Vancouver - Transportation to airport

[mtzionillini]

3 of us will be doing an Alaska southbound Radiance cruise in August, ending in Vancouver, with a 1:55pm flight to Chicago. We are trying to decide the best way to get from the cruise terminal to the airport in Vancouver and would love to hear what others have done. It looks like the options include -

 

1) arranging a bus transfer thru RCI ($30 each, $90 for 3)

This seems to be the easiest to arrange, but is probably the most expensive

 

2) taking a taxi ($35 Canadian?, have seen other estimates up to $60)

Have read on the boards that it may take a while to get a taxi (some said up to 3 hours!)

Would hate to miscalculate wait time and miss our flight.

 

If we pay in cash does it have to be Canadian? Can we pay with credit card?

 

3) take the train

Probably the cheapest but not sure about logistics - where to get on/off, how to pay, etc

 

4) hire a limo

Don't know much about this option

 

So, it would sure be helpful to know what experience others have had! Thanks.

[Biker19]

5) Uber.

 

The train is easy and works well if you can handle your luggage.

[Clarea]

You may also see some useful info on the subject on the West Coast Departures forum:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

[Langley Cruisers]

5) Uber.

 

There is no Uber in Vancouver yet.

~

 

Cab is easiest all around, I feel. Yes some people take the SkyTrain but I would be hesitant to do so with luggage in tow. I do believe the flat rate is $35.00 CDN and the driver should take a US credit card, but personally US cash or Canadian cash would be best. If the line looks long or you hear it is taking some time for a cab, go up top to one of the hotels in the area and hail a cab from the lobby.

 

Cruise line transfers are way too expensive per person. I would do that only as a last resort.

 

Enjoy your cruise. :)

[HogTide]

The train is great...go on U-tube and you can become an expert overnight, many posting that outline the entire route ...short two block walk from debark to train. Easy to do and great space for luggage.

[Hoopster95]

How much luggage will you have? Skytrain's Canada Line is set up for those traveling to the Airport with extra space to stand and roll your luggage on. Note that each passenger going to YVR will be subject to a $5 add-on in addition to the regular Zone fare. Per person will be $10.70 ... 3 people = almost $32.

 

Limo... there's an airport Limo company service with an office right at the airport

http://aerocar.ca/rates/flat-rates/

flat rate from Canada Place to YVR is $64.... WAAAAAAAY better for 3 people and much more comfortable without waiting in a horrendous taxi line-up, to end your awesome 7 day vacation. Just my 2 cents.

[blackshirt]

The train was super easy, even with luggage...unless you have a lot of luggage.

[little britain]

Train was very easy, cheap, frequent with lots of room for luggage.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[138east]

I had no trouble making an 11 am flight. I self disembarked, walked up Howe St and left on Cordova St 2 blocks to the main station entrance, and was at YVR before 9 am. The train fare to the airport is $5 - no surcharge going to the airport. The surcharge is applied only coming from the airport.

 

It's really important to stay on the street level with your luggage and not be tempted to use any entrance other than the main one on Cordova St. This is the "accessible" route with an elevator and no surprise stairs(been there done that on a previous transit through Vancouver). The train was comfortable with room for luggage and took about a half hour. Quite frankly the train was a huge relief from the chaos of the cruise terminal and was relatively uncrowded oubound in the morning with no problem getting seats.

 

Very easy if you can manage your luggage. You want to have plenty of time at the airport to check in, put your bags through security, get yourselves through security, and do the US Customs and immigration. The lines can be long.

[shippmates]

We just flew out of Vancouver in June and used a cab. Walked off the ship around 7:30 and got in the cab line, not a real long wait. The fare was $40 USD including tip. It was very easy and we had no problem making our noon flight.

[martincath]

Wow, there have been some folks scammed by cabbies looking at the above posts! Prices are in CAD on the meter - and aside from a genuine disaster on the traffic front (an accident blocking lanes on a bottleneck bridge for example) that meter should never get over $40, with <$35 much more common than above $35 since all traffic toward YVR in the morning is against commuter flow. Tales of cabbies offering a fixed price fare TO the airport have one thing in common - weekend mornings, as the cabbies know fine well that odds are in their favour that a $35 fixed rate will get them another couple of bucks profit compared to the meter.

 

You can pay with credit cards - in which case you'll pay whatever foreign transaction fee your card provider charges, but it will be less than any unofficial rate offered by the cabbie for cash (usually even the cheekiest will not charge par for USD - they'll give you about 1.25:1 instead of 1.33:1 official rate).

 

SkyTrain is always cheapest, always fastest - unless you have no wait time at all, literally walking right into a cab at the pier (and even then, may still beat a cab if there is some traffic) - my only correction to info above from 138east is that the fare is even lower than quoted. Toward YVR on weekdays is $4.20pp, and on weekends $2.95pp. Those are adult fares in CAD - seniors and <14s pay even less (see Concession rates on link given). AddFare is indeed inbound only, always has been, so not relevant for end of cruise.

 

With a 2 pm flight you could actually WALK to the airport in time - it's under 10 miles - so unless you're the kind of folks who take a limo because you like it, why spend any extra cash? Take the savings from using transit and plow that into a good lunch before your flight (YVR is much pricier for food and booze than downtown, by the time you pay tip and tax on a beer it's basically $10).

[mtzionillini]

Thank you to everyone who posted a response, they have been very helpful.

I am much more comfortable now with the train option and that is probably what we will do. We have 1 adult and 2 seniors so our total cost will be $10.10. Can't beat that!

[Desert Cruizers]

We used a cab and were at the airport in plenty of time. The disadvantage to the Cruise Transfers, they need to wait on all passengers needing that bus. Because we were late getting in even the bus driver told us to get a cab for a 3 PM flight.