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Should we drive or fly to Vancouver?

G

glenmore

TUG Review Crew
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We have 3 weeks booked for Sept-Oct 2009. We will have a week each in Banff, Whistler and Vancouver Island.

Initially, looking at airfare - fares are averaging about $1200 for two from Richmond, VA to Vancouver. But, car rental ranges from $1800-$2500 for 23 days!

So, we are considering driving 2488 miles each way, using Price Line for rooms and taking our time getting there and back . .

Do you have any suggestions on how to save on airfare and/or rental car charges? Can you rent a car in the US and take it to Canada and back with unlimited miles?

Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated!
 
I'd be surprised if you can't take a rental car from the US to Canada, you can certainly do it the other way.

And consider flying to Seattle - we live about three hours north and routinely cross the border to fly within the US - taxes on airfares to, from and within Canada will kill you.
 
BevL said:
And consider flying to Seattle - we live about three hours north and routinely cross the border to fly within the US - taxes on airfares to, from and within Canada will kill you.
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We sometimes fly into Seattle for less expensive flights. It's more convenient to fly into Vancouver but there always seems to be a significant price difference. If you can use frequent flyer miles the points cost- at least on United- is the same as domestic.
 
Thanks for the great help with the car rental and the suggestion to fly into Seattle.

We will definitely look into those options. Love TUG - always find the best help and info from Tuggers!
 
We have flown into Seattle a few times - there is such contrast crossing the international border to Canada in comparison to crossing our local San Diego / Tijuana border. It is so clean, organized and nice. Our border in SD feels like such a free-for-all!!
 
This past summer we looked at the options and decided to fly into Seattle and rent a car there. The border crossing took a long time. We weren't in a hurry, didn't have to be anywhere at a particular time, but it was still annoying to sit there for so long.
 
It's a very long drive between Vancouver or Whistler and Banff. I hope that Banff is either your first or last week. I would recommend looking into flights that start you off in BC or AB and leave from the other province.
 
Yes, I checked Mapquest and it is over 11 hours to Banff from Seattle. Depending on the cost of a rental car at a Canadian airport and the cost of the airfare to Canada versus flying into Seattle and spending a night somewhere along the line before we get to Banff seems to be a possibility worth exploring.

Would it make sense to fly into Bellingham, WA?
 
Allegiant and Alaska are, I believe, the only airlines that fly into Bellingham but I certainly could be wrong. It's a tiny little airport, you walk onto the tarmac to board the plane. I believe that most Alaska flights would route through Seattle to get to Bellingham, again I could be wrong. If it was quite a bit more to fly to Bellingham v. Seattle, I would drive it for sure.

As for the border lineups - welcome to our world. We have recreation property "across the line" and the bordercams are "must see TV" on weekends we're heading down.
 
Re border crossing:

Weekday non-rush hours are the best times to cross. You may have just one to a few cars wait, versus many hours on weekends or during rush hours.
 
Here is a suggestion if you can fly out of Washington DC. I used Sept 18 as departure date and a return date of Oct 3. Fly Alaska from DCA to Kelowna BC(YLW) return Vancouver (YVR) to Washington BC.

The cost of the flight is $ 938 US including tax. Apply of a Bank of America Visa card , cost $ 75.00 which provide a companion fare for $ 50. plus taxes. Ie second round trip will cost about $ 110 US. You must fly Alaska or Horizon to use the companion fare.

Rent a car in Kelowna with a drop off in Vancouver. I did not check car rental rates.

Drive from Kelowna to Banff 300 miles (6hrs), Banff to Kamloops BC 300 miles , 6 hours , Kamloops to Whistler Route 99 185 miles (4hrs) then Whistler to Vancouver (about 2.5hrs depending on highway construction for the Olympics) , ferry to Vancouver Is and back to Vancouver.

Kelowna is a beautiful area, lakes and wine country. Kamloops (my home) is a stop over for most people travelling Banff to Whister or Vancouver. Most people would not know to use Rte 99 to Whistler. It is a secondary paved road , with no snow problem at that time of year. Very nice trip and save you from travelling back to Vancouver and then North again to Whistler.

Good luck of your trip you love BC and Banff.
 
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Kamloops - thanks for the great suggestions! And thanks to the other Tuggers too . . when you are traveling to a new area - there is no better advice than from someone who has been there . . or who lives there! I will look at all options and greatly appreciate the time you all have taken to help us figure out the best way to get there. I know I will be able to make much better choices thanks to all the good info here!
 
eal said:
It is a long day's drive from Vancouver to Banff - 526 miles and about 10 hours.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Vancouver&1s=BC&2c=Banff&2s=AB

You could fly into Vancouver and out of Calgary (or vice versa) with a one-way car rental.
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The estimated driving time of 10 hours is likely only accurate for someone who is comfortable driving in the mountains and not interested in the views along the way. A tourist could easily double that driving time.
 
Don't forget that the price of gas in Canada is much higher than in the US, particularly in the west where there are few refineries to create competition.

The drive from Banff to Vancouver is spectacular - my favourite would include the Fraser Canyon- but you need to allow two days, or you will not enjoy the trip. Taking the Coquihalla highway will cut off a couple of hours, but it is not scenic, especially compared to the Fraser Canyon and Hell's Gate - follow the rail road from Banff, and the scenery is world class.

As others have said, Seattle to Vancouver, depending on border crossing times, and commuter traffic, can be very slow - up to 4 hours. If you are blending that with the ferry to Vancouver Island, you may need to overnight in Seattle to catch your plane home.

If money was no object, i would fly into Calgary, and out of Vancouver or Victoria, with a one way car drop off. Many motor home companies offer this, there are probably car rental companies that also will- worth looking for, save gas, stop more often on the one way!

On the subject of HOTWIRE - my last car turned out to not be the bargain I though, as they wouldn't allow the usage of the "frequent user" club for the second driver - $10 a day, and Hotwire's contract said it did not include spousal drivers. Not a problem in states that prohibit second driver fees, but that is not everywhere.
 
Hi, from Vancouver here.

Having flown from Vancouver to Richmond VA a few years back, there is an additional consideration other than cost. That is flight time and connections. Seattle may save you money and enough time to justify the 3 hour trip. (Plus border wait time which last Sunday was only 15 minutes. Though this will change depending on the dollar exchange and holiday weekends).

I frequently fly from Bellingham or Seattle to save money, and I only live 5 minutes from the Vancouver airport here in Richmond BC.

Bellingham almost only makes sense if you can use Allegiant Air. Alaska almost always costs more than flying to Seattle.

Yes you can rent in Seattle and drive in Canada, many friends have.

It seems alot depends on what order you are doing your weeks in. If you have a day or 2 between weeks you could do a very nice circle tour.

For example. Seattle to Whistler
Whistler to Banff via Kamloops and Highway 1
Banff to Vancouver/Vancouver Island via Highway 3
Ferry from Victoria to Seattle.

Randy
 
randyz said:
For example. Seattle to Whistler
Whistler to Banff via Kamloops and Highway 1
Banff to Vancouver/Vancouver Island via Highway 3
Ferry from Victoria to Seattle.

Randy
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There's no car ferry service between Victoria and Seattle. From Victoria they would need to take the Sydney-Anacortes ferry or the Victoria-Port Angeles ferry.
 
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