scottbee

On 10/25/2023 at 2:32 AM, Flydude1063 said:

Hi,

 

Four of us are taking the Discovery Princess from L.A. up the west coast terminating in Vancouver on May 4th, 2024. Airfares are WAY less going home from Seattle instead of Vancouver. Just wondering if anyone has some ideas of an inexpensive way to get from Vancouver to Seattle. I'm not finding a whole lot of options. 

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Rick

Sorry about the prices out of YVR.  The USA puts a large amount of taxes on International arrivals, whereas it's free to cross the land border; putting YVR at a big disadvantage. 

You could also consider the BLI/Bellingham airport; just across the border, who do have direct flights to DEN on Southwest (although it's only a couple of days/week)

Tipping in Europe is much less prevalent than in the USA. And you certainly wont come across porters like those in Fort Lauderdale who give the impression that they'll throw your bag in the ocean if you don't tip.

13 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

If you can get decent price Advance tickets then probably not.  Any others, I reckon it might be close….if you are intending to travel off peak. 
 

For others, the Two Together railcard costs £30 and gives a third off most off peak fares for two adults travelling together. So if an individual ticket costs £45 or more, the discount on one trip for two adults can be worth the cost  (£45x2 =£90, less a third =£60, saving £30). 
 

Of course, this thread is about Southampton travel, not Swansea 😀

But then again, Southampton FC did just hire away Swansea FC's manager; so there's always a connection.

18 hours ago, helovestrains said:

I am looking at travelling by train from Southampton to Glasgow on Saturday 02 September (tickets are unavailable as of yet).  I have been looking at the website thetrainline.com  Prices are quoted in Canadian dollars so I should be able to purchase through this site in Canadian dollars which I am thinking is a plus.  Is this site reliable?  Or should I use another site to purchase tickets when available.   Should I be looking at standard or first class tickets?  Any advice will be appreciated.  Thanks 

It's important to understand that the ticket would involve two or three different train operators.  Looking (for example) for Saturday Aug 5; National Rail (and Southwestern who are the primary operator at Southampton) don't even show a price right now.  For journeys that involve multiple train operators, I would recommend you do visit other sites, especially those that specialize in split ticketing (buying each operators ticket separately).

However, understand that Southampton->Glasgow is generally going to route you on
Southampton -> London Waterloo
London Euston -> Glasgow

and it will be up to you to get across London with your luggage.

For a journey like this, you might want to consider flying from SOU/Southampton (not London) airport, which is just a few miles from the cruise terminal

14 hours ago, John Bull said:

Fares (including deals) on https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/  , plus routes, times, platform numbers, intermediate stations, train changes etc ad infinitum, replicate those on the myriad of train operator sites. Ditto other information on things like station layouts, planned engineering works, etc.

And since visitors have no idea which train operator runs which routes, using the National Rail site is far far simpler.

 

The site to avoid is thetrainline, which does (often) cost more.

 

However, you can't actually buy tickets from "NationalRail.co.uk" but they at least redirect to the correct train operator.  My point was more aimed at a bunch of similar sounding sites, and "thetrainline" etc etc

However, there are still some advantages at starting at the train operators site, because often they have special fares - for example Southern had a family rate, and a traveling together rate (both on weekends only), which only showed if you started with a link from their website...

and yes, splitting tickets (like trainsplit) is very worthwhile when using multiple operators, and a great example is Southampton-London Paddington.(via Reading).

17 hours ago, GTJ said:

A correction here: the PATH train departs from Greeley Square, at the intersection of 32nd Street and Sixth Avenue, one avenue east of the eastern end of Pennsylvania Station. If you go to Pennsylvania Station, you will not find the PATH train. The name of the PATH station is "33rd Street" (notwithstanding the fact that the station is between 32nd Street and nearly 30th Street).

You're right, it's 33rd Street Station, one block from Penn Station.  Still, a great way of dealing with it.

4 hours ago, meadowlander said:

How recently did you do this? I ask because 5 weeks ago Uber was  charging $16 from the light rail station in Bayonne 2 miles from Cape Liberty. You got an outstanding rate from Lyft from a location  much further away from CL.

 

Taxi rate is $12 from the light rail station in Bayonne. I don't want anyone to falsely believe the fare is $10 because for accuracy, it is not "about $10". Any  cruisers from Bayonne in the past 4 weeks  can inform if the price dropped, doubtful that occurred.

6 weeks ago. $22+tip for a Lyft XL (6 passenger - 3 of us with luggage)

On 6/6/2023 at 10:21 AM, gah_cruise said:

Sailing from and returning to Southampton this summer. On both days there are 5 ships docked. Will getting a taxi from/to our hotel in the city (Southampton) be a potentially long wait?

You'll want to check which dock you're scheduled at, but if it's the City Cruise Terminal (Royal/Celebrity), the Holiday Inn is next door.  A taxi ride would take 30 seconds.  You'd spend more time loading the cases into the car than if you just walked it.

I'm going to add something here, which a lot of visitors to the UK don't quite understand.   The British Rail system is actually multiple different companies, sharing (mostly) the same track. Think of it as different airlines at the same airport.

What that means is that the company that operates Southampton Central to London Waterloo (South Western), is a different company than operates Southampton Central to London Gatwick Airport (Southern), which is a different company than operates Southampton Central to Bristol (Great Western).

Now the really important part.  If you're buying tickets, you will almost always be able to get the cheapest tickets, without booking fees, on the RAIL OPERATORS website. 

Not 'National Rail' not "Railwhatever", but

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/

and

https://www.southernrailway.com/

35 minutes ago, willsaway said:

What a terrific answer, knew I could depend on you. Thank you so much, and added map is just sheer class. Love the idea of train. Sailing from Sydney we always use the train, so convenient. I have noted one of your previous posts that Vancouver has touch-tap for credit cards so I'm assuming we can buy tickets easily from some sort of fare machine. Should we do decide on a cab, what is an appropriate tip? It's an area fraught with difficulties for us Aussies. And I see the Medina is still there, you put us onto that in 2018. Perfect price point for budget travellers. 

You don't even have to buy tickets, just tap your credit card on the fare gate.  (although if you want concession tickets for 65+ you do need to get them from the machine)

Recently boarded a cruise ship in Bayonne, and we went from MidTown  Manhattan to Bayone by

• PATH train from Penn Station to Grove Street (Jersey City),
• Lyft from Grove St to Cape Liberty/Bayonne

It's a good system because for $2.75 you avoid both the slow and expensive part of leaving the city on a pretty decent speed train, and then the Lyft was quick and easy. 

Train Penn-Grove St $2.75/ea; LyftXL $22 from Grove St to Cape Liberty.

whereas the estimated LyftXL straight from mid-town was around $100.

4 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

We agree!  One question - what is the easiest way to pay for the Skytrain?  We have some Canadian cash and would like to use that, but not if it is a hassle at the stations.

If you have tap/wireless on your credit card you don't even need to buy a ticket.  Just tap the fare gate with your credit card when you get on and again when you exit. Done.  If you don't have tap on your credit card, there are ticket machines that take credit/debit cards; Canadian cash or coin.

Also, if you want to save yourself some walking, and make it downhill at the Waterfront Station end, use the exit onto Granville street (the end of the platform that the train entered the station from).  This is marked "Way Out - Granville" and don't use the exit that takes you into the Station complex (and the signs that direct you to other lines/seabus).  Once you're up to street level (there are elevators), turn left on W.Hastings St, walk one block, turn right, and the cruise ships are two blocks dead ahead (slightly down hill).  Enter the parking level of Canada place (there's a not well market footpath to the left of the vehicle ramp), and the cruise terminal is on the P1 level of the parking garage (seems strange at first, but you'll see it works really well).

On 5/30/2023 at 11:35 AM, QuattroRomeo said:

Is there any problem or delay getting a taxi from the YVR airport to Canada Place, and then back to the airport again after disembarkation? 

It is of course less expensive than the ship transfer service; but are there any advantages to using the transfer in this particular port? Or just stick to a taxi?

I can't imagine anyone actually taking a taxi, bus or transfer from YVR to the cruise port. 

The subway (aka Skytrain Canada Line), leaves from the airport, to 2 blocks from the cruise terminal, and will be both faster and cheaper than a taxi.  There are elevators at all stations, and the trains are designed with luggage and airport passengers in mind and are roll on/roll off without steps/gaps.

On 4/17/2023 at 4:20 AM, UMDTERPS1 said:

A few years ago I ran into a similar problem with Virgin Airlines.  I had selected a bulkhead seat (in an exit row) 9 monthes in advance - AND PAID EXTRA.  Around the 3 month mark (before the flight,) Virgin removed me from the seat and reseated me in a middle seat in coach.  It was a very frustrating experience.  I called Virgin several times and they basically gave me the runaround.  They were not very helpful - and I sat very uncomfortably throughout the whole flight.  I literally spent hours and multiple phone calls in order to avoid this situation - but to no avail.

I've seen it a few times with people in casts who pay to get an exit row (and more legroom) only to find out on board that they don't qualify to occupy an exit row (and generally they're not happy about it)

5 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

As I read it, scottbee's post seemed to be addressing exactly the same thing that I've just posted about above: the significant increase in price if trying to add Athens-Rome in to the same itinerary as the inter-continental flights. The answer is to leave the Athens-Rome flight out of the search.

 

I think that everyone (including the OP) already understood that Athens-Rome would then be bought separately. I doubt that any of us thinks that walking or swimming that part of the trip is a feasible option.

Sorry if I didn't make this clear enough

Ticket1:

  Ohio-ATH

  FCO-Ohio

Ticket 2
  ATH-FCO (there are a lot of carriers, ITA, Agean, SkyExpress, RyanAir)

  This ticket should be around US$150 w/ luggage fees

20 hours ago, Dancer Bob said:

I agree with the open-jaw solution but you're leaving out the ATH-ROM leg.

Easy to find a one-way flight in Europe for next to nothing

On 4/15/2023 at 9:30 AM, World Gallery said:

What are the pros and cons of flying into Seattle vs Vancouver for a July cruise?  If we fly into Seattle, it is non-stop from New Orleans but what are the options for getting to Vancouver?  If flying into Seattle is more of a hassle than having a connecting flight to Vancouver (probably through Denver but Google flights states this connectin is often delayed by 30 plus min) then we will deal with connection. Our top priority is the most pleasant option with the least amount of hassle, not price. We love to travel but very much dislike the process of getting to our destination.  Also, where would we clear US customs on the return flight? Thank you

The biggest con of flying into SEA and taking the bus is the time.  The coach ride is scheduled at a 5-6hr journey, depending on time of day, and the various stops along the way it makes.  SEA is South of Seattle, which means you have to drive through metro Seattle, which has bad bad traffic.   quickcoach.com have their summer schedules posted now.

As for flying from Vancouver to MSY and where you clear US formalities, the answer is "It depends".  If you're flying from YVR to a US destination *directly* (say YVR-DEN-MSY) you'd likely pre-clear in Vancouver prior to boarding.  However, late-night flights out of Vancouver this wouldn't apply.  If you're connecting via another Canadian city (say Vancouver-Toronto-New Orleans), you'd clear in Toronto, prior to the US bound flight.

On 4/20/2023 at 2:03 PM, ladycanuck said:

Not wanting to use public transit, is there shuttle service from YVR to cruise terminal?

The Canada Line is roll-on roll-off, and drops you 3 blocks from the Canada Place cruise terminal.  I can't imagine many scenarios where it isn't the easiest and fastest scenario. (under $10/ea)

Most cruise lines will charge 35-40/each, a taxi is flat rate (just under 40+tip), Uber/Lyft might save a few dollars.  All of those options can take 15-60 minutes longer than the Canada Line.

On 4/21/2023 at 5:19 PM, tscoffey said:

That makes Ohio to Rome and back a roundtrip. If I try to price out going to Athens first, then it is 2 one-way flights, and costs almost double.

You want to book it as 'open jaw'. On almost all airline search engines you'd want to search 'multi-city'

and put in

CMH-ATH/Athens

and FCO/Rome-CMH

as your flights.  You won't run into the prohibitively prices one ways  that you would by trying to book them separately (assuming above you were flying from CMH/Columbus)

Also you're looking a month too early.  A lot of airlines will only price tickets for 11 months out, so wait until the end of next month.

Example result though for March 2024/

CMH-BOS-AMS-ATH

FCO-JFK-CMH

is under US$1000

3 hours ago, craig01020 said:

Is there luggage storage on this train?

Depends on exactly which train you end up on, but yes, there's a place to stash luggage when you get on board, there are racks above the seats, and if it's not busy you can just stick your luggage in a seat opposite you.

I'll second the advice of Taxi/Train.

Take a taxi to Rotterdam Centraal Station, and catch a train to Schiphol Airport.  There are trains constantly, and Rotterdam to Schiphol on the faster trains (leave every 10-15 mins) takes only 25 minutes.  At Schiphol Airport you take the escalator up from the platform and you're in the terminal building. To put it in perspective, the driving time is about 45-60 mins from the port to the airport

You can get train prices/etc at https://ns.nl/

https://ns.nl/

Yep, QBC (ICAO: CYBD - I mistyped it above) is an oddball, although quite a few of the smaller coastal airports have some weird IATA/ICAO combos, with quite a few not having [international] ICAO codes at all, but instead Transport Canada 4 letter codes, such as ZEL, YAA and XQU (yes you can book commercial flights to all of these). Note that weather and flight planning all use the four letter codes, the three letter codes are used by travel agencies. 

There's a few weird ones in the USA too; normally for the lower 48, you just add a K in front to go from IATA to ICAO (LAX/KLAX), however AZA/KIWA is a notable exception.

It wouldn't surprise me if at some point in the future they just drop the 3 letter codes altogether and just use a single system; but I'm sure theres a lot of "I dont want to change" out there.

On 3/29/2023 at 9:01 PM, em-sk said:

 

Well Canadian airports all start with "Y".   Airports that start with "Y" are always in Canada (with the exception of one US airport that is violating the rule for some reason).  That only leaves two letter to play with.   We have no shortage of similar airport codes.

 

 

Actually not.  While the majority of IATA [used by travel agents/airlines] codes for Canadian airports start with a Y, however CXH and QBC are two [on commercial flights] I've been to, both here in BC.  Note that CXH-YWH (right in your back yard) is the busiest commercial air route in the country, in terms of departures/day.

Now when you get into the four letter ICAO codes [used by pilots], it's a little different, with all starting with a C, and most just being a C prefixing the three letter IATA code, but not all, with CZBB (YDT) a notable exception not too far from you; and likewise QBC (CYDT)

If you're confused by ICAO vs IATA; think of it this way; you'd buy an airline ticket from YYJ-YVR, but the pilot would file a flight plan for CYYJ-CYVR

4 hours ago, ChanaC said:

Thank you, I'll look into it! I've also been trying to find some bar/restaurants to watch it from closer to Canada Place. From what I can tell, Cactus Club Cafe, Tap and Barrel, and DeDutch (for breakfast/lunch) are also good options. 

Mahoney and Sons (X on map) is perhaps 500ft from the ships, not sure how much closer you can be and still be sitting at a bar.   If you want to see the ships, you can walk the whole top level (in Green) of Canada Place, and you're maybe 50ft from the ships

On 2/22/2023 at 5:47 PM, nw gardener said:

If you want to fly Southwest....they are starting to fly into Bellingham in April,  25 minutes south of the crossing.  You would have to fly in the day before,  a little cheaper than staying in Seattle.  Quick Shuttle and Flix bus options,  as well as Amtrak are available in Bellingham to get you across the border. 

Southwest have been serving the BLI/Bellingham airport since Nov 2021. April marks the addition of Denver (1x/week) to their schedule out of BLI.