Transfers to Airport in Vancouver

[belles53]

We will be disembarking from a Princess ship in the morning in Vancouver but our flight out isn't until 11 pm.  Our travel agent purchased transfers for us to the airport but I don't want to sit at the airport all those hours.  Can they be refunded?  Or is there a later transfer to the airport?

 

[cruzsnooze]

Only your TA knows if they can refund you so did you ask them?  There's a lot to do in Vancouver so it makes sense to spend the day out and about. Vancouver has a sky train to the airport for very little money so that could be an option when you're ready to go the airport in the evening. 

 The YVR Airport Skytrain (above and below-ground subway-type train) is the quickest way to get from Vancouver International Airport to downtown Vancouver, with a travel time of only 25 minutes. The YVR – Airport Canada Line Station is located above the covered parking garage at the airport. 

Edited April 9, 2019 by cruzsnooze

[Potstech]

If you get a day trip ticket you can get on and off the Sky train for just one very cheap fee. Then about 8:00 pm or so take the Train to the airport. You should be able to cancel your transfer very easily.  Have fun. Recommend going to Stanley Park and the Sun Yet San (sp) for a visit. Also a nice stroll through Gastown for a look at old town Vancouver.  Many good places to eat most places in the city.  My favorite is the Moose Down Under on Pender Street.

[Colo Cruiser]

Have the TA remove them asap.

Take a cab later.

It is a beautiful city. Take a hop on hop off tour. It picks up right outside the Canada Place/Pan Pacific. 

Have lunch.

Only issue is your luggage. Maybe you can find place to store them.

[martincath]

Agree with all the above - and once you've been refunded ($29pp is the normal rate) and look into the cost of independent luggage storage/travel to YVR you'll realise just how much all the cruiselines rip people off locally with transfers!

 

$5 a bag at the Pan Pacific hotel to leave your suitcases all day, plus a SkyTrain ticket ($2.95pp - even less for Seniors!) is the cheapest thing to do, but you can add a lot more convenient while also still saving money by sending your bags out to YVR ahead of you - CDS, the official pier storage people, also have offices at YVR and $40 gets your first 4 bags sent ($10 per extra).

 

This has the big benefit that you don't have to return to the pier area for your bags, so you can move around anywhere you like to sightsee and eat dinner before heading out to the airport. Arriving before 9pm is pretty pointless - you won't preclear US immigration on a flight at 11pm as CBP close at 8:30pm, which means you only undergo the standard 'domestic' style Security and check-in procedures.

 

The only problem you'll have is deciding what to do... you really should add a week extra in Vancouver if you want to come close to doing us justice 😉

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Have the TA remove them asap.

Take a cab later.

It is a beautiful city. Take a hop on hop off tour. It picks up right outside the Canada Place/Pan Pacific. 

Have lunch.

Only issue is your luggage. Maybe you can find place to store them.

 

Exactly right. The transfers can be cancelled by your TA. No need to pay the Princess rate for transfers - especially as you don't want them.

[candide333]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

Exactly right. The transfers can be cancelled by your TA. No need to pay the Princess rate for transfers - especially as you don't want them.

 

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

Exactly right. The transfers can be cancelled by your TA. No need to pay the Princess rate for transfers - especially as you don't want them.

 

I canceled my transfers today by calling Princess. I didn’t want to bother my TA, and was surprised I was able to do it. Since it was prepaid, the credit  will be posted on my credit card. 

[Hvado99]

We are possibly on the same flight (to Atlanta ?).  Our travel agent booked us for a day tour of Vancouver and a hotel at the Airport that allows for 

short stay option of a room by the hour (never been to a hotel that rents by the hour...sounds kinky).  We felt that we would be tired on the day we disembark so this would give a view of the city, an opportunity to rest and access to the airport via courtesy van.

[Cruise Raider]

On 4/9/2019 at 4:08 PM, Thrak said:

 

Exactly right. The transfers can be cancelled by your TA. No need to pay the Princess rate for transfers - especially as you don't want them.

 

Thrak is right!  And ... last time I was there, there was a flat rate for cabs from downtown to the airport (or vice versa).  I think it was approx $28 + tip per car (not pp).  

And, Pan Pacific offers the luggage storage (better yet, if they offer the transport of your luggage to the airport for you).  

 

[martincath]

US$28 per taxi is pretty accurate (it's CAD$35), but it only applies inbound from YVR. Some taxi drivers do offer a fixed fare TO the airport as well but it's not official - they're either pocketing the whole fare (likely if they demand cash up front) or know that traffic is light so the meter will only show $32-33 to YVR from downtown, so just paying the metered rate will save you another couple of bucks.

 

As to hotel rooms by the hour - I think the Fairmont does 4/6/8 hours for different prices, but that would not need a shuttle as it's literally inside the airport. The other couple of hotels I know of operate fixed hours, e.g 9am-5pm, for day rooms. Never heard of a 'by the hour' hotel in Vancouver... even the new pod hotel operates a regular overnight '3pm to 11am' system rather than charging by the hour like pod hotels in some other airports.

[donswife]

CDS baggage storage wasn't open at Canada Place when we arrived on May 12, so we used Porter Genie.  You schedule pick up and drop off times and locations. A day or 2 before you arrive, you receive an email with the name, phone number, and vehicle description of your driver, who will collect your luggage, store it, and bring it to you at the set time.

We got out of customs earlier than expected, so we called our driver. He had several pick ups at Canada place and was already there. We enjoyed a lovely day of sightseeing via the HoHo buses, and then took the Skytrain to the airport. Met or driver, and good to go home!

[mek]

Why not rent a car for the day?  You can go where you want and when and the baggage issue is solved.  We have done this and it's easy and cost effective.

[Steelers36]

I'd like to add that the OP should manage the TA and not the other way around.  I have read many posts where CC members indicate their TA is auto-adding transfers.  I wonder if most of them even mention it.