Flights to Vancouver

[shawn&angie]

I know that we are in a somewhat unique situation flying out of West Virginia where nothing is ever cheap or convenient but was wondering if anyone has any tips on booking flights for our cruise. We will be flying to Vancouver in the last part of August for our cruise on RCLs Serenade!

 

Doing some checking now and it appears that the cost is very high with a low number of flights to choose from. Wasn't sure if I should just grab something now as prices could go up or see if they go down. I would think they would have to add more flights as we get closer but am not sure due to the time of the year!

 

Thanks for everyones help!

[Keith1010]

Just a few suggestions. Be sure to fly in at least a day before your cruise as you don't want to take a chance flying in the day of your cruise. If your flight is canceled or significantly delayed you could miss the ship.

 

Flights into Vancouver are more expensive than those to say into Seattle. Some will fly into Seattle and take transporation into Vancouver. I prefer flying to Vancouver. No, they won't add any flights. It's always hard to predict prices but with fuel costs continuing to go up and seats being filled I think there is more chance that the price would go up than down. So, if it was me I would look at pricing for the next week or so and then book the flights.

 

Vancouver is a wonderful city so arriving there a day or a couple of days early is great as it is fun to walk around the city and to see the sites.

 

Keith

[Jridou]

Is it worth driving to one of the DC airports or Philadelphia (assuming you're in Eastern W.VA) to get a cheaper or more direct flight. I know Frontier flies from DC with one stop in Denver, and United flies non-stop.

 

We have a family of 5 so even when we have to drive a few hours, even stay overnight in a motel, it's still always cheaper than a more expensive airfare times 5.

 

Just an idea!

 

Amy

[muncybob]

We would also prefer a flight into Vancouver but due to the large difference in pricing we are going to fly to Seattle and take the train to Vancouver the next morining. The train and transfer costs will not be very expensive and we will use a free night stay using a "hotel" card.

[travel with kids]

Is it worth driving to one of the DC airports or Philadelphia (assuming you're in Eastern W.VA) to get a cheaper or more direct flight. I know Frontier flies from DC with one stop in Denver, and United flies non-stop.

 

We have a family of 5 so even when we have to drive a few hours, even stay overnight in a motel, it's still always cheaper than a more expensive airfare times 5.

 

Just an idea!

 

Amy

 

Jridou is thinking the same way we usually deal with taveling. We are in the same situation. We live in Maine. We have booked our flight from Fairbanks to Boston. (There are fewer flight options leaving Fairbanks, then gettng into YVR, so we jumped as soon as we booked the cruise). However, we are now finding it might be cheaper to fly from Montreal to Vancouver then from Boston. We are about 3 hours from each city. We could fly out of Portland, Maine but we would add another $200. per ticket (there are four of us). I love living in the middle of no where, except when we want to go somewhere. we usually have to drive the three hours (to Boston) to avoid the extra cost.

 

Good luck with your flight search.

[GORDONCHICK]

We flew RT Seattle and took Amtrak to Vancouver. It is incredibly scenic and relaxing versus the hustle and bustle (and worse) of air travel. And I loved the leg room!

[shawn&angie]

Thanks for all the help. We are in Huntington, the Western part of WV. We are looking at some of the larger Airports in OH that would be 2.5 to 3 hours away. We are also flying in two days early to see Vancouver for a day and insure that we make our cruise.

 

One more important question. Our ship docks at 7a.m on our last day, what would be the earliest flight we could catch for the ruturn home?

 

Thanks Again

[Sue L]

We would also prefer a flight into Vancouver but due to the large difference in pricing we are going to fly to Seattle and take the train to Vancouver the next morining. The train and transfer costs will not be very expensive and we will use a free night stay using a "hotel" card.

 

 

If you can get to JFK, Cathay Pacific runs a really cheap direct flight to Vancouver. It was 300$ per person and it is still available. We took it in August and it was wonderful.

[jaytotheson]

We would also prefer a flight into Vancouver but due to the large difference in pricing we are going to fly to Seattle and take the train to Vancouver the next morining. The train and transfer costs will not be very expensive and we will use a free night stay using a "hotel" card.

 

 

That's a great idea, maybe I'll do that. What's the cost of a train from Seattle to Vancouver?

[australian_girl]

I've been watching flight prices since November and the prices have jumped appx $100pp. I haven't seen any significant price drops.

 

You should check out www.farecompare.com, they will give you advice on the current prices.. should you buy now or wait etc.

[j!m]

fyi

 

there are flights to vancouver just about every hour of the day between 6am and noon out of toronto (air canada). there are also charter airlines (west jet)who will fly you to vancouver and back from toronto for about $350, maybe less in a sale. i dont know how complicated it is to get from west virginia to toronto but it cant be any worse than jfk.

 

you might want to try that routing?

[isles1]

If you can get to JFK, Cathay Pacific runs a really cheap direct flight to Vancouver. It was 300$ per person and it is still available. We took it in August and it was wonderful.

The current sale is actually just over $400 p/p R/T with taxes. I'll be flying with them in May. I booked last August before the fuel surcharges went up, so it was jus tunder $400 p/p R/T. They get great ratings as an airline.

 

As for the OP, their best bet as far as prices is likely going to be flying into SEA and either driving or taking Amtrak to Vancouver. I'd imagine that would be more enjoyable than attempting to find your way to EWR, JFK or YYZ for a direct flight to YVR (and probably cheaper).

 

If your local airport is serviced by Southwest, there is currently a $99 O/W sale for flights on Tues or Weds when booked before 1/21/08. Not sure when you are cruising...so check their website to check flights from a local airport to SEA. Obviously, you want to fly in at least a day or two early if you are not going direct to the port city.

[GORDONCHICK]

That's a great idea, maybe I'll do that. What's the cost of a train from Seattle to Vancouver?

 

Less than $30 pp each way. There are also shuttles and such, but they have to sit and wait at the border for customs. Sometimes not a big deal, but some have had a wait of a couple of hours. Also, I loved kicking back, enjoying the scenery and feeling free to move about, and even going to the dining car. Lots of leg room too.

[yanska]

I know that we are in a somewhat unique situation flying out of West Virginia where nothing is ever cheap or convenient but was wondering if anyone has any tips on booking flights for our cruise. We will be flying to Vancouver in the last part of August for our cruise on RCLs Serenade!

 

Doing some checking now and it appears that the cost is very high with a low number of flights to choose from. Wasn't sure if I should just grab something now as prices could go up or see if they go down. I would think they would have to add more flights as we get closer but am not sure due to the time of the year!

 

Thanks for everyones help!

You might want to look at flying into Las Vegas or Burbank Ca. on Southwest and then Alaska Airlines into Vancouver. I'm starting to look at that right now for a Sept. Cruise out of Vancouver.:) :)

[shoshona2]

Hi Yanska,

 

We just booked Alaska airlines from LAX to Vancouver for July 11th and the fare was about $550 per person. We "bit the bullet" and bought them since the fares are going up almost daily due to fuel charges and we wanted a seat on an airplane for that date. We estimated the time lost taking a flight to Seattle and then the train. By the time, we got through with the costs of taking a train and dragging luggage (I read on this site that the trains don't have much room for luggage), we only saved about $100.

 

Sheila

[shawn&angie]

Thanks everyone this has been great information. We have looked at every single option mentioned. We agreed with the previous post and "pulled the trigger" on a flight out of WV....it did cost us! All the others were going to cost more at the end of the day. The flight times we chose were optimal for our location and since flights are going fast we grabbed one. Didn't go with the 9:30 am return flight I really wanted as I was not sure we could make it on time.

 

The drive for us to NY- JFK (which we considered) as well as other locations is 9 to 10 hours, which would likely involve an overnight stay as well as other addtional costs that truly did not make it a bargin for us when evaluating the big picture.

 

Thanks again to everyone