Vancouver Airport Timing

[Zoolander]

We are planning on using Harbour Air to get from Victoria to the Vancouver Airport area.

 

Our flight for the states leaves at 5:30 pm. We will be going from Vancouver to Seatle and then on to San Diego.

 

Harbour Air has quite a few flights, so should we be landing in Vancouver on Harbour Air 2.5 hours before our flight leaves with Alaska Air, or should we be more conservative like 4 hours or so?

 

Thanks in advance.

[c-to-sea]

2.5 is probably the minimum you should allow. The float planes land on the opposite

side of the airport to the main terminal so time is needed to shuttle across. US departure

formalities can be lengthy, as you are preclearing into the USA in Vancouver and it

can get quite busy. Security into the USA is also lengthier and your float plane arrival doesn't

constitute a secure transfer.

[scottbee]

We are planning on using Harbour Air to get from Victoria to the Vancouver Airport area.

 

Our flight for the states leaves at 5:30 pm. We will be going from Vancouver to Seatle and then on to San Diego.

 

Harbour Air has quite a few flights, so should we be landing in Vancouver on Harbour Air 2.5 hours before our flight leaves with Alaska Air, or should we be more conservative like 4 hours or so?

 

Why don't you just fly Horizon (owned by Alaska Air) YYJ(Victoria Airport) - SEA and catch your flight to SAN from there? You can also fly CXH/Victoria Harbour -> Seattle/Lake Union on Kenmore Air

[Zoolander]

Sorry, yes, we do have the Horizon flight. I am not sure if Alaskan was even an option. Will try to book the flight that lands around 3 hours before needing to board for our return flight.

 

Thanks for all of your help.

[scottbee]

Sorry, yes, we do have the Horizon flight. I am not sure if Alaskan was even an option. Will try to book the flight that lands around 3 hours before needing to board for our return flight.

 

Thanks for all of your help.

 

Assuming you're on AS498 SEA-SAN, this is the connecting flight from YYJ(Victoria Intl). You will need a little longer than you might think at SEA as you need to clear the US Dept of Homeland Security at SEA and transfer from the South Satellite (Intl) at SEA to the C (or D) concourse where the SAN flight leaves from, but this is a more than doable connection

 

QX 2387 1545 YYJ-SEA 1635

AS 498 1750 SEA-SAN 2036

 

Alaska Air have a lowish change fee, and I'm sure they can change your YVR-SEA segment into a YYJ-SEA (which is similarly priced) for a lot less than the added cost of a floatplane back to Vancouver

 

YYJ airport is located about 15 miles north of downtown Victoria, a cab is about $35, or there's an airport shuttle for about $15/ea.

[Zoolander]

Scottbee, thanks for the info, I misunderstood you on first glance of your post and trying not just a different flight, but an entirely different airport.

 

I did look into that flight initially, from that airport, but something didn't work out. I can't remember what it was, but I will look into it again.

 

Not sure what the process will be when we land in Seatle as far as customs is concerned but as of right now we have around an hour and twenty minutes on the ground.

 

I will give AA a call and see how it goes.

 

Are you recommending we go for the three hour layover in Seatle? Right now we are flying out of Vancouver at 5:30 (though Expedia has that being a 5 pm flight now) and taking off out of Seatle at 7:45. If we leave out of Victoria, we will be looking at a much safer layover, concerning customs.

 

Thanks again.

[scottbee]

Scottbee, thanks for the info, I misunderstood you on first glance of your post and trying not just a different flight, but an entirely different airport.

 

I did look into that flight initially, from that airport, but something didn't work out. I can't remember what it was, but I will look into it again.

 

Not sure what the process will be when we land in Seatle as far as customs is concerned but as of right now we have around an hour and twenty minutes on the ground.

 

I will give AA a call and see how it goes.

 

Are you recommending we go for the three hour layover in Seatle? Right now we are flying out of Vancouver at 5:30 (though Expedia has that being a 5 pm flight now) and taking off out of Seatle at 7:45. If we leave out of Victoria, we will be looking at a much safer layover, concerning customs.

 

Yes, I was suggesting you fly Victoria/YYJ-Seattle/SEA. It's a heck of a lot faster and closer than flying CXH(Victoria Harbour)-YVR-SEA. The Victoria Intl Airport (YYJ) is about 15 miles north of downtown Victoria itself.

 

 

If you fly YVR-SEA, you pre-clear US Customs at Vancouver. It saves time at the Seattle end, at the expense of needing to check in earlier at YVR. However, you'll arrive into gate C2 at Seattle, which is closer to the C or D gate you'll leave for SAN from. If you fly YYJ-SEA, you'll clear customs at SEA, in the south terminal. It will take a little longer to get to the C/D gates, but it's never really that long.