Late Arrival in Vancouver by train

[Mt Lassen]

We are taking the train from Los Angeles to Vancouver for a cruise late September 2020. We normally stay at the Fairmont Waterfront, but this trip we won't arrive in Vancouver until just before Midnight the day before the cruise. The Fairmont is expensive for just a place to sleep before the cruise. I checked prices near the airport and they are considerable cheaper, but I'm not sure if the savings would be offset by taxi fare from the train station to the airport area and back to Canada Place. Any suggestion? Something in the range of US $250 or less would be fine. 

[hallux]

If walking with your bags isn't an issue, you could cut the taxi fare in half by only taking a taxi TO the airport area.  In the morning you could take the Canada Line SkyTrain (if your hotel is near a stop) to Waterfront Station and walk around the corner to Canada Place.

[martincath]

Metered cab late at night ~$33 from the station; fixed rate cab back to the pier next morning $36; plus tips of course, so call it about $80... or $60 in that weird green monopoly money you guys south of the border use 😉 Personally I'd be more concerned about the time to get out to YVR than the cash savings - even if Amtrak is on-time, which is much less likely on the evening train (2 different train companies own the US tracks and both unlawfully prioritize freight over Amtrak, multiple bridges give right-of-way to marine traffic, and there's just not enough time in Seattle to make up for delays south of there so unless you are within about 30mins of scheduled time you can quickly slip to 2 hours late due to slipping out of the safe 'pocket' between freight trains). Then you have CBSA on arrival - even the first business class folks take a few minutes, and the last carriage of regular seating is up to 30mins, plus perhaps a few minutes wait for a cab. So I'd still look at a downtown hotel to guarantee at least an hour extra in bed myself.

 

If you're normally Waterfront people, I doubt you'll be up for staying at the Y despite it being an excellently-rated hotel and the best bargain in the city - but if you are get it booked ASAP, they sell out consistently in cruise season even later on. Or what about Blue Horizon for a more mid-range indy hotel that will still potentially offer you views of your ship next morning? It's a very skinny tower, so every room is a corner and the high floors have some of the most expansive views in the city including of the pier if you get a north-east corner. Otherwise most of the not-quite-so-luxe chains should have a good chance of getting you into a room for the night within your budget given you're well past peak season - Sheraton Wall, Marriott Pinnacle, Delta Suites for example.

[Mt Lassen]

4 hours ago, martincath said:

Metered cab late at night ~$33 from the station; fixed rate cab back to the pier next morning $36; plus tips of course, so call it about $80... or $60 in that weird green monopoly money you guys south of the border use 😉 Personally I'd be more concerned about the time to get out to YVR than the cash savings - even if Amtrak is on-time, which is much less likely on the evening train (2 different train companies own the US tracks and both unlawfully prioritize freight over Amtrak, multiple bridges give right-of-way to marine traffic, and there's just not enough time in Seattle to make up for delays south of there so unless you are within about 30mins of scheduled time you can quickly slip to 2 hours late due to slipping out of the safe 'pocket' between freight trains). Then you have CBSA on arrival - even the first business class folks take a few minutes, and the last carriage of regular seating is up to 30mins, plus perhaps a few minutes wait for a cab. So I'd still look at a downtown hotel to guarantee at least an hour extra in bed myself.

 

If you're normally Waterfront people, I doubt you'll be up for staying at the Y despite it being an excellently-rated hotel and the best bargain in the city - but if you are get it booked ASAP, they sell out consistently in cruise season even later on. Or what about Blue Horizon for a more mid-range indy hotel that will still potentially offer you views of your ship next morning? It's a very skinny tower, so every room is a corner and the high floors have some of the most expansive views in the city including of the pier if you get a north-east corner. Otherwise most of the not-quite-so-luxe chains should have a good chance of getting you into a room for the night within your budget given you're well past peak season - Sheraton Wall, Marriott Pinnacle, Delta Suites for example.

We arrive in Seattle too late for the evening train so we are on an Amtrak Throughway bus. The only slow down should be CBSA. My understanding is that everyone gets off the bus at the border to clear immigration and customs. If we miss our connection in Seattle Amtrak will cover our overnight hotel and put us on the next available train in the morning. Thanks for the hotel recommendations I'll do a little more research.

 

4 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

Most of the hotels offer a free shuttle to and from the airport. Make sure that is the case before booking.  I plan on staying here the night before my cruise (since I am an IHG member):

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Holiday+Inn+Express+Vancouver+Airport+-+Richmond/@49.1924706,-123.1198742,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x9edc2c008c303700?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjt3abj5JDnAhXrN30KHYI3B58Q_BIwC3oECBsQCA

 

You could take a short ride on a taxi to the Bridgeport station about a half mile away, or even walk it if you don't have too much luggage and are up for that.  Or you could shuttle back to the airport and take the train from there but it would be a $5 surcharge per person. 

I'm a Hilton Honors member and can stay at the airport Hampton Inn for points. I would probably take a taxi in both directions. My understanding is there is no Uber/Lyft available in Vancouver. Another poster also gave hotel ideas closer downtown, so I will also look into that. Thanks for your help. 

[martincath]

2 hours ago, Mt Lassen said:

We arrive in Seattle too late for the evening train so we are on an Amtrak Throughway bus. The only slow down should be CBSA. My understanding is that everyone gets off the bus at the border to clear immigration and customs. If we miss our connection in Seattle Amtrak will cover our overnight hotel and put us on the next available train in the morning. Thanks for the hotel recommendations I'll do a little more research.

 

I'm a Hilton Honors member and can stay at the airport Hampton Inn for points. I would probably take a taxi in both directions. My understanding is there is no Uber/Lyft available in Vancouver. Another poster also gave hotel ideas closer downtown, so I will also look into that. Thanks for your help. 

Aaaah, my bad - I forgot the Coast Starlight only had thruway buses to Vancouver rather than connecting with the Cascades train. Yes, border with a bus involves disembarking and bringing your stuff inside for inspection - and since the border is rarely busy after 9pm your only risk of delay is if anyone on the bus has issues with immigration or customs (you'll all wait around until the last person is cleared or rejected).

 

Since you'd be coming by bus that means you actually have a stop available in both Richmond and Surrey, so a hotel in the 'burbs would actually be quicker to reach than coming downtown to Pacific Central station - I'd advise the Richmond stop as it's much more convenient for hotels compared to Surrey (unless you feel like staying in the very cheesey 2* Pacific Inn that the bus stops at!) The Richmond stop is at one of the Sandman Hotels, a 5min cab ride to the Hampton Airport, maybe ~$7, from where you could shuttle to YVR for a fixed-rate cab or to SkyTrain next morning (or even walk to SkyTrain, it's about 7mins on foot to Bridgeport Station from the airport Hampton).

 

There may be Uber/Lyft operating by September - but even if they are the arrangement to allow them to do so ensures you won't save money compared to cab fare except at off-peak times. Unlike many places cabs around here are usually in decent shape, it's just the limited numbers of them that have locals champing at the bit to get some alternatives - all you tourists in hotels get prioritized over us locals by cabbies!!!

[Urban trekker]

Uber and Lyft started operating today in Vancouver and at least one has airport service. Still limited in the areas they can serve because not all regulatory permits have been issued and both companies are have a hard time hiring drivers do to stricter licensing requirements.

Hope this helps.

Dennis