Vancouver to Seattle on Amtrak

[Rick2594]

My family is doing an Alaska cruise on the Radiance next summer. I expect airline tickets to be released soon and want to be ready to purchase if the price is right.

 

Our cruise ends in Vancouver on a Friday. Looking at flights that are now available for earlier dates it appears the earliest I can get home to Boston is 11:30 pm. Due to rewards I need to fly Alaska Air.

 

I’m considering taking Amtrak to Seattle on Friday and then flying home from there on Saturday, as I can be home by 3:30 pm. I’ve read through numerous posts that say Amtrak only runs two trains from Vancouver to Seattle and my only option would be the one at 5:30 pm. But looking on the Amtrak site it appears there’s a departure at 12:18 pm. Can anyone please confirm if this is true. My family has never been to Seattle so we’d love to spend a few hours sightseeing.

 

One more note; I thought about taking the bus but I’m traveling with my 2 and 4 year old grandkids, and the younger doesn’t handle car rides too well. That’s also why we’d rather not get home so late.

 

Appreciate all feedback.

[john2003]

Are u sure u looked at Vancouver BC. I see a 1218 departure from Vancouver Washington.

 

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[martincath]

12:18? That's not a time that even Amtrak buses go from here (there are several of these as well as the two trains) so I agree with John above, you almost certainly have the wrong Vancouver! Make sure you use the actual station codes, just like airports, to avoid confusion - you want VAC to SEA and there are definitely only 2 per day. At least you didn't book a ticket - I know of several people who got on trains going the wrong way at Seattle, ending up almost in Oregon rather than getting to Canada!

 

If you care less about traveling by train than you do about convenient timing, rent a car (almost always cheapest for 4+ people) and go whenever you want by whatever route you want - or if you don't want to drive there are also multiple bus options, Amtrak being by far the worst price and quality of the bunch (more expensive the train as there are no Saver tickets for the bus). QuickShuttle have the largest schedule, but are the next-most-expensive at US$59pp, while Bolt are the cheapest and fastest and newest fleet (also the only ones with free WiFi on all buses); price is very variable, in theory as low as $1pp, realistically more like $15-20 depending when booked but the real bummer is you can only book tickets about 6 weeks ahead whereas the others you can book much further out. Greyhound usually price in-between Bolt & QS, and have a different, longer route making them the slowest option.

[nini]

make sure you have the correct vancouver! ;)

[Rick2594]

Thanks very much for all the feedback. I checked again and you’re right. I was looking at the wrong Vancouver. Glad I didn’t make that mistake. I probably will look at renting a car as that sounds like the most convenient and cost effective route.

 

Appreciate all the help!

[Gardyloo]

My family is doing an Alaska cruise on the Radiance next summer. I expect airline tickets to be released soon and want to be ready to purchase if the price is right.

Our cruise ends in Vancouver on a Friday. Looking at flights that are now available for earlier dates it appears the earliest I can get home to Boston is 11:30 pm. Due to rewards I need to fly Alaska Air.

So are you buying one or more tickets using cash, and also using miles for one or more tickets? This is a little confusing.

 

Regardless, on both purchased and award tickets, Alaska generally allows a free stopover in Seattle in either direction, so why not let Alaska Airlines (probably using their Horizon regional subsidiary) fly you to Seattle? Spend the day/night in an airport area hotel (to save money - Seattle hotel prices during cruise season are astronomical) while you spend the day in the city, then catch the early morning flight to Boston (6:45 AM, arriving 3:05 PM) the next day?

 

One thing about trying to use miles to travel on Alaska Airlines to/from Seattle/Vancouver during the summer: it's very hard. Because they can sell so many seats for full price, Alaska tends not to make very many award seats at all available on key routes, so be prepared for some disappointments on that front.

[Rick2594]

We have the Alaska Airlines credit card so our plan was to pay full price for one ticket and use the Companion Fare for the second. Almost sounded too good to be true so hoping that’s not the case.

 

If we can do this are you saying we can fly from Vancouver to Seattle on Friday, spend the night as our layover, and then fly home on Saturday? If so that would be a great option.

[CVU]

We have the Alaska Airlines credit card so our plan was to pay full price for one ticket and use the Companion Fare for the second. Almost sounded too good to be true so hoping that’s not the case.

 

If we can do this are you saying we can fly from Vancouver to Seattle on Friday, spend the night as our layover, and then fly home on Saturday? If so that would be a great option.

We have used companion tickets using our Alaska CC many times. Not for first class anymore though.....only economy or other tickets. We had no problem at the time, enjoy the perk.

[Gardyloo]

We have the Alaska Airlines credit card so our plan was to pay full price for one ticket and use the Companion Fare for the second. Almost sounded too good to be true so hoping that’s not the case.

 

If we can do this are you saying we can fly from Vancouver to Seattle on Friday, spend the night as our layover, and then fly home on Saturday? If so that would be a great option.

That's exactly what I'm saying. Try a dummy booking online (just don't pay for the tickets) and see how the schedules look. Because the morning nonstop from Seattle to Boston tends to be much more popular, the price might be somewhat higher than the redeye/overnight options, but the difference in cost will only impact the full price ticket. In any case the price differential will be much less than the cost of a couple of bus or train tickets, or a rental car.

 

Note you could also use the same strategy to overnight someplace else, like Portland, San Francisco or Los Angeles.

[Langley Cruisers]

...I probably will look at renting a car as that sounds like the most convenient and cost effective route.

 

Check the prices carefully, There is almost always certainly a drop charge to rent a car one way, Vancouver BC to Seattle, Washington. Do a couple of mock bookings at the major companies and see what you find out. Actually, if it's next summer, the prices may not even be listed yet, but I don't know. I do know that some people think they can rent a car and drop it wherever they want to without charge or penalty (not saying YOU, just a general comment). I worked at Budget for five years and our drop charge to Seattle was $150.00 (yes, a few years ago, of course!).

 

Also, if you are a member of the big box warehouse chain store, check out their car rental prices. We have seen some smoking deals using them. :)

[Rick2594]

Great idea. I have a Costco card and will check it out. Even if the costs are somewhat higher it will likely be the best option just for convenience