Getting from Seattle to Vancouver- is there an easy way?

We are booked on a cruise leaving out of Vancouver, but would prefer to fly into Seattle because it would be cheaper (domestic vs international) and much quicker (non-stop vs 2 stops). I'm not finding any great options for getting from Seattle to Vancouver that wouldn't require a bunch of schlepping of luggage (i.e. train) which is not ideal for us. I've seen the shuttle services, but we would really prefer to just get where we're going and not have to make a bunch of stops. Are there any services that offer private rides across the border? Any other options we're not thinking of?

You can rent a car. If you book early enough, price is not bad. There is a car rental place right at Canada Place (can't recall which agency offhand).

We are booked on a cruise leaving out of Vancouver, but would prefer to fly into Seattle because it would be cheaper (domestic vs international) and much quicker (non-stop vs 2 stops). I'm not finding any great options for getting from Seattle to Vancouver that wouldn't require a bunch of schlepping of luggage (i.e. train) which is not ideal for us. I've seen the shuttle services, but we would really prefer to just get where we're going and not have to make a bunch of stops. Are there any services that offer private rides across the border? Any other options we're not thinking of?

One of your best options would be a car rental fro Seatac to Vancouver

You could look at or call

https://www.destinylimousine.ca/seatec-airport.html

you could also look at or call

http://www.seattlelimo.us/rates.asp

Cruiseline transfer isn't an option for you ?

Check the schedule of www.quickcoach.com It runs between Canada Place and SeaTac Airport. It makes a few quick stops but it's sure convenient to get you exactly where you want to go. http://quickcoach.com/schedule.htm

Otherwise, yes, for the train you need a cab from SeaTac to the train station and at the other end from the station to the pier. Same with Bolt Bus, Greyhound bus.

Or rent a car. It's about a 3 - 3 1/2 hr drive. A private driver would be very costly for this distance.

I am planning a land vacation to whistler and while the air is cheaper to seattle, it is not much cheaper when you add the time and expense of getting to Vancouver from Seattle. We have decided to fly into vancouver instead.

Thanks for the quick responses...I hadn't even thought of renting a car one way. That may be the best option for our needs.

We have always used rental cars from SEATAC to Vancouver. Both Hertz and Avis have drop off points 5 blocks from the cruise terminal. There are rental car offices in the Pan Pacific (upstairs from the cruise terminal) but they have strange hours. You can also drop off the car at the Vancouver airport and take a taxi to your hotel (about $30 CDN).

Driving allows you to stop and pick up liquids that are restricted on aircraft on your way to Vancouver.

The handful of limo/car services offering a one-way transfer generally cost $400 - highly unlikely you'll save this much on flights to SEA vs YVR unless you're a big group. Given how many flights go between SEA and YVR I'd be very surprised if you couldn't get a connecting flight to your proposed SEA flight - have you actually check prices/schedules on your planned dates? I ask because if you can fly non-stop to SEA I find it very hard to believe you cannot find a one-stop to YVR that uses your direct-to-SEA as the first leg and adds on the very short hop to YVR...

Assuming you can't find an acceptable flight to YVR - cruise transfer would be the least-hassle option (these are both cheaper than Quickshuttle and faster - no stops at all except at the border). If you don't mind driving, rental car is likely about the same price as 2 transfers and definitely the most flexible.

Oh - since all buses crossing the border require luggage inspection, there are no porters at CBSA, you therefore have to schlep your bags inside yourself and back out again to the bus, it's just as much work as the train...

Your looking at about $250 per person for the cheapest flight between Seattle and a Vancouver return to Seattle.

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Of the 5 or 6 times I've used Quick Shuttle, I've only had to bring a suitcase inside once. Usually just carry on bag and passport. One time the shuttle stopped at a casino for a pickup, but otherwise we just stopped at the border. I've had good service from quick shuttle and highly recommend them.

Roz

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^Which direction Roz? How busy/how long was the border wait?

US CBP seem less picky about bags than Canadian CBSA - more incentive for us to shop in the US than vice versa even at current exchange rates, so customs (as opposed to immigration) is often pickier northbound. I've seen a few folks posting that they got lucky and didn't have to take suitcases through - never experienced it myself in either direction.

I have actually seen entire busloads skipping inspection entirely when it's really busy (that was a two hour wait for buses northbound, so CBSA were walking the queue and if everyone onboard flashed a US/Canadian passport they just opened a gate for the bus to drive through - we unfortunately had 2 South Africans, who would have burst into flames if anyone on the bus had psychic powers when CBSA guy said sorry, you need to keep waiting...), but I can assure you the regular procedure - which should be expected by everyone - is to go inside with all your belongings regardless of which bus company is being used. Even after that ludicrously long wait we all had to schlep all bags in for CBSA inspection.

It's about a 3 - 3 1/2 hr drive.

Your looking at about $250 per person for the cheapest flight between Seattle and a Vancouver return to Seattle.

I just priced out Amtrak, and it can be had for the dates of our upcoming Alaska cruise for $64 r/t pp.

However, it's 4 hours or more each way. We each have to determine for ourselves whether the hassle of making yet-another pair of transfers and the extra time involved is worth it.

I just checked the airfare for ATL>SEA and it is only $119 r/t pp less expensive than our ATL>YVR flights. So for $110 more total, we get to skip the diversion to Seattle. That's worth it to us (especially since that $64 r/t pp for Amtrak does not include getting to and from the train station).

Years ago we took the ferry from Seattle to Vancouver and it was a great trip. It goes thru the San Juan Islands. Of course I don't know if it still operates and it wouldn't solve your luggage problem. Thought I would mention it as an alternative. Have a great trip!

We flew into Seattle for our Alaska Cruise out of Vancouver . We took the train which was nice and reasonably price . Sent the night before in Vancouver enjoyed the City. .

^Which direction Roz? How busy/how long was the border wait?

 

US CBP seem less picky about bags than Canadian CBSA - more incentive for us to shop in the US than vice versa even at current exchange rates, so customs (as opposed to immigration) is often pickier northbound. I've seen a few folks posting that they got lucky and didn't have to take suitcases through - never experienced it myself in either direction.

 

I have actually seen entire busloads skipping inspection entirely when it's really busy (that was a two hour wait for buses northbound, so CBSA were walking the queue and if everyone onboard flashed a US/Canadian passport they just opened a gate for the bus to drive through - we unfortunately had 2 South Africans, who would have burst into flames if anyone on the bus had psychic powers when CBSA guy said sorry, you need to keep waiting...), but I can assure you the regular procedure - which should be expected by everyone - is to go inside with all your belongings regardless of which bus company is being used. Even after that ludicrously long wait we all had to schlep all bags in for CBSA inspection.

The 5 or 6 times I've used Quick Shuttle, it's been southbound from Canada to US. I wouldn't keep using them if the process was so egregious. It's not always the same procedure, which is the way it should be. I don't know how long the waits at the border were, because the bus pulls into a special area. I've never spend more than 15-30 min. there. One time we took our suitcases in, another the driver had to pull the suitcases out but we didn't take them inside. Mostly the inspectors were interested in passports and asking questions about where you were traveling to and from and why. I've gotten questions about traveling alone.

I may be doing the northbound trip next year, so it will be interesting to compare the experiences.

Roz

Years ago we took the ferry from Seattle to Vancouver and it was a great trip. It goes thru the San Juan Islands. Of course I don't know if it still operates and it wouldn't solve your luggage problem. Thought I would mention it as an alternative. Have a great trip!

There's no ferry from Seattle to Vancouver; there's a freeway. You're thinking of Victoria BC, which is located on Vancouver Island.

Renting a car is very easy, but it pays to price shop aggressively, including using downtown pickup stations instead of Seatac airport. Even adding the cost of getting from the airport to a downtown rental office, the rental car can be cheaper overall because of airport taxes and fees not being added. Booking ahead is important; last-minute one-ways can be very expensive. I'd survey the scene using Expedia or some such, then go on the individual rental companies' websites and see if you can do it cheaper.

If you have a full day, you can use the rental car to take the "scenic" route from Seattle to Vancouver, including a couple of cute towns on Whidbey Island, pretty Chuckanut Drive and the historic Fairhaven district of Bellingham, and even Vancouver's fishing port, Steveston, used in the Once Upon a Time TV show. You'd drive past the Boeing Everett plant, home of the big jets and the biggest building in the world, through Mukilteo, Langley and Coupeville, three charming waterfront towns, Fort Casey with its coastal defense gun batteries and views of the Olympic Mountains, and beautiful Deception Pass, the narrow channel between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands where the current at tide change is downright scary. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/jgX5aAs9uQp

The 5 or 6 times I've used Quick Shuttle, it's been southbound from Canada to US. I wouldn't keep using them if the process was so egregious. It's not always the same procedure, which is the way it should be. I don't know how long the waits at the border were, because the bus pulls into a special area. I've never spend more than 15-30 min. there. One time we took our suitcases in, another the driver had to pull the suitcases out but we didn't take them inside. Mostly the inspectors were interested in passports and asking questions about where you were traveling to and from and why. I've gotten questions about traveling alone.

 

I may be doing the northbound trip next year, so it will be interesting to compare the experiences.

 

Roz

It's the same deal regardless of company, so feel free to shop around (Bolt are IMO a significant improvement in quality of bus over QS - free WiFi, more legroom, newer vehicles - and the price difference is more than enough to pay for cabs on both ends to/from pier/airport for a couple; QS are only cheaper for solos who won't use public transit, that pier/airport pickup convenience comes at a price!).

If you waited 15-30 mins in the bus processing area then you had average to slow crossings - I've never spend more than 5 mins in the circle waiting to get off then processing time for pax and reboarding is usually 10mins tops unless someone gets secondary. There must have been multiple buses ahead of you being processed, which would help explain the hastened 'no checked bag check' treatment.

Total wait time - if you check your watch when the bus first stops in the queue of traffic approaching the border and again when it pulls away after immigration/customs checks that will give you the actual total wait time (signs display the theoretical time but there's always a delay in reported time). Despite the dedicated processing point, buses share the road with other vehicles until just a couple of hundred yards before the border - on a busy day you are stuck with cars & trucks for most of the queue time in either direction.

If your timetable fits with theirs, Amtrak Cascades is far and away the most pleasant (and consistently-timed) trip, especially Northbound since there's no stop at the border at all (southbound for some reason CBP don't seem to trust that their own staff did their jobs right in preclearance, so there's another token walkthrough passport check)

And a rental car would be more than that according to Kayak.com.

 

I just priced out Amtrak, and it can be had for the dates of our upcoming Alaska cruise for $64 r/t pp.

 

However, it's 4 hours or more each way. We each have to determine for ourselves whether the hassle of making yet-another pair of transfers and the extra time involved is worth it.

 

I just checked the airfare for ATL>SEA and it is only $119 r/t pp less expensive than our ATL>YVR flights. So for $110 more total, we get to skip the diversion to Seattle. That's worth it to us (especially since that $64 r/t pp for Amtrak does not include getting to and from the train station).

At not much over $100 extra, you'd have to value your time very poorly to not just fly. On your dates, I'd do the same as you.

Rental car though - it's trivial to find under $100 rates. I've never failed to find under CAD$100 for a one-way between Vancouver & Seattle - but you do have to shop around and wait until a month or so before your dates. Further in advance than that, many agencies add drop fees or otherwise pad rates since they can't be sure how well-balanced the fleets will be. The closer the date gets, the better the data they have on comparative numbers of north- and south-bound one-ways so the more accurately they can guess their fleet distribution. Many posts of <$50 car rentals - especially if you can wait until literally a day or two before!