Flying from Vancouver or Seattle

[no1racefan1]

I've just started researching and put a deposit down on a 2024 Alaskan cruise, departing from Whittier and ending in Vancouver. I've seen that Princess offers a bus (at $79pp) from Vancouver to Seattle for people who choose to fly home from Seattle. What is the advantage of this? Is it because it is often cheaper to fly out of Seattle? Is it because it would save time going through customs? Would you even have to go through customs in this case?

 

I'm honestly just not super fluent in making these types of travel arrangements and wanted to know if I am missing an opportunity to save time and/or money. We will most likely have to stay the night in either Vancouver, Seattle, or our final destination, as it is still a 1 1/2 hour drive home, so I'm trying to gauge every angle to see what options might be available once it's time to book.

[Zach1213]

You would go through both immigration and customs no matter how you cross the US/Canada border - in a bus, in a car, in a plane, in a train. You're leaving one country and going to another with a "hard" border (not like Schengen in Europe where there are open borders), so you'll be doing immigration and customs. 

 

If you're flying to the US, which you don't state, it will likely be cheaper to fly out of Seattle than out of Vancouver, largely due to taxes. Whether or not that's worth the cost of the bus AND the several hours on said bus, is down to you and your exact situation. 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Zach1213

[6rugrats]

Agree w/ Zach.  You'd have to price it out and see what works better for you.

[GeezerCouple]

You should also check to see what flights and connections are available to get home from Vancouver vs from Seattle.

It may well be that aside from price, one has much better connections/etc., or even more comfortable aircraft.

 

GC

Edited February 22, 2023 by GeezerCouple
spelling correction!

[FlyerTalker]

9 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

You should also check to see what flights and connections are available to get home from Vancouver vs from Seattle.

It may well be that aside from price, one has much better connections/etc., or even more comfortable aircraft.

 

And since you didn't bother to mention where you will be flying to, that pretty much ends the discussion.

 

 

[Z'Loth]

When I took my Alaskan cruise in 2018, the cruise port was Vancouver (which I recommend over Seattle). The flight home was from Vancouver to Seattle to Sacramento. One interesting thing is that Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is one of several international airports which has a pre-clearance program that allows you to pass through US customs before boarding your plane, thus turning your flight from Canada from an International flight to a domestic flight. This covers gates 75-96, and if your ticket says gate 90-96, you are in for a five minute walk from the main terminal to a satellite terminal. 

 

 

[6rugrats]

OP lives in WY.

[no1racefan1]

Sorry,  yes, I live in WY so my final destination will be Billings, MT before driving the rest of the way home. United is the ONLY airline that flies locally and since their prices are ridiculous right now, I'm going to plan for an Alaskan Airlines companion fare, which means we'll have to drive to MT to fly out.

 

Thanks for the helpful replies, I honestly just didn't understand what the benefit would be of getting shuttled to Seattle just to fly from there. Sounds like it will mostly come down to pricing. 

 

I've only flown internationally once (Jamaica) and have only flown less than once/year and only as an adult, so I'm trying to become a more educated traveler!

[Zach1213]

27 minutes ago, no1racefan1 said:

United is the ONLY airline that flies locally 

I'm not quite sure what this means. United would require a connection in Denver, but you also have Delta via Salt Lake. From Seattle, the only nonstop is Alaska. 

[LHT28]

I guess the choice comes down to  a nonstop from SEA but needing to get to SEA from Vancouver

or  a connecting flight  from YVR 

Which one works best for you

price both options  then decide

[Z'Loth]

You may want to check out Kayak for pricing comparisons between YVR and SEA, but yeah, yeowza! for those air fare difference between YVR and SEA. This is definitely one of those "arrive a day or two BEFORE your cruise" flights. The good part? Vancouver is a very walkable city worth exploring. 

[nini]

On 2/21/2023 at 10:19 AM, no1racefan1 said:

I've just started researching and put a deposit down on a 2024 Alaskan cruise, departing from Whittier and ending in Vancouver. I've seen that Princess offers a bus (at $79pp) from Vancouver to Seattle for people who choose to fly home from Seattle. What is the advantage of this? Is it because it is often cheaper to fly out of Seattle? Is it because it would save time going through customs? Would you even have to go through customs in this case?

 

I'm honestly just not super fluent in making these types of travel arrangements and wanted to know if I am missing an opportunity to save time and/or money. We will most likely have to stay the night in either Vancouver, Seattle, or our final destination, as it is still a 1 1/2 hour drive home, so I'm trying to gauge every angle to see what options might be available once it's time to book.

 

I just did a mock booking on Princess EZAir. You can fly from Billings, Montana to Anchorage. You can then fly from Vancouver, BC to Billings for your trip home.

I am sure that Seattle would also be an option for a flight home and not as expensive.

[Fairgarth]

On 2/21/2023 at 10:53 AM, Zach1213 said:

If you're flying to the US, which you don't state, it will likely be cheaper to fly out of Seattle than out of Vancouver, largely due to taxes.

 

Flying into the U.S. from Canada you get hosed on the taxes.  To illustrate, a flight from Vancouver to Seattle would attract CAD $98 in taxes, $46 in Canadian departure taxes and $52 in U.S. arrival taxes.  You can readily see why millions of Canadians every year drive across the border to take a domestic flight within the U.S. which doesn't do Westjet or Air Canada any good.  Mum, Dad and two kids, it adds up.

[scottbee]

There are two other airports between Seattle and Vancouver with Alaska Air service.  (BLI and PAE).

BLI/Bellingham is a very viable option for you, and there is bus service from Vancouver cruise port to the Bellingham airport (quickcoach.com)
 

[Zach1213]

16 hours ago, scottbee said:

There are two other airports between Seattle and Vancouver with Alaska Air service.  (BLI and PAE).

BLI/Bellingham is a very viable option for you, and there is bus service from Vancouver cruise port to the Bellingham airport (quickcoach.com)
 

 

The issue with BLI is that Alaska only flies to SEA from BLI, so you're essentially just adding a stop in Seattle rather than originating in Seattle. BLI is great, but the efficiency of adding an extra stop in Seattle versus just continuing by road to Seattle is probably borderline at best. 

[no1racefan1]

On 3/15/2023 at 3:03 PM, scottbee said:

There are two other airports between Seattle and Vancouver with Alaska Air service.  (BLI and PAE).

BLI/Bellingham is a very viable option for you, and there is bus service from Vancouver cruise port to the Bellingham airport (quickcoach.com)
 

Funny/not funny story, one time our bags got sent to BLI (Bellingham) instead of BIL (Billings) and they had to ship them to our house because we live 1 1/2 hours away from Billings and were long gone by the time they arrived. I would be scared to book a ticket that included both those airport codes 😂

[scottbee]

3 hours ago, no1racefan1 said:

Funny/not funny story, one time our bags got sent to BLI (Bellingham) instead of BIL (Billings) and they had to ship them to our house because we live 1 1/2 hours away from Billings and were long gone by the time they arrived. I would be scared to book a ticket that included both those airport codes 😂

 

the same Airline (Alaska), serve SJC/San Jose, SJD/San Jose and SJO/San Jose; and they're all in different countries, so it could be worse....

 

[Fairgarth]

Then there was the old boy in Italy who thought it was an awful long flight to Taranto who ended up in Toronto.

[Zach1213]

On 3/23/2023 at 5:20 PM, no1racefan1 said:

Funny/not funny story, one time our bags got sent to BLI (Bellingham) instead of BIL (Billings) and they had to ship them to our house because we live 1 1/2 hours away from Billings and were long gone by the time they arrived. I would be scared to book a ticket that included both those airport codes 😂

Breeze Airways just announced a route between Charleston, WV and Charleson, SC. What could go wrong... 🙂

[em-sk]

On 3/23/2023 at 3:20 PM, no1racefan1 said:

Funny/not funny story, one time our bags got sent to BLI (Bellingham) instead of BIL (Billings) and they had to ship them to our house because we live 1 1/2 hours away from Billings and were long gone by the time they arrived. I would be scared to book a ticket that included both those airport codes 😂

 

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.

 

 

[no1racefan1]

8 hours ago, 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.

 

 

I did not know this!

[Z'Loth]

11 hours ago, em-sk said:

Airports that start with "Y" are always in Canada (with the exception of one US airport that is violating the rule for some reason).

 

Which US airport?

 

• Yakima, WA (YKM)
• Yakutat, AK (YAK)
• Yellowstone/Cody, WY (COD)
• Youngstown, OH (YNG)
• Yuma, AZ (YUM)

[LHT28]

Some airports in China also start with  "Y"

if you want to be picky 😉

 

YIC

YIN

YBP

[no1racefan1]

Does anybody happen to know how long the Princess transfer (assuming it's a coach) takes to get from Vancouver to Seattle, if this was an option we wanted to explore? Wondering what time we would want to book the flight from Seattle.

[LHT28]

45 minutes ago, no1racefan1 said:

Does anybody happen to know how long the Princess transfer (assuming it's a coach) takes to get from Vancouver to Seattle, if this was an option we wanted to explore? Wondering what time we would want to book the flight from Seattle.

I would  ask on the Princess forum 

It has probably been done before  by someone

 

 I am guessing  you are looking at minimum 4 hrs  you would need to clear Immigration at the Border

Maybe plan to stay overnight in Seattle  if you choose that option

JMO