Seattle to Vancouver question

[Lawdawg]

We are doing Alaska in June 2018. It's considerably cheaper for us to fly to Seattle than Vancouver. I've seen on some other threads where people have said that they got 1 way car rentals each way and drove to and from Vancouver. This sounds interesting because we were planning to rent a car anyway and drive out to Whistler the day before cruise. However, my question is, if you rent the car at Seattle airport, where do you leave it in Vancouver and then how do you get to the ship? Then, how do you get to another rental car once you get back off the ship after the cruise?

 

[KristiMc]

We did this and dropped of the car at Canada Place which is where the terminal is and the Pan Pacific hotel which is where we stayed. It was very easy. At the end of the cruise we picked up the car there and drove back to Seattle. We rented through Alamo.

 

[BartmanLA]

Yes there are some car rental places inside Canada Place you can pick up/drop off rentals, in 2013 (yes that long ago) we sailed the repo trip to Vancouver and then rented a car at Canada Place and drove down to Seattle, it was pretty easy and made for much less stress trying to scramble to get to the airport in Vancouver from the port.

 

[DVC_Chris]

Another option to consider is to take the train from Seattle to Vancouver, that's what we did in 2014, very easy and low stress. You check your bags in Seattle, pick them up in Vancouver, and then take a commuter rail line or a taxi into the city proper.

 

[bumbershoot]

Before naming a final decision on flights, price out your options. It can start adding up.

The rental costs can be high. And it feels long when you’re driving. Once you cross the border it’s another hour at least before you get to Vancouver. More of there are traffic snarls going through the delta.

Or you might go at a time when rental companies don’t want a car from America being dropped off in Vancouver, so now you have to rent it the whole time and pay to park it.

The train adds at least one day onto the trip if not two. There are no flights to SeaTac early enough that allow you to get to the downtown Seattle Amtrak station for the early train. So you have e to take the afternoon train. Which leaves after the ship leaves Vancouver. So that’s a night in Seattle to catch the early train the next morning.

But even taking the morning train can be scary to go up same day. Amtrak doesn’t own the rails and will be shunted to the side if there’s a hunch if freight. If there’s a problem up ahead you’ll wait. If there’s a landslide anywhere on the tracks for the previous 72 hours you’ll be put on a bus which is slower. So then unless you’re brave, that’s a night in Vancouver.


Price it all out and then make your decision.

 

[Lawdawg]

Before naming a final decision on flights, price out your options. It can start adding up.

The rental costs can be high. And it feels long when you’re driving. Once you cross the border it’s another hour at least before you get to Vancouver. More of there are traffic snarls going through the delta.

Or you might go at a time when rental companies don’t want a car from America being dropped off in Vancouver, so now you have to rent it the whole time and pay to park it.

The train adds at least one day onto the trip if not two. There are no flights to SeaTac early enough that allow you to get to the downtown Seattle Amtrak station for the early train. So you have e to take the afternoon train. Which leaves after the ship leaves Vancouver. So that’s a night in Seattle to catch the early train the next morning.

But even taking the morning train can be scary to go up same day. Amtrak doesn’t own the rails and will be shunted to the side if there’s a hunch if freight. If there’s a problem up ahead you’ll wait. If there’s a landslide anywhere on the tracks for the previous 72 hours you’ll be put on a bus which is slower. So then unless you’re brave, that’s a night in Vancouver.


Price it all out and then make your decision.

Thank you. Yes, not knowing that there was a one way option before now, I had priced an SUV from the Seattle airport round trip for 9 days through Costco, with the intent of just leaving it parked at the port. Even that option, with port parking was still cheaper than flying directly to Vancouver.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We also flew to Seattle. Took the train from Seattle to Vancouver. We got a hotel though Hotwire in the area we wanted (unknown hotel til booking for a lower price). We got a one way rental from Alamo at the port (I think the address is 1 Canada place but you can look it up) to Seattle airport. We got a decent price on the one way Car rental through Expedia.

 

[GPaLarry]

In June we drove from our home in Portland, OR to Vancouver for a DCL Alaska cruise. We needed a mini van to take the six of us and luggage. The rental car company said we could not drop off the van in Canada and drive another back so we drove it up, paid to park it for the week, then drove it home. Another variable is the time at the border. Going up it was about 45 minutes. Coming back it took 1 1/2 hours. We went up on a Sunday, day before boarding the Wonder, then returned on a Monday, which could be the reason for the longer lines. When you go through, stay in the left lane. Have a great time, like we did, and take binoculars.

 

[jetskigrl]

It couldn't hurt to take a look at the Quick Shuttle bus too. http://www.quickcoach.com/

We did this after our 2014 Alaska cruise is and it was so inexpensive and easy. The bus picked us up right at the cruise terminal. When we got to the border, the driver informed them we were all coming from the cruise terminal so we didn't have to unload luggage or anything. We just took our carry on bags and went inside. The whole bus was finished in about 20 minutes. We did end up waiting about 15 minutes longer, but that was to pick up a family from an earlier bus that encountered issues and needed time to clear it up. So we took them when us.

It was really nice to just sit back and let someone else worry about the driving.

 

[cruiser21]

We rented a car for 55.00 dollars through Alamo and dropped it at the port the next morning. It was very easy. We stayed at the Hyatt and parking was 12.00 CAD on the weekend. All car rentals are at the port. If you stay at the Pan there is an Alamo in the hotel. Hope that helps. I found the the whole process and drive pretty effortless.

 

[Shanti]

Thank you. Yes, not knowing that there was a one way option before now, I had priced an SUV from the Seattle airport round trip for 9 days through Costco, with the intent of just leaving it parked at the port. Even that option, with port parking was still cheaper than flying directly to Vancouver.

Have you looked at WestJet? We got extremely reasonable rates to & from Vancouver through them.