Skytrain from airport to the Pan Pacific

[JERMEY]

Staying at the Pan Pacific pre cruise in Sept. I am not sure if I should take a taxi from the airport or the train.

 

Would appreciate any info. Thanks

[DaveOKC]

Staying at the Pan Pacific pre cruise in Sept. I am not sure if I should take a taxi from the airport or the train.

 

Would appreciate any info. Thanks

 

Tough choice. Cost wise (assuming 2 people traveling and you are able to easily handle your luggage) it is cheaper on Skytrain (less than $20 vs about $40+ for taxi - with tip). Time wise about the same.

 

Convenience wise of course taxi wins.

 

DaveOKC

[martincath]

Staying at the Pan Pacific pre cruise in Sept. I am not sure if I should take a taxi from the airport or the train.

 

Would appreciate any info. Thanks

Dave already hit the highlights of the different options - but this summer is when we are supposed to change over to the new 'Compass' ticketing system on transit (a stored value card you swipe in and out; same tech already in use for years in London, Brisbane, LA and other major cities, so we know the mechanics work just fine).

 

By September that means it's possible that avoiding the inbound supplementary fare may be easier, or harder, than at present. One-shot tickets have an extra $5 applied at YVR right now and that looks set to continue at the same rate. At the moment a peak time Canada Line trip will cost $9 per person, but if you arrive off-peak that drops to $7.75pp.

 

If you are going to use transit at all during your stay in Vancouver, or you have a group of people, it is very enticing to buy a multipack of tickets (10) at a discounted price because these prepaid trips do not have to pay the $5 extra fare at YVR - travel offpeak (weekends, evenings) and you could pay as little as $2.10 per person on transit for a very large saving. The downside is some extra time - you can't buy these on the platform, you have to go to one of the pharmacies inside YVR to buy packs of tickets.

 

Post changeover to the swipe cards, all current sellers are allowed to continue selling preloaded cards instead of ticket multipacks, but I've yet to see info on what price points those will come preloaded with, or whether the Compass Vending Machines will add some kind of airport surcharge if you buy on the platform at YVR.

 

We do know the card itself will cost $6 (refundable if you send it back to Translink) - if you can buy those from a vending machine on the airport platform *without* having to add extra funds to them, you'll be able to go anywhere on Translink for one trip as the cost of the card includes a $6 'buffer' which immediately saves you money over a one-shot ticket (which will still be available, at current pricing, so YVR $5 addfare will remain on those).

 

In short, come back to the boards just before you travel and hopefully we'll know exactly how good or bad a deal the new swipe cards will offer to visitors!

[mort&fran]

MARTINCATH - thanks for that information. We will be visiting Vancouver pre-cruise in August, staying at the Sheraton Wall Centre, and will appreciate whatever updates you or anyone can provide. (It appears that the Canada line's Waterfront station is within walking distance of the hotel; is it???)

 

Your mentioning "a group of people" seems to imply that (assuming there are sufficient funds on the card) multiple people can board using a single card. Is that correct?

[Putterdude]

MARTINCATH - thanks for that information. We will be visiting Vancouver pre-cruise in August, staying at the Sheraton Wall Centre, and will appreciate whatever updates you or anyone can provide. (It appears that the Canada line's Waterfront station is within walking distance of the hotel; is it???)

 

Your mentioning "a group of people" seems to imply that (assuming there are sufficient funds on the card) multiple people can board using a single card. Is that correct?

 

You will find that the better station to use to get to the Sheraton Wall Centre would be the Vancouver City Centre Station which will but you about 6 blocks from the hotel, all very level. We are not sure how this new cash card will work and if it can be shared. The present FareSaver tickets can be shared but they will be eliminated when the new card is introduced sometime this summer.

[martincath]

PD already gave you the more convenient Skytrain station. If the new Compass is released each person traveling will need their own card - it needs to be swiped in and out, and until it's swiped out again it can't be used to swipe in (i.e. if you pass your card back over the faregate it simply will not register for the next person trying to use it).

 

If the current 10-packs of tickets are still available, they are actual physical tickets that you tear out of the booklet - so ten different people can use 1 each no problem. My mention of a group was in the context of this, the current system.

 

If there are 10 of you, you're definitely not going to get as good a deal with the new cards as the lowest possible fee to get a Compass will be $6 per person - but if you plan to actually use transit during your stay, you'll certainly find it more convenient as you won't have to buy 2-zone packs or fiddle with adding a buck to a 1 zone ticket any more, the system will dock you the appropriate ticket cost - and of course you won't need to buy in multiples of 10 any more.

 

And of course if you're a group, unless you actually plan to use transit during your stay then a cab from the airport may be the best value proposition anyway (CAN$35-ish, for potentially up to 6 people with luggage in a minivan cab).

[Putterdude]

Martin the last time I check with a few of the cab companies I was advised that the maximum seating for a mini-van cab was 5 pax. As you likely know many of the mini-van cabs are fitted for wheelchairs but some do have a flip down seat that can handle a 5th person. My information is now a full year old and things could have changed.

[martincath]

I could have sworn there were flipseats for 2 people, but with the lowered floor for a wheelchair the spare wheel probably takes up one side at the back. Since you undoubtedly have more experience of minivan cabs than I, traveling with your DW, I think you're much more likely to be correct than I am about this PD.

 

I don't think anyone runs minivans that aren't disabled-accessible as they're more expensive on gas, the drivers don't get any extra $ for the extra people, but the taxi firms are compelled to offer a % of disabled-access vehicles so Mort & Fran - if there are 6 of you, assume you'll need 2 cabs and compare with transit costs accordingly.

[scottbee]

Dave already hit the highlights of the different options - but this summer is when we are supposed to change over to the new 'Compass' ticketing system on transit (a stored value card you swipe in and out; same tech already in use for years in London, Brisbane, LA and other major cities, so we know the mechanics work just fine).

 

By September that means it's possible that avoiding the inbound supplementary fare may be easier, or harder, than at present. One-shot tickets have an extra $5 applied at YVR right now and that looks set to continue at the same rate. At the moment a peak time Canada Line trip will cost $9 per person, but if you arrive off-peak that drops to $7.75pp.

 

If you are going to use transit at all during your stay in Vancouver, or you have a group of people, it is very enticing to buy a multipack of tickets (10) at a discounted price because these prepaid trips do not have to pay the $5 extra fare at YVR - travel offpeak (weekends, evenings) and you could pay as little as $2.10 per person on transit for a very large saving. The downside is some extra time - you can't buy these on the platform, you have to go to one of the pharmacies inside YVR to buy packs of tickets.

 

Post changeover to the swipe cards, all current sellers are allowed to continue selling preloaded cards instead of ticket multipacks, but I've yet to see info on what price points those will come preloaded with, or whether the Compass Vending Machines will add some kind of airport surcharge if you buy on the platform at YVR.

 

We do know the card itself will cost $6 (refundable if you send it back to Translink) - if you can buy those from a vending machine on the airport platform *without* having to add extra funds to them, you'll be able to go anywhere on Translink for one trip as the cost of the card includes a $6 'buffer' which immediately saves you money over a one-shot ticket (which will still be available, at current pricing, so YVR $5 addfare will remain on those).

 

In short, come back to the boards just before you travel and hopefully we'll know exactly how good or bad a deal the new swipe cards will offer to visitors!

 

Unless you pre-load your compass card with a monthly plan, you'll be dinged the $5 airport surcharge. That's what they announced last month.

[martincath]

Unless you pre-load your compass card with a monthly plan, you'll be dinged the $5 airport surcharge. That's what they announced last month.

Thanks for that SB - I managed to find the text of the formal announcement now I knew to look for it. It would have been nice if they'd added this info to the Compass FAQ on translink.ca!

[scottbee]

Thanks for that SB - I managed to find the text of the formal announcement now I knew to look for it. It would have been nice if they'd added this info to the Compass FAQ on translink.ca!

 

Yes, sadly the nice little faresaver loophole from the airport disappears.

 

I'd love any useful into on the Translink.ca about Compass; but there's very little (including exactly when it goes into service).

[mort&fran]

MARTINCATH & SCOTTBEE - thanks for the additional info. There will be just the 2 of us, so the Compass card at $11 pp seems like the way to go. Would appreciate your letting us know when the Compass cards actually become available from the vending machines.

[martincath]

MARTINCATH & SCOTTBEE - thanks for the additional info. There will be just the 2 of us, so the Compass card at $11 pp seems like the way to go. Would appreciate your letting us know when the Compass cards actually become available from the vending machines.

M&F - you're welcome, but if you're only going to use transit to get to the hotel a single ticket would be cheaper ($9 each peak, $7.75 off-peak). The Compass would pay for itself if you plan to use transit while in town, as you'll get a cheaper fare (currently $2.10 within Zone 1 when prepaid, that's all of downtown, compared to a $2.75 cash fare).

 

Assuming the preload fare stays the same as the current Faresaver price per ticket, you'd be looking at your 4th trip on transit before it was cheaper to get a Compass and load it with cash than just pay cash fares thanks to that prepaid-Addfare-avoiding loophole being closed. The *convenience* factor might make it worthwhile doing for just a trip or two though, as you don't get change when paying cash fares so you'd need to get hold of some local currency in coins if you plan to use buses - Skytrain will always have a machine that takes credit cards.

 

One-shot tickets and daypasses will remain available as paper tickets, just like they are currently, so you won't HAVE to buy a Compass card to ride transit - just the same as all the other cities with the same tech in place. We have Oyster cards for London as we end up there every couple of years or so - anywhere else we usually just grab a Daypass.

[em-sk]

It looks like the silly $5 surcharge when you depart any of the stations on sea island (including YVR station) will remain once the compass card comes into full operation.

 

http://www.translink.ca/en/Fares-and-Passes/Canada-Line-YVR-AddFare.aspx

 

The $5 surcharge only applies when you leave from one of the stations near the airport. It does not apply in the opposite direction, when you travel from downtown to the airport.

 

The following link describes the current pre-compass system: http://www.translink.ca/~/media/documents/rider_guide/canada_line/addfare_faq/canada%20line%20yvr%20addfare%20faq.ashx

Edited March 27, 2014 by em-sk

[mort&fran]

Ahh-h-h. ('I see!', said the blind man...) We'll be arriving at non-prime time and staying for 5 days, and it appears that the HOHO is the way to see most of the sites during that time, so the single ticket from YVR sounds like the way to go.

5Q+5Q (do the math)

[martincath]

Ahh-h-h. ('I see!', said the blind man...) We'll be arriving at non-prime time and staying for 5 days, and it appears that the HOHO is the way to see most of the sites during that time, so the single ticket from YVR sounds like the way to go.

5Q+5Q (do the math)

Math pun - love it! You're welcome again.

[tlcoke]

If I have read the Translink site correctly, the transportation Day Pass for $9.75 will still be available after the compass card goes into effect.

Is this your understanding too?

[martincath]

If I have read the Translink site correctly, the transportation Day Pass for $9.75 will still be available after the compass card goes into effect.

Is this your understanding too?

Yup - the day passes will print out on a paper ticket from the Compass machines, just like a single-use ticket (this is just how it works in every other city with the same tech I've visited too). Haven't seen anything about price changes announced.

[Putterdude]

That is my understanding of the program.

[scottbee]

If I have read the Translink site correctly, the transportation Day Pass for $9.75 will still be available after the compass card goes into effect.

Is this your understanding too?

 

There's been no announcement that they would cancel or reprice the day passes

 

They've already cancelled the employer yearly passes though for us that ride it every day, which is annoying (and more money now). The only real issue in the transition that exists between current and new systems is that single tickets bought on buses are NOT usable on Skytrain under the new system; you need a compass card to make that work properly.