Canada Line questions

We will probably spend a night before the cruise at a hotel near the airport. We would want to go downtown Vancouver for the evening, using the Canada Line. Then, we would need to use it again in the morning to go to the cruise pier. We would need to use it a third time a week later after returning from the cruise.

I couldn't tell from the website. What would be the cheapest way to buy Canada Line tickets. Day passes...or another option? If it goes according to plan, we would use it for 3 separate days.

Thanks.

Regular tickets will be cheapest unless you can go to the hassle of returning your Compass Card for a refund at the end of your time here (there's a $6 fee to get one, but then all rides are cheaper e.g. $2.10 instead of $2.85 for travel in one zone). Based on what you describe, just buying tickets as you go is the most sensible thing to do - but NB: that unless you plan to come downtown and almost immediately return you'd need 2 tickets that first evening (90 min duration from when you buy until your last transfer - which would only give you ~ an hour at most downtown on a single ticket).

Unless you use transit at least 3 times daily, a Day pass is never cheaper from Richmond (max 2 zone fare is $4.10pp) into downtown. And since tickets are cheap on weekends and evenings you sometimes need 4+ trips to have the Daypass pay for itself (if you come downtown in the morning but stay until after 6:30pm, then it's only $2.85pp to get back again, and on weekends the whole system is single zone, $2.85 all day).

We will probably spend a night before the cruise at a hotel near the airport. We would want to go downtown Vancouver for the evening, using the Canada Line. Then, we would need to use it again in the morning to go to the cruise pier. We would need to use it a third time a week later after returning from the cruise.

• The Raddison Vancouver Airport is the best price with a Canada Line station across the street. Other airport hotels cost more, or is a significant walking distance to a station.
  
• if you have time to travel downtown pre-cruise and plan to travel downtown again post-cruise. Also consider the Blue Horizon as a hotel choice both pre and post-cruise.