Ft Lauderdale to Vancouver BC

[Travelbug 2]

Anyone had experience with HAL air bookings returning from FLL to Vancouver Canada?

 

I do not know what to expect in the way of routing and changes etc. Will it be better to make my own arrangements as we will be at the end of our cruise and flying home? It may be worth the few extra $ to get a good flight with minimal changes.

 

Any comments?

[DanJ]

How much is HAL charging you for one-way air? I checked both Air Canada and Westjet for FLL-YVR on Oct 14, and they both are approx $320 CDN plus taxes. AC leaves at 1325 changes planes in Montreal and arrives in YVR at 2024. Westjet leaves FLL at 1405, connects in Toronto and arrives in YCR at 2040. Both have approx 70 minutes in either connection city, so that's reasonable. I don't think HAL will be able to offer you anything any better than these flights, and the possibility exists for a whole lot worse LOL.

 

I would personally pick Westjet for this, since they have a little more legroom, leather seats, and the satellite TV.

[Travelbug 2]

Thanks for the info Dan,

 

The charge from HAL is $419 incl taxes. also the transfer from ship to airport is included. If I book my own air I assume I can pay for a transfer to the airport? I will get my TA to look into it.

Thanks for the heads up with Westjet about leg room, I am 6ft 4in and my wife is also tall, we need all the room we can get!!

 

Cheers.

[DanJ]

Taxi from the pier to the airport is about 10 bucks plus tip or you could buy the HAL transfer on the ship. Generally, most people getting off a ship in FLL prefer to take a cab to the airport (about 5 minutes if you get a red light) rather than wait for a bus to fill up and it's cheaper.

 

To be fair, the plane that Air Canda will use from FLL, the new Embraer 190 (http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/media/facts/photos_e190.html), also has slightly more than average leg room, 2x2 seating and TV's at each seat that play movies, although not live TV like Westjet. It has been getting very good reviews from AC frequent flyers. But you have to connect in Montreal, which makes for that much longer of a flight, and then connect on an Airbus 319 with not much in the way of inflight entertainment and smaller legroom.

 

You could also look into United, which would get you out of FLL at 1140am and into YVR at 710pm, but you have to connect in Chicago and Seattle. It costs about the same as the AC and Westjet flights.

[Travelbug 2]

Dan.

Thanks for the detailed info'---very helpful

[Sopwith]

We did the reverse trip in January, booked by HAL. We weren't entirely happy with the schedule or the routing, but they did get a rate several hundred bucks cheaper than we could, when you factored in the airport and hotel transfers.

 

Beware of the connection times if you change planes in Montreal or Toronto. You will have to clear customs and immigration between flights both ways, and you may have to change terminals. 70 minutes is not enough. It takes 60 minutes *IF* everything goes smoothly and there are no lines. I would recommend 2 hours. I had to fight with HAL to get them to book the return flight through DFW because the connection in Montreal wouldn't allow enough time for customs.

 

Note that Westjet does not allow advance seat selection, so check in early.

[senior lady]

We just flew westjet 2 wks ago and we could pick our seats before hand. we also could check in 12 hrs before the flight on the internet. Once you get your confirmation # you can pick seats online.

 

We just did the same for our flight on Continental that Princess booked for our flight to Ft Lauderdale in May. We got good flights through Princess, and the price wasn't much different then booking our own. I think one way flights are cheaper these days

[SarahQ]

Travelbug 2 - would flying into Seattle, rather than Vancouver, be an option for you?

 

A quick check on Expedia.ca shows that there are plenty of flights available (quite a few with very reasonable connection times) and prices are as low as $200 CAD incl. taxes.

 

We live near between Toronto, ON and Buffalo, NY and we frequently fly out of Buffalo when we are going to US destinations - slightly farther drive but a much smaller airport and always far cheaper than flying out of Toronto.

[DanJ]

 

Beware of the connection times if you change planes in Montreal or Toronto. You will have to clear customs and immigration between flights both ways, and you may have to change terminals. 70 minutes is not enough. It takes 60 minutes *IF* everything goes smoothly and there are no lines. I would recommend 2 hours. I had to fight with HAL to get them to book the return flight through DFW because the connection in Montreal wouldn't allow enough time for customs.

 

Note that Westjet does not allow advance seat selection, so check in early.

 

That's true with Air Canada in Toronto. You'd have to clear CDN immigration then transfer terminals. Westjet is just out of T2, so no change required.

 

Westjet only offers web check-in and seat selection on Canadian flights only.

[Travelbug 2]

Travelbug 2 - would flying into Seattle, rather than Vancouver, be an option for you?

 

A quick check on Expedia.ca shows that there are plenty of flights available (quite a few with very reasonable connection times) and prices are as low as $200 CAD incl. taxes.

 

We live near between Toronto, ON and Buffalo, NY and we frequently fly out of Buffalo when we are going to US destinations - slightly farther drive but a much smaller airport and always far cheaper than flying out of Toronto.

 

 

Thanks SarahQ but Seattle is not a doable option unfortunately.

We are sailing from Vancouver and will be leaving our car at the pre cruise hotel while we are away. We always opt to go a day early and stay overnight.

We could fly into Seattle on our return but then we would have to get a shuttle to Vancouver then transport to the hotel to pick up the car. Not really worth all the hassle. However I will sure keep this in mind for future trips, it is a good tip.

Thanks again.