Best way from Seattle Cruise dock to airport

[Bindery]

My wife and I finish our Cruise on the Carnival Miracle on Wednesday September 10 at 7am. It will be terminal 91. We need to get back to the airport to pick up a car from FOX rent a car. What would be the best way to get to the airport?

It seems a taxi would be the easiest and would cost $60 plus tip. Would we be better to take a taxi to the Westlake light rail stop and take the light rail back to the airport? It seems we would be going right in the middle of rush hour, so would the light rail option be better?

We will both have a large suitcase on wheels.

[mapleleaves]

Pier 91 is about 5-6 miles north of downtown so you would first need to take a taxi to the Lightrail station at Westlake, probably $15-$20. From Westlake the train runs every 10 minutes to Seatac, $2.75.

You might want to price Seattle Express .... they run vans to the airport and are quite reasonable.

[PNW Traveler]

Shuttle Express runs between the airport and the cruise dock (small busses and vans.) You can schedule your pickup time. Cost is $22/per person from the dock to the airport and vice versa. It's the most efficient and cost effective method we have found. We are local cruisers.

You can book on their website. They are good answering questions by phone.

[Bindery]

Would the traffic be bad at that time of day?

[Gardyloo]

Would the traffic be bad at that time of day?

If the ship docks at 7, it's unlikely you'd be off and in the taxi/van/shuttle lineup much before 8 or 8:30. The physical location of Pier 91 is such that trips to the airport can follow routes that aren't much impacted by rush hour traffic, which would probably be past its peak anyway by then. You can also use HOV lanes which further speed things up. I'd expect Pier 91 - airport would take around 30 min. at that time of morning, maybe a bit less, so nothing to worry about.

 

Fox is one of the rental car companies that operate out of a consolidated rental car facility at Sea-Tac. Your shuttle would take you to the airport, where you'd then go to the shuttle pick-up point for rental cars, then ride to the facility and get your car there. If you took a taxi from the dock instead, the cab could take you straight to the rental car facility instead, thereby eliminating the second trip and related luggage-schlepping. Might save 20 min. or more.

[js15105]

We just returned from our Alaska cruise on Sunday, the 20th. Took a cab from pier 91 to the airport. Cost was about $55 before tip. It seemed like the quickest way to go given that we had an early flight out of Seattle. There was no traffic - got to the airport super fast - no problems. Shuttle would have been a little cheaper and probably just as quick - we just didn't know if we would have to wait for the shuttle to fill up before taking off and didn't want to risk it.

[martincath]

Another angle to approach this from: you obviously need a hire car, but have you considered collecting one downtown or at the pier? I'm guessing you got a good rate from Fox, but is it good enough to outweigh the $20-60 fee to get you to them? I'd be very surprised if you can't get a rate from the pier that is comparable when you consider the extra costs, let alone the extra time.

 

If the rates really are that cheap though - just one of you could go & collect the car, leaving luggage & rest of party behind. Shuttle rates are poor value unless you're not traveling solo (e.g. $35 to the airport with Eastside For Hire is already cheaper than a shuttle even for 2 people, let alone 3+), but if just one of you heads out to the airport for the car they become the best value proposition. How much time you waste returning to the pier depends where you're going in the car of course...

 

As to traffic - light rail makes a LOT of stops going out to the airport. Unless there was a disastrous pileup that blocked the whole of I5 I can't imagine you would actually save time cabbing to Westlake and transferring to LINK.

[Bindery]

Sounds like taxi is the way to go.

I am guessing there will be taxi's waiting when we get off the ship.

[Gardyloo]

Sounds like taxi is the way to go.

I am guessing there will be taxi's waiting when we get off the ship.

Yes, but do look at the option of renting downtown. There are no rental cars at the pier, but Alamo/National have kiosks there where you will take their free shuttle to their downtown rental office and pick up the car there. Given the very high taxes and fees levied on Seattle airport rental car pickups, the price differential might not be very great.

[Ballard67]

Please please please look at other options other then Taxis, town cars. My opinion it is the most dangerous way to get around our city, and to the airport. Most not all, drivers are so money driven that they are a hazard to the road ways. Now you if you have to you have to, no getting away from that, but if you have options please look into them. There Is Shuttle express, mention before. We are using them to get to the cruise terminal, pier 91, on our up coming cruise. Our taxi service in Seattle is so bad, i really hate to say this, but for some reason the drivers are so money driven. If you do, and can afford tell them to take there time money not being a issue.

[Crew News]

Sounds like taxi is the way to go.

I am guessing there will be taxi's waiting when we get off the ship.

 

Pier 91 is a zoo if more than one ship is docked. The taxis in Seattle seem to be Toyota Prius that can handle very little luggage so may need two taxis.

 

For the first time and based on recommendations from CC members, we tried Any Time town cars. They pick up at the private car line vice the taxi line. Price plus tip was $72 (hourly rate) to our post-cruise hotel about one mile past the airport. The car is very big and holds lots of luggage.

 

The extra $$ is well worth avoiding the hassles.

[mapleleaves]

Sounds like taxi is the way to go.

I am guessing there will be taxi's waiting when we get off the ship.

 

How many people in your party?

Seattle Express and Shuttle Express will both have buses/vans at the pier. Go to their web sites and price them.

www.eastsideforhire.com is a flat rate taxi service so there is NO METER running. Call and ask for a quote. If there are more than 2 they will send a larger car.

[Bindery]

We have to rent from Fox. We are doing a one way rental from Seattle to Las Vegas. That is the second part of our vacation. They do not have any downtown offices. Whenever I check other car rental agencies there prices for a one way rental to Las Vegas are much more than Fox

[wegolf]

Are you sure you really want to drive from Seattle to Las Vegas? That's a long haul! Expensive, too! One way rentals are expensive, but I would want to check the reputation of the car hire firm, as I've never heard of it.

 

We use Abe Town Cars to/from airport. Easy online reservations, takes credit cards and you don't have to pay up front.

[Bindery]

We do want to drive to Las Vegas and see the sites along the way. Mt. St. Helens, Reno, the giant Sequoias in Kings Canyon National Park to name a few. Its around 1500 miles and we can leave Seattle early on Wednesday and have a Southwest flight out of Las Vegas booked early Monday, so I believe we have time to make the drive. We have done one way car rentals in the past and its nice to be able to go and stop when you want.

Now, the Fox car rental issue. I have researched Fox and you get good and bad reviews (like most other things). But, after thinking about it more, I checked with Avis and got a price $50 more than Fox, but they are 3 miles from the Cruise Ship terminal, so I would save some money on Taxi fare, so I made a reservation. I think I would be more comfortable with a larger national chain. I will continue to check prices and decide before we go which one I will do.

[Gardyloo]

We do want to drive to Las Vegas and see the sites along the way. Mt. St. Helens, Reno, the giant Sequoias in Kings Canyon National Park to name a few. Its around 1500 miles and we can leave Seattle early on Wednesday and have a Southwest flight out of Las Vegas booked early Monday, so I believe we have time to make the drive. We have done one way car rentals in the past and its nice to be able to go and stop when you want.

Now, the Fox car rental issue. I have researched Fox and you get good and bad reviews (like most other things). But, after thinking about it more, I checked with Avis and got a price $50 more than Fox, but they are 3 miles from the Cruise Ship terminal, so I would save some money on Taxi fare, so I made a reservation. I think I would be more comfortable with a larger national chain. I will continue to check prices and decide before we go which one I will do.

I think that's a good plan. I've rented from Fox (a couple of times in LA) and seem to recall that there was an awful lot of nickel-dime action and "up-selling." Also scroungy offices full of foreign visitors that seemed to be getting the "bum's rush" if you know what I mean. That's all very subjective, of course.

 

Make sure you take a little tour of the Columbia Gorge, then consider swinging by Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood before taking US 26 to connect to US 97 on your way south. You could also swing around Crater Lake as you pass on your way to Nevada.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Gardyloo

[fleckle]

...... I think I would be more comfortable with a larger national chain. I will continue to check prices and decide before we go which one I will do.

An important consideration when renting a car for a long haul is to find out in advance what they will do if the car should break down or have any trouble anywhere along the way.

 

The last thing you want to do is end up stuck at some out of the way garage in the middle of nowhere waiting for repairs.

 

Our experience with the major rental car companies like Hertz and Avis is that they have arrangements with garages and car dealers all over the country, even at locations where they do not have rental car offices.

 

So if you have a problem of any kind (even if the air conditioner stops working), you just call their 800 number, someone brings you out another car and you continue on your way.

 

[DUCHESSRN]

Taxi to Light Rail , you can be at Sea Tac quickly .

[cruisingagain2011]

We have used Seattle Express twice and have them booked for next month. They have reasonable rates--$12 per person from dock to airport. We also use them from hotel to dock for same rate. 206-793-8430 First shuttle leaves at 7:30 and every 15 minutes.