Vancouver taxi and how to pay

[dickinson]

Our cruise ends in Vancouver and we will need to take a taxi to hotel and also the next day from hotel to airport.  How do we pay?  Do they take credit cards, US$, or only Canadian $?  Thanks.

[Husky61]

A quick Google search revealed this: All taxi's in Vancouver are set up to accept credit cards. ...

[princess_mom]

Adding to this thread because I didn't even think about possibly needing Canadian money to pay a taxi. I hate those international credit card fees. Is Uber in Vancouver yet? I did google it and looks like sometime this year? I'll be there late August and need to get from Canada Place to Pacific Central Station.

 

Thanks!

[idahospud]

I paid US dollars this week for the taxi from the port to airport. The meter shows CAD so be sure you know the exchange rate. 

[Piperpals]

2 hours ago, princess_mom said:

Adding to this thread because I didn't even think about possibly needing Canadian money to pay a taxi. I hate those international credit card fees. Is Uber in Vancouver yet? I did google it and looks like sometime this year? I'll be there late August and need to get from Canada Place to Pacific Central Station.

 

Thanks!

No Uber yet, late this year at the earliest. Taxis will accept USD but will give you a 'rounded' up exchange rate on it.  If your luggage is manageable you can get the rapid transit (Skytrain) from Canada Place to Pacific Station.  Less than 10 minutes (4 stops), but taxi doesn't take long either.

[AlanF65]

7 hours ago, princess_mom said:

Adding to this thread because I didn't even think about possibly needing Canadian money to pay a taxi. I hate those international credit card fees. Is Uber in Vancouver yet? I did google it and looks like sometime this year? I'll be there late August and need to get from Canada Place to Pacific Central Station.

 

Thanks!

I Paid USD with tip for one ride and used a no fee credit card for another.

[princess_mom]

21 hours ago, Piperpals said:

No Uber yet, late this year at the earliest. Taxis will accept USD but will give you a 'rounded' up exchange rate on it.  If your luggage is manageable you can get the rapid transit (Skytrain) from Canada Place to Pacific Station.  Less than 10 minutes (4 stops), but taxi doesn't take long either.

Luggage is the problem, 3 of us will have too much to jump on a skytrain easily. I guess taxi it is. I have $20 CAD from a trip to Niagara Falls last year. Any idea if thats enough for a taxi + tip? 

Thanks!

[martincath]

Cab fare to Pac Central should be about $12, with a bit of traffic variability - even if you do have ridiculous amounts of luggage the cabbie is not allowed to charge for transporting it (but if it will not actually fit safely inside the taxi he doesn't have to transport you!), so no mater how many people and bags the meter reads the same. I'd ballpark $15 including tip being a solid estimate, so your $20 will be plenty.

 

BTW, in general if you're buying stuff your credit card will be your least-bad value option, unless you hit an ATM and withdraw $100+ local cash - even the worst Foreign Transaction Fee I've ever heard of is still less than the 'convenience charge' that some Points of Sale charge for billing you in your home currency (4% or more while FTFs tend to be 2.5% or less) and certainly a much better value than local stores, cabs etc. will charge for taking USD cash (usually a 'rounded to a sensible and easily calculated ratio' that pads bank rates by somewhere between 5 and 10% - Tim Hortons is the only business I can think of offhand that comes even close to official bank rates, they display current exchange rates on the screens in-store and run to 4 decimal places IIRC)

[princess_mom]

thanks @martincath great info regarding baggage, etc...

[patrickmoran]

What would be rough estimate of taxi fare from V airport to pier? Thanks

[martincath]

1 hour ago, patrickmoran said:

What would be rough estimate of taxi fare from V airport to pier? Thanks

No need for the crudity of estimating this route - there are fixed rate fares on outbound cabs & limos from YVR. CAD$35 precisely, regardless of traffic, to the pier (and if you're on an RT cruise, you can expect to pay a similar amount going TO the airport, though this will be metered so varies from ~$32 in light traffic to maybe $40 if there's lots of construction, an accident etc. - commuter flow is the other way so it's rare for vehicle volume to impact post-cruise trips to YVR).

[chubbypiggy]

On 6/9/2019 at 12:31 PM, martincath said:

No need for the crudity of estimating this route - there are fixed rate fares on outbound cabs & limos from YVR. CAD$35 precisely, regardless of traffic, to the pier (and if you're on an RT cruise, you can expect to pay a similar amount going TO the airport, though this will be metered so varies from ~$32 in light traffic to maybe $40 if there's lots of construction, an accident etc. - commuter flow is the other way so it's rare for vehicle volume to impact post-cruise trips to YVR).

You said from YVR airport to Canada Place is a fixed rate of CAD$35. Before we get on the taxi, do we need to negotiate with the taxi driver that we don't want to use the meter and would like to pay CAD$35 for the ride?

 

I don't have any CAD, can I pay the CAD$35 with my U.S. credit card (my card has no foreign fee)?

 

We will arrive at YVR airport in mid-August on Saturday noon time.  Approximately how long is the ride from the airport to Canada Place? 

 

Thank you. 

   

[martincath]

15 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

You said from YVR airport to Canada Place is a fixed rate of CAD$35. Before we get on the taxi, do we need to negotiate with the taxi driver that we don't want to use the meter and would like to pay CAD$35 for the ride?

No - drivers are legally required to use the fixed fare zones and if you ask to be metered they are actually supposed to refuse!

 

I don't have any CAD, can I pay the CAD$35 with my U.S. credit card (my card has no foreign fee)?

Yes - provided it's a Visa or MasterCard (Discovery has very low acceptance here, and AmEx is also taken more rarely). Tell the driver before getting in you're paying by card, as like taxi drivers everywhere there are some chancers - it's not that unusual for someone to pretend 'the machine is broken' but when you say "OK, better get the next cab instead then as all I have is plastic" it usually starts magically working again. If that happens - don't tip the a**hole so they learn 😉

 

We will arrive at YVR airport in mid-August on Saturday noon time.  Approximately how long is the ride from the airport to Canada Place?

Probably 30-35mins, but sin ce it's fixed rate if you get the runaround or hit traffic it won't have any impact on the fare.

 

Thank you. 

No worries.

Answers in red inside your Quote.

[chubbypiggy]

Thank you for your response.  Is there a fee for the luggage?  Normally, how much should we tip the taxi driver?

[xlxo]

Another vote for credit card... I do recommend telling the driver you plan to pay by card before getting in.  Otherwise, they play mind games saying the machine is broken.

[Heidi13]

12 hours ago, chubbypiggy said:

Thank you for your response.  Is there a fee for the luggage?  Normally, how much should we tip the taxi driver?

No extra charge for cases.

 

Sorry, can't help with tip, as we only tip based on the quality of service we received.

[rkacruiser]

14 hours ago, xlxo said:

Another vote for credit card... I do recommend telling the driver you plan to pay by card before getting in.  Otherwise, they play mind games saying the machine is broken.

 

January, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale:  my experience with the "games".

 

My hotel ordered a car service to get me to the pier.  Time to pay upon arrival at Pier 26, I gave the driver my credit card.  Response from the "jerk"--"I forgot my credit card machine this morning."  If I had had the presence of mind at the time. I should have replied "I forgot to bring any cash with me this morning."

[sasha101us]

does anyone know if taking the sky train from the airport in Vancouver to Canada Place is fairly easy?

[friendswithdave]

Yes, it is a direct train from Van Airport to Canada Place. The only catch is you are dropped off a few hundred yards away. It does not take you all the way there.