Vancouver – Getting from Hotel to Amtrak Station

[sunshower9]

Hi everyone.  Next summer we’re taking an Alaska cruise that ends in Vancouver, and we plan to stay there for 2 days before taking the Amtrak train to Seattle.  I have the Auberge Hotel booked.  We’re taking the morning train, which means we need to arrive at the Vancouver station around 5:30am, according to the Amtrak website.  I’m trying to figure out the most reliable way to get to the station at that time.  Does anyone know if Uber/Lyft drivers are typically available that early in the morning?  Or would you recommend a taxi or public transit (if it even runs that early)?  I just don’t want to be stuck trying to find a way to the station if there are no drivers available.  This will be on a weekday, if that matters.  Thanks!

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, sunshower9 said:

Does anyone know if Uber/Lyft drivers are typically available that early in the morning?

You can prebook Uber-- just set the pickup date and time a few days in advance. Never have had an issue with an early morning pickup in Vancouver that way. 

[gregma60]

1 hour ago, sunshower9 said:

Hi everyone.  Next summer we’re taking an Alaska cruise that ends in Vancouver, and we plan to stay there for 2 days before taking the Amtrak train to Seattle.  I have the Auberge Hotel booked.  We’re taking the morning train, which means we need to arrive at the Vancouver station around 5:30am, according to the Amtrak website.  I’m trying to figure out the most reliable way to get to the station at that time.  Does anyone know if Uber/Lyft drivers are typically available that early in the morning?  Or would you recommend a taxi or public transit (if it even runs that early)?  I just don’t want to be stuck trying to find a way to the station if there are no drivers available.  This will be on a weekday, if that matters.  Thanks!

I'm sure others will have much better advice, but if not, I'd check with the hotel front desk.  I bet they also have experience and recommendations on how to get to the train station the most efficient way that early.  They may even offer a shuttle depending on how far away it is.

 

-gregma

[Meander Ingwa]

I use Lyft and know that the drivers work around the clock.  With so many airline flights leaving at 6am, they do a brisk airport business.  I once was easily able to get a car at 345 in Cincinnati

 

As mentioned, you can pre-book a car, which will give you peace of mind.

[martincath]

Personally the only reports I've heard about prebooking Uber/Lyft in Vancouver are just as negative as the cab firms - we are a city of flakes, which when combined with a 'work the hours you like' gig means nobody is getting up early except to go do yoga on mountaintops!!!! Will there be SOME rideshare folks awake and driving at 5am? Almost certainly - but how close to you, how much demand for nice long airport runs instead of short in-town jaunts etc. is hard to predict, and pre-booking is worthless until Uber etc. start actually running their own vehicles with robodrivers... they cannot guarantee any drivers at any given time, and for trips that early many will only work for Surge pricing!

 

Since you're in a hotel, by far the most reliable thing is to leverage them - get them to arrange a cab at Xam, let them worry about how to do it. Cab firms locally are even more dependent on hotel concierges, company contracts for late-working staff etc. then ever now they have to compete with three legal rideshares... they will NOT screw over a hotel request, but they will absolutely throw a private booking under the bus if a driver is sick, car broken etc. such that they have fewer cabs available than requests in time window X. Auberge is also pretty swank, and same building as one of our uber-swank private member clubs - calls from here are NOT ignored by cab companies!!!

 

Transit I don't recommend - SkyTrain doesn't run early enough, and Bus routes are sub-optimal with Nightbuses still running on limited routes that early too. All in all this is a real no-brainer - minimum risk is to use the hotel to arrange a cab if you want to be as certain as possible one will be waiting for you at ~5:15am.

 

But just to put this in perspective, you could walk with your bags from the hotel to the station (downhill!) in a half-hour if you're in vaguely decent shape and able to roll your bags yourself - so if there's some epic disaster involving a strike by all rideshare, cab, and transit drivers simultaneously it would be annoying but feasible to just walk...

 

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by martincath

[sunshower9]

56 minutes ago, martincath said:

Personally the only reports I've heard about prebooking Uber/Lyft in Vancouver are just as negative as the cab firms - we are a city of flakes, which when combined with a 'work the hours you like' gig means nobody is getting up early except to go do yoga on mountaintops!!!! Will there be SOME rideshare folks awake and driving at 5am? Almost certainly - but how close to you, how much demand for nice long airport runs instead of short in-town jaunts etc. is hard to predict, and pre-booking is worthless until Uber etc. start actually running their own vehicles with robodrivers... they cannot guarantee any drivers at any given time, and for trips that early many will only work for Surge pricing!

 

Since you're in a hotel, by far the most reliable thing is to leverage them - get them to arrange a cab at Xam, let them worry about how to do it. Cab firms locally are even more dependent on hotel concierges, company contracts for late-working staff etc. then ever now they have to compete with three legal rideshares... they will NOT screw over a hotel request, but they will absolutely throw a private booking under the bus if a driver is sick, car broken etc. such that they have fewer cabs available than requests in time window X. Auberge is also pretty swank, and same building as one of our uber-swank private member clubs - calls from here are NOT ignored by cab companies!!!

 

Transit I don't recommend - SkyTrain doesn't run early enough, and Bus routes are sub-optimal with Nightbuses still running on limited routes that early too. All in all this is a real no-brainer - minimum risk is to use the hotel to arrange a cab if you want to be as certain as possible one will be waiting for you at ~5:15am.

 

But just to put this in perspective, you could walk with your bags from the hotel to the station (downhill!) in a half-hour if you're in vaguely decent shape and able to roll your bags yourself - so if there's some epic disaster involving a strike by all rideshare, cab, and transit drivers simultaneously it would be annoying but feasible to just walk...

 

 

Thank you so much for the insight!  I'm glad I asked because normally I would just book rideshare when I'm ready to leave, but I know not all cities are awake and alive that early in the morning.  Sounds like that will be the case with Vancouver.  So I'll definitely ask the hotel to arrange a cab.  

 

Thank you all for the responses!

[GTJ]

The title of this inquiry may be a bit confusing to at least some people. While Amtrak does own and operate some railroad stations, there is no "Amtrak station" in Vancouver. Instead, Amtrak is a subtenant within the Pacific Central station, owned by the Canadian National Railway, leased and operated by Via Rail Canada. Other subtenants of the Pacific Central station include Cantrail Coach Lines ("Amtrak Thruway"), Greyhound Lines, MTR Western ("FlixBus"), Pacific Western Transportation ("Ebus"), Rider Express Transportation, Universal Coach Lines ("YVR Skylinx"), and Wilson's Transportation ("BC Ferries Connector"). While there is a small sign in front of the station that enumerates several of the subtenants, including Amtrak, the large neon sign on the station reads "Pacific Central." It is important to distinguish the Pacific Central station because there are two other passenger railroad stations in Vancouver: Waterfront station, formerly used by the Canadian Pacific Railway and now used by commuter trains, and Rocky Mountaineer station, formerly used by the Canadian National Railway as a locomotive repair shed (there is also a passenger railroad station in North Vancouver, three blocks from the former Pacific Great Eastern Railway station). While some people may recognize Amtrak's subtenancy, the best means of identifying this particular railroad station, to persons in Vancouver, is to use the term "Pacific Central station."

 

Although the morning Amtrak train, no. 517, does not depart the Pacific Central station until 6:35 a.m., it is important to arrive early because U.S. immigration and customs examinations are conducted at the station prior to boarding. Adequate time must be allowed by boarding passengers to complete this examination.