Alaska Cruise -- fly to Seattle or Vancouver?

[labdogs42]

We are doing Alaska in August 2016, so it is time to start working on my flights. Coming from PA, could go out of Philly or Newark, or a few other airports, could fly into Seattle or Vancouver. Thoughts on my options? What are pros and cons of each? Any suggestions of airlines to use or avoid? I haven't flown anywhere but to Florida for vacation in a long time!

 

[MUN]

We are doing Alaska in August 2016, so it is time to start working on my flights. Coming from PA, could go out of Philly or Newark, or a few other airports, could fly into Seattle or Vancouver. Thoughts on my options? What are pros and cons of each? Any suggestions of airlines to use or avoid? I haven't flown anywhere but to Florida for vacation in a long time!

We flew into Seattle and rented a car and drove to Vancouver and spent 2 days there b/4 the cruise. After the cruise, we rented a car in Vancouver and drove to Seattle and spent 2 days there b/4 flying home. It worked out very well. We loved our extra time in Vancouver and Seattle. For us, flights to Seattle were quite a bit less than Vancouver.

MUN

 

[cedricandsophie]

Vancouver is a wonderful city but so is Seattle. You probably need to weigh the cost of airline tickets when combined with csr rental and hotels. If you stay in downtown Vancouver it is very walkable with a great transit system. You could rent a car for a day to drive up to whistler. Amazing drive up the mountains. If you start in Seattle I understand there is a train but I know nothing about it. Depending on how much time you want to spend you can go over to San juan islsnds for a few days. It's an amazing ferry ride and San juan island is gorgeous.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

For our first Alaska cruise in 2013 it was definitely cheaper and easier to fly into Vancouver so that's what we did. We are also going again in 8/2016 and I already bought our tickets (the day they were released) and once again, flying to Vancouver not Seattle. Both are great cities but being honest, Vancouver is extra special I think and we all three loved it. We are flying from the East Coast and paid about $618 r/t per person. I paid approximately $1854 when they were released (with good flight times and connections) and today the same tickets are $3441 so not sure what you are looking at or considering but had I seen $3441 on opening day I might have considered other options. We do fly SWA a lot and I would have considered them to Seattle but SWA doesn't release their schedule until later and by the time I added in hotel in Seattle then transportation to Vancouver (and you should still arrive a day early to Vancouver due to possible train delays) it wasn't feasible for us.

I'd do as suggested, considered all options if you stay in Seattle vs. flying direct to Vancouver. Some have saved a decent amount by going through Seattle and others haven't found the savings to be worthwhile or saved much.

Heather

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• which sailing are you on? If on the August 1st sailing.... we need to plan ahead for fireworks and fireworks congestion.
• There's a $50 shuttle from Seatac into Vancouver. Some may choose the train, but the bus is a bit cheaper and more convenient.
  summer schedule to released in May.... http://www.quickcoach.com/schedule.htm
• there's savings for multi-night Vancouver stays looking at hotels a few blocks away from the cruise terminal.
• what about open jaw.... fly into Vancouver for a few pre-cruise days and then depart from Seattle.

 

[labdogs42]

We sail August 15.

 

[labdogs42]

For our first Alaska cruise in 2013 it was definitely cheaper and easier to fly into Vancouver so that's what we did. We are also going again in 8/2016 and I already bought our tickets (the day they were released) and once again, flying to Vancouver not Seattle. Both are great cities but being honest, Vancouver is extra special I think and we all three loved it. We are flying from the East Coast and paid about $618 r/t per person. I paid approximately $1854 when they were released (with good flight times and connections) and today the same tickets are $3441 so not sure what you are looking at or considering but had I seen $3441 on opening day I might have considered other options. We do fly SWA a lot and I would have considered them to Seattle but SWA doesn't release their schedule until later and by the time I added in hotel in Seattle then transportation to Vancouver (and you should still arrive a day early to Vancouver due to possible train delays) it wasn't feasible for us.

I'd do as suggested, considered all options if you stay in Seattle vs. flying direct to Vancouver. Some have saved a decent amount by going through Seattle and others haven't found the savings to be worthwhile or saved much.

Heather

Which airline?

 

[KristiMc]

We sailed this past June and flew in/out of Seattle. It was nice to be able to visit each city. We did two one-way rentals flying into Seattle on Saturday and flying out Tuesday morning.

 

[Geomom]

We're doing the 8/8 cruise, flying in on 8/5 from BOS to Vancouver on Air Canada. We're paying $568/person roundtrip, that cost includes the $26/person we spent to pick our seats ahead of time. We're doing a red-eye flight home, so we'll get home around 10:30AM on Tues. 8/16. The flights are costing less than our Feb. vacation flights to Orlando on Southwest.

My disclaimer--we haven't flown anything but Southwest for the past 16 years, so this is all new to us!

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

We live in Florida and flew to Seattle for our Alaska cruise in 2014. We spent one day in Seattle and visited the Space Needle and then the Museum of Flight. We took the Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver the next morning and it was incredibly easy and a beautiful ride. The train was 3 and 1/2 hours and cost ~ $100 for the 3 of us (buy your tickets early for a good discount). After the cruise, we went to Van Dusen Botanical Gardens, spent another night in Vancouver, and then went to Stanley Park before flying back that evening out of Vancouver. It worked out really well.

 

[mrp4352]

We flew into Seattle and took the Amtrak up to Vancouver. That train ride ended up being one of our top 3 highlights on the trip! If you'd like details on the train - it's in the Yukon Ho! trip report in my signature.

 

[2-pointdoe]

in case you do not have one or did not know, you need a passport to fly into canada.

 

[lunaland]

I live in the Seattle suburbs, and maybe its just because I live here but I like Vancouver way more! Even though its only a few hours away, I can (and have) vacationed in Vancouver. But, either way, its pretty easy to get between the two. 4 real options:

1. Train- scenic, cheap, and fun. But often runs late, and mudslides north of Seattle frequently cancel service. This happens much less in the Summer though.

2. Boat-You could take the Clipper to Victoria and a ferry later to Vancouver. Might be a little more money and logistics but Victoria is fantastic!

3. Bus- I avoid buses so I can't comment much here, but other than traffic pretty reliable and cheap I'd imagine.

4. Car- Most flexible option. Beware traffic, especially on Friday and Saturday. Gridlock from morning to evening. You could do any sightseeing you wanted this way, and even take the ferry from Anacortes to Victoria if you wanted to see it.

 

[jburge12000]

Did Alaska last summer. Flew to Seattle early in the afternoon on Southwest and spent time at the waterfront before watching a Mariners game. Train from Seattle is great. We arrived in Vancouver in time to check into our hotel, get our rental care and go to Capilano Bridge. The price difference to fly for us into Seattle vs. Vancouver was enough to pay for everything we did in Seattle and the train. For whatever reason, I could not find a good flight into Vancouver when we wanted it. We took the Bolt Bus back from Vancouver to Seattle that arrived around 1:00, earlier enough to spend the afternoon at Pikes Market and the Space Needle area.

 

[deanimal]

I believe you need a passport to cross the border by land as well.

I live near Vancouver, but we often fly from Seattle for US destinations as it's usually cheaper. But you never know, sometimes Vancouver is less. You just have to keep looking around.

 

[anricat]

We thought it was going to be cheaper to fly to Seattle and then take the train/bus/car rental to Vancouver, but I found some amazing tickets on WestJet for $333/person out of Austin. The times are a little insane, but the overall travel time is less hours total than doing the Seattle thing. I was sort of looking forward to taking the train from Seattle to Vancouver, but it's okay.

What I did was make a spreadsheet with cost and total travel time added up for each option. Because the flights to Seattle were such that we wouldn't have been able to take the train the same day, it meant an overnight in Seattle which was sort of expensive once we also factored in somehow getting us and all our luggage from the airport to a hotel and then a hotel to the train station in Seattle. So you want to think about all those variables.

 

[labdogs42]

We have passports already, thanks! Got that part covered!

 

[labdogs42]

What's the amtrak route called from Seattle to Vancouver?

 

[MUN]

What's the amtrak route called from Seattle to Vancouver?

Amtrak Cascades

 

[bumbershoot]

Because the flights to Seattle were such that we wouldn't have been able to take the train the same day

Exactly.

With the train you're really looking at 2 nights in a hotel. Minimum of 1. If you get into Seattle somewhere before 5ish pm, you might be able to catch the afternoon train, but you're getting in late to Vancouver and have to stay over. Unless you're on a flight that gets in *extremely* late at night or pre-dawn, you can't make the early train, so you have to stay in Seattle overnight. If you're risk adverse with travel, you'd want to take the train up the day BEFORE embarkation. So either way, you're really looking at 2 nights in a hotel, flying into Seattle. That tends to bring the difference closer, if you're initially seeing that Seattle is cheaper.

I don't think there are any junky airlines flying into Vancouver FWIW. We don't particularly like Jazz (an Air Canada offshoot) b/c the FAs were intensely rude to DH b/c of his size. So we try to avoid them. Alaska is good, IMO.

You just have to look at your budget and at all the options. Seattle plus hotel night(s) plus Bolt Bus or rental car or shuttle or train vs Vancouver (hopefully plus a hotel night in case of plane delays)...just gotta see what's going for your flights!



Definitely book early on Amtrak, and if you have AAA, use that discount.