11:40 am flight out of Vancouver?

[Kevin's girl]

I got an email from Flights by Celebrity today and they are notifying me that my 1:40 pm flight has now been changed to an 11:40 am flight. We have been on many previous cruise and would have never booked a morning flight out of any port city. Wondering if anyone has advise to share on the flight time. I will also be posting this question on the Pacific Coast threads, but need help while there is time to call Celebrity for a change.

[Rick&Jeannie]

If they did not offer any type of "warning" that the flight was no longer "legal" then they must feel that it is doable.

[Kevin's girl]

39 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

If they did not offer any type of "warning" that the flight was no longer "legal" then they must feel that it is doable.

Thank you.

[leaveitallbehind]

We have flown out of Vancouver before and the drive from the cruise terminal to the airport is about 30 minutes.  Our check in time was about 1 hour from baggage check to gate. So base your timing on that, which would seem to me that 11:40 would be OK as long as you are out of the pier area by 9:00 or so?  So I would plan an early departure from the ship to be sure.

 

The biggest obstacle in our experience was on that particular cruise there was a labor issue at the cruise terminal and baggage recovery from the ship was an hour+ nightmare.   We made our flights fine but as I recall they were early afternoon.

Edited March 17 by leaveitallbehind

[mh5678]

50 minutes ago, Kevin's girl said:

I got an email from Flights by Celebrity today and they are notifying me that my 1:40 pm flight has now been changed to an 11:40 am flight. We have been on many previous cruise and would have never booked a morning flight out of any port city. Wondering if anyone has advise to share on the flight time. I will also be posting this question on the Pacific Coast threads, but need help while there is time to call Celebrity for a change.

You should be okay.  Normally you can get off the ship in Vancouver around 7 or 7:30.  If you don’t already have a transfer to the airport you can walk about 5 minutes to the Waterfront Station and take the Canada Line which will take you directly to the airport in 25 minutes.  Just make sure you get on the train YVR Airport.  It runs around every 5 minutes. There is another train called Bridgeport which does not go to the airport.

[Milhouse]

I think the general concensus you'll receive is that 11:40am is going to be enough time.  

 

As mentioned by leaveitallbehind, the airport is reasonably close to Canada Place/the terminal.  30mins is a good estimate.

Just as a data point, I left my house (which is slightly further than Canada Place) for the airport at 6:30am for a 9am transborder flight on a recent Tuesday morning, got to YVR at 7am, and had plenty of time to spare to browse duty free and grab some food in a lounge. You may need a bit more time due to the added cruise pax volume.  I think many airlines recommend being at YVR about 2.5hr to 3hrs before a transborder flight (though I think 3hrs is a bit excessive).  

 

Addressing some of the potential bottlenecks:  

There aren't any labour disputes on the horizon at the port to delay luggage. (knock on wood)

Skytrain to the airport is pretty quick and convenient if you don't have a lot of luggage.  There is a short walk from the terminal to the skytrain station and from the YVR station into the airport.  And if you are travelling midweek on the Skytrain, it does get kind of crowded in the morning.  There are some open areas for luggage (and bikes) but it's generally not as convenient to sit with your luggage (vs standing with your luggage)

If you take a taxi or uber, there are multiple routes to the airport (save for the final stretch) in the event one gets congested due to an accident.  If you take an uber, you do have to walk about a block outside the terminal to get to the designated ride sharing pick up areas.

The check-in lines at YVR can get long but you can mitigage this by doing online check-in & baggage drop off of course.    

The security and US pre-clearance lines can be long.  They do have a Nexus lane.  (Funny that the regular security lane was faster than the Nexus lane when I flew recently.)  You can also potentially pre-book a security screening time to avoid the line.  They also seem to have a new Nexus process for US pre-clearance which is much streamlined IMO.  

[lovecruzin]

We generally fly from YVR around noon. We collect our bags in the terminal and catch a taxi, usually arrive at the airport by 9ish

We did Uber once, won’t  do it again, flat rate taxi in the terminal was easy and convenient. 

[jwlane]

If FBC is offering it, they consider there is adequate time.

[Kevin's girl]

6 hours ago, Milhouse said:

I think the general concensus you'll receive is that 11:40am is going to be enough time.  

 

As mentioned by leaveitallbehind, the airport is reasonably close to Canada Place/the terminal.  30mins is a good estimate.

Just as a data point, I left my house (which is slightly further than Canada Place) for the airport at 6:30am for a 9am transborder flight on a recent Tuesday morning, got to YVR at 7am, and had plenty of time to spare to browse duty free and grab some food in a lounge. You may need a bit more time due to the added cruise pax volume.  I think many airlines recommend being at YVR about 2.5hr to 3hrs before a transborder flight (though I think 3hrs is a bit excessive).  

 

Addressing some of the potential bottlenecks:  

There aren't any labour disputes on the horizon at the port to delay luggage. (knock on wood)

Skytrain to the airport is pretty quick and convenient if you don't have a lot of luggage.  There is a short walk from the terminal to the skytrain station and from the YVR station into the airport.  And if you are travelling midweek on the Skytrain, it does get kind of crowded in the morning.  There are some open areas for luggage (and bikes) but it's generally not as convenient to sit with your luggage (vs standing with your luggage)

If you take a taxi or uber, there are multiple routes to the airport (save for the final stretch) in the event one gets congested due to an accident.  If you take an uber, you do have to walk about a block outside the terminal to get to the designated ride sharing pick up areas.

The check-in lines at YVR can get long but you can mitigage this by doing online check-in & baggage drop off of course.    

The security and US pre-clearance lines can be long.  They do have a Nexus lane.  (Funny that the regular security lane was faster than the Nexus lane when I flew recently.)  You can also potentially pre-book a security screening time to avoid the line.  They also seem to have a new Nexus process for US pre-clearance which is much streamlined IMO.  

Thank you very much, I really appreciate the info about the possible bottlenecks too. This does make me feel better about this change and our chances of making the flight.

[Kevin's girl]

4 hours ago, lovecruzin said:

We generally fly from YVR around noon. We collect our bags in the terminal and catch a taxi, usually arrive at the airport by 9ish

We did Uber once, won’t  do it again, flat rate taxi in the terminal was easy and convenient. 

Thank you, I was going to handle the transfer next. Nice to know the taxi is a good idea and that the timing should be okay.

[Arizona Wildcat]

8 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

If they did not offer any type of "warning" that the flight was no longer "legal" then they must feel that it is doable.

Really.  All FBC shows is a computer that says it is possible/legal.

You have lots more confidence in FBC than many posters here.

[vickykay]

Regarding taxis, we returned to Vancouver last May from our Hawaiian cruise.   Several ships in port and the line for taxis was MASSIVE.  We ended up taking the train to the airport ( and we did have a lot of luggage.and made our flight ( was also early time). 

[Rick&Jeannie]

12 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Really.  All FBC shows is a computer that says it is possible/legal.

You have lots more confidence in FBC than many posters here.

On the contrary...I have ZERO confidence in FBC or *any* other cruise air program.  I *never* book cruise air.  I was simply pointing out to the OP that FBC *thinks* it is a valid connection and have offered it up as such.  I never said that they should take that flight!  FBC will gladly book them on the flight they were offered.  Others have said that they should have no problem with that timing.  I have NO experience in that airport, so I am not weighing in on that bit.

 

I always book my own flights through Delta.  I just prefer to be "in control" of my own destiny...even if it means making my own mistakes.  It's just easier to recover from some type of problem when you don't have to go through a middleman, which is what OBC really is.  You're not *really* dealing with Celebrity in using FBC...you're dealing with a flight consolidator.  Quite often, Delta will offer up a connection time of 40 minutes in ATL!  I would never in a million years book that flight.  Everybody has to use a little common sense in the flights that they choose, regardless of where/how they are booking.  I hope that @Kevin's girl considers all aspects of the booking she is considering and that she (they?) have a great travel experience!

[Jim_Iain]

Check your airline rules.   Most have a provision that if they change your flight by more than XXX number of minutes and you find it unacceptable, you can call in and have changed to a flight of your choice at no additional cost or full refund.   If booked with agent you will have to have the agent call.

 

[dreamer321]

I'm on Summit's LA to Vancouver coastal cruise. I booked my return flight for 10:25 am. I figure I'll self-disembark at first opportunity (7:00 am – 7:30 am), jump on the Skytrain and should be at the airport terminal before 8:30 am. I only have a small carry-on bag, no checked luggage so I figure I should be Ok.  If you can self-disembark, you should be fine.  If you have a lot of luggage and need help with it you might want to see what else is available.

[Kevin's girl]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Check your airline rules.   Most have a provision that if they change your flight by more than XXX number of minutes and you find it unacceptable, you can call in and have changed to a flight of your choice at no additional cost or full refund.   If booked with agent you will have to have the agent call.

 

That's great to know. Thank you.

 

[casperpud]

I did not book my flight through Celebrity, but I got this exact change from the airline that I booked with directly. I'm thinking we may self carry our luggage off the ship and get to the airport in plenty of time. This change gives us a LENGTHY wait for our next flight segment- the joys of air travel 🙂

 

[Kevin's girl]

Okay, I called Flights by Celebrity and they got our flight changed to the next day. We will be flying out at 07:32 with a 40 minute connection in DFW and home by 5:30 pm. Celebrity "guarantees" me that if our flight is late and we miss the connection they will fix it and get us on another flight without worry.

 

It will be nice to have an extra day to explore. I did really want to go to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

Celebrity also told me that the 11:40 flight that American had changed us to, did not meet the acceptable flight times for the Cruise line. They also said that changing us to another flight because of this was not supposed to cost us anything extra because of that.