for the tips to book both ways.

If you book ahead of time and miss you sailing but arrive on the same day you go into the line up waiting for the next sailing with everyone else that just showed up that day.  There way be a wait if it is busy.  

The reservation price can sometimes be a bit cheaper or more expensive that the terminal rate.  Usually the difference is only +/- $15.   If you miss your reservation and have a discount you will charged the difference.  

If you arrive early then it is the same thing.  You can go on the earlier sailing if there is space and you pay the difference.

On 5/21/2023 at 10:09 PM, shorne said:

Since WestJet seems to be functioning, I'm thinking of cancelling my other flight for a full refund right after checking in. I'm not pleased with WestJet right now, but really flying in general has become a damnable nuisance. I can't be the only one who has come to regard flying as nothing more than a necessary evil, and the airlines have themselves to thank for that negative impression.

 

The flights they cancelled were mostly to the US or international so they would not end up with their aircraft standard in foreign airports should the pilots walk out.   

Most of the airlines have unions.  They threaten to go on strike from time to time.  Personally I have been a bit happier with Air Canada customer service as of late but they all have the same risk of strike.

On 5/23/2023 at 9:46 PM, willsaway said:

Flying in from Australia mid September, to spend a week in Vancouver (4 night Coach tour) followed by a 7 nighter inside passage cruise. We then jump ship to do the transpacific via Hawaii back to Oz.  Given airline weight restrictions, and given the limited time need for beanies, gloves, scarves, puffer jackets, sweaters and so on, I was considering buying second hand (pre-loved) clothing from an op shop - called in Canada Thrift shops? - and then redonating the goods on our return to Canada Place before boarding for the t.p.   Can any of the lovely locals who contribute to this thread advise if a) you actually have this type of store and/or b) a low cost Department Store.  Not looking for glamourous or trendy, just warm, waterproof and affordable.  We will have two full free days to do Vancouver sight seeing and shopping. Cheers.

If your staying downtown and want to buy low cost new I would suggest taking skytrain out to Metrotown Station.   It is a large mostly higher end shopping center, however they have a Walmart and Real Canada Super Store.  Both those stores will have lower cost (and lower quality goods non-brand name) product.  

2 hours ago, thefer said:

Hi

Thanks for catching that.  I leave June 4 around 8 pm to London and then Rome.  Not June 6.

There are some exceptions, but most flights from the states or Canada are overnight.  If you leave the 4th, you would be in London on the 5th.  

In North America when unions go on strike it is unusually until a new agreement is reached.   If Europe it is not uncommon for unions to go out for just 24 hours our sometimes even for one or two hours.  

If it is a one day strike I would expect them to be back at work on the 5th.  

1 hour ago, LizzGo said:

Although this our first time flying to Asia we have done quite a bit of flying to Europe and Africa. But then it was always Calgary, sometimes a Toronto connection. What we see as risky with Saskatoon is the weather! And also that extra stop. We’re trying to fly Singapore Air and I am frustrated that the only way to catch that direct is to start in SFO. Your comments about the International connections are interesting. We flew back from NYC recently and found that “international”crossing pretty clunky and annoying. That we had to collect our bags in YYZ instead of our destination YYC just seemed dumb. 

Saskatoon and Calgary have similar conditions.    

Singapore Airlines recently stopped flying into Vancouver.  They still fly into Seattle.  You could do the same thing you plan to do in SFO in SEA.

4 hours ago, LizzGo said:

No we're not entirely sure, but were thinking we would not want to cut it that close. Arrive SFO around 1 pm and fly out the next day 8 pm  If things like weather are looking iffy in the days coming up before departure we could drive to SFO! Or even change that flight to leave a few days earlier. 

 

We would be collecting our bags at SFO and then checking them with Singapore Air. This is a problem? I think it sounds less risky than YXE- VQR- Tapei/Toykyo/Seoul -SIN. UGH. 

 

But no, still not entirely sure, ....

I lived in Saskatoon for 13 years flying for business every other month.  Flying in/out of Saskatoon is not particularly "risky".   Your just as likely to have a flight be canceled due to weather in Calgary as Saskatoon.   I would not be worried about your bags missing a connection in Tokyo. 

Taipei, Tokyo-Narita and Seoul are all airports where international connections are common and you do not clear local customs or immigration unless your staying in the country.  The US is not setup for international connections.  You enter the US with your bags then exit the US again.  There are so few people making international connections at US airports they don't go out of their way to make it smother.     

Personally i would chose flying from Saskatoon to Vancouver or Calgary then off to Narita or Taipei or Soul over going through the US especially if I had to overnight in the US.   If I had the time I would rather add the extra night at the final destination before boarding the ship than an airport hotel somewhere in between.  

Singapore airlines has a fantastic reputation for inflight service.  I have not been on Singapore but have been on EVA, Cathy Pacific, ANA and JAL. The Asian airlines generally have great in flight service.  

To answer your question is there are problem with flying from Calgary to San Francisco, picking up your bags. Overnighting and then catching a flight the next day.  No.  You will be charged some baggage fees on the Calgary to San Francisco flight if it is not on the same ticket as an overseas flight.  But it can be done.  Your will clear US customs in Calgary and arrive at a domestic gate in San Francisco.     

If your going to drive to Calgary, you may want to look into the WestJet flight from Calgary to Tokyo.  

1 hour ago, LizzGo said:

We’re back to original plan - Calgary ( 5 hr drive) - short direct to SFO then take either the United or Singapore Air 17 hr direct to Singapore. The one little thing is the YYC - SFO would be a separate ticket, so we would  have to collect bags and recheck in SFO. Not such a big deal I guess and at least we would be sure our bags would show up in SIN.  

 

We are using air miles to book this flight, so I’m not sure why none of my options allow me to this as all in one with Singapore Air! But we can with United. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The risk you are taking do things is if your flight from Calgary to San Francisco is delayed or canceled for any reason the airline is not responsible for rebooking you to Singapore.  Your on your own to buy a new ticket.

If it is all on one ticket then the airline is covering any cost of rebooking you to your final destination even if it involved buying you a ticket on a different airline. 

On 5/5/2023 at 2:05 AM, rsera said:

I guess I should add that I'm not comfortable with Valet either, so it looks like Park n Fly is out. But I did see some other airport parking options, which I was hoping were well populated and safer.

As others recommended, the airport value parking lot is a good option.  Has very good lighting. Security is around all the time.  There will be people coming and going all the time.  The airport is open 24 H a day, with flights typically starting at 6 AM and running until around 2 AM the next day.  

The lot is also next to a skytrain station that is takes into downtown and cruise ship terminal.

On 5/4/2023 at 6:27 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

A contributing factor, but the root cause is the design.

 

When initially designed, they planned for 5 ships, but most of the newer ships in those days were about 700 - 750 pax. Unfortunately, by the time they completed construction, ship sizes had started to increase again.

 

I frequently visited the P&O/Princess ships in the 80's and didn't note any issues when they still had the 750 pax Island/Pacific/Sun. However, once the larger ships arrived it started to get busy. It was never designed to handle 3 ships of 3,500 pax each, so the delays and crowding has worsened as ship size increased.

 

Sadly, Metro Port Vancouver made the decision to have Canada Place as the only cruise terminal, handing most of the Alaska business to Seattle. 

From Canada Place ships have to sail under the Lions Gate Bridge.   The tallest of the mega cruise ships will no long fit.   

The Port of Vancouver is looking at options for a second cruise ship terminal.  That would be in Richmond or Delta.  However selecting a site, doing the environmental impact assessment, and then building it will take years.  There is a project in the works.  Until that happens the largest of the ships will need to sail out of Seattle and call in Victoria. 

On 5/3/2023 at 5:19 PM, roupa said:

Just booked southbound Alaska cruise from Seward to Vancouver.
Now I’m looking for flights….Boston to Anchorage, Vancouver to Boston.   $$$$ !!

Any thoughts on booking thru Royal Caribbean or on my own.

You may want to look around.  Nothing wrong with booking the outbound and return with different airlines on different tickets. 

For Vancouver to Boston, I believe JetBlue and Air Canada have the non-stops flights.  WestJet may also.   The other airlines will all be connections somewhere.

Only thing I would add ...

If the Y is fully booked I have frequently stayed at the Days Inn in downtown Vancouver on Pender.  Short walk to the cruise terminal.  Unlike the Y this is 100+ year old hotel that has been refurbished, very much like many of the smaller hotels you find in European cities.  Clean, safe, good neighborhood, low cost but the rooms are small.

If you looking for a modern mid-market hotel that is reasonably priced that would be in Richmond near the airport.  Many of these will offer shuttles from/to the airport.  Most of these are going to be brands you recognise across North America.  Local Canadian brands would be Sandman and Coast Hotels and they would be on par with a Holiday Inn.

The more unique ones .  River Rock Hotel & Casino sometimes has good rates.  It is next to skytrain that will take you  to within bocks of the cruise ship terminal.  Abercorn Inn is another independent in that area that is on par with a Holiday Inn.  

From Richmond to the cruise ship terminal you can take public transit (skytrain) or uber, lyft or a taxi.  

8 hours ago, cabland said:

So, I SHOULD know the answer to this since we took an Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver back in 2018, but we had some different logistics (with a larger family group, some of us went ahead while others returned a rental car, etc.), whereas this time it is just my wife and me.  Anyway, my few questions:

 

Embarkation Day

• Hotel to Port - We are staying at the Hyatt Regency downtown and are planning to take an Uber/Lyft from the hotel to Canada Place.  Any concerns with that as a transport option (note: I have a bum knee so walking to CP is not an option with the luggage)?
• Parking/Drop-Off - I SEEM to recall when we traveled last time, our driver took us into the parking garage attached to Canada Place and dropped us off on one of the floors there.  Does that sound correct (and the most expedient option)?
• Luggage - Do we drop off the luggage as soon as we get in the terminal (right where we enter from the parking garage) or do we lug it around through the terminal, etc?
• Priority Boarding - So this is really a Holland America specific question, but I think we'll get priority boarding as part of "club orange".  I assume it isn't much different than "priority boarding" at an airport (i.e. a separate line perhaps, etc.) -is this  correct?

 

Disembarkation

• Transportation from Ship to Airport - Last time we did this trip, we were with family and booked our own private shuttle (well worth it).  This time, I haven't decided if we should book transport through the cruise line or just grab an uber/lyft.  I assume with either option, we'll be dealing with our luggage once we get it.  as I have a bum knee, any option that had me wheeling our large bags around less, might be worth paying more for.  Any recommendations?

 

Thanks!

Going to the cruise ship terminal uber/lyft all sound reasonable.  A taxi is also a reasonable option.  The cost difference will be minor.   

The cruise ship terminal is located in a multi-level pier.  There are two lower levels of parking, then the cruise ship terminal, then at street level a convention center and the entry to the Pan Pacific hotel.  Some floors with offices and then the hotel tower on top of all of that.  There is a lot going on in that building.   

There is a ramp that takes you down to the cruise ship terminal level and the parking levels.  The driver will be able to head down their and get you fairly close to where you enter the terminal.

Coming back I would just grab a taxi.  If the lineup is to long at the cruise terminal level I would grab the elevator up to street level and get a taxi there or arranger to be picked up by uber/lift there.

2 hours ago, BRDbabies said:

We are Canadians doing the Cunard QE RT Vancouver disembarking Aug 7. What is the earliest flight (domestic) we can safely book home on the 7th? Self-disembarking is not a problem and we will sky train to the airport. 

Assuming your off the ship first thing in the morning.  I would feel safe doing a flight that leaves around noon.  

Many of the flights from Asia arrive in Vancouver in the early morning.  To provide domestic connections, there are usually a number of domestic flights that leaving just before or just after noon.  I would comfortable with one of those.

Traffic out of downtown Vancouver can be a pain during rush hour.  If your comfortable with your bags, I would take the train (skytrain).  The Canada line goes from waterfront station near the cruise ship terminal to the airport.