Would you fly in to Seattle or Vancouver for Alaskan cruise?

[disneypoor]

We are booked on the Wonder for the Alaskan cruise next summer. Initially, when we booked this cruise, we decided to go ahead and let Disney handle our air as well since we were going to unfamiliar territory. We've always booked our own air because it has always been cheaper, but I can't necessarily say that's what I've noticed with flights to Vancouver. Disney's rates seem to be pretty comparable to what I can find on my own.

My question is, would you fly to Vancouver or to Seattle? We are scheduled to fly in a day before our cruise directly to Vancouver, but I've heard it's easy to fly to Seattle and rent a car on your own to drive to Vancouver. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Just trying to make sure there isn't a cheaper way to do this cause the Alaskan cruise with air is costing us an arm and a leg!

Thanks for any help!

Susan

 

[bethy]

I'm not sure about the cost difference but the drive from Seattle to Vancouver is about 3 hours on a reasonably good traffic day. And depending on the day and time, the wait at the border can be very very long. Like 1-2 hours IME. Security is extremely tight there. And then you'd have to do the same thing on the way back.

 

[Rob S.]

I'm flying from Chicago and I recently decided to fly to Seattle. I have gold status on American so I don't even look at rates from other carriers. I can fly direct to Seattle (roundtrip) for about $360 per person. If I choose to go to Vancouver, the cost goes up to about $750-$800 per person (and it's not direct). The savings of about $400 per ticket convinced me that I should fly to Seattle.

We were planning all along to fly in on Saturday, giving us a few days of vacation on land before the cruise. Now we plan on spending a full day in Seattle (and night) before we decide to drive to Vancouver.

 

[disneypoor]

Thanks for your quick reply! You brought up the main reasons I didn't book air on my own in the first place. I'd been told that it could be a long drive and a difficult day with crossing the border, etc. I think we'll just stick with what we have. I don't seem to be able to find flights on my own for much less than what I have with Disney, so apparently it's a good thing I booked it all early cause I'm sure that by now Disney's airfare has probably gone up as well. I guess I'll let Disney do all of the work this time around.

 

[gjk1946]

You might want to fly to Bellingham Washington (BLI)---one hour south of Van. BC and 2 hours North of SeaTac. Allegiant, Alaska, Delta all fly into Bellingham. Rent a car there and drive to Van for some great things to do before heading off on the cruise.

 

[disneypoor]

I'm flying from Chicago and I recently decided to fly to Seattle. I have gold status on American so I don't even look at rates from other carriers. I can fly direct to Seattle (roundtrip) for about $360 per person. If I choose to go to Vancouver, the cost goes up to about $750-$800 per person (and it's not direct). The savings of about $400 per ticket convinced me that I should fly to Seattle.

We were planning all along to fly in on Saturday, giving us a few days of vacation on land before the cruise. Now we plan on spending a full day in Seattle (and night) before we decide to drive to Vancouver.

I think if I remember correctly, when I first began looking in to flying on my own, it was cheaper for us to fly to Seattle. My main problem is that my husband is a dairy farmer, and it is so hard for him to be away for a long period of time, so any days I add to the trip just add to his stress. I did convince him that we should fly in the day before, but I think if I had to add any extra time on top of what we have, I might cause him to have a panic attack and the cruise isn't even until July!

I definitely think you have the right idea, and I wish we could do the same. I just didn't realize it could take up to 5 hours for the drive and border issues. That scares me away a bit from flying in to Seattle especially with the time constraints we'll have.

 

[lexlaw69]

Most people fly into Seattle due to price difference....

 

[mmmears]

Check out the big Vancouver thread on this board since there has been quite a bit of discussion on there.

I can summarize by saying that it is almost always less expensive to fly into Seattle than Vancouver.

Many people on the boards are taking the train from Seattle to Vancouver. If you drive or take a bus, be aware that the border crossing can take quite a while (and there is no way to know how long). It sounds like the train is a good option if you don't mind adding a few hours onto your trip (as opposed to just flying to Vancouver).

We're flying into Vancouver since it's easier and will take less travel time. My DM has a hard time standing and walking a lot, so that was a big factor in our decision.

Hope this helps!

 

[justmestace]

The train trip is closer to four hours, I heard. And there can be delays that will make it even longer.
I guess you have to weigh that amount of time stuck on a train, to the amount of money spent flying into Vancouver, or taking a bus to Vancouver.

 

[seaulater]

You might want to fly to Bellingham Washington (BLI)---one hour south of Van. BC and 2 hours North of SeaTac. Allegiant, Alaska, Delta all fly into Bellingham. Rent a car there and drive to Van for some great things to do before heading off on the cruise.

Last time we cruised out of Vancouver, we were able to fly into Seattle on Delta from Salt Lake City for a low $59 each way! Love flying to the west coast instead of the east coast!

At that time, to fly into Vancouver would have cost us about $350 each.

Got a rental car in Seattle and was a beautiful drive. Going through the border was no problem at all, couldn't have taken us more than 15-20 minutes.

I'll check fares from Bellingham back to Salt Lake City, as we are doing the repositioning and only need a one way back.

 

[seaulater]

You might want to fly to Bellingham Washington (BLI)---one hour south of Van. BC and 2 hours North of SeaTac. Allegiant, Alaska, Delta all fly into Bellingham. Rent a car there and drive to Van for some great things to do before heading off on the cruise.

Well....just checked one way from Bellingham to Salt Lake City on May 10th.....a whopping $910.00! OUCH!

Then checked Seattle to Salt Lake City one way and was $81.00. Looks like we are flying out of Seattle!

 

[discruiser]

We're planning to fly into Seattle, using SW, since we've got 3 free tickets on SW (we are a family of 6). We also won't have to worry about paying for our bags on SW. We'll fly in on either Saturday or Sunday and then take the morning train on Monday. My kids are all 13 and under so I thought they would get a kick out of riding on the train.

Kim

 

[akluss]

Can I ask the people flying into Seattle how you plan to get back to Seattle after the cruise? Are you flying back the next day or looking for a late flight? Thanks, Karyn

 

[discruiser]

Can I ask the people flying into Seattle how you plan to get back to Seattle after the cruise? Are you flying back the next day or looking for a late flight? Thanks, Karyn

I'm not sure yet how we'll be getting back to Seattle, but I do know that we will probably spend a few days in Canada before we head back.

 

[mmouse37]

From New York I found only about $100 difference in fare between flying into Seattle or Vancouver. We opted for the higher fare into Vancouver....we are flying Cathay Pacific and they were the cheapest into Vancouver...$525.00 pp roundtrip direct flights including all taxes and fees. Continental and the others were all over $700 pp PLUS taxes and fees.

We are flying in on Friday night so we will have 4 night in Vancouver pre cruise to explore.

Edited to add that I just priced out our dates on Continental again and the difference to fly into Seattle is only $40 less total so I am happy with our decision to fly into Vancouver.

MJ

 

[disneypoor]

Thank you all for the replies. I'm going to keep checking the price of air to both Seattle and Vancouver. Right now, I'm not coming up with much of a difference, and I even booked my air through Disney. One of the concerns I have is that I'm a control freak and not knowing what our flight times will be is going to drive me crazy! I just envision Disney giving us horrible flight times, and we are doing a pre-night stay at a fabulous resort, so I just want to make sure we get there in time to enjoy it a bit.

Again, I'll keep watching and wait to see what others have to say as well. Thanks a bunch!

Susan

 

[everafter1]

We used Disney air for our Med cruise in May. Being a control freak, myself, I wasn't thrilled with the times they had us arriving and departing (they were close), but I will say, they got us on the ship despite a flight delay and we didn't really have any flight issues.

We were looking at the Alaska cruise and would probably use Disney Air as well, but this time we'd want to come in a day early. Are you using Disney accomodations, as well Air?

 

[Rob S.]

Can I ask the people flying into Seattle how you plan to get back to Seattle after the cruise? Are you flying back the next day or looking for a late flight? Thanks, Karyn

I plan on taking the scenic train ride back to Seattle and flying home the next day.

 

[disneypoor]

We used Disney air for our Med cruise in May. Being a control freak, myself, I wasn't thrilled with the times they had us arriving and departing (they were close), but I will say, they got us on the ship despite a flight delay and we didn't really have any flight issues.

We were looking at the Alaska cruise and would probably use Disney Air as well, but this time we'd want to come in a day early. Are you using Disney accomodations, as well Air?

We booked the Pacific Rim for our pre-cruise stay, and we did book it through Disney. I just decided to let Disney completely take care of us on this one. I've never done that before, but this is all unfamiliar territory for me. Plus, we had Midwest Airlines completely cancel air on us one time (with no options to reschedule) so we called DCL to see if we could add air to our package and we couldn't. They didn't have air left to offer. Just don't want anything to mess up this trip--it's a dream of my husband's.