Seattle to Vancouver Amtrak Questions

[mickeyhereicome]

We are staying in Seattle by the space needle at Maxwell hotel in May. Got it off Hotwire.com for $100 a night. They have a shuttle that goes 5 miles. In Vancouver we are staying at the Coast Coal hotel for $120 a night and it is a few blocks from the port. We are renting a one way minivan (7 passenger) and driving to Vancouver from Seattle. It was $180 for the day. It allows us to visit Olympic national park. We are planning on taking the train back. But someone posted they didn't enjoy it. That made me nervous.

 

[CruznLexi]

I too am going to Vancouver via amtrak and then bus on the way back. I am at hampton inn at seatack with AAA for $98. I too will take a cab or shuttle to amtrak and then the. $10 cab ride to pan pacific.

 

[jilljill]

After researching on cruise critic, here is our plan on a budget w/2 adults, 2 kids (11, 8):

Fly into SEA Friday night...very late arrival.
Stay @ HI Express SEA. (new hotel and above par for HIExp)
Cab to Amtrak next morning. Sky train is cheaper but not interested @ 6:00am.
Amtrak to Canada Place. Pick up rental car and spend 2 nights in Whistler.
Board ship on Monday.

Airport hotels are $100/night cheaper than hotels close to Amtrak. Marriott Courtyard is within walking distance to both Amtrak and Sky Train if you want a room close to tracks but more expensive than SEA hotels.

FYI - Amtrak does not end at Canada Place. If you are picking up your rental car at Canada Place you will need to take a cab to get there.
Didn't want anyone to get confused by your post.

 

[jxd]

FYI - Amtrak does not end at Canada Place. If you are picking up your rental car at Canada Place you will need to take a cab to get there.
Didn't want anyone to get confused by your post.

You are correct...left that part out...thanks. Should be $5-$10 fare to Budget.

Also, Priceline is a great option for hotels if you are comfortable with their selections within your desired criteria.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I have read several reports of those that have flown into Seattle and then took the Amtrak to Vancouver and most have said they paid around $30 one-way, with checked baggage.

Maybe I don't know how to read a train schedule, but the only seats I could find were one-way for $60 that accepted check baggage. All the $29 seats I saw had "no checked baggage" in the column in the right.

Am I missing something or maybe looking at the wrong schedule? I was looking at the Seattle King Street station.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I just went back and looked again. I was looking at May 2013, just to look at prices. Could be that May is already considered as not booking early enough and the fares have risen. I then looked at Oct 2013 and I did see the $29 availability.

Guess that means that we will need to book really early for May 2014 if that is what we end up doing.