Earliest Recommended Flight Time -Vancouver

[Signet]

I am in the beginning stages of planning an April 2017 cruise. The Holland America cruise I am looking at arrives in Vancouver on Sunday morning. The best (cheapest) flights back to the East Coast of the US (Wash DC) leave way to early to make (6 AM & 7 AM). I did find a doable flight that leaves Vancouver at 10:30 AM. Would the 10:30 AM flight be cutting it to close for an international flight back to the US? What time would you recommend the earliest I look at flights heading back home (Wash DC). Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

Commonly recommended here to book after 11:30 or noon.

 

You will be clearing US Immigration and Customs at Vancouver, that takes time.

[Signet]

I was afraid that was the answer I would get. Got some really bad afternoon flights, both in price and flight duration. Maybe we will stay overnight in Vancouver, and fly out on Monday morning. We shall see, thanks for the response

[Langley Cruisers]

Maybe we will stay overnight in Vancouver, and fly out on Monday morning. We shall see, thanks for the response

 

Vancouver is beautiful; have you been here before? I highly recommend staying in the city and exploring if you have the time. :)

[martincath]

I concur with all of the above - especially any plan to stay on longer, we are an awesome city - but if you are risk-tolerant a 10:30am flight is very possible. Especially since you have time to apply for Global Entry or NEXUS if you aren't already a member of a Trusted Traveler program. This will minimise the time required for security, customs & immigration.

 

Of course in order to make a flight that early you also need to travel light enough to self-disembark and be ready to get off as soon as they let you - this should be by 7:30am at the latest. As one of the first off the ship, Canadian customs & immigration a the pier should be very fast. Whether you take a cab or SkyTrain, it's going to be approx. 30minutes from pier to airport.

 

A reasonable expectation is to be joining the queue to check your bags at YVR by an hour after you leave the ship - just within the 2 hour window pre-flight that most airlines recommend - and if you have GE/NEXUS it's extraordinarily unlikely you will need more than an hour for all of the queues.

 

Risks - if any big issue happens, you will miss your flight. Things like engine failure, crashing into something, or other ship issues that mean slower speed. A series of minor issues could also push your time enough later - a crash on a local bridge causes major tailbacks and you have to cross water to reach the airport, airport or pier system failure/power failure. These are all things that have happened - but they don't happen often.

 

The likeliest problem is for your airline to change their schedule - if they move your flight earlier than 10am it becomes very challenging to safely make it. The good news is airlines are good about free changes in circumstances like that - so the price of those afternoon flights would not be an issue, although routing/length of flight issues would remain.

 

TL;DR - a 10:30am flight is sub-optimal, but very achievable with some effort on your part if your vacation allowance or something else important means you really need to get home as soon as you disembark.

[Keith1010]

I would not book a flight before 12:30/1:00.

 

Also, not sure how many ships will be in Vancouver the day you disembark. If three ships things can be a disaster.

 

martincath, I have Global Entry and while it is helpful it doesn't guarantee total speed. For example this past May it did save us time clearing USA immigration and we did get some benefit on security but once past the first security line the other one for Nexus/Global Entry was not operating at that time and we waited on a long line.

 

Original Poster I would look at the savings of flying early and if it is large compare it to the cost of spending a full day in Vancouver and flying out the next morning.

 

Keith

[Lulubelle45]

I was afraid that was the answer I would get. Got some really bad afternoon flights, both in price and flight duration. Maybe we will stay overnight in Vancouver, and fly out on Monday morning. We shall see, thanks for the response

 

If accommodation costs is a concern, staying in Richmond, which is near the airport is usually cheaper than downtown vancouver. Most of the hotels have airport shuttles. Drop off luggage at hotel after the cruise, take the skytrain back to downtown and explore!!

[Signet]

All good suggestions thanks... Probably leaning towards staying overnight in Vancouver, Just so I don't have to deal with the headache and possible anxiety of cutting it too close to the scheduled flight time. Still in the planning stage, but there is such a great price on the cruise right now, I'm sure it will not last. so its getting close to decision time. Thanks all

[xlxo]

If accommodation costs is a concern, staying in Richmond, which is near the airport is usually cheaper than downtown vancouver. Most of the hotels have airport shuttles. Drop off luggage at hotel after the cruise, take the skytrain back to downtown and explore!!

For affordability with good subway access... check out my fav Raddison Vancouver Airport which has the train station across the street...

https://www.expedia.ca/Vancouver-Hotels-Radisson-Hotel-Vancouver-Airport.h14039.Hotel-Information

 

Instead of going back and forth to Richmond... consider having CDS transfer your luggage to the hotel for $40. This saves you over an hour that can be spent to sightseeing.